As we edge toward the boarding gate I am reminded that each time one of us - an American - travels abroad it presents an opportunity for small time diplomacy.

A few days later it happened again. All the little dogs laughed to see such sport and one even staggered to his feet with all the ardor a tropic sun permits. I knew I had a problem. I also knew that the yellow cur was a bully. He always waited till I was just past him before he made his move. No one likes a bully.

A tourist pitched half a hot dog off the bridge just to see what would happen. I always recommend this. In a blur of snapping jaws and lashing tails, several large semi-submerged crocs levitated onto the bank, smashing the lesser crocs aside. I never guessed so many pounds of reptile could move so fast. It was a real “Mutual of Omaha, Wild Kingdom” moment.

The 7th inning stretch was more of a picnic than a stretch. There was no organ playing ‘Take Me Out to the Ballpark”. In fact, there was no organ at all. And since there was no place to buy a beer, I crossed the street to a bar and grabbed me a cold one. Great minds, including athletic minds, think alike and so a couple of ball players were doing the same thing. If Doc Ellis can throw a no-hitter on LSD, then I guess these guys can handle a beer.

But a successful Fulbright proposal has to stand out from thousands. It can’t just be “My wife and I want to have an overseas experience with our kids before they grow up and hate us. Well, let’s just say before they grow up.”

They say that travel is stimulating. They are right. You see the same damn stuff wherever you go but when it isn’t in your own backyard it looks different. That, in turn, makes you look differently at your own backyard.

Why build a boat if you have no harbor?