The Mystery Tour

I’m on my way abroad, but I can’t yet mention where it is I’m going. We’re not a secretive organization—we actually pride ourselves on our transparency. But there are times when a certain discretion is required in order to keep everything on track, and this is one of those times. I can’t travel like this though (and this is a big trip) without blogging about it. I figure that by mid-week I’ll be able to pull back the veil, but in the meantime we’ll have a little “Where in the world is David Snell” contest. The first five winners will receive-- are you ready—a Fuller Center bumper sticker. This is not just a reward of significant material value; it has spiritual worth as well if used properly. Anyone who’s spent any time around Millard will know that the only sin in the Fuller Center dogma is not having an FCH bumper stick on your car. Send your guesses to me at dsnell@fullercenter.org. I’ll be the sole, but just, judge. My first clue is this—Air France is involved. This necessarily involves a layover at Charles De Gaulle airport, whose one redeeming value is that you can buy some truly delicious cookies in the little stores there. It might just be a flaw in my directional sense, but I cannot make out the terminal configurations in that airport. They use letters and numbers and combinations of the two, and the airport attendants don’t appear to think very highly of those of us who can’t figure them out. My second clue is this—I am visiting a country that has seen an undue share or military activity in its past. It’s a place that is conveniently enough placed as to be in the way of many of history’s invading armies. The Fuller Center only goes to places we are invited to, but interestingly most of these places have known a lot of violence over the years. Some—Sri Lanka, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria—have active warfare going inside their borders today. Others—the Republic of Congo, Nepal-- are recovering from recent bouts of civil unrest. And others—El Salvador, Peru—went through long periods of unrest that pretty much wore them out, and are now working hard to build a solid foundation of stability. The place I’m visiting is in this last category, and has enjoyed a number of years of peace and growing prosperity. Final clues—some demographics. The population is well educated—they have a 99.4% literacy rate. But almost a third of the population lives below the poverty line. Not much to go on, I know, but in order to make this contest stretch until the veil is lifted I have to keep some of the good stuff in reserve. Stay tuned.