I know I just posted the other day, but I have a good story. So I made it out for a run this morning even though I was not very motivated to get out of bed. As a concession I ran a shorter, flatter 7-mile loop rather than the hilly 8-miler I had planned. I still wasn't feeling very good about 2.5 miles into the run but then I saw a guy coming the other way down the road also running. I gave him a friendly wave and he turned to come with me, which happens on a fairly regular basis here as there aren't that many people running. Company is always nice. So we start chatting and he figures out pretty quickly that I am American. Not too tough to do, but he starts telling me how he used to know a bunch of Peace Corps volunteers. Again, nothing too unusual as the Peace Corps has been here since 1967 or so and tends to keep between 80 and 100 volunteers in a rather small country. Many people here have been taught by or lived in the same village as a Peace Corps volunteer and they do some good work.
Where the story turns is when he told me where they were from: New Jersey, Grinnell, Iowa, (someplace I didn't hear because my ears were burning). I interrupted him and asked if he knew Ntate George and 'Me Sue and he said YES! I couldn't believe it (for those who don't know, 'Ntate George' is George Drake, my undergraduate advisor who was here with his wife in the Peace Corps 1991-93 at St. Rodrigue and he was the instrumental is setting up the teaching program there that I did in 2002). Turns out he was in school at St. Rodrigue primary when George and Sue were there and he used to come visit them. His family would also lend one of their horses to Sue so she could get to some of the mountain primary schools so she could run workshops for the teachers. They also helped him through high school by putting him in touch with a group called Friends of Lesotho (http://www.friendsoflesotho.org) that helps students in Lesotho with school fees.
So we ran together for 4 or 5 miles chatting away and having a great time. The timing of it all and the close connections really turned around the run and made my day a great one. It really is the personal connections that make living away from home and doing mostly solitary work worth it. Stay well.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
That is SOOOOO neat! Doesn't it just really make the world seem so connected? :D
I have a web site where I give advise on penny stocks and stocks under five dollars. I have many years of experience with these type of stocks. If theirs anyone interested in these type of stocks you can check out my web site by just clicking Penny stocks. I would like to comment about the future of the stock market theirs always bargains in the stock market you just have to be willing to take the time to find them. Speaking of stocks under one dollar that worked out for me. I recently sold my shares in vonage holdings corporation for 5 dollars. I bought the shares in 2009 for 37 cents. This was a rare exception to the general rule most of the stocks trading under 1 dollar are not good investments. The way that you find low priced stocks that are worthy investments is to have as much knowledge and experience as possible about these type of securities. Only than can you profit tremendously from these stocks.
Post a Comment