Smiling

I spent most of the day today relaxing with a smile on my face from the great time I had yesterday. Sally Lawton and I left very early on Saturday, drove to New Haven and took the train into NYC for the day. Everything went about a smoothly as could be imagined and we had a great time. Our train was delayed a bit due to a signaling problem, but that just meant that we met up with Jakobo in Grand Central Station and could share a taxi in the rain to the UEA New York office by the UN. That's where our adventure started.

I think most people in the US would be astonished to discover there was an office at the UN for the World Esperanto Association. It's not much -- just a desk in an office shared with 4 other non-profits. Neil Blonstein has been running the office since the autumn, taking over after the previous person had to step down due to health. We signed the guestbook and looked through the past 30 years of signatures to see what names we recognized -- a who's-who of Esperantism.

After taking a group photo in the office, walked back to Grand Central Station in the rain and got a cup of coffee while we sorted out what to do next. Eventually, we decided to navigate to the place where we were supposed to meet people for lunch. We got to Zaro's a bit early for lunch, but that gave us plenty of time to get situated and chat with folks. There were maybe 12 or 15 of us in all. We had a cheerful lunch chatting happily. Eventually, we decided to push on to the Natural History Museum for a while in the afternoon. There seemed to be big crowds and it took us a long time to navigate there. We walked around for a bit in the museum and eventually ended up having a soda in the food court.

For dinner, we had planned to go to the Esperanto Cafe -- a well-known restaurant in Greenwich Village. We got there in good order, but found it full with no-where to sit. After I looked at the menu, I suggested we go across the street to the Mexican restaurant. They had a fabulous spot right at the front with a two couches right in front of a big window. We could watch people go by, keep on alert for people to arrive at the Esperanto Cafe, and stretch out and relax in comfort and style. We got some margaritas and appetizers. Mauro said he'd never had Mexican food before. I asked him if he knew what a margarita was. He said, "Yes, I know what Margherita is." I pointed out that a margarita was something else.

Eventually, Sally and I got Neil to lead us back to the right subway station and we arrived at Grand Central Station. Checking the departures, it looked like we had missed the earlier train to New Haven, but we rushed to the track anyway just in case. The train was still there and, when we arrived, the conductor said they were pulling out in about 20 seconds. We just made it.

It was a fabulous day in Esperantujo and I've spent the whole following day basking in the good spirits I have from the special connection that Esperanto brings to my life. There's something special about Esperanto. When Jakobo mentioned to folks he was thinking about staying over, one of the other esperantists said, "I'm leaving to spend a few days with my fiancee, but here's my key -- you can just stay at my place." It's really something the invisible bonds that tie people together. They may be invisible, but if you could feel the bonds that Esperanto makes, they'd be warm and fuzzy.