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 that we would be able to make good use of our spare time. Before we loaded into the mini-bus, Cata, this amazing girl who was one of the main organizers of the event and is ... read more

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 in Word, to be uploaded at a later time, because the wireless network seems to be down. I can’t complain, though. The fact that we have any internet connection up here in a Scout camp ... read more

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 advice, Grayson! You can see the pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/28505980@N08 Oh man am I tired. I don't even know where to begin. So much happened today, and actually quite a number of neat things happened... read more

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 room for improvement, I'm glad to be the one to help keep our vision at the forefront of the agenda. So, please take this entry with a grain of salt, and thanks for reading! *** ... read more

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 lanes to 2 the entire way). Once we got there, all of us from dozens of countries throughout the world marched up a wide walkway lined on either side with adorable Ecuadorian cubs and their ... read more