Day Eight: Road Trip!

So there has been a recurring theme in this trip that I have neglected to tell you all about. This is my mission to introduce Monalisa to as much American food as possible. Ok well really we will come across something and I will ask if she has had that before. Usually the answer is no and I don't want to. Then the cajoling begins.

Well today we arrived early to our event at Dartmouth College. As we weren't so far from Vermont, of course there was a Ben and Jerry's. Naturally I decide that Monalisa should try some Ben and Jerry's.

Let me preface this with the fact that a) its freezing and b) its raining. Now I always thought I hated cold weather more than anyone else. I was incredibly wrong -- so very incredibly wrong. Monalisa HATES cold weather. So this New England leg was proving to be a bit of a climatic challenge.

After much cajoling and promising that it is amazing ice cream I finally convinced her to try the ice cream. She thought it was delicious ... or at least that's what she said. Now if only I could get her to try hushpuppies!


I would write about the actual event with the Dartmouth students but I missed it while searching for a parking place on campus. You can read about it here.

And now continues the driving portion of our trek. After Dartmouth we drove to Rutland, VT and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

We had our second to last on the road event at an absolutely beautiful Unitarian Church. I have been absolutely floored at each on of these events at all the different types of people that turn out. in some cases the organizers seem surprised at their turn out. It amazes me how much compassion I have seen on this tour. I have left each event feeling warm and good about the world. I suppose that's odd given the topics being discussed -- domestic violence, harsh gender inequality, HIV/AIDS and death -- but every person I encounter after these talks gives me hope.

I think more than anything this is what the tour is about. Hope in humanity; hope that we can and will do better; that we can and will look beyond abstinence only as a prevention strategy; that we can and will stand up for those who cannot and that we can and will stop this pandemic once and for all.