History and Geography

This year was no different in many respects in that it introduced me to whole host of new events and places along with interactions with people from various ethnic and cultural and financial backgrounds. It is indeed amazing to witness all this diversity and feel lucky to live without facing severe hardship as I once did. Here is a quick summary of things I remember and people I met.. A chance encounter with a native of Kurdistan one day in San Francisco was interesting as it told of the human spirit and ingenuity in face of decades of war. This person happened to trade in heavy earth moving equipment sales from San Diego to his native region in war torn Iraq. He explained that his culture strongly believed that they have their own place although it's viewed as Iraq by the rest of the world. Then there was the hour long chat with the descendant of Royalty that ruled the islands of Hawaii a century ago. This on public transit that I was riding with a grandmother heading home to the north shore of Oahu. Although not originally of the King's lineage but warriors that protected him, she explained how at some point there had been marriage between their family and a descendant of the King's. Also a causally informal chat with the sitting Mayor of Honolulu as he hurried to (clearly not sitting then) grab a sandwich at lunch. I was roaming the grounds of the city offices being something of an architecture buff. This harried gent steps out with aloha attire and starts out. I decide to inquire of the history with someone that looks like he belonged there. He explained what I was asking about and then introduced himself as the outgoing (in a few days since the election results had just come in) Mayor of Honolulu. Warm and engaging this former attorney also was explaining that he had been to Goa, considered as sister city to understand how they had laid their railway. You see Honolulu is looking to put down its first ever commercial rail operation if all goes to plan. Then there were numerous encounters with the mild and friendly peoples of Malaysia and Singapore. We vacationed this summer in the isles and were impressed with all they have achieved while maintaining a quiet calm and sing song language to go with it. I also had the opportunity to reconnect with some long lost (not literally) cousins from decades past and relive some fond memories as they visited the USA. Some adventures also included watching how fortune cookies got made - in a dingy and old house on a hill in San Francisco by septuagenarian folks of Chinese descent. Made some new friends / acquaintances at a house warming party hosted by one of my blogger friends. Amazed and awed to witness large scale entrepreneurial zest amongst the silicon ex pats. Many have started and sold what they began for tidy sums and continued on with even more starts. Of course during all this I committed myself to continue blogging and not faze against the headwinds of daily routines that at times can be draining. The family was lucky to enjoy good health and continues to plan the next encounter/ adventure to a land not seen before.