Arrival

"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to heaven go." -- William Shakespeare

The theme of July this year is not independence, though the skies are lit up, it is not struggling to beat the heat, though temperatures are escalating, it is not even travel, though many are currently embarking on wordly adventures. The theme of July this year is, strangely enough, education. The education of mind, body. and soul. Though independence and travel may be necessary to achieve this education.

Friends of mine are hitting the road, heading, as Horace Greeley once suggested, "Go West, young man!" One of the travelers, Jon, is keeping a blog of their journey, view it here: http://licctrip.blogspot.com/

In light of this I've decided to jump on the virtual bandwagon and blog about my journey as well. What journey? Oh, let me tell you.

I've been invited to Washington DC to take part in the Folger Library Teaching Shakespeare Institute. 25 teachers from across the country are gathering, beginning tomorrow, to study 4 plays - King Lear, Taming of the Shrew, Much Ado About Nothing, and Richard III.

Okay, I won't bore you with the academic details. What I will tell you about is BoltBus. I signed up to take the bus from LI to DC about 6 weeks ago, and it cost me $25 round trip. You read that correctly, round trip - 25 bucks. I don't know how they do it, but they do. One lady on the bus got hers for 7 bucks. It all depends on when you sign up and availability. You really can't beat it.

Okay, it's cheap, but are there chickens and other livestock on the bus too? Along with 100 other people?

NO! The bus seemed to be pretty new, by all means clean and not even a little crowded. I had two seats to myself. In fact, most of the people traveling had their own pair of seats. I really don't know how they do it.

But there's 50 stops along the way, right? It's got to take 10 hours!

Wrong again. 4 hours from the corner of 33rd and 7th to 11th and G NW. One stop, a rest stop along the way, but no other pick-ups in any other city.

It's amazing. The clientele seemed young and hip, for the most part, if not frugal. Friendly and accommodating. I don't understand it, but I'm glad it's there.

So tonight I'm at a friend's place. She's out of town. Tomorrow I head to Georgetown and meet the faculty and other attendees of the Institute. Check back in here for updates about DC and all things Shakespeare while I'm here, don't fear, it won't rhyme all the time. It's a promise, I won't be remiss.

Mahalo