criplomats

John cooking crab cakes

John has said that since he’s finished with War College, he’s going to learn to cook, and I am thrilled about that! He went to a knife class at a local cooking school while I was in Suriname, and used his newfound skills to spatchcock a chicken (cutting up a whole one), braise, and bake it for me Friday night. It was delicious!

Last night we went to “date night” at the culinary school and we had a blast. There were eight couples. We made crab cakes with lime-cilantro cream, Mexican corn salad, pork belly tacos, vinegared onions, and chocolate mousse – it was so much fun!

At cooking school

This week I was in a visa class, and we were at FSI the first two days of the week. It was fun to run into old friends out there!

Drempel, the Dutch word for speed bump – you see a LOT of them in Suriname

I spent the week in Paramaribo, flying down Monday and returning Saturday. The flight back was grueling, leaving the hotel at 2:30AM and not getting home until 7:30 PM – but I made it! It was a great trip and we got a lot done.

Fruit stand, Paramaribo

Leaving Paramaribo in the wee hours of the morning

We’re so happy Rick and Claire are living in DC! Claire went back to England to see her family for a few weeks, but Rick came over for lunch last Saturday and spent the afternoon just hanging out with us. Today we all went to Great Falls and walked along the Potomac and the canal for a couple of hours – it was a beautiful day. We saw lots of great blue herons and turtles along the way, and deer on the way home!

Part of the falls

Rick and John at the falls

Along the canal

Along the canal

Along the canal

With Rick

Rick at the falls

With Wendy and John

John and I went kayaking yesterday with our friends Wendy and Nick – Wendy was working in Tijuana while I was in Guadalajara and we became friends. Their subdivision in Falls Church has a lake, and they invited us for a morning kayaking outing – it was really fun. The lake was calm, and we saw turtles, great blue herons, a muskrat (!), a little green heron, and a snake! Really fun! Afterward we had lunch at Mad Fox in downtown Falls Church.

On Thursday, my old friend Lee Ivory from Hot Springs met me downtown for lunch at Tonic – we’ve been trying to get together since I arrived last year, and it finally happened! We had a great time catching up – the last time I saw him was in 2010. Time flies!

With Lee

Last Sunday John and I went to Rock Creek Tennis Center to watch the finals of the Citi Open Tennis tournament. We saw Zverev win the men’s title, and Kuznetsova for the women’s. Zverev is #3 in the world, and Kuznetsova is a former Grand Slam winner (French and U.S. Open) – good tennis!

Friday I took the day off and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I went to Macy’s and did some sale shopping, and got my nails done. I felt like a lady of leisure!

Full moon

It’s been quite rainy all week, so yesterday’s sun was a welcome (but hot!) sight.  Claire introduced me to a huge flea market in Courthouse – we had a blast poking through all the stuff.  I ended up with a lovely new pen hand-tooled by a former ambassador who had a little booth set up there, and Claire found a washbowl and pitcher – success!

Afterward, John and I took the Circulator (my favorite mode of transportation here!) up to U Street.  We had a delish Mexican brunch, then poked around some stores before heading home.

We’ve been watching “Sharp Objects” on HBO this week, based on a Gillian Flynn book we read several years ago; we also enjoyed “Beirut” and totally loved Patricia Clarkson in “The Party.”

Last Sunday, Rick and Claire came for burgers along with Rick’s darling, smart daughter Erin – we’re so happy to have them in DC!

Good thoughts going to to Mike Bobo’s mom, Liz, who’s in the hospital in Ft. Worth.

Liz and Ramona – doing our hairs, Hope, AR circa 1980

Liz and Ramona – doing our hairs