Everyone seems to be thinking about the end and the logistics of getting out of here. It's been a great experience but 3 weeks is a long time to be away and sleeping in a tent. It will take my feet a while to recover. I did a quick calculation and determined that most days required 10+ miles of walking due to the nature of our steward jobs. The walk to our start point is about a mile before the real work begins. Over the 20 days, we would have walked well over 200 miles. Maybe we can get (4) 50-miler patches? :-)
The youth are doing very well and are kept very busy. Last night I had the "pleasure" of being security detail for an outdoor disco for 500+ youth at one of the hubs. Fortunately I did not have to be in the pit where ear plugs were required of our stewards - their job was to pull people in distress over the fence. I was on the perimeter to check for ID's at a choke point and send youth away when they didn't have their tags or a neckerchief.
After that fun, we moved to the adult hub where about 1000 twenty-somethings had been consuming adult beverages. Thirty of us stewards were to close down the area, "asking" people to move along. That was certainly a joy. It took about 45 minutes to herd them into the appropriate area. We have all been doing real work and are very tired at the end of the day/night.
We'll be leaving on buses early morning Thursday to catch our noon flight. Our tents will come down Wednesday afternoon at 3 PM. I've found a Zimbawbe group who could really use my tent in their country so I'll give it to them when it's down. I don't need a tent and am not crazy about this one.
See you soon. Mark
