Its a Small World After All…
I have been blessed to travel around the world…literally around the world (Africa to Asia to Australia to North America to Europe and back to Africa) and while the earth seems a big and vast planet with people scattered all over, in the end, as the say in Disney World, “it’s a small world after all…”
Sebastian and I after meeting up in Abuja.
Two recent episodes have caused me to reflect on how small the world really is. Before Christmas, I was in a meeting with a gentleman who was visiting from Europe. When he heard my name he said, “My wife has a friend named Sentell.” I froze as I have never heard anyone utter those words before – NEVER. I have yet to meet anyone with the first name Sentell, so I was a little taken aback when he said that his wife had a friend named Sentell. “Oh really” was my response. He said, “Yes, he lives in D.C.” Now, we were too close to home as I lived in DC before moving to South Sudan (and then on to Nigeria). I then asked, “Who is your wife?” As it turns out, his wife was a dear friend from my United Nations Alliance of Civilization (UNAOC) program. Annika and I (and nine others) traveled to Morocco, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan in 2012 and 2013 as fellows with the UNAOC. She also made several trips to DC when I was living there and I gave her a tour of the US Capitol.
My cousin Tim and I at the Frankfurt train station in Germany.
Episode two: While I was on my Christmas break in Frankfurt, Germany, I discovered that my cousin Tim was making his way across Europe and would be in Frankfurt the day of my departure. We discussed getting together the day he arrived in Frankfurt but his jetlag set in and he overslept our meeting time. It was difficult finding time to fit him in as I was out with my friend Andrew. In order to see Tim before I departed for the African continent, I rushed back to Andrew’s house to quickly pack and sprinted off to the train station to meet Tim. It was great seeing him as the last time was in 2011 when I was in Michigan.
However, this is not the first time that this has happen…Last year, I was in Frankfurt for Christmas when I discovered that three friends were also in Frankfurt for the Christmas holiday. Two of them, Joelle and Jodi were just two streets over from where I was staying. How funny…You just never know who you might run into…even when you feel so far away from home!
A FREDAY in AFRICA! 
I love stories like this! It reminds me that the world is not a big, scary place. Plus, it soothes the soul to see a friendly face in an unexpected place!