My New Adventure Begins

Life can be overwhelming and we all cope with it in different ways. I take trips. But it is getting harder and harder to travel, it's a challenge at the best of times. Patience is required, as is tolerance. Not sure how much longer I will take off on these adventures. But for now I have this one to accomplish.

The good news is that I had a plane ticket this time, so I was off to a good start. I'm in Washington DC, well actually at the Marriott near Dulles. I always stay here on the way to Europe but the last time I had a terrible teeny bathroom and told the reception manager I wouldn't be back because of that. She said she would be sure I got a nicer room the next time I came. So I decided to give it one more chance and I will NOT be back! The room is larger but the air conditioner isn't working well and the room is hot. The bathroom is ridiculously small and the price outrageous. My little voice said to go to the hyatt, but I thought I should give this one a chance, next time I listen to that voice!

However, I am sitting in the bar lounge area which is the only place there is wifi and I have never seen it so crowded! There are probably over 100 black people wandering around and visiting. I hear accents and another language or two or three. My curiousity got the best of me and I went to the reception desk to ask what is going on. Well my hotel is filled with people from all over the US and from Tanzania here to celebrate the 50th anniversary of tanzanias independence! The president of Tanzania arrives tomorrow! What a thrill this is! For quite a while I just sat and listened and watched. People are constantly walking in and finding friends and there is a lot of smiles and hugging. There is a man in a green jacket covered with medals and I'm wondering if he is the president, but I'm going to control myself and not go ask who he is. It is all just fascinating. I talked to a man and lady I was sitting next to and asked what language they were speaking and they said they speak Swahili so I got to practice the two words I know...jambo means hello and moja means one. Those are the name of two books i always read to the kids when I taught about Africa. They taught me Asante which means thank you. And that is the limit of my Swahili!

I was sitting next to an American man so I asked if he knew what was going on and he said he had seen tanzanias flag so was guessing it had something to do with them. I was impressed, I wouldn't know their flag! Turns out he was a navy pilot and has been to over 80 countries. We started talking and he now is working for Boeing and told me about a rocket class he teaches at local schools in the Seattle area. Wow, a rocket scientist too! He gave me his card and i am sure i will email him, he offered to help find someone to teach a rocket class at my school if anyone there is interested. Here I am again, collecting people, as Christina says. A lot for just a couple hours into my trip!

The crowd is thinning out now and my eyes are closing, so I think the night is over and the adventure has begun!

Here we go again! Welcome to my new adventure!

Well, I had a surprise in store for me. Four Tanzinian men sat down by me as I was finishing up and we started talking. They asked if I was with the group, I felt honored and said no, I was an outsider enjoying the whole experience. Well, it turns out one of them is the president of the group and we talked about the places he has chosen to meet and I asked if he had considered Denver and he said he would if I would promise to attend if they met there. I said of course I would and maybe we could have them speak at my school if they came. They were all so kind and we had a great conversation, very interesting men! Next thing I knew he took out his business card and said to write him. And he got my email too. Then one of the men said there was a lady there I had to meet and took me over to introduce me to the other only white person in the room. She was a college teacher, took a group of students to Tanzania and fell in love with it and came back and quit her job and she lives over there part of the year working in a small village. They were trying to convince me to go visit and said that I would have more friends than I could imagine, the people are so very kind there. Well they were sure kind here! I'm so impressed with them, what a delightful surprise experience this was! And this is the joy of travel for me! Meeting fascinating people around the world...maybe this is what I'm supposed to be doing. Maybe my next trip is supposed to be Tan zan eee(accent) ah. Maybe not, but now I'm tired and really going to bed. Maybe I'll see my Tanzanian friends again tomorrow.

Sweet African dreams...