Leaving on a Jet Plane

Well, Actually I already left on the jet plane! Wonderful Edwin and Frances picked me up after both dogs were delivered to their new, temporary homes, and they took me to the airport. It was so nice to have a ride and not have to deal with the parking and waiting and the ride. And Frances sent me on my way with a sample of her macaroni salad she was taking to the picnic I couldn't attend tonight. She had it all packed for travel with a spoon and a sweet note from her family and from Bram and Meli! What a fun new friend she is!

So I get on the plane and of course I at least had to say hello to the lady next to me. We chatted for a bit and I was fascinated with her life. She works for the National Olympic Committee and flies around the world, over 100,000 miles worth a year and this year 200,000 she told me, to do something with the sports performance department. I'm not sure exactly what that means, but it does sound very important. I found out she speaks Russian and Spanish too, so yes, you guessed it, I asked her to visit my school and maybe do a presentation for the older kids about an interesting career in International Business and she was interested in the new school we are opening that will be offering Russian. At the end of our trip I gave her my business card and was happy when she also offered me hers. She was on her way to Frankfurt and then would be in Athens by Monday morning to work for a week.

DC airport has changed from my not so happy memories of it on Christmas Eve. The people movers are only in a couple of terminals now and there is a very, very long walk to get to the trains that take you around. Nice trains, lots of work and the airport looks great. I got to my hotel with no problems and after putting my suitcases away I left to come have dinner and write my blog. I walked out my door and there was a lady putting masking tape all over the door across the hall from me. Strange sight, a first for me! I asked if she was a teacher because she was calling into the room, "Lights out girls!" Yes she was, and she is here with 150 5th graders from Tennessee on an AAA DC trip. I never saw anything like it. She was a delightful teacher and I had to laugh as I walked down the hall and all the doors had various arrangements of tape so they would know if anyone left their rooms. very funny! And now I am headed to dinner and a good night's sleep.

Tomorrow I may head to the Smithsonian for an hour or so since I've never been there. I'm nervous about taking the city bus for a 45 minute ride but if I can ride a tram in Belgium to Osgaard, or somewhere like that, where no one spoke English, I can probably find my way from my airport hotel to town.

Tomorrow evening I leave for Roma!! Pasta, pizza and gelato are calling my name!