Last Saturday after two hours of driving and the little girl getting carsick and vomiting in the car and Mama Sheema cleaning the mess in full makeup… we finally arrived at the Virginia book event. I had a table ready for me and next to me there were other authors with their books displayed on their tables. There were also readings and speaking programs. I sat from nine in the morning to four in the afternoon feeling I am on display, as if it is an open house. I asked p to take the little girl for lunch and the movies while I was busy. An elderly gentleman came to me and after looking at my book told me… you don’t look like an exile. I replied how are they supposed to look? He said well I don’t know how they are supposed to look but you sure are the most beautiful Persian girl I have seen. I asked him how many Persian girls he knows… he says: just a few… and I laughed so hard that my nose touched my knees! Just a few! I guess what he meant was just one!! Anyway later I stood in the parking waiting for P and almost got robbed by this heavy weight tall man… it was scary. I forgot all about my self-defense trainings. I started running to get back to the hotel. Now I have a bad case of shoulder and neck pain from running with the heavy bag pack and on high hills. I don’t know why all these happy experiences happen to me… I don’t think Louise Glück goes through similar stuff.