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And so this new adventure begins - I spent Wednesday and Thursday of this week in the DC headquarters of Partners of the Americas, the organization whose A Ganar program will be my life for the next 7 months. The orientation was a success, as I now feel completely confident that this 7 month field project will go beyond the possible "internship" of filing, photocopying, etc, and instead I will get a chance to really contribute to the implementation and strategic planning of an incredible development project!

A Ganar is a program that utilizes the universality of sports to do a number of things in an effort to empower at risk youth. Namely, sports (fútbol, in Colombia) are used to teach youth life skills and job skills, improving their capacity to gain employment and compete in the market. Fútbol itself is used to teach many of these skills, and this is coupled with classroom training on technical skills and internship/work placement with local professionals. All of these steps combine with mentorship and service learning projects to empower participants to improve their lives and their communities! How exciting to be a part of this work!

The program in Colombia is still pending final contracts, which means that I will likely be there from day 1 for the first round of youth, giving me a chance to learn the program & process in all stages!! It also means that I'll be able to really engage with this first group, and maybe even facilitate & mentor a bit myself!

This morning I arrived in New York City and trekked through the city to reach the Colombian consulate and pick up my volunteer's visa. They had received my application 3 weeks ago, and when I called last week to check on the status and confirm that it would be ready to be picked up last Friday, they informed me that the photocopies of the certificates from the host organization in Colombia would not suffice - I needed originals. I asked why I hadn't been called and informed of this, and he responded that he didn't have my number.... right after he read from the cover letter that I had sent with my application, with numerous contact details included in bold letters.... In a panic, I contacted my savior/field advisor, Natasha, who assured me that the documents would be in DC by Monday, and we could overnight them from there. Tuesday they had been sent, and when I called the consulate Wednesday & Thursday -- no answer. I walked into the small visa office on the 3rd floor and introduced myself, reminding the one employee of our phone calls and my application. Unfortunately, despite arriving on Tuesday, the documents stayed in the mail inbox at the Consulate until I walked in the door, and the application had not been processed. The employee assured me that there was no way for the application to get the required approval from Colombia before the end of business (1:45 PM) today, so I would have to either delay my flight, or enter as a tourist and then leave and re-enter once the application was ready.

Needless to say, this experience has close to balanced out the great experience I had at the orientation, and I am feeling more than a little frustrated.