I had the opportunity to go with Katie and her mom to the Speaker Series to see Paul Rusesabagina, the man who sheltered 1200 people in his hotel against genocide in Rwanda. I was so excited to see to this man, I mean, what better way to spend Election Night than to listen to an inspirational speaker? What was totally random was that Bob got to go too, as Yao’s date.
The event was held at Powell Symphony Hall , a beautiful concert hall. It has been forever since I’ve been there and I forgot how gorgeous it was inside. I spent about five minutes in awe in the lobby before heading up to our seats.
The lecture was, sadly, a disappointment. I went into it thinking I was going to hear his experience during the genocide in that hotel. Instead, he went into the history of the Tutsis and Hutus and Rwanda, he barely skimmed his own history. He didn’t bring anything personal to his lecture, it was all about the history. I was looking for his reactions, his emotions, his thoughts. His speech was cold, distant. He had an agenda and it was to talk about his organization that he had started. Even Katie said that this was the most disappointing lecture she has attended and she’s been going for a couple of years now. But I won’t be turned off to the idea of Speaker Series, after attending it and seeing the other speakers invited, I’m hoping to be able to go to more of these events in the future.