“Everyday is a winding road..”

Ok, that was dumb to use song lyrics for a title but I won’t do it again, at least for a while…
Well, today was full of surprises at every turn (hence the title, ha). I went to visit my counterpart this morning because I finally had nothing better to do (and I was still two hours later than I had planned to arrive, merely because being around this woman is usually not a pleasant experience) and everything started out as status quo. It took about ten minutes to find her, she ignored me until I finally called out, “When would be a good time to talk to you?” and she barked back, “In a half an hour.” Awesome, I’ll just be here, in the hallway, sitting on the stretcher listening to the walkie-talkie system (“Huari-huari-huari-huari-huari” well, it sounds a lot funnier that it looks written down). But, in a strange turn of events, she came out about 15 minutes later and we went to the pharmacy, I gave her a photo album I had picked up in the states (thanks, Mom!) and we commenced to discuss the communication mix-up that had been going on the last three weeks. She had lost the paper that said when I was going on vacation and when I would be back and I hadn’t been text messaging to the correct number so we had both been responsible people in the situation but neither party knew what was going on. Anyway, I was back and we fixed the phone number in my phone so all is well, and we had a good laugh. . . WHAT? I dunno but I saw her smile perhaps ten times and maybe even a chuckle. I guess that healthcare strike is doing her some good. (That’s right folks, I said healthcare strike.)
Second, surprise of the day: I go to the radio station. The day before I left for the states I turned in a “promotional” CD of three different informational commercials to promote the new show that I’m starting. I go to the radio to find the guy in charge (I’ve forgotten his name again) so when I ask for him I just say, “the guy in charge” (el encargado for those of you wondering). Well, they say he’s in the back room so I walk back there to find three young men, so I say, “No he’s not.”
“Yes, he is.” (Well, this isn’t going anywhere)
The fiscal from the municipality comes out of the room and says, “I’m in charge”
Me: “No you’re not.”
Him: “Are you looking for Norbis?”
Me: “Um, yes?” (Remember, I forgot this guy’s name.)
Him: “That’s me.”
Me: “Oh, then no.”
Him: “Well, then who?”
Me: “Um, the old guy who was here?”
Him: “Oh yes, _______, he left.”
Me: “WHAT?!?!? But I was, we were, I, um, I was going to have a program on your radio station, did he mention anything about that?”
Him: “No.”
Me: “Do you have a CD that I dropped off for him or anyone?”
Him: “Nope, no idea what you’re talking about.”
Me: “Right, so I was wondering if I could start a show on your radio station…”

Square one. Nice, I love square one. The only square I see these days.
Anyway, square one might be pushed up to square five pretty soon because this guy has no problem with me starting on Tuesday. So since the Tsutsu is busy I’m basically doing the whole thing. I’m thinking Vitamin A day. Some interviews, a skit (the story of Anita and the Vitamin A fairy, you know, an old classic), and a vitamin A – packed recipe. Woohoo!
Turn number three: I’m walking home from my big day (ok, not that big) and I meet an engineer (who I kinda recognized). And he asks me (don’t we all get this question now and again), “Would you like to go to a gender equality workshop?”
“When?”
“Right now.”
“Oh, until when?”
“Two o’clock.”
“Um, OK.”
So, off we go! It was actually one of the best workshops I’ve ever attended in San Marcos. When I got there everyone was in a group and writing down examples of inequality in genders. Then, we did two fun activities to get everyone’s energy back, then we presented our papers we had made, then we had another activity, then we broke into groups to demonstrate what we had learned and then we reflected. Non-formal education at it’s best. I almost shed a tear.
One of the interesting things that was pointed out during the “inequality in gender” presentation was that each groups perspective on gender issues varied just a little bit. It seemed that the older the median age of a group was, the inequality between genders grew less extreme. For example, a group of men (perhaps 60s) started out their exposition with the fact that “the only difference between the genders is biological [ok, that’s my phrasing]” and went on to note that men and women both complete distinct but equally necessary roles in the family life. Sounds like everything is great, no? The girls (median age ~10) wrote on their paper “if the wife leaves the house without permission from her husband, it is OK for him to beat or mistreat her.” A bit of a different perspective..
It was interesting to see not only these two extremes but also how each group in the middle did gradually grow in their claims of inequality.
I thought it was a very productive workshop and I hope that this organization can continue following-up with their good work in this group of people. I’m hoping to do all that I can to aid them in this because it was such a good start and such a wonderfully discussion creating atmosphere that I don’t want it all to be forgotten.
Anyway, that was my day. Then I went home and made my family eat a salad of broccoli, radishes, and lettuce. (This was difficult. I thought they might have me committed when they discovered I wasn’t going to cook the broccoli, and then the radishes?!?!) But, success was made when everyone had a big serving with dinner! Yay! And I somehow avoided dinner and just got to eat my salad. Double yay! (My host-mom is an excellent cook but I just don’t like tallerín night…)