Meeting interesting people

We are getting to see and meet a lot of interesting people on this trip. We have heard a lot of different languages spoken, both in Vegas and here at the Grand Canyon. Thursday morning we ate breakfast in the Monte Carlo food court (between the five of us, we had Starbucks, Subway, and McDonalds). While we were eating, a member of the hotel staff walked by our table determinedly and spoke into his hand the way the Secret Service does in the movies. He brushed past us and made his way to a table in the corner, where someone was asleep. I hadn't noticed him before, but he appeared either to be homeless, or sleeping one off (we were feet from the casino). The security man told him he couldn't sleep there, and the man got up and left. The security man came back to our table and said good morning. He was very nice and we struck up a conversation. In the course of it, he mentioned he spoke 5 languages (English, Spanish, Japanese, Philipino, and Portuguese). He then demonstrated how to say "You can't sleep here, you'll need to go somewhere else" very politely in each one. The kids were amazed. I asked him how he learned all those languages, and he said he read books for 9 years to do it. When he found out we were headed to the Grand Canyon, he said to watch out for the moose, that they were huge. Of course, there are no moose in the Grand Canyon, he likely meant elk, which can be very large. After he left, we discussed how important it was to learn another language and that people who could translate would always be able to find a job. We also discussed how important it was that lots of people study and become experts in lots of different things. The translator we met in Vegas was no wildlife biologist, but he sure was good at multiple languages. We all need each other. Fun lessons learned on the road.