Sleep deprivation has turned into motivation. Lately, I have felt so motivated to experience all that Medellín has to offer despite my decreasing hours of sleep. It is the annual flower festival, Feria de las Flores, with parades and parties throughout this week. This means that I can look forward to another week with little sleep but with lots of fun.

Monday, August 5^th was an organisational day. Oliver, Rachel, and I discussed our respective roles in the project, agreeing that they had worked well but, as always, with room for improvements and adjustments. Particularly, I wanted to prepare more and control the planning of our activities in Picacho. My need for such preparation has been a self-discovery.  I never thought of myself as a control freak (probably no control freak does), but with very specific areas of our plans, I feel an immense need for control. Thus, I am practicing loosening the grip around that because, when working with children, planning equals preparing for chaos. Thus, my need for control is nothing but a rigid obstacle to embracing the chaotic nature of our project.  

Me trying to control the chaos on Tuesday, August 6th

Tuesday, August 6^th was an unusually good day. Amy from the Laidlaw Foundation is overseeing the project this week and our day started at UPB with a working session. As per usual, we had to leave early to run our activity in Picacho; part II of our plant pot activity, planting the Macetas. I felt slightly anxious and excited because Amy together with Daniela, David, and AK from make_sense would join. My mixed feelings were related to the chaos that they would witness in Picacho. Even though the activity was delayed due to the children working with clay in another local spot (chaos), we managed to run the activity with help from the volunteers. Soil, plants, water, papers, and plastic bottles were everywhere but plants were planted. The children were happy and proud of their accomplishment of recycling bottles into useful and artistic plant pots. All in all, this activity was such a success because of, rather than despite, the chaos.  

Me, Kenia, and Natallia at Feria de las Flores 

Wednesday, August 7^th was a restful day. I went to one of my favourite cafes where they serve locally produced coffee from Antioquia; the Café Frio with Tamarindo is beyond delicious here. In the evening, I had planned to go to Feria de la Flores with our volunteers. This was an incredible fun evening with lots of dancing, riding a bull, and just getting to know them outside of the hecticness of Picacho activities. I also met a Danish guy at the festival who was the first person I saw from Scandinavia in Colombia. It felt very good to flow easily into Danish conversations rather than struggling through Spanish communication.

Museo del Agua (post playing in the water) 

Thursday, August 8^th was an incredible day. We went to Museo del Agua with the children of Picacho. Rachel had been the main person organising it with help from Adrián and David. The children were very excited at the museum, and it was especially enriching to see them all curiously engage with the exhibitions and sensory displays. In the end, the museum guide asked the children what they thought they could recycle plastic for and why it was important. One of the girls shared how we had made plant pots earlier that week and that recycling plastic was necessary to save the oceans. I was so impressed that the children had made connections across our workshops and activities, considering our difficulties in communicating with them in Spanish. They are so intelligent and attentive.  

After the museum tour, we went out to play in the churos, the sprinklers that I might have spelled very incorrectly. While this resulted in Oliver and I getting drenched, we also had so much fun playing around with the children. So far, this is one of my highlight moments with them all.

 No week without a picture of food: 
Foodie Friday (though it was Taco Tuesday this week)

Friday, August 9^th was our final “normal” day before starting our week of showcases. We had a lot of debriefing to do as well as planning for the following Tuesday (the day of our showcase). The planning we pushed for the weekend, reflecting upon the week. Later in the day, we drew another round of Tarot cards and used them in a reflective exercise about Sustainable Development Goals; I drew the Six of Cups and the King of Swords. It was an interesting way to think through global problems by first identifying what values and morals are necessary to find possible solutions.

I finish this week on a positive note with lots of energy from our project and evenings with the other scholars and new friends here in Colombia.

I am so grateful that my head can keep up with the pace, which makes me feel motivated though also sleep-deprived.