Monday, July 26, 2010

U.S. Space Policy, Italian Embassy, Russia House, and Cafe Citron

Looking back on it, I had a very multi-cultural experience last Thursday. During the day, I continued some work I've been doing on comparing the House and Senate authorization bills for NASA's budget (this is exciting stuff in the policy world!), and in the afternoon, I helped run an event about the U.S. National Space Policy that was put on by the Space Foundation.

The event ended with a short reception, and it was nice to get to chat with people. Sadly, Tommy and I still had work to finish up, so we went from the reception back to the office.

From the office, we headed to the Italian Embassy for an event they were having celebrating the COSMO-Skymed program (a project their space agency is working on). The reception was nice - lots of champagne and some good food. I hung out with Tommy, Jaisha, Stephanie, and Tommy's friend Carlos. One thing I love about space policy receptions is that it almost feels like someone is just hosting a party for me and my friends - since these are the people I who I get together with outside of work anyway. Of course, we do network and meet other people in the space community, but that's fun too.

After the event at the embassy ended, we decided to go to Russia House, a bar in Dupont Circle. I'd never been there before, but I liked it. There was a guy playing the electric violin, which was very cool. Also, the vodka martinis were nice.

To round off the night, we went over to Cafe Salsa, which is just a few blocks from Russia House, for a bit of dancing. I think Cafe Citron has become my go-to bar for Thursday night dancing - they always seem to have good music and lots of people (but not too crowded).

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