I met Laura Bush

Today I met the First Lady, Laura Bush. There was a reception for her at the Ambassador’s house, to which Peace Corps Volunteers and some other foreign service personnel were invited. She came in a huge motorcade, and there were secret service agents everywhere. Over 200 secret service agents came with her to Ghana, although not all were at the reception. She came in and gave a short speech, only a few minutes long. But at the beginning, and again at the end, she thanked the Peace Corps Volunteers for their service and talked briefly about all the good work we do. Apparently, she’s a big fan of the Peace Corps, and held the reception just so she could thank us. Or there were some political motives behind it, but there weren’t any reporters there, so who knows. When asked where the volunteers from Texas were, the Peace Corps country director pointed us out, and Mrs. Bush came over and shook my hand and said hello. She smiled a lot, and was very short, and very small. The whole affair was a little weird, there was so much security and so much planning and coordination, and then she only stayed for a few minutes. But I’m glad I got to meet her. It was just a little anticlimactic in the end.