After my first year at UTEP, or what I call the “Harvard of the Border," I took a month-long trip to Paris, France. At least, it was supposed to be a month, but it became a year-long learning vacation. After five months in France, I spent a month a in London, planning a trip to Australia that fell through. Fortunately, I introduced myself to an American attorney who was planning a trip to Africa in a range rover. He was interviewing for three passengers to join him. I was selected to be the French translator since the other men were American, British and Irish.
We drove through the Sahara desert and fourteen other countries. While in Bangui, by the Congo River, the group separated and I ended up using public transportation for the rest of my trip. On a raft down the Congo River we arrived in Kinshasa, Zaire, formerly the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was then that we became aware that there was chaos and a revolution going on, and that it was going to be impossible to get a flight out of the Congo. Thankfully my English friend, Brian, got us both a way home on a cargo boat. For 35 days, we sailed along the west coast of Africa until we finally made port in Marseille, France.
From Marseille, I took a plane to Paris, then back to the U.S. By the time I had returned home, exactly one calendar year had passed. I returned from my excursion a fearless woman with an extremely open mind and the belief that I was a citizen of the world that could persevere through any circumstance.
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