DC

Wow! My first trip to our nation's capital in the past eight years where I ddin't have to stand outside the White House and give our Comander and Chief the one finger salute. "I salute you!" I must have walked past the White House about five times on this trip and each time had little goose bumps running up and down my arms. I hope I can hold on to that feeling. It is hard to be so ashamed of the place you are from, especially when one finds themself traveling outside the country as much as I do. You see when I travel I am often subjected to an intense and exasperating question-and-answer period. Being from the US I am the expert on all things American, the final word on a subject that almost never loses its appeal. When answering, I often find myself hedging, qualifying. "Well, this is true for some Americans …" and "Well, that depends …" During the regime of W I dreaded when the conversation would turn to politics. There are some evil things you just can't explain away and all you can do is apologize. Anyway, I'm off in a few days back to Indonesia- this time to the island of Bali. Hot dang I can't wait!