Just "Winnie"
Worked a ton of billable hours today, which was great, but exhausting.
Met with a new client for the first time in the morning. She couldn't find a parking space, so we met in her Mercedes Benz. (Again I ask myself what I'm doing here.) Anyway, that's not the point. . .
She was a teacher for twenty-five years and is incredibly interesting. She used to take groups of fifth and sixth grade students to Africa on school trips. At one point in the paper she was talking about a particular trip where she was given an award from "Dr. Achebe."
"As in Chinua Achebe?" I asked. "Yea," she said. My jaw must have dropped because she laughed. I was floored and had all kinds of questions about what he's like. She told me he's wheelchair bound, which I didn't know. Apparently he's also a very nice fellow and extremely welcoming and friendly.
Whoa. Too cool, I thought. But it gets better.
She shared a story about hanging out at Nelson Mandela's house and what a great sense of humour "Winnie" has. As in, Winnie Mandela! How great, to be on a first name basis with one of the world's most intriguing people. Apparently Winnie charges people to take tours of her house and shows them random stuff out of her and Nelson's amazing history.
I felt kind of special that I could share my experience of working with Osonye Onwueme. My pipe dream is to one day present at the same conferences as Onwueme and Achebe.
Posted by Amanda at May 03, 2003 11:51 PM
