I’ve been home for several weeks now and have had some time to reflect on my experience in the USA.

Charles Darwin once said that a man’s friendships are a measure of his worth. If this is true, then I am very very valuable. I am reflecting on the friends which I made unexpectedly on my journey in Houston. (Let alone the ones I am already surrounded by!)

Let me introduce you all. If you haven’t already seen this on Facebook, Left to right is Tonny, Suki, Me, Darius & Amitesh.

The 7 weeks which we spent together, stuffed in a classroom, under stressful conditions was both a miracle of human behaviour that we survived it without hating each others guts and also a wonderful example of how good the human spirit can be when it is guided by peace and harmony.

This is Tonny, a 6 foot tall man on a seahorse merry-go-round. I don’t know what to call him any more. I found that over a period of seven weeks Tonny had more names than we could count which his friends and family back home in Kenya called him. Regardless of which name I use, I will always remember the character. Tonny is a dancing man often grooving away in the street – I could relate to this. We even shared some dancing moves. I taught Tonny the shopping trolley and in exchange, he taught me the reversing a car move in dance format. Tonny is always willing to lend you a smile and make you laugh.   Such a happy outgoing nature. I won’t be surprised if next time I see him he’s added 1 or two more languages to his vocabulary as he was taking every opportunity possible to learn from his classmates about our cultures and languages.

Sukilesh – or Suki as I like to call him. He was such a kind and calm friend to me. Always reassuring me when I was stressed and centred me when I was lost. I joked with him at times by calling him Mum as each day he would ask me, had I slept well? Did I eat well? was I happy? He would know when I was missing Mark or if I needed coffee. He was very passionate and dedicated to achieve great things in life and I believe he will do just that. I wish him the best of luck in following his dream as he soon attempts his solo flights as he makes headway towards getting a pilots license. We’re keeping in touch and I’m already mentally planning a trip for Mark and I to visit Suki in his home town in South India.

Darius, Oh man, what a crack up you were. Although those last few days working on the project were stressful, I couldn’t have picked anyone better to share the shoulder shrugging and umming and ahhing with. Darius was the only local Houston guy there to help us get accustomed to the American way of life. When I say he ‘helped us get accustomed’…. this usually included several attempts at trying to fool us with a lie before giving us a straight answer. (If we were stupid Darius would have us thinking that up was down and left was right in America)  He just kept teasing us… (And that’s what she said) However, underneath all this joking was a really great friend who was extremely considerate of those around him.

 

Amitesh, last but certainly not least… he was a quiet one at first but as we got to know him we started to realise that it wasn’t that he didn’t like us. He was just busy thinking about his wife and beautiful little 1 year old daughter that he missed so much. He had such a contagious laugh that would make anyone start. He was an integral part of our final team and project, I like to think of him as the responsibility and foundation that kept Darius and I from falling apart at the seams. Amitesh was an intelligent guy who was always willing to look for a solution and not complain about the problem. He will go far in his career and I hope to one day have the pleasure of working with him.

 

 

So, I’ve given you an oversight of the great people who the universe randomly placed me with. Looking back on their character and how they helped me and how we integrated as a team it makes me feel that it wasn’t actually all that random? So c’mon universe what else have you got in store for us?

We’re hoping to meet again in our BUILD IT 2 class and if we don’t we’re all planning worldwide trips to each others home towns.  But until then, Id like to share with you some of our wisdom for how to be a successful presenter.

 NB: Don’t actually follow these rules, they will probably get you fired or you will lose a sale.

After being told what to do for 7 weeks and the stress overwhelming us all I think this was our way of making up our own rules.  Enjoy!

As a final note to my friends. I know I’ve already said this but it was a pleasure working with you all and I can’t wait to see you all again as there will be a next time. 😉 Don’t forget that the foods better in Kenya and to keep eating all of your vegetables as they purify your blood for a long happy life.

Don Don
P.S. Don’t fall asleep in class kids.

 

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