D.C. is lively and thriving. D.C. is friendly and beautiful. D.C. is jazzy and historic. D.C. is full of excitement and people from every walk of life with a different story or perspective worth sharing.

Being in a new city is a great excuse for friends to visit, and having a friend visit is a great excuse to explore the depths of said new city. A couple weeks ago, a friend that I met through my fall semester study abroad experience came to DC to visit me, and as any good friend would, I became a tourist with her.

We took a tour of “Black Broadway”, near Howard University, where tribute is payed to African American artists like Marvin Gaye, Chuck Brown, Sister Rosetta Tharpe , and Aretha Franklin. We learned about the fight it took to keep Go-Go alive – a genre that originated from The District, and joined our fellow tourists for lunch at Ben’s Chili Bowl, a Black owned restaurant originating in 1958 known for keeping the community together and for the famous D.C. half smoke. It was over chili dogs that we shared conversation and heard the beautiful love story between the couple that joined us on the tour.

Mural from Black Broadway tour on U Street

We also took a food tour through Georgetown, an extremely gentrified area of The District, attracting foodies from all over. However, this gentrification was met with philanthropy through a bakery called Dog Tag Inc., dedicated to providing education through Georgetown University and employment for service-disabled veterans and their families. Not to mention that their cookies were absolutely delicious too.

Food tour in Georgetown

Not only are tours a great way to meet the people traveling through the streets of Washington, but Lyft and Uber rides also proved to be a great way to meet fellow visitors and locals of the DMV (District, Maryland, and Virginia).

I’ve met people from all over the U.S. and even the world, just by sitting in the back seat of their car. One man who came to the U.S. “looking for a gold coin on the sidewalk”, told my friend and I that our friendship was beautiful after telling him that we met while studying abroad. He proceeded to tell us to cherish it forever because people just don’t make meaningful relationships as easily when they get older. Another driver, a woman, gave me life advice on my way to the International Airport to welcome IREX Fellows from all over Africa to the U.S. She graduated high school at 16 years old and was very accomplished in her professional life. She told me that instead of trying to live around working, one should learn how to work around living. Advice that I will never forget.

Another man I met who was willing to share a new perspective with me was a security guard at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. He was generous enough to share his point of view of the art that he observes on a daily basis for hours on end. He gave me my own personal tour saying, “This artist is very particular about everything she does, even the lighting”. Without him, I never would have noticed how the shadows on the wall are really the center of the art and not the sculpture, or how the way you tilt your head could reveal a completely new piece. And now I’m going back to see him when the new exhibit comes out at the end of this month.

Artwork from National Museum of Women in the Arts by Ursula Von Ridingsvard

It’s through these experiences that I have been able to learn about and experience the real D.C. The lively, and thriving, and friendly D.C. These experiences bring joy to my little heart, which thrives off of meeting new people; hearing their stories; and learning things that are not taught in schools, whether it be life lessons or history. Everyone here has a story, and I will take every chance I can get to listen and learn.