I have just received a very pleasant news, that I will be going to Washington DC in December for the annual FulbrHyatt, DCight FLTA Conference. It is not a totally unexpected news, but coming today, it is a pleasant beacon of warm hope waiting for me in the city of the Capitol.

Illinois is getting really cold, as we approach the last days of the fall season. Today in class my students kindly informed me that I should start doing my shopping for leather boots and hats as it might drop up to 30degrees totally unexpectedly anytime soon. I thank them. My nice leather gift shoes from Laurensonline in Lagos will now have to give way to really heavy stuff that reach up to the ankle and can withstand snow and ice rain.

Speaking of Washington DC and the East Coast, I made another interesting discovery today, that someone in the State Department has been reading my blog, or at least has discovered it. It was a pleasant surprise to get some commendation on content and design, and a mild admonition that I had forgotten to state clearly in my about page that this blog is NOT an official Fulbright FLTA site. Of course it’s not. It just one man’s head split open publicly. That man just happened to have been young, Yoruba and loquacious, grateful to have been chosen to go on a Fulbright FLTA programme in the United States. Let this be another disclaimer that the thoughts are solely mine. It is the random thoughts of a Nigerian soul in an America space. That said, let me look forward to meeting the Secretary of State in December, shaking her hands and taking pictures with her. Now what are the odds of that far-fetched eventuality? But if my dealings with serendipity is anything to go by, I won’t be surprised if this ever comes to pass.

I have seen the picture of the hotel in which I will be lodged in December along with the other Fulbright FLTA students. It is beautiful. And guess what, it is just a stone-throw from the Capitol. I will sleep well tonight, just thinking about it.