One of the things I'm really enjoying about Washington D.C. is the diversity. Walking down the street, or sitting in a restaurant, or riding on the Metro (subway), or anything else, you pass people from all over the world. They are speaking all kinds of languages.
To some of you, that might sound kind-of annoying. I promise it's not. It's beautiful. It takes me back to the foundation of our great nation, when people came here from all over the world, shared their culture and their language and their experiences, and built this amazing country together. And now, today, we're still melting; there are still migrants coming from all over the world to build a life here.
As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, we went to Arlington Cemetery on Monday. (I need to do a whole separate post on Arlington, I know!) One of the things I noticed was all the different languages... even though it was a cemetery! There were tourists from many different countries who were visiting our nation's most prominent military cemetery. I passed a group of Asian youths admiring the Iwo Jima monument; a Hispanic family watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns; a Moroccan man enjoying the view from Arlington House; a French couple taking pictures at Kennedy's grave; and more.
You literally cannot walk down the street without hearing several different languages.
The workers at the hotel come from many different places. There are a lot of Indian people (not Native American Indian, but India Indians). In fact, of the dozen or so restaurants near the hotel, 3 of them are Indian food. The Hispanic people here come from a lot of different places -- not just Mexico.... so even the diversity is more diverse than at home :o)
So, my point is just this: As white people speaking English, we're part of the minority here, and I LOVE IT. It's educational and humbling. And it's beautiful.
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