Today, we have moved seamlessly from one world to another, from the touristic delights of Mexico City to the unique world of international Guiding. I am sitting in the grounds of Our Cabaña, listening to the chirruping of local cicadas and the distance hum of traffic outside the compound.
This place is beautiful. It is little paradise in Mexico, away from the hubbub of the world outside. I received a tweet before I came here, saying this place is 'stunning' and I now see why. It is a haven, a Guiding home, and if you have a unit, I would highly recommend bringing your Guides or Senior Section here. Plan a trip, go on! Bring your unit here and show your unit what international Guiding is all about.
We checked out of the hotel and headed for Cuernavaca, which means 'horn cow', Gill tells me, and she knows everything about Spanish, because she took me on my first major international experience to the World Scout Jamboree in Chile in 1998, which incidentally, changed my life. I didn't say a lot before that event, now I just can't stop talking.
Anyway, back to what I am meant to be writing about. We arrived at Our Cabaña and received a warm welcome from the international staff. I met Abigail, who I have been e-mailing for the last year or so, with details about our group - health forms, programme options, room-sharing etc. It was like meeting a long-lost friend once again.
Let me tell me you about Our Cabaña. It is one of the four World Centres of WAGGGS, where our ten million members from across the world can come and stay. We are here on a 'pick n mix' programme, where we are enjoying a programme of activities which we chose, as a group.
Today was a day of learning about Our Cabaña, orientating ourselves with the site - it is about 5 acres, but feels much larger. It consists of a series of dorms, functional rooms, such as a craft room, a dining hall where we share our meals together, programme office, swimming pool, tennis court, volley ball court, trading post, accommodation for staff and a series of cute gardens, such as the Garden of Dreams which hosts the sundial, and the Garden of Frogs. There is a cat here who I have named Popocatépetl (see yesterday's blog), who wanders around the site.
We spent a chunk of the day enjoying Mexican cultural activities, run by the fantastic volunteers who are on placement here. They included acting out Mexican independence, using bongo drums, a horse, and a spectacular performance from Margaret, who passionately declared Mexican independence, whilst I played the bongo drums; making a Mexican flag; helping to decorate a giant piñata which will be used later in the programme; we also played Mexican bingo, where we learnt lots of useful Mexican words; and made delicious guacamole, which I am definitely going to make when I get home, although I'm not sure the avocadoes in Morrison's will be quite as fresh as the locally-grown ones here.
In the evening, we enjoyed some team building games with group members and volunteers. The whole day has been punctuated by comedy improvisation games. I took this up fairly recently and have been mildly obsessed with it as it is fantastic for encouraging people to think on their feet, adapt their ideas, be flexible, listen, and it is also, often, hilarious. We have been playing 'Proverb Generator', 'Three Talking Heads' (anyone who has been to the Comedy Store on a Wed or Sun night will be familiar with this) This afternoon, we had the world's leading expert on orienteering for armadillos. Impressive eh?
Well, I shall sign out there and will write more very soon. Hasta luego!
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