Over the weekend there was a very popular DC even; DC Passport Around the World Embassy Tour. Several embassies in the city opened their doors to invite guests to see what their country is like. Many offered food or drinks and entertainment.
A had team pictures and a soccer game in the morning. They even WON! It was very exciting.
But, because it was important to be present I didn't head into the city until the afternoon. It took forever to find parking (as it does in DC) so by the time I reached my first embassy there wasn't a lot of time left to explore.
I knew that Dupont Circle was going to be a mad house since several popular embassies (such as Australia) are located there, so I decided to head in a different direction and went closer to the zoo, near the Van-Ness station.
The first embassy I came to was China. I head the music and drums before I even arrived. There was a dancing dragon out front, still food to sample, and videos and live music to share their culture. The line to actually enter the embassy was super long, and with my truncated time I decided to just pass by after watching some entertainment for a bit.
Just down the street I came to Ethiopia. Now this was a happening place! The music was loud and exuberant. There was dancing and laughter! I had missed the food, but the remains of what I saw and smelled were mouthwatering.
Following Ethiopia, I came into Bangladesh. This turned out to be my favorite stop. Even though I missed the food the people were incredibly friendly, the setting was vibrant, and the energy was contagious. They had henna tattooing available but I didn't have time to wait for it.
Ghana was another friendly stop. I had just missed the music so they were winding down. They were selling food outside, but again, no time to wait in a line. They had really cool things on display to showcase and share things from their country.
My last stop was Pakistan. We have a large Pakistan popular around here, so it was no surprise to find this embassy full of people. Lots of loud music, dancing, and inside had fun little set ups to represent different areas in their country.
Once I finished those tours and looked at my map again I realized with the time I had left there was no point in attempting another location for more embassies. I took a nice leisurely walk back to my car.
Many embassies did not participate, so I just moseyed on by Morocco, Egypt, Malaysia, and several others. This coming weekend the European Union Embassies have their open houses, but I think I might try to experience them next year and hope I can be there for the WHOLE day.
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