October 4, 2007

Charlotte Airport Microtel, tiny, adequate, lullabied by the sound of several expressways. Whoever was here before, perhaps the maid, left the Gideon bible open to Job 20-21. I was promised wireless internet, but it goes off and on, so I am isolated in my little room, with a vampire movie on the TV. Supper at a steak house surrounded by black families who treated the place as their own dining room. They laughed and I laughed. I sat near to them, and I didn’t need to.

Stayed at school this afternoon until the last minute, realizing that my students were giving me joy, and insulating me, if momentarily, against the anxiety of this journey.