Tamara

This is my friend Tamara Okhinchenko who came to visit for a few days.  She was my real estate client in Utah where I became fast friends with she and her husband Leland.  Tamara loves to travel and has been all over the world and when I found out she was heading to New York to go see the Metropolitan Opera, I invited her to stop in DC for a few days.  She has been in the US for 11 years and became an American citizen a few years ago but had never been to Washington and was excited to see it.

She got in late Saturday afternoon so after she settled in and Tom got home from Coast Guard work we did the DC drive at night to see the monuments lit up.  Came home to hot chicken soup and relaxed conversation.  We share a love of the arts and she is a walking encyclopedia of literature, ballet, art, and theatre so there is always something to talk about!  She has a very thick accent so it takes a lot of concentration to understand what she is saying.  I played a Russian real estate agent in a play once and used her as my subject and model.

Lots of preparations going on for the inauguration

Tom had to work Sunday morning so Tamara and I started at The White House and did the city/monument  walk for several hours.

Michelle Obama's garden in The White House yard

Tamara also loves animals and speaks to them in Russian.  She was especially taken by the giant squirrels that run around everywhere!

The Nation's Menorah

 As you can see it was very overcast and a bit misty but still the temperature was very pleasant for walking around.

The Korean War Memorial

 We had to be back by 1:00 because we matinee tickets to see My Fair Lady at The Arena Stage with  Jeff and Marilyn Smith.  I found the show rather disappointing but afterwards we headed to Georgetown for dinner at a place called The Tombs.  It's down 2 flights of stairs on a street a block away from the university.  The food was great! I ordered a turkey pot pie and the thing was huge!  Tom helped me eat  half after he finished his dinner.  Really delicious!

Monday we went to The Library of Congress.  I had never been there and it IS GORGEOUS!  Oh my gosh, I'm going back there as soon as I can.  Getting a library card and going to just go sit in that stunning reading room.  I didn't have my camera with me because I sent it with Tom for his day's adventure, but will definitely get photos next time.  Also, going to look into jobs there.  I could be a janitor and still be in heaven just to be surrounded with such beauty.  Very Italian Renaissance in design.  Sigh.  Heavenly.

The Supreme Court is being worked on so we skipped it and headed to the Senate bldg. because we had an appointment for a tour through Orrin Hatch's office scheduled.  We were the only two on the tour so we had nice intern Nick all to ourselves.  The poor kid had to be on his toes as we had plenty of questions.  The Capitol Visitor's Center is new since I've been so we started there before going into the capitol.  We got to sit in the gallery both in the Senate and House but nothing was going on.  It just so happened that Hatch was giving a speech in the Senate but it was a little odd to see him basically speaking to no one. There were a few pages sitting on the steps, a stenographer standing next to Hatch, Hatch's assistants putting up visual aids and then someone sitting in the Majority leader's chair working on his own stuff.  It was funny because Hatch's delivery was very much as if the entire room was full but Nick told us C-Span has to keep the camera on a tight shot, so we at home don't see that the room is actually empty.  After his speech he gives a copy of it to someone who puts in on the official record.  Nick said that senators come and give speeches so their constituents see that they're working, when in reality most of the work is done in private offices and committees.  The last time I was in the senate gallery I was with Taylor several years ago.  We happened to be there during an important vote so sat and watched as each senator came in and recorded their vote.  Now, they don't all come in and sit down to vote, they have a certain amount of time to come in so they were going in and out as we watched.  It was fascinating though to see Ted Kennedy, Hilary Clinton, Bob Bennet, Senator Byrd (who could barely stand on his own) and all the other high profile senators running in to place their vote.

I think we're so used to seeing movies where each member stands and to a full house delivers an eloquent and persuading speech, then an immediate vote takes place with everyone in their seats.  It's just not at all that way, but I still find the process fascinating.  Tamara too was just flabbergasted by the whole thing.

 It's so interesting to listen to her talk about her years in Russia where she was a patent attorney so had a background in both law and science.  Her father was a doctor and her mother an engineer.  Her stories of the Kremlin, KGB, and Perestroika are just fascinating.  She knows so much about history and finance and politics....it's just very interesting to be with her.  Tom has listened to me talk about her for so long I was glad they finally got to meet.

We wrapped up our very busy day with salads at Thunder Grill in Union Station, did a little shopping then purchased her train ticket for her ride to NYC on Tuesday.

 She brought us this beautiful piece of art painted by her Russian friend who no longer can paint because of illness.  This is number one in a series.  What a treasure!