I've always wondered....

What the term “venture capitalist” meant. Now I know.
You see… on the plane home from Honduras I shared a row with Roberto.
He was friendly, inquisitive, interesting and easy to talk to.
And with each conversation he revealed a little more of his story... you just never know who you are sitting next to...
Roberto is a venture capitalist, Honduran born, Harvard grad, who currently lives in Grenich Village with a beautiful (second) wife, father of 8. Roberto was parked next to the van that blew up in the first World Trade Center bombing, he was OK but not his car… he worked for Lehman Bros, was in the building next to Tower 1 on 9.11 and had to evacuate, his business partner thinks he's jinxed... but more on him later. Roberto managed two hedge funds but got out early. We discussed the possibility of me investing 20 million in his energy project in Roatan, or his Casino in San Pedro Sula. I reminded him that I am middle class and work for a non-profit...
His business partner, also traveling on the plane is the delightful Irwin Menken, yeah Menken, think… Alan Menken, you know... 8 grammys, Little Mermail etc. composer, his cousin. Irwin is a bass player, recently finished an album which is available on itunes, he played me a track on his iphone. He’s also a Jew who told jokes I had to say that I didn’t get, being that he was the first Jew I’ve had dinner with… (Ira Glass doesn’t count, since that’s via itunes) but the good news is that I am the first Oregonian Christ follower he’s had dinner with, so maybe we're even? He was looking for a book and I recommended "the year of living biblically" since it's also written by an agnostic Jew... :-)
We talked about religion or the lack there of… our lives, they showed me pics of their kids and bought me a great dinner. It was a great way to end this adventure.

Am boarding the plane in Houston now... headed home. I miss my family, friends, bed, NPR and Starbucks...