So, today I gave my first "tour". It's not really a tour, but I am lacking a better word. The word
"tour" brings to mind lots of fake smiling and memorized information and bad jokes. What I did today was more of an "experiential educational program". An EEP. I'm abbreviating all over the place tonight. At 8:45, 48 9th graders from St. Peter-Marian arrived in a school bus. Catholic school. I inherited a group of 16 and the sacred duty of guiding them through the "Humans and Habitats" program. Here's the basic layout: Introduction to Heifer's Mission, and a video about Heifer' work around the world. Then, a tour of the farm and garden, followed by a tour of the Global Village, followed by a village meal at one of the sites, and topped off by the World Map game. My group of kids were fine. Very, very 9th grade-ish. Pretty nice, somewhat interested, but not enough to be uncool, and flirty flirty. Nevertheless, they did their best to learn about Heifer and livestock and stuff, and I didn't have much trouble with them. We had our lunch in Thailand, and I was actually quite impressed with them. Our fire only took twenty minutes to get going, and they liked the Thai food.
The conversation at the village meal was probably the most meaningful. They went through the wood collecting and fire building and food preparation and cooking over an open fire. And then, we all sat down after we cleaned our bowls, and I asked a few questions, such as: "Did you like the meal?" "Would you eat it every day?" My personal favorite part was asking them how long it usually takes them to make lunch. Answer: three minutes, for a pbj. How long did this meal take? Answer: an hour. When you think about the labor, the smoke, and time, would you want to cook this meal two or three times a day? Answer: Hell no! But, if you lived in this area of Thailand, you would have to. So, food for thought. A very good conversation.
Anyway, the ball is now rolling. From this point on, things will be busy busy, and I will be working working. Ready as I'll ever be.
I bet you are the BEST tour giver around SamSam . . . i mean, Glooble. This brings me back to all the times I went on that exact tour - hahahah. I don't remember ever having to cook at one of the villages though. You know, I had to slave over that smoky hot cauldron for hours a day just to eat food you dont like and its not as bad as it sounds in context.
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