When I teach a class, I know that a new subject will take me 4 hours of work for each hour of class. You have to read the text, prepare class discussions, learning exercises, assignments. You have to grade and return the assignments. Well, I just learned that doing an "encuentro" - a meeting - takes about an hour for every hour of the meeting!
I have spent virtually all of the last 2 days with the team preparing for the Rotarian encounter next week - and this has nothing to do with the logistics. That is all done by someone else in some other place! This is just what we want to accomplish, and why, and how. We actually started the topics a few weeks ago, so it takes just a tad longer than one hour for every hour.
I like the product so far - I am anxious to see how it all works out in practice. There will be about 30 people running around here for the biggest day of this - that should be interesting! The very next day after this one, there will be over 200 people here for the annual gathering of all of the communities!
The logistics are another small nightmare. I have been exposed to just a bit of that. Some of the participants are coming from Minnesota, some from Masaya, some from towns near Somitillo - 4 hours north - some from Teustepe, some from the new communities, etc. Just the process of inviting people is pretty amazing when it is done primarily by face to face meetings and follow up contacts. Expecially in the new communities. They do not have a real community yet, with an established meeting - it is all done by walking around, sitting and talking with people and inviting them, one by one!
Then there is getting agreement from participants on where to meet, where to stay, what to eat and when - and then all of the buses and trucks, etc, to get them all there on time - more or less - it is just amazing. One small example, there is going to be a crowd of 30 or so in a small town south of here - near the new communities. Where do we eat? What do we eat? What can we eat! We northerners are a little sensitive to the water, etc. When I am walking around in the community with Luis, he only lets me take something where he knows they are using purified water. For the others, he tells them that this poor chele can't have anything because of his health. And he's right! But I have not had a single problem on this trip as yet.
With the travelogue, we are going to Esteli this weekend for a retreat with two of the communities. Should be interesting. AKF is leading the retreat, and they have spent a few hours working on that as well. I am curious to see the schedule, because a few people have asked me to talk to people in town. I'll have to see where we are situated and what the schedule is like.
Well, the novelty has certainly worn off. I could go home tomorrow. I am hearing Spanish much better - my brain doesn't freeze up quite as much. But the other night, coming back from Teustepe, the driver and one of the passengers talked for an hour or so and I could not catch more than a few words. I figured out they were talking about motorcycles, and that was it. I am sure I know all the words they are using. They just do not pronounce them the way I am used to hearing them - it's a regional thing, I guess. I don't know how to work up to it either!
I'm not speaking it much better - I am still thinking in English (or Italian) and fishing for words. Instead of just saying something, I am still translating. And I think my accent has gone to heck. They keep catching me using the Z sound, and actually pronouncing a V sound. Bad form. I help one of the guards here at night night with his English assignment. He has a heck of a time getting the V sound out. It's worse that an English speaker trying to learn to trill the R. You say "little ladder" a few times - that's where the tongue should be. What do I do with his V?
OK - I'm going to quit for now and look for something to eat here! Take care.
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