All that before stuff.

So I didn't really write all that much leading up to the trip (I promise to really try and keep up while I'm here! blogging is actually kind of fun), but let me go back really quickly-- I'm at an Internet cafe here and they charge by the hour and after finishing my last post, I'm in the middle of an hour.
So I had to travel down to DC to get my visa. I could have mailed it in, but that takes a few days and there really was a time crunch, my parents and I were leaving for LA on Sunday and the earliest the visa could be processed was the Monday before. So, I headed down to DC. But of course there were complications. People are always telling me that I don't give myself enough time and I'm beginning to recognize that that can be true. So not only did I miss the train I had planned to take (the MARC runs between Baltimore Penn and Washington Union Station Monday through Fridays), but I didn't have passport photos with me, something I knew as my mom drove me to the station. The issue was that if I wanted same day processing for my visa, I had to get it there by 11, but my the time I got to DC it was after ten and I still needed my photo take. (I had scheduled an appointed for 9.40 and I even called to say that I was running late, but as I found out when I got there, you really don't need an appointment you just have to drop off your visa application-- which you can do there-- your passport, a copy of proof of residence which they will charge you to copy if you don't come with a copy, and you have to pay up front.) Thank god for the iPhone because I simply googled passport photo DC and punched in the address. The one flaw I see in the directions that the iPhone gives you is that it can't (to the best of my knowledge) take into account the subway. And then there is the issue of the literal direction, for some reason I can never figure out exactly which way I am supposed to be going and this inevitably costs me valuable minutes. So I missed the 11 cut off and proceeded to wander around Georgetown. (The Indian embassy, while on Embassy row in DuPont Circle, outsources it's visa branch to a company on Wisconsin, write by the waterfront in Georgetown). Unfortunately, Georgetown cupcake was closed on Monday, but have no fear I got on on Tuesday when I went back to pick up my visa.
List of things I forgot (yes, I did wait until the last minute to pack, I'm not denying it and that's the first step):
white lacoste baseball cap
excessive ruppees from last trip (yes, I changed over money at the airport but I didn't that was going to be a possibility and in any country you should always have pocket change)
recorder (while I did bring my chuncky cassette-wielding recorder from my piano days, not only did I fail to bring re-placement cassettes, I also didn't look into a new digital recorder and after my brother Chris offered me his, I realized at the last minute I didn't have the installation CD to download the appropriate software to my laptop)
camera bag (Katie Credit, yours is so cool, and it makes you look more professional!)
white pants (although it's not too hot for jeans)
bathrobe (I still think I packed it)