This is one unprepared Scout.

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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 supposed to get down to 5 degrees Celsius tonight. I brought one single, thin pair of pants and a light microfleece jacket, plus some raingear. Beyond that I just have shorts and t-shirts. Sweet. I am wearing my warmest outfit without raingear right now and am quite chilly, and it is only 6:30pm. Their letters said that it would be 26 degrees during the day and may get as low as 15 at night. 15 isn't that bad, so I was sure that my jacket and pants would be fine for cool nights. Not true. Not only is the air cold, but it's pouring rain like you wouldn't believe so everything is damp and extra chilly. Oh, and there are no hot showers. I did not bring a hairdryer. I do not plan on showering any time soon.

I know this entry is ridiculously whiny and a Scout is supposed to be "cheerful," and believe me I'm making the best of it, I just feel like such an idiot to be from Canada and be the one that is totally unprepared for the cold weather. So stupid. They'll take care of me, I'm sure, so don't worry about me dying of hypothermia or anything, but it's just a dumb situation. This camp is just like Camp Barnard or any other Canadian Scout camp, so if I'd known I certainly could have brought the right supplies, I just wasn't aware of what I was getting in to. Lesson: being prepared is better than being easy going.

I have no pictures to show because everything is wet and foggy around me. If the weather clears I will have some AMAZING views to show, for sure. We are at the top of a mountain at 4000m, and the highest volcano in Costa Rica is right across the way. I'll try to get some good shots for you.

On the plus side, I'm finding that I've been fairly decent at understanding a lot of the Spanish being spoken around me. I still can't put much of a sentence together myself, but I have obviously improved quite a bit from when I was in Quito, Ecuador.

Well, dinner is served so I suppose I'll head up to the dining hall. Hopefully they have some hot liquids for me.

--a very wet and chilly Jess

P.S. I know this sounds like I'm in dire straits, but I'm not. Chin up, as always!

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