I left camp this morning full of happiness and a contented peace. Unfortunately the Miami International Airport, particularly the customs department, took approximately 36.7 seconds to rip any joy from my soul. Just to rub things in, I was forced to pass a banner proclaiming this god-awful place to be the 2008 Best American Aiport, according to the TSA. Good for them. But now, FINALLY, I am in the air and quickly jetting hundreds of kilometers in escape. Let me close my eyes and try to remember back to happier times…. Ahhh yes. I am back at Camp Iztaru in a [View Full Entry]

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Hehehe. Today was one of those days that just left me giggling—full of random craziness where I have to look around me and laugh at the situation I’m in. The youth forum ended at lunch today, and during the closing ceremonies they told us that they had a surprise: everyone who was staying for the Scouts of the World Award Seminar would get a chance to be bussed in to San José for some sight seeing and shopping. Sweeeet! I thought I was going to have almost 24 hours to kill before the next event started, so I was quite happy [View Full Entry]

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So, they seem to have abandoned even pretending they have wireless network set up. It looks like I´m going to have to keep putting my entries on a USB drive and transfering to one of the public-use computers here (circa 1995), which means that I probably won´t be able to upload any more pictures for a while. I wrote this entry yesterday morning but didn´t get a chance to upload it until now. Warning: it´s a longie! -- The conference has been really enjoyable so far, despite the lack of internet access. It’s difficult to find the time to write blog [View Full Entry]

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Wireless internet has been down all day. I just couldn't take it, so I snuck in to the administrative building, found an unplugged ethernet cable, and jammed that sucker into my laptop to get my fix. So many e-mails! Anyways, I wrote a blog entry in Word earlier this morning which I'll throw up here quickly while I can. I'll try to write another entry tonight reflecting on the day's events, but it might not get posted until tomorrow (or later, if word gets out about my sweet find and they shut it down). --- This morning’s entry is getting typed [View Full Entry]

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Wow. I am... seriously unprepared for this event. This has the potential to be a long 7 nights. Going in, I hardly knew anything about these two conferences but I just thought I'd come out and figure things out as I went. The organizers only sent out two tiny, one page info bulletins. Hmm. I definitely should have requested some more detailed information about accommodations. It's one thing to be easy going, but there was some rather important knowledge not transferred to me which would have made a world of difference. Namely, that it is FREEZING here!!! Like, almost literally. It's [View Full Entry]

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While yesterday's entry had slight undertones of loneliness and boredom, today's entry should strongly convey just the opposite--if I can finish it all, that is. I am exhausted! Today was amazing. I took 156 pictures... and that says something because I'm normally terrible at taking my camera out. I've decided just to throw the whole batch up on flickr so you can take a look if you are interested. There has been no editing or anything and some are doubles. I have to say I'm fairly impressed with their quality, though. My new camera is pretty decent. Thanks for the good [View Full Entry]

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I can't tell you how bizarre it feels to be fending my way through the familiar hostel life all by myself, without Derek and Mark (my travel companions from my big round-the-world trip in 2006/7). Gingerly making my bed while checking for signs of bed bugs without Derek by my side just doesn't feel right, and checking out a bathroom without Mark laughing at me just is not the same. I'm on my own, now. Not that it's been terrible. I've only been here in San José a few hours but I've been holding my own and catching a few breaks. [View Full Entry]

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It's come to my attention that my blog now pops up as #2 on Google if you search for "Jessica Page scout" and for some reason a lot of people actually have been reading it. The first little bit of this entry is a bit whiny and unflattering in terms of my opinion on the way youth involvement is going in Canada. Please don't read too much in to it--this entry was written after a long two weeks of traveling and Scouting and I was tired. I'm happy with our organization's commitment to youth leadership and, although there is always [View Full Entry]

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Here I sit in the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. It will be my home for the next 9 hours as I wait for my flight to Vancouver so I can continue my recent Scout meeting binge with 3 more full days of national Scouts Canada meetings. I'm pretty pleased because I've got a table, I've got access to a power outlet, and I'm sneaking free access to the "Continental President's Club Lounge" wireless network so I'm not even paying for internet! Excellent. The United States really is a different country from Canada, despite what some may say. For [View Full Entry]

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I’m on a bus right now driving back from the “middle of the world” (as they call it). In other words, I was at the equator! I stood with one foot in the Northern Hemisphere and one foot in the Southern Hemisphere. That alone is pretty cool, but the whole experience was made absolutely unforgettable thanks to the incredibly hard work and detailed planning by the Ecuador Scout Association. They bussed about 8 huge busloads of conference delegates to this big monument (which, by the way, took FOREVER because there was a marathon on so the traffic was reduced from 4 [View Full Entry]

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