so i'm in a hostel in DC, which is pretty decent, except that i have to lock everything up before i go to the toilet all the time, which can get pretty annoying at times. washington is a nice place, especially near the monuments, because there're so many cops and so much security, you kinda know it's the safest place in america to be, unless someone feels like bombing it.

so i'm short of sleep, doing my essay, and got bored. met dee's friend esther, had a great tour of congress, and wandered around town, checked out monuments and holocaust museum (there's a story in that). and you realise why they're so big on liberty. symbols are powerfully persuasive sometimes, so even though you're cynical enough to think that human rights and liberty don't exist, for that brief period, standing at the top of the washington monument or lincoln memorial, or where martin luther king jr. made his speech, those doubts are suspended. and you kinda believe in the possible salvation of mankind. and begin to hope. at least, until you pop by the holocaust museum and realise how screwed up the world was, is, and always will be.

okay. but it's always nice to believe in human rights and freedom. after all, countless wars have been fought over and for it, and we don't want all those bloodshed and deaths to be for nothing do we? this whole human rights issue reminds me of something i read somewhere before. our greatest tragedy is that we're ultimately doomed to failure, yet our greatest triumph is that we never stop trying.

sigh. the lack of sleep must be screwing with my brain. 20 hr bus ride on greyhound to kingston tomorrow. somebody save me.