Translating, adventuring and the Future

Since returning from Leticia, the office has been hectic. Today, however, Thursday, the office is almost empty. Most people have gone to Cartagena, and I am going tomorrow morning early and I am so very excited! The Conference starts on Sunday and runs for 6 days. Let me give you some statistic-like facts: 156 countries have signed, 127 governments are registered to attend the conference, 50 ‘high level’ representatives are coming (ie Ministers of governments etc), 1000 delegates will be there, representatives from several non-state parties will be there – including the USA, despite them announcing onWednesday that they will not be changing their policy. 35 youth representatives from 25 countries will be attending the parallel youth forum, and there is also a parallel victim assitance forum.

The past three weeks I have translated many many documents, these days mostly into Spanish, and often for the press. Plus I have been working with the Colombian youth delegates, via Skype, to improve their English and work on the presentations they will be giving at their forum, and with Carlos who works in the office as I will be interpreting his presentation, (he’s a landmine survivor - his story is a sad one. But he’s doing so well for himself. Shall I write it? Yes. In 2002, when he was 14, he was playing with his friend, their football rolled away and his friend went to get it. An explosion. Carlos couldn’t hear or see and stumbled towards home. Someone helped him and from then he doesn’t remember anything until he woke up 1.5 months later from his coma. He was told his friend had died and he may not be able to walk again. 9 hard months of  recovery passed, and then he walked again. His brother heard about the campaign, they moved to Bogota and Carlos had 42 surgeries. He missed the one-year deadline for compensation from the state so has to pay for it all himself. He now works in the campaign and goes to school in the evenings. He wants to be an economist.) I’ve tranlsated so many stories like this one I fear they no longer seem real. But his does. You can see the scars on his face.

Anyway, enough of that. It’s been great in a bustling and slightly stressed office, everything is leaning towards this conference. Yesterday the quarterly Colombian anti-mine action bulletin was published, and more importantly, it was the launch of the 2009 Landmine Monitor, collated by ICBL* and facilitated by CCCM**. We all went to the launch in one of the universities in the centre of Bogota and I, along with Laura C, welcomed the press and took their details so they can  be registered for Cartagena. We heard speeches from Alvaro (head of CCCM), Camilo (researcher for CCCM), Sylvie, (executive director of ICBL) and several other people and although only 25 people came, it was good. Unfortunately somewhat overshadowed in the press however by the USA’s announcement that they won’t be signing next week.

So I am excitedísimo because a) the Caribbean again! b) this is an important conference and I’m going to see it first hand c) Everyone from the office is going and we’re going to have a great time together d) There will be so much going on and I will have an actual role e) I am going to go to the press conferences and the UN meetings and work out my future career path! Well, get some ideas anyway. Because recently I have been thinking a lot about what I want to do and the fact that I am so excited to go to the press conferences and meet journalists makes me wonder if that’s what I should be doing… but then again the UN and all these NGOS are so mega interesting and do good work. So really how am I supposed to decide. And really,a dn maybe unfortunately, it’s the governments who have the real power to change things, so maybe that’s where I should be aiming.

Amidst this flurry of activity, there has still been time to make the most of being in Colombia. I’ve been to a few more salsa classes, and tried but failed to avoid aguardiente, drink of the devil (mentiras, it’s just not very nice and leaves you with an un-paracetamol-able headache), spent time in the Candalaria and browsing markets, cursed the time spent in traffic jams, had my purse stolen, then delivered back to me sans cash, and the weekend before last was a puente (long weekend) so Laura and I took off to San Gil, adventure capital of Colombia.

It is such a lush little town. Its main square is an actual hub of activity, where during the day children play and old folk meet and chat, occupying the benches beneath the trees, and as dusk falls the youth take over and it is a veritable party until 11pm, when everyone relocates to the out-of-town clubs. And that’s when the witches come out. They’re somewhat superstitious in the pueblos of Colombia and Laura and I met a guy in the main square who told us all about the warning signs we should look out for. Then a woman who obviously lived on the streets ran across the square and his eyes bulged and he pointed a shaky hand toward sher, whispering “She’s a witch!” The next day we were in the square again, with a girl we had met the day before and the woman appeared again, this time with a massive bag of flour. She stopped near a big group of people and started hurling flour in all directions. The crowd ran screaming. and the woman ran towrds them and she chased them around the square, throwing flour as she went. Then she put it down and someone ducked to pick it up and run away with it. She chased them fiercely until she came upon an empty bottle, then ran to the fountain to fill it up, where someone pushed her in. And that’s when everyone stopped running away, and the atmosphere returned closer to normal. But she was not done. She went back to her flour, where it had been left by the tormentor, and began her rampage once again. And I was laughing so much at the crowd’s reaction, and the fear that everyone had of this poor woman. But when she came towards us with her flour I swiftly backed away… Crowd mentality took over!

This wasn’t the highlight of the weekend, merely a smalltown Colombia story tha tI wanted to remember. The highlights were many in fact. I went paragliding, which was so so much fun and actually not at all scary, and also white water rafting which I enjoyed lots, more than I expected after the last time when I did not enjoy falling in on grade 5 rapids, but this time they were grade 3 and it was ace. And we also went rappelling – abseiling down a waterfall, which was pretty amazing, although more difficult than I imagined – I had to hold on tight! Awesome weekend though. We also visited a cute colonial town where their traditional snack is toasted hormigas culonas – big-bummed ants. So I obviously had to try some, but I had to buy like 30. And I ate 2. They were actually not too bad, but the texture was bizarre, like soft but crunchy.

To completely change the subject, it’s very much nearly Christmas in Bogotá. There are so so many lights and a lot of them have been turned on. In the square in Usaquén, there are so many lights it’s almost daytime, but I LOVE it. There are loads of white trees, lit up, and it’s like walking through a glowing snow-covered forest, and between the trees, hundreds of stars are strung. And it’s making me so excited for Christmas, and therefore being in England, like rosy frosty cheeks and crunchy  icy pavements and coats and scarves and mulled wine and mince pies and carols and crossing the road in safety and things starting on time . But then I also realised that I’m really going to miss Colombia too – the people, the new friends, the mountains, the markets, the random fruits, the availabilty of fresh juice, the coffee, the salsa, patacones and the constant sound of laughter despite everything. But missing it means I had a good time right? And I have done. And there are more good times to come!

*International Campaign to Ban Landmines, champion of the Treaty - Nobel Peace Price 1997

**Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines

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