Camp GLOW

June 28 – July 4

     Yay, camp! This week was Peace Corps Colombia’s Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) 2015. We had an amazing week and watching our campers’ confidence in themselves increase over just these few days has been an amazing experience. I was a co-counselor for the Blue Diamonds group and was able to lead discussions on community service and professional development. We had other charlas on leadership, self-esteem, gender, general health, and sexual health and rights, too. We went on a nature walk, swam at Pozo Azul, and explored La Victoria, the coffee finca up the road. We had large group games, morning yoga and zumba, discussion time with a panel of successful women professionals, a talent show, and of course, a beautiful campfire. Campers were already leaders when they came, and they left with the skills and confidence to use their talents to start projects in their communities. What a truly beautiful experience…

- GLOW was amazing. And there are GLOW, HERO, and BRO camps, as well as others, at Peace Corps posts all over the world. Wherever you are, apply and go, if you can. It’s an experience you’ll never forget.

- Happy USA Independence Day! Though I honestly spent most of the day sleeping after coming home exhausted from Camp GLOW, I was happy to think (and dream) about all the red, white, and blue, fireworks, patriotic music, and happy, outdoor celebrations going on at home. Happy Birthday, America!

- Typical Colombian parties involve sharing food, dancing, drinking, and sitting in a circle outside in plastic chairs, while listening to loud music and conversing when the music isn’t too loud. The plastic chairs are very important and are practically a symbol of Colombian culture. I thought we used them a lot in the US, but I clearly had no idea how much they could be used. Also, the host usually serves the food to guests, rather than leaving it out for people to take, like we do. You can certainly say, “yes,” when someone offers you alcohol, but if you say, “yes,” once, be prepared to be gently pushed to continue saying, “yes,” quite a few more times! I went to a volunteer’s birthday party on Saturday and was excited to see a few people from Camp GLOW, as well as other volunteers and the birthday girl’s Colombian friends and host family. Parties often go from 2000 to 0500, but I just stayed for a little while, still quite tired from an awesome week at camp.