a long lunch at the hilton

10/20/2002:
just before 10pm here at the Hilton in Yaounde. mama will be gone in less than 24 hours. that still hasn't really sunk in. probably not until i get home. we had a pleasant lunch with Robert Strauss and his mother-in-law. a Lebanese-American woman of Syrian origin. she and moms got along well. she hasn't been back since the war. smart, well-spoken older lady. i liked her.

Robert and i spoke a lot at lunch (had the buffet here at the hotel). about peace corps, of course. but i felt good about all we talked about. ETs [early terminations], extending, PCVLs [peace corps volunteer leaders], GTTCs [govt teacher training colleges], APCDs [assoc peace corps directors], etc. etc. etc. he can talk! moms can talk! both told stories... it was a long lunch, 12:30-3:30pm. but, again, a very pleasant one.

i especially liked that Robert's mother-in-law was there. such a nice woman. she said that moms' ya3nees and yallas warmed her heart. that's funny, because Ibrahim asked about the former. Patrick actually made a song about the latter! Robert thought one was my nickname. mama, God bless her!

we ended the day at the mosquée in Tchinga. for isha' [evening prayers]. moms, too. then we sat down in the lounge and talked. a lot. about a lot. mama listened patiently. God bless her.

i plan to fast tomorrow, insha'Allah. 15 شعبان