I'm hosting a conference

I'm hosting a conference this week. That's why I haven't been my usual blog visiting self or if I do visit I leave short comments if none at all. No time, sorry. Even posting is going to be short.

So Thanksgiving morning I received an email from a gentleman from the University of the West Indies explaining that he couldn't register for the conference online so could he bring a check to pay for it when he got to Houston on Wednesday. I said sure and that we would be happy to register him when he got here. Now, I've gotten a couple of emails from people out of the country saying that they wanted to come then I didn't hear anything from them again and I thought that was the case this time. 

I was so wrong.

Wednesday at 10am I get a call from security, who says;"there is a man here that says he is going to some sort of conference and that you would be able to help him". Uh, yeah, that one took me back a minute. Then I thought; it couldn't be. 

Yep, it was my gentleman from the West Indies. And, he is not at all like I hoped thought he would be. I had visions of a guy with dreads saying, "Yo mon" and smelling faintly of dope. Nope, he's a quiet gentleman that is here in the U.S. for the first time in his life and a little out of his league in the big city of Houston,Texas. This place must be total culture shock for him. Not to mention that he hasn't taken his thick heavy coat off since he rolled into town (as far as I could tell). Obviously, to make him real comfortable we'll have to turn the air conditioning down or up or whatever to make it warmer. Granted, it has been cold the last couple of days but today it will be in the low 70s. Hopefully, he'll warm up. He's just adorable and has the sweetest accent ever.

We are trying to make him feel at home without using stereotypes, so I haven't pulled out my Bob Marley cds or found a wig with dreads. Though I may be willing to smell faintly of dope. (I kid. sort of).

What I have been pushing for is the idea that he/his library should host next year's conference. I told him that I would come a couple of weeks early to check out the venue, set up all the tables (around the bar) and make his hosting of this annual conference easy for them. 

Aren't I just the most self-sacrificing person? 

My Dean was all for the idea and volunteered herself to make the opening remarks. She felt that with enough lead time on the island, she could welcome people to Jamaica with the best of them. I told her that I really appreciated her support in this effort. 

My Jamaican gentleman just smiles at me and acts like he doesn't understand. Why is that?

I see librarians trying to keep sand out of their laptops here.

What do you see?

Love,

M

PS; Pseudo does this travel meme on Thursday. I think I'll link up over there. Come check out the other travel post. 

Photo courtesy of Jamaica photos. not like they gave it to me. I sort of ripped it off their site though I do feel responsible enough to give them credit. That's only fair. It's that fair play mentality that I suffer with as a middle child, sometimes it rears it's ugly head. Everything has to be fair. Probably, due to the fact that little was. Okay, I have to go say my "life is not fair" mantra now.