Ahorita

I learned the meaning of this word the hard way this week. We are now in the thick of our training and have lots of assignments, including a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of a community organization, a service learning project, a survey of all the resources and assets in our community, and a mock set of regulations for microfinance organization. This week we had our SWOT analysis scheduled with Donde Alcides, the meat restaurant that has been so generous to us. When we showed up on Tuesday at 6, the time we had scheduled t meet with all the owners of the restaurant, it turned out all the owners were in a meeting until 8. We decided there must have been something lost in translation so we explicitly explained what we were trying to do and that we needed the whole family present and asked when would be a good time, and they said Thursday at 2 would be perfect, that they would all be around and available and that this project sounded very interesting. So after having prepared for three hours before our meeting that day, we brushed it off and decided the meeting on Thursday would be that much better because we had made our objectives clear and would have even more time to prepare. So we show up on Thursday at 2 and no one is around and our main contact is busy working, but she says everyone will be ready ¨ahorita¨ (meaning not just now but soon!). An hour later, we approach her again and it turns out her brother is sick, her sister has to take care of her baby, and she is busy working, so they are not going to be able to meet with us today. Ugh. Anyways it was a major lesson in the indirect forms of communication here and being careful when choosing an organization to work with. Now we are starting over and working with a new organization next week, which is frustrating but I think we will all be more mentally prepared.

A more lighthearted lesson in the meaning of ¨ahorita¨ was Friday night, and Mark´s host brother Kenneld´s 9th birthday party. All the Tarbaca volunteers were invited over for cake and ice cream, which was going to be eaten ¨ahorita¨ after we arrived. Two hours later, after many rounds of musical chairs, salsa and merengue dancing, and finally a pinata made of a gift bag tied to a rope that was knocked down on the first try, we sang feliz cumpleanos and ate some delicious cake. Celebrations continued this morning with Brigitte´s mom Jackie´s birthday. We ate French toast and sang some more, and then all the CED volunteers spent the morning at our Program Director Luis´ house meeting with current volunteers about their projects. His house has a beautiful view and a hammock and great patio and his wife made us a feast of soup and beef and salad for lunch. Then we all headed into San Jose, where I am now at an Internet Cafe, for the annual Volunteer Advisory Committee diner. This one is to say goodbye to the Tico 16 and 17 volunteers, who will be leaving in May and September, and to welcome our group, Tico 19. It should be really fun to meet everyone at once, and the most exciting part is that we´re having Lebanese food, meaning I will go a whole day without eating rice or beans!