Last Saturday was the Around the World Embassy Tour of many non-EU nations (their open houses are this coming Saturday). This is one of my favorite D.C. events every spring and convenient, since I live in the same neighborhood where many of the embassies are located. As I mentioned, I had a plan to hit five of the embassies I haven’t visited in the past, and I managed to squeeze in all five before the event concluded.

These are out of order from how I visited them, but likely in order of how many photos I’m going to show you.

First up we have the embassy of Micronesia:

Micronesia’s embassy is tucked into a row house next to a boutique hipster hotel off the main drag. I missed the Micronesian food (they were cleaning up the chafing dishes as I arrived near the end of the day), but they still had a display of some of their native fruit, as well as many types of handicrafts, including wood carving, weaving, macrame, and plant fiber arts.

Philippines

Embassies are at liberty as to how they receive their guests. Some open up much of their space, others join forces and rent out a public space (such as a hotel or a space at one of the colleges) to welcome the crowds, and still others opt to open their grounds, but not to deal with the hassle of letting the public into their buildings. The Philippines went this third route, devoting various outdoor displays to art, dancing, language (that’s Baybayin, an ancient native script that there’s a push to revive as the national written language), and food. I had a delicious candied sweet potato on a skewer for a snack.

Peru

Peru had food trucks and folk dancers outside (that’s their choreographer with them in the above shot) their corner mansion built originally as a private residence in 1910, and art, textiles, and alcoholic drinks inside. The Peruvians were very proud of their alpacas, as one should be because they are adorable and lusciously soft, and I made sure to get a shot of a knit garment for my crafty peeps.

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago had the most fun embassy I visited. They had a steel drum troupe performing for a while and after that, they had a dj blaring their local music (and embassy workers getting into a groove outside). They had a very enthusiastic crowd tender outside, where the line was still long. Inside there were lots of fun headdresses you could try on, samples of local candy, sodas, and alcoholic drinks. Trinidad and Tobago has never really been on my list of places to visit before, but after visiting their embassy it might now be.

Uzbekistan

The embassy of Uzbekistan was the first one I visited and my favorite of the day. The Beaux Arts mansion was built in 1909 as a private residence and purchased by the Uzbeks in 1992 (the Canadians owned it for about 50 years and the Australians owned the Peruvian embassy for a couple decades; it’s not uncommon to have embassies change hands over time). Uzbekistan was generous in how much space they allowed you to explore in their building, opening most of the first two floors to the public. My photo of that fireplace, located in the second floor hallway, does not do it justice. It is literally the largest fireplace I have ever seen and I probably could have laid down in it. And I really loved the mint-colored sitting room.

Here we have some of the musical instruments native to the culture, a traditional tea table, and a display of doppas. They also had a vibrant display of textiles and tapestries, but I didn’t notice the shot was blurry until later.

Finally, here are some of the beautiful paintings and stained glass on display throughout the building. There was a love of rich color and a sense of pride in both the people and the Muslim religion of much of the nation.

Thanks for heading around the world with me!