Hola all,
Well, it's been a respectable amount of time since the last update, so I suppose I'd better get on with it...
But, before that, the baby pictures from last month's update (a little blurry, sorry):
http://www.vcn.bc.ca/~slftf/nica2/20030702.html
As I said, blurry, but perhaps it gives an idea... By the way, the FOG web page is down. Seems to be a problem with our host in Canada, but I haven't heard from the webmaster yet, not sure if he is sleeping or what... So, that means that the [email protected] address won't work to send me stuff for the time being... Anyway, on with my life update...
Last month, I managed to squeeze out a long weekend and we took advantage of it to head to an organic farm on Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua. It is an island formed by two volcanos - beautiful place if you are ever visiting Nicaragua. I have been several times, but this was my first time at this farm, which is at the base of Volcan Maderas. It was great and super relaxing. After relaxing for a day, we took the next day to hike up and down and get lost (just for a few minutes) on the volcano.
Have I mentioned that it is the rainy season? Hmmm... Perhaps not the wisest choice as for timing to hike the volcano... It was cloudy to start, but it was nice because the heat was only medium oppressive as opposed to super oppressive as it usually is. We got off to a late start, we were the second last group to leave, but within an hour that last group passed us... We were last to arrive at the top, taking exactly the estimated time of four hours to arrive at the top. The last bit is a scramble and repel into the crater, so that was good fun, in the rain, as the rain started - for real - at around that time. Of course, we were a little bit wet, perhaps soaked is the word. I didn't have a dry spot on me, not even the toes in my boots. The rain stopped long enough for lunch and I tried to dry my socks, to no avail. We sat and ate on the lakeshore (the crater holds a small lagoon), which with the rain and clouds and fog had a visibility of about 5 meters. My companion assured me that it was really quite beautiful and that, of course, made it all worthwhile. :)
We started back down (or up to start anyway), gathered up the rope (we were last after all) and zipped back down the volcano. (Don't go thinking I am that adventurous, by the way, it is a dormant volcano). We skipped on down, playing like kids; we had a mud fight, nearly fell splat in the mud many times... It was great fun.
Although I whined about the lack of "seeing" anything, it didn't really matter in the end, the process itself was fun and the rainforest in the area is beautiful. We saw white faced and congo monkeys, many birds and big rats. (Ok, maybe the rats weren't so exciting. :)
Well, I no longer am thinking of Romania in my future plans. Zayda and I ended our relationship a few weeks before she left for Romania - she finally left on Tuesday after three delays to her flight. Let's just say there were "ideological" differences in our ways of thinking and that although it was fun, it was not going to work out in the long run. If you are the curious type and need more details, well, you'll have to write and ask... :)
So, being that I am single, I am back to my usual partying and dancing self after a brief hiatus at the end of the relationship. The last two nights I was forced to go to two parties and dancing afterwards (you know how much I hate dancing :) and have dark circles under my eyes to prove it - got home at 3am on both nights. Maybe I'd better take it easy this coming weekend. Or maybe I will just take more naps.
Well, perhaps I sound like a broken record, but we are still extremely busy. As usual, we make more commitments than there is possible time to ever accomplish. As I said to the team coordinator on Friday, "You are crazy." But, it is a collective phenomenon.
The trip to Uruguay, however - on the good news front, is a go. We are off on the 15th and I am back on the 29th. I will have a week of vacation time in there, which I plan to use to travel - maybe to Brazil, although I am beginning to think it is too little time and maybe I would be better off to explore Uruguay and Argentina (we are flying into Buenos Aires) and save my Brazil trip for when I am rich and famous (or something like that).
The real reason for the trip, which I sometimes forget, to present our work in the Bienal del Juego (Loose translation: Game conference). The organisers are part of a movement to incorporate games more as a learning and growing tool for kids of all ages. We use games a lot in our work with traumatised populations.
I also have a new job, one weekend a month, receiving SWAP/TravelCUTS/Volunteer Abroad (whatever you call them) volunteers at the airport, giving them a chat on Nicaragua and culture shock and carrying a cell phone for any emergency. It's easy and could build into a fulltime job by next year (which with luck is when I will finish my current CUSO position). Only drag is the cell phone - I hate cell phones. Oh well, I always hated carrying the YCI/RJI beeper too... The first guy comes on Sept 13.
French is still going. Sometimes I feel a bit lost - been too busy to pay much attention to the class, but somehow I got 29.5 out of 30 on the midterm. Most of the questions, especially the oral part, I guessed at the answers, so I'm not sure how that happened. Anyway, I will study someday...
I hope to get into something different like dance or guitar classes soon. Haven't touched the guitar in ages and maybe I need something to get me back into it...
I have hopes to visit Canada in November, if the work negotiations go well. I will keep you posted. My boss arrives tomorrow for a visit, so I should know soon...
I guess I'd better get to bed, although it seems like I just got up from my nap. I was in the barrio early today - I am helping two of the youth to make/update the web page for the nuns, so I am teaching them to use Photoshop and Dreamweaver. Soon, they will know more than I, which is good, because the goal is for them to take over...
There is a more recent photo of me on the website as well:
http://www.vcn.bc.ca/~slftf/
It is still out of date though, because now I am sporting a goatee. It probably won't last long though, I am too lazy to maintain it...
Anyway, take care, hope to hear your news soon,
Rob