On Thursday last week, I drove to Boston and then spent the night. On Thursday, PHENOM held a rally at the statehouse to kick off this year's push to get the state to fix and fund higher education and to make it more affordable. Massachusetts has done a very poor job of supporting public higher education over the past 20 years: the buildings are falling apart, funding has declined in both absolute and real terms, and fees have increased something like 300%. The main needs-based financial aid program, Massgrant, used to cover 80% of a student's tuition and fees -- now its something like 15%. Ellen Story spoke briefly and encouraged students to stay active in politics.

Afterwards, I headed for the Hynes Convention Center to register for AAAS and then hooked up with Jim Lieberman and José Antonio Vergara -- an Esperanto-speaker who was visiting from Chile. In the morning, he was part of a panel of speakers on the problem of English-only science. Afterwards, we visited the exhibition and then I went with him to the T stop to get off for an engagement at MIT -- someone came and met him there and I continued on and came home.

On Saturday, I picked Jose up in Boston. I met him at Alewife and had dinner at Bertuccis before we drove to Amherst. I had never been around the far side of the Alewife building and had no idea there was a Bertucci's right there. He was pleased to discover that the wait staff at Bertucci's could mostly speak Spanish.

On the drive home, we stopped on the scenic overlook by the Quabbin to look at the stars. The sky is really beautiful up there. I showed him Orion, Taurus, Canis Major, Ursa Major, and Polaris. We didn't stay out long because it was freezing.

When we arrived at the house, Penny started barking fiercely when he carried in his big bag. He was pleasantly surprised to see that we have a boxer dog because he has one too. Her name is Amanda -- he said she looks a lot like Penny, but she's a bit younger and still has a black muzzle.

On Sunday, we had a lunch for the local Esperanto-speakers. Unfortunately, several of the local folks couldn't/didn't come. Still, it was a warm and friendly gathering. Mary Carey came from the gazette and took lots of notes with the intention of writing an article for the newspaper.

After lunch, we drove to the Apple Store so Jose could get an iPhone for a friend back in Chile. After a quick stop at Barnes and Noble to look longingly one last time at the books, we hit the road for the train station in New Haven. We arrived with just enough time to buy a ticket and run for the tracks -- of course, it was the very last track. We got there with seconds to spare -- just enough time for a hug and then he was gone. Now he's on his next adventure in NYC having dinner at the Esperanto Cafe. Tomorrow, he flies back to Chile.

It was great to have the several days to talk about Esperanto and about ourselves. We remarked on what an amazing invention Esperanto was: we've both had experiences that I couldn't imagine being possible any other way. The Esperanto community really is "unu rondo familia" just like Zamenhof envisioned. Wherever he is, I think Zamenhof would be pleased with Esperanto today and to see that his invention more than 100 years ago still brings people together.