Travel Pleasantries and Future Challenges! - Thursday, 26 January

I started my posts for this trip by complaining about how much I dislike the actual traveling part of a vacation.  I was going to augment those thoughts by grousing about a group of American teenagers who were on my flight back home and who were all chatty and giggly and disturbing the peace of old codgers like myself.

But then, about an hour into the flight after I had gotten up to go to the restroom and perambulate the cabin, a woman who saw me walking down the aisle came to my seat and said hello.  It turns out that she was an old acquaintance who teaches at Bethel University, my alma mater, and who was the leader of said group of chatty teenagers who were just returning from their January term abroad in Jordan and Israel!  What a delightful coincidence!  And to make matters even better, she said "how appropriate to run into you on a flight from Paris" since she had been one of the guests at a series of French dinner parties I gave many years ago.  She then went on to talk about how significant those dinners were for her and her family - piquing their interest in international cultures (which now includes places like Jordan - wow!) and introducing them to the pleasures and the art of long dinner parties where the entertainment is the cuisine and the conversation.  This was most gratifying and encouraging and challenging for me.  

I've started "cooking up" ideas for retirement endeavors (for not too many years from now!) and even got a brainstorm or two while I was in Paris.  I will just end the blog posts for this trip on that note, inviting you to stay tuned for the continuing adventures of "Mariellen, la Parisienne!"