I need to contact Intercultura, to finalize a contract. To settle on numbers, itineraries.
I have booked a flight at Thanksgiving to ensure the volunteer project is worthwhile. I have a lot riding on this trip; it is an initiation of sorts for me and El Camino. I see this as a vanguard, the first of many. Next summer, I'd like to visit Cambodia with the Fulbright grant trip Bo Morton is putting together. I see Cuba as a potential site. Africa? India? There is no shortage of developing country locations.
I have one more informational meeting and then I move to the next phase. I need to organize my classwork, put together my readings.
A neighbor, Tom who is an avid surfer, told me the other day that crime is rising in CR. Bandits are hijacking buses, ambushing Americans. This makes me nervous. Not for myself- for the students. I check the government website, http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1093.html. It is not as bad as Tom made it out to be. Typical stuff, a slight increase because the economy is bad. There are no official warnings. I am not worried about Samara. It is small, intimate. The petty stuff is always there- no worse than Venice, Santa Monica, the South Bay. Hell, books get stolen out of the library everyday.
I am excited. The clock is ticking. January 10 will be here before we know it.
