Around the World in 14 Days

Published 17 August 2018

When the first sun of August rose I was driving to San Francisco International Airport on a fancy black Ford. Apparently there was no SuperShuttle van to pick me up that morning, and so they sent the luxury SUV to pick me up. I was not complaining. It would prove to be the first of many luxuries over the 14 days. You have to understand that I come from a family where I was not always sure that we would have something to eat the next day, so bear with my excitement. I was to fly to Miami and Washington DC for some personal business with Real Madrid FC and Emirates (I had won a mini-vacation through my frequent flier program with Emirates), then on to Rwanda for the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Summit with stops in Uganda and Kenya for other business, more closely related to my summer work and current personal reflections. 

The Emirates vacation was out of this world. I was booked into a suite at the East Hotel in Miami and had a high-end room at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, DC. If I did not have to actually work on my research in between the team activities, I would have thrown parties I tell you. What would you do with 2 private balconies and two bathrooms? It is insane what luxury exist in the world. Who pays $80 for dinner? That is BWP 800, someone's monthly income in Botswana. Imagine! I mean the Uruguayan steak was juicy and I enjoyed every bit of it, especially since I was not paying for it, but I still felt a tiny bit guilty. I could not even share with my family how great a dinner I was having, because they can imagine all the other meaningful uses of the BWP 800 they have. There was also some guilt in knowing my brothers were more of soccer fans than myself, yet through the privilege I have accumulated over the years, I was there training with Real Madrid, living their dream. I was happy to meet the goal keeper Keylor Navas because he is a great goalkeeper of my second home, Costa Rica. Sometimes I feel like my life is a telenovela, and this was one of those moments.

On this trip I also had my first private/chartered flight. I would never have imagined I would be on a Boeing 767 configured entirely with Business Class seats. In a way, it was a practice run for when I become president of the world. Although I doubt I would want to fly privately when I can fly with Emirates and keep earning miles. It is insane how accustomed to privilege we get. How in the world did I fly enough over the past year to reach Gold status on Emirates? I mean I have good reasons to travel, but it is impressive how Emirates has convinced me they are the best enough for me to fly even to West Africa with them when there are shorter (and apparently cheaper) itineraries. Anyway, another first was being escorted by police through insane traffic. It was like that Biblical story of when Moses parted the Red Sea for the privileged children of God. Washington DC was the highlight, mostly because I spent it with a close friend of mine. I could not have asked for a better time.

The second part of the trip was to Africa. It was the first time flying Emirates out of IAD and also the first time having a short connection in Dubai. Terminal 3 of Dubai is very large and takes at least 45 minutes to get from one end to the other. By some miracle I made it to my flight, although I missed stopping by the Business Class lounge to freshen up. I doubt I can ever go back to having layovers anywhere except Dubai because Emirates have changed how I see the travel experience forever. It is so good it is worth the $200 difference to the cheapest price to home. I was in Kampala, Uganda for two days. Here I was pushed to an extreme end of my comfort zone, especially after all the luxuries of traveling with Real Madrid, but I lived. I am grateful to the hospitality of my friend who hosted me. While in Kampala, I was inspired to meet young people who are working to make a difference in their communities. Such innovative minds too, we solved the problem of being too dark for the camera by showing our teeth. As you can see, Africa is in good hands. 

Kigali, Rwanda is quite a place! Not even the US is that clean. There is a certain order to the place, and police are present every few meters. On one morning I nearly got in trouble for walking on the grass by the road. There are some who question whether there is democracy there, but to me that is not important. As long as a country is orderly and headed in a direction that works for the majority, then that is successful country. After all democracy is very subjective. If I had not changed my mind about being president of Botswana, I would not have been democratic. Botswana needs a benevolent dictator to wake up from its self-congratulatory daze. I have since realized that I am not cut out for politics.

The Scholars conference was amazing. I will write a separate post about the themes discussed there. From innovation and collaboration to inclusion. I was inspired, although I may look exhausted in some of the photos. How can I not be inspired when I met young men and women working on some of the most pressing issues in their societies through social ventures? Their ambition is contagious, for example, one guy dreams to be the president of The Gambia. I hope he is more democratic than I am. I also engaged in conversations deep into the night about love, life, and the future with my new friends. This post is most likely incoherent and I will not proofread it so that it reflects how I felt by the end of the trip. Tired but still going on. On my way back I stopped in Nairobi, Kenya for some meetings but by then I was so tired that I doubt I was at my best. I think I am still tired, since I forgot what I was trying to achieve with this post. Anyway, let me get back to my research. It is not going to do itself, you  know? Should I tell you about...?