Kansas City, Part 1
I want to say, 'we're not in Kansas anymore,' but the truth is I never was...I'm on the Missouri side of Kansas City. It's Day 2, and this, my third NAFSA conference, has been a blast.
The flight out was made immensely easy, because Deb woke up at the same time I did (240 miles away), to start praying for me. Which was weird, because I woke up thinking, 'I feel strangely calm, but surely nobody is praying for me at this hour' and the thought popped into my head, 'you don't know what people will and won't do.' My flights were pleasantly uneventful. When I got to the hotel, the check-in lady said, 'we have a room on the 29th floor, is that okay? I know some people are afraid of heights.' and me, of course still hopped up (or is it down?) on Xanax, said, ehh, why not? Which turned out to be awesome, because every time I wait for the elevator, I have the most amazing view of KC. What stunk was that the (pricey) hotel room did not come equipped with a coffee maker. So I walked 1.1 miles (one way) to buy some instant coffee, only to return to the hotel to ask for a coffee mug - and to find out that they would deliver a coffee maker (and coffee) upon request.
I spent most of Tuesday meeting with partner schools, and enjoyed being my delightful self. Especially at the 12pm lunch with Ann from Germany. The fun part was that it took them 55 minutes to make our salads (and 3 tables that were seated after us were served before us)...so we got our lunch for free (because Ann had a 1pm appointment). I just wish I had ordered a bottle of chardonnay, or something. The best part was her pulling on white sneakers to her gray pencil skirt and button-up shirt so we could walk faster. Actually, no, the best part was being able to talk in German for an hour.
After a busy day, I drove back to the hotel and bought take-out dinner at Panera's. They were woefully unprepared for the Conference (no clue till I told them) and so they were out of anything I wanted to eat. But my server, a young girl named Marisol, wore a 'fill in the blank' name tag, that said 'I'm passionate about ' God. It was wonderful to me that people all around the country and from all over the world believe in my God and are proud to say so. And so I told her, I am passionate about God, too.
For the truth is, without prayer from my friends and without His grace, I would not have gotten here safely. I would not be enjoying my life to the fullest.
The flight out was made immensely easy, because Deb woke up at the same time I did (240 miles away), to start praying for me. Which was weird, because I woke up thinking, 'I feel strangely calm, but surely nobody is praying for me at this hour' and the thought popped into my head, 'you don't know what people will and won't do.' My flights were pleasantly uneventful. When I got to the hotel, the check-in lady said, 'we have a room on the 29th floor, is that okay? I know some people are afraid of heights.' and me, of course still hopped up (or is it down?) on Xanax, said, ehh, why not? Which turned out to be awesome, because every time I wait for the elevator, I have the most amazing view of KC. What stunk was that the (pricey) hotel room did not come equipped with a coffee maker. So I walked 1.1 miles (one way) to buy some instant coffee, only to return to the hotel to ask for a coffee mug - and to find out that they would deliver a coffee maker (and coffee) upon request.
I spent most of Tuesday meeting with partner schools, and enjoyed being my delightful self. Especially at the 12pm lunch with Ann from Germany. The fun part was that it took them 55 minutes to make our salads (and 3 tables that were seated after us were served before us)...so we got our lunch for free (because Ann had a 1pm appointment). I just wish I had ordered a bottle of chardonnay, or something. The best part was her pulling on white sneakers to her gray pencil skirt and button-up shirt so we could walk faster. Actually, no, the best part was being able to talk in German for an hour.
After a busy day, I drove back to the hotel and bought take-out dinner at Panera's. They were woefully unprepared for the Conference (no clue till I told them) and so they were out of anything I wanted to eat. But my server, a young girl named Marisol, wore a 'fill in the blank' name tag, that said 'I'm passionate about ' God. It was wonderful to me that people all around the country and from all over the world believe in my God and are proud to say so. And so I told her, I am passionate about God, too.
For the truth is, without prayer from my friends and without His grace, I would not have gotten here safely. I would not be enjoying my life to the fullest.
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