STDs and other adventures

Fialta did a big job in the sphere of youth reproductive health. Non-formal seminars on sexually transmitted diseases and drug abuse are still popular, though the last project ended about a year ago. Schools are calling, asking to facilitate.

One-and-a-half hours long seminars are good not just to pass the information to participants, but they also make a great school for the facilitators. The theme is practical enough, but the circumstances tend to be stressful - school classes, pre-formed group, questionable organization and so on. Quite the excitement, I reckon. I can't wait! >:)

Last Sunday I passed a light 4-hour training on STDs with volunteer camp leaders. Usually facilitators for Fialta's seminars are being prepared via 2-day training courses, but they made an exception for me. I think I'll get the hang of it, I'm not a total newbie. On Monday I'll get an improvised test and on Friday I have first field experience. Not nervous, but I consider this kind of important.

* * *

Intercultural learning is working in strange ways. The fact that I speak great Russian is making most of the people confused about how deep I am in the context, about what I understand and mostly they consider that I don't need any extra help or information. This leads to two interesting moments:

1. there are many things everyone knows, but I don't. So I have to ask and insist on explanations.
2. when going deeper into some theme I see that my theory and experience differs from common. Sometimes I can offer another point of view, but I have to overcome the "current".

So basically, on the Johari window I'm walking from "blind" to "hidden".


Guess were I speaking latvian, environment would react differently, would be more obsessive and explain a lot. On the other hand I wouldn't fit in this quick. But this feeling, when you think you know what to do and how, but in practice it turns out you lose something completely primitive were you in the context. *Sigh* :)