Washington, DC: 1.11.2010

Washington, DC, where a strong January wind forces faces under scarves, pleasing the Northerners and torturing the Southerners. For indeed, The District is a city of immigrants like few others, as people come from all over the country and the world because they feel strongly about an issue, are very good at something, have an agenda, or just want to be a part of decisions that change lives.

The city embraces different arrivals in different ways, and the city they find can be very different for each of them. For every granite pillar, fine restaurant, and marble staircase there is a potholed street, misplaced wisdoms, a hungry family.

The District can be a very manageable Metropolitan area, with one of the nation's most efficient subways that allows for a relatively painless commute from isolated suburbs to off.

Also in Washington is a parallel universe, with those chosen few manipulating the cerebral cortex of many of the most consequential neural flows that alter the path of human history on a daily basis. For them, this city is a city of intrigue, of danger, big gains and big losses. It is, for the best, a chance to make a difference in an issue one cares about. At its worst, one can lose touch with the real life implications of the decisions being made. A sort of intellectual isolation can lead decision makers to a hypothetical world of political gamesmanship.

I exist somewhere in between. Information and money flows through my office on New York Ave, and across my desk, to countries around the globe, though my role is small.