Pros

Since I've already made a list of what I don't like, here are the things I do like about commuting:

1. Time to read. I've already read "Malinche" by Laura Esquivel, "The Bolivian Diary" by Ernesto "Che" Guevara, and am halfway through "News of a Kidnapping" by Gabriel García Márquez.
I've enjoyed all three, but would have to say that "News of a Kidnapping" is hands down my favorite. García Márquez's fiction is brilliant, but his nonfiction is better in my opinion. You can see how the journalist and the novelist in him combine to weave together this seamless story, talking about the real experiences of these Colombian hostages and their families in 1990. What a time to read it, too, because of the recent release of hostages in Colombia! Granted, this situation was different because the hostages I'm reading about where held by Pablo Escobar, while the others were held by the FARC, but it still seems to relevant.

2. The stretch of track between L'Enfant Plaza and the Pentagon.
You go from a tunnel to the brilliance of day over the Potomac. The sun paints the surface of the river with silver light that makes me think of Río de la Plata in Argentina. You can see the cars on the 14th Street Bridge as they come into the city from VA or vice versa. And it's a nice long stretch, with all this beautiful natural light and the river below. I love it.

3. People watching
'Nuff said.

So I guess there are only three, but they should count. ;)