Last week I volunteered to work at a symposium on the world's Least Developed Countries. The promise of attendance to the panels and a free lunch was enough to entice me to travel the 1.5 hour by bus and subway to the hotel it was being held; by the time I found out I had to be there at 8 AM, it was too late to back out.
I spent much of the day standing in the lobby shepherding interesting-looking guests to the interesting-sounding forums about development upstairs, wishing I was somewhere near a chair. I did get to go to a panel about South-South cooperation in the afternoon, however-- I won't bore you with the details but I thought it was great.
Lunch was also fantastic, almost worth the whole trip-- spring rolls, kebabs, and eclairs. Fantastic.
I also saw the President of Bangladesh-- I guess he went to one of the panels I missed, but he walked through the lobby on his way out. Now how many of you can say you've been within a dozen feet of the president of a small nation on the Indian subcontinent?
Finally, I'd like to thank Starbucks for unofficially sponsoring my early morning travels. Couldn't have done it without you!
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