Catch Up

Given that almost a month has passed since I last shared...I´m going to expedite the process and just describe the day after the last post, and today.

June 14th: Guides & Scouts. (Scouts is a little different here because both boys and girls are in the same "troop;" the only separation is by age). So I arrive at the grand Catholic Church of San Vito to the troop meeting with a lady from UNICEF and am immediately asked, "You`re the one giving the charla (activity) today, right?" Not having anything prepared nor knowing anyone was expecting a charla of any kind, my blood pressure began to rise.

(Keep in mind this was also a Sunday afternoon after a long 2nd week in site... What ever happened to Sunday, Funday?!)

The lady and I look at each other, nervously giggle, and launch into planning mode. Ten minutes later we had the kids discussing and drawing representations of their rights as children. Activity, check! It`s truly incredible what can be done with recycled paper, markers, and 30 singing voices...

So incredible in fact, that they can inspire you to dance. No sooner had they finished presenting their drawings than they began forming a large circle around me, singing a scout song (with my name inserted) until I danced (the dance that goes with the song). If I had known the song or the dance, this might have been a slightly more pleasant experience. At least I would have been on key...

July 9th: Teen Pregnancy. Today was the 2nd day of a 2 day training on how to teach sex education to adolescents. (very sparse in CR) All of the information was presented in a participatory manner and lunch was included! It`s not everyday you get rice topped with potato chips and a side of tomatoes for free, you know. I generally dread all-day meetings/activities because it`s difficult to understand everything thats happening for such a long time- let alone trying to make a somewhat intelligent (read: understandable) remark in reply. But, the activities were surprisingly fun.

Especially the one where we had to label detailed photos of male/female reproductive organs in groups of two. My partner was my male boss. Maybe if I had known just one word in Spanish for any part of the diagrams, it would have seemed more comfortable. Same goes for their functions... So much for proving myself as a competent professional. (I swear I know what that is!)

So now we are up to speed. In between those two days has been a lot of the same, a lot of time alone, and a lot of normal, everyday events. I feel I`ve been glorifying the awkward events a bit... but those are the most interesting ones to read and share. This is NOT to say, however, that every single moment of every single day something fantastic and crazy happens either.

Happy belated 4th. I have a cell phone!