Tonight, I had an absolutely incredible experience. I do not need to be at the customer's place until tomorrow morning, which means I have this evening to myself.

Luckily, the local Esperanto group meets every Monday night at this coffee shop. I got here just in time and found a cheap place nearby to park the car, so I decided to join them.

When I first entered, I asked the girl at the counter if

Accroches-toi a ton rêve
Accroches-toi a ton rêve
Quand tu vois ton bateau partir
Quand tu sents, ton cœur se briser
Accroches-toi a ton rêve
~Electric Light Orchestra

this is where the Esperanto people met. She gave me a look like I had three heads, so I asked again. Once more, she had no clue what I was talking about. I dejectedly ordered a cup of coffee and went to sit down.

When I walked in the adjoining room, I suddenly heard a bunch of people speaking our language and I got very excited. I had my hat on, so there was denying why I was there. I walked up, gave a hearty "saluton" to everyone, and sat down. What a great bunch of people!

The Toronto club has between 25 and 30 members. About 8 people showed up for tonight's roundtable and they were wonderful. They are all so patient with new speakers and it made me very happy.

This was really an amazing thing. Tonight was the first time I'd ever actually spoken Esperanto with another human being. Most of the time I'm translating or just typing on the computer. I never get to actually use the spoken language the way it was intended. What a fantastic thing!