Kansas City

This weekend my husband Amadou and I went to Kansas City (MO/KS) to celebrate his cousins graduation with her and family. We really had no idea what to expect (in Kansas that is) and really had no idea that we would have such a great time or that we would actually ENJOY it!

Although I've lived in the Midwest for ALL of my life, I had never been to Kansas and have only driven through Missouri one other time and that was way back in 1998...so needless to say i never really considered it a destination spot. But it seemed like a very livable city with lots of stuff to do and actually there were more "bi-racial buddies" as my sisters and I call ourselves in such a small square radius than I think I have ever seen (outside of my own childhood, growing up in a family of 8 children). I have to say that I never even really considered Kansas as the midwest and have always equated it to tornadoes and flat plains, but in actuality Kansas City isn't as close to Oklahoma which is where the real tornadoes happen, and the plains were actually rolling which was a fun experience.

The graduation was also nice and a new experience as Ms. Saratou is the first woman in her family to receive any post-secondary education which is a great feat both culturally and personally as she came to the U.S. as an adolescent and has been able to adapt to the culture of the US only enough to make it useful for her which i think is a good thing...i wish i could unadapt enough so that I could make the most use out of it for myself.

And she is not finished with school but is looking foward to her next steps, by the way, she did this while also raising her son, being a wife (which is no small feat, at least for me and my adjustment) and runs her own business....very busy lady!

So I am congratulating her and appreciating the opportunity to have been able to share this experience with her while also getting to follow the yellow brick road to Kansas. . .