Mead, Minstrels and Madness

I am going to forewarn you that this will be a long post, as I have had an incredible week, and have not posted in a while as I was on holiday with Angelica. In fact, there is so much to say that I am going to make unprecedented use of subtitles.

Life
When I had last written, I was desperately trying to organize an apartment hunt for my trip to DC, and was also waiting on security clearance for my job at the World Bank. Well, on Friday last week, I signed a lease and put the money down for a room in a small townhouse in Georgetown, which will cost $725 a month - including all utilities. For location it's pretty much as good as I could get within my budget, and I will hopefully be able to walk to work in 20 minutes (although the oppressive DC heat may force me to walk very, very slowly). The room is tiny. Scarily tiny. And to get to it, I have to walk through the living room, where an older Japanese lady will be sleeping. And there is no AC. Also, no laundry facilities, but apparently it is fairly easy to use the dorm ones down the road. So it's not going to be the easiest of living situations, but it is cheap and where I need it. The room also has a quaint attraction to it, with a skylight at the top of a wee staircase that leads to a roof 'patio' of which I have exclusive use. It could grow on me. In the worst case, I will be able to find another place in January, when Angelica comes back from Egypt. I must give props here to Robert Murphy, who let me sleep on the couch in his living room while I was in DC even though I wasn't there - a lifesaver. I was also helped by one of my potential landlords, who picked me up from the airport after I arrived in a strange new city. The generosity of people will never cease to amaze me. Oh, and a week later, I got security clearance from the World Bank, so I should be finalizing my start date within the next few days.

Pennsic
This was amazing. Something like 13,000 made a temporary medieval tent town, complete with a merchant quarter, battles, parades, music, and, of course, beer. Well, actually I drank a lot of other things, including liberal swigs of the Jameson that Angelica's father was sharing with me, as well as blueberry stout (it was, indeed, very good) and mead. After Angelica picked me up from DC, we spent a night at her house in Gettysburg where her mother very kindly put together a medieval wardrobe to last me for a week, which largely consisted of tunics and baggy pants. Then we drove four hours to a campground north of Pittsburgh called 'Cooper's Lake', where I joined the camp of Silver Phoenix Estmar and shared a tent with Angelica. From that point onwards, it was only fun. Some tableaux of the amazing experiences I had there: learning to shoot a longbow, studying the roots of Irish myth and legend, singing medieval folk music around a campfire...It is utterly impossible to capture the magic of the experience I had, and I am keen to join the group again next year. Two elements of my Pennsic experience deserve, I feel, further elaboration however. First, the food. Ah, it was unbelievable. Every evening one of the families in our camp would take responsible for the feast, and feast is the only word that can fittingly describe the elaborate meals everyone prepared. Between that, and enjoying the delicacies of Cathay and Arabia served up by wenches in the merchant quarter, my belly was never left hungry or dissatisfied. The other element is the drink. Though I brought none of my own, my mug was never empty, and indeed I carried it with me everywhere I went as hosts of the various camps I would visit throughout the day were always eager to fill it to the brim. One of the more memorable (or forgotten) nights involved a mysterious juice-like drink with bubbling pop rocks called the 'Creeping Death', served by gothically inspired belly dancers at a vampire conclave. Our own camp also had a swill off one afternoon, where something like 30 beers were tasted and compared, and after which I was left to doze off embarrassingly by the campfire. I also got to spend a wonderful amount of time with Angelica.

Partings
Unfortunately, some of the news I have to share from the last week is less than joyful. After leaving Pennsic, I had to leave Angelica, and she drove me to Shady Grove metro to say goodbye before I made my way to Reagan National Airport. I am going to miss her incredibly for the next few months, but I know that her experience in Egypt is going to be wonderful. I am very grateful we had so much fun together before she leaves. I love you babe!

The Flight Back
On the flight back, I had to make a connection in Montreal. It was a tight one, so I was sprint walking to my gate to make the boarding time. As I sit down to await the boarding announcement for the flight to Calgary, who do I see but Stephen Harper! Don't know who he is? Well, then you're not Canadian. He's leader of the Canadian conservative party, right now in opposition. Of course, I had to introduce myself, which I did, and we had an interesting, if brief, conversation before boarding was announced. Just as boarding begins, my name rings out over the intercom, and when I walk up to the boarding desk, the woman behind it gives me a free business class upgrade. Lucky eh? I guess they had a few extra seats. That was nice, but much more amazingly my seat was right next to Harper's, so I spent the three hour flight between Montreal and Calgary talking to him. Well, I talked to him for more like two, as he listened to his ipod for part of the flight, but a cool experience nonetheless. Apparently he will remember me as 'The world bank kid from the plane' should I ever send him an email inquiring about positions within the Conservative party.

Koch is dead
While I was on holiday, this also happened. The death of a legend, and a sad moment in history indeed. Hungry university students throughout Philadelphia shall lament his passing.

I feel I should end it there, before I get carpal-tunnel syndrome. I am sure I left out buckets of good stuff, but to be honest I myself am still reeling from the events of the last few days, and am having too much trouble recollecting my thoughts to put them down. Let me end by saying once more that is has been incredible. It was also evidently an excellent holiday, as I feel refreshed, relaxed, energized, and as though I have accomplished a great deal. Once more unto the breach!