Tulane University

My Tulane University t-shirt never fails to elicit comment. In Germany, I met the father of one of my former students because of it. In the security line at Leopold Airport in Dakar, an older gentleman asked, “Did you go to Tulane?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“My daughter went there, but I think she is much older than you two. She is 50.”

That puts him and his wife in their 70s. They are flying to Bamako, then on to Burkina, then Ghana. They are from Houston. Their flight got screwed up so they had to spend a night in Dakar en route. Houston – Paris – Dakar – Bamako. They looked sleepy but in good health. They are at the other end of our travels. Perhaps if we waited until after we had kids, we would be traveling in our 70s. Perhaps we still will.