awkward, awkward, awkward

how best to describe the day i've been through? um, let's go with the word awkward.

it started out fairly simply, i got up and headed off to the revamped office - fresh with internet and network systems. rafael was there, spinning tunes and singing along, if softly (but the music was blaring). i slipped in a hip cd and donned the headphones so as to drown out the syrupy tripe (although better than the other day) coming out of the speakers. i'm working on a pretty slick publication for the foundation (what they are now). using adobe indesign and taking my time on it cause i'm just starting to learn how to use it. apparently the group was handed some money by the pan-american health foundation for such a purpose and so are trying to go as high-brow as possible. fine by me but they keep changing the specs and so i'm left trying to get everything to fit and look pretty in the process. anyway andy shows up and then jane and we're a happy family as we share our vantage points of the making of the book and try to figure out just how to make the images all one colour (it's cheaper only using two inks - and it adds a certain interesting scheme to the publication). anyway, andy (after rafael has left) calls us over to talk to us and begins by saying that he's appreciated the work we've been doing lately and apologizes for the problems of the office and the like, and then says that he's just received an email from our boss (paula, who we have yet to meet but now have a meeting scheduled for tomorrow) that says that he's been mistreating us and that the new intern will not be working with the foundation at all. this is a huge blow because she's got the background to really put the one on track (with organization and communication skills). the mistreating statement stems from our paying 20 bucks a month for internet and the office - a fee that we felt should have come from the 750 dollars that organizations receive from the college of the rockies. well, andy didn't know anything about the money - ecotec (the university that officially is our sponsor down here) hasn't said anything and the only thing our one and only meeting with them accomplished was us writing up a one page summary of our backgrounds that didn't elicit a response (in two months anyway...).

well, andy was literally in tears. he said he feels embarrassed and since he's a student at ecotec and knows the people there well (the foundation used to be the local ecoclub at ecotec) he can't now show his face on campus.

so... we go into damage control, telling andy that we'll spin this as best as we can, make some phonecalls and the like and get on the horn for his cause. this we do, talking to sonja who appeared stunned at the email andy got and his response, although she did sympathize and say that she was not liking where this was going. a meeting on thursday was pulled up to tomorrow at ecotec and we'll try to smooth things over there in the afternoon.

ok, so that out of the way we head on over to a meeting at the mall with a nelson (last name unknown) who manages the ecoclubes and eco-tourism projects out at porto hondo (where i went on the tour through the mangroves) and cerro blanco. a very nice guy (and very understandable as well), he filled us in on the goings on in porto hondo, the kids and their hopes for the club in the near future (basically they're looking for guides to take people on tours). we're gonna drop in on friday to see them in action and see where exactly we can help out.

whew... so i might have more interesting things to say tomorrow after the meeting (4 pm) ...