Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Calling all budding performers....

Thursday, 19 February 2009

Calling all budding performers....

I don’t know if you are already aware, but on top of the tremendous amount of work that the Alpha groups are doing on project site; they have also been given a few tasks by the Communications Team here at Fieldbase, besides of course taking lots and lots of photos to go up on the blog:

Task One: Skit
During changeover, each Alpha group will have to perform a 5 minute skit on their project, complete with props, costumes, singing, dancing – whatever takes their fancy. The skits will then be judged by an experienced panel, in training as American Idol judges, and the winners will receive a prize. These skits are an opportunity for the group to work together as a team and show off their incredible performing talents, whilst of course having a very good time and providing quality entertainment for the audience. This performance will then be followed by the aforementioned ‘Spring Fling Bling’ Foam Party, which I am sure everyone is looking forward to!

Task Two: Short Film
The Alpha groups will also have to prepare a short film, around 5 minutes, on their project; what they have been doing or the impacts on themselves or the surrounding community. There will also be an opportunity for them to show a more light-hearted, humorous film during changeover to the other Alpha groups and, of course, the Fieldbase team.

Task Three: T-Shirt Design
Last but not least, there will be an ‘expedition t-shirt’ prepared for the venturers and venturer managers to take home with them at the end of the expedition. During phase one, each Alpha group has been asked to brainstorm and pull together some ideas for a t-shirt design and these will be reviewed by our communications team after their arrival on Sunday.

So as changeover time is looming upon us, all of the Alpha groups are keeping themselves busy and finishing off the final touches of these tasks in order to have them ready in time. I am sure they are all looking forward to settling down and hearing about each other’s amazing projects – I know I am!

8 comments:

Anonymous20 February 2009 at 02:20
Dear Staff,

I really love your comments. Every morning I'm excited to put my computer on and read all these funny information about what the kids and the staff are doing.
Also I want to thank you for taking so good care of our son Harm, who was injured in his first days of the trek and stayed a week at fieldbase to recover.
Thank you so much. Greetings from his mother Don van Essen-Story
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Anonymous20 February 2009 at 04:38
Vaulting Ambition Theatre Company expects!
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Anonymous21 February 2009 at 12:29
Hello Natalie

Ar Jules's for supper: me, Steven, Dom, Abz, Jules, Julia, Lel & Malcolm

Having hot pot and as usual lots of vino, and of course Jules's crumble with hot custard.

Wish you were here. Hope you are still having a fabulous time and no more dislocated knees.

Missing you lots, all our love and good wishes. Sherry bottle is on the table with thoughts of you.

Did you get Jules's birthday card?

Keep up the good work, loads of love from us all.

Cheers

xxxxxxxxxx
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Anonymous21 February 2009 at 13:51
Hi Jo,

Hope the first part of your trip has gone well and you enjoy a break back at the base.No doubt you will be missing the partying in the Borders but I am sure you are making up for it if you get any free time!

Hope you can send an e-mail when you get near a computer to give me an update.

Take care

Love Dad x x x x xx
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Anonymous22 February 2009 at 15:33
dearest lise!
missing you loads! life continues here - you can watch slum dog millionaire on dvd! wish i was there, lol sue
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Anonymous22 February 2009 at 19:37
Hi claire its Kim, got your messages, good to hear from you, glad all is going well, wveryone is fine at our end cats included! mum and dad glad you emailed. i tried to email back through bebo but it wouldnt let me?? Anyway life is much the same here, we had snow you know! and not just a little snow im talking build a snowman go sledging have a snowball fight amount of snow! so that was fun:) i will try to email you through normal email as well so keep chcking that when you can. keep up the good work and ill hear from you soon

Love and miss you lots
kim and crew xxxx
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Anonymous25 February 2009 at 12:31
Hi Jo.
It was good to hear from you. Hope you enjoy a break before phase two.
LOve Mum.
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Anonymous25 February 2009 at 17:39
livy knight and sam wilson...guys hope all is well on the dreaded trek. in san jose now at hostel pangea: stay here when you are done not the other other hostel this is much better. i leave on friday, we are all going out with adriana tonight which should be exciting. (caipiers and mojitoes by bthe pool) going to rio on friday for end of carnival...
good luck and miss you guys alot, was really bummed out about leaving yesterday...
will keep you posted on the blog about how glourious the outside world is. joke.
miss you guys...say hi to mark pluck on the trek with you...
easy.
george hanbury
george x
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Raleigh Lingo

Copy that?

Sometimes our Raleigh technical terms can be a tad confusing so we've put together a glossary for you blog followers. This will appear as a quick-reference section on the right-hand column so you can translate our Tico-terms into something a bit more palatable. And for those keen to brush up their Central American Spanish, we've included some handy translations. Here's a few to get you started...

Alpha, X-Ray and Zulu groups
(Grupos Alfa, X-Ray y Zulu)
The official name for project groups during the phases of CR&N 13A. Alpha will be out on project from 3rd to 23rd February, X-Ray from 24th February to 15th March and Zulu from 17th March to 5th April. Project groups are allocated during induction

Basha
Jungle ‘bed’: consists of a tarpaulin for shelter, a hammock and mosquito net. A basha is hung up between two trees and supported by rope, bamboo and canvas straps

Bodega
A Spanish word meaning store or warehouse

Bravo
A term of endearment for our hard-working Land Rovers. The four vehicles are officially, and imaginatively named Bravo One, Two, Three and Four

C.A.T.I.E.
The agricultural and development research institute on whose campus Fieldbase is situated. Find out more at http://www.catie.ac.cr/

Changeover (Cambio de Fase)
Two day period where all staff and Venturers return from their project sites for some respite before they are all reallocated and sent off to do it all over again...

Chicas, Chicos
Spanish term meaning girls (chicas) or guys (chicos) or both (chicos aswell). As in “Vamonos chicos!” or “Let’s go guys!”

Craic
A way to gauge how people are feeling, usually measured from 0 to 90. If your ‘craic’ is high, you’re pretty happy. If you announce a low craic, people will probably fix you up with an energy bomb and a nice big hug

CR&N 13A
Costa Rica and Nicaragua expeditions 13A

Day Leader (DL) (Líder del día)
Every day on project, one of the Team is designated DL – they are in charge of the day, including organising the day’s briefing, keeping group morale up, dealing with any problems, sticking to schedule and de-briefing at the end of the day. The DL role rotates round the whole group so everyone takes a turn

Energizer (Actividad Levanta Muertos)
An activity to gather the group together and raise energy levels. Can be used at the beginning of the day, or whenever a quick pick-me-up is required

Energy bombs (Explosión de azucar)
A trekking treat – mix together oats, raisins, condensed milk and chocolate powder and roll into little balls of gooey goodness to power you through the day

Fieldbase (FB) (Campo Base)
Refers to the Raleigh ‘office residence’ which is where the Fieldbase staff eat, sleep and work, whilst organising the expedition, manning the radios round the clock, supporting the projects, planning transport and logistics, keeping tabs on the finances and much, much more

Field Base Volunteer Managers (Equipo Logístico Voluntario del Campo Base)
Volunteer support staff for the expedition. The team looks after the ‘behind the scenes’ of the expedition and ensures everything runs smoothly. This consists of three permanent staff members - the Country Director, Country Project Manager and Country Expedition Manager - plus a team of volunteer staff including the, Medic, Photographer, Administrator, Finance Officer, three Logistics (logs) team members and the Communications Officer

Gallo Pinto
A traditional Costa Rican dish of rice and beans (yum!)

Icebreaker (Rompe Hielos)
A getting-to-know-you game

Longdrop (Letrina)
The camp loo. Literally a deep hole in the ground, it is one of the first tasks to complete when setting up jungle camp for obvious reasons! Short drops are similar, normally used for overnight stops when a shallower trench will suffice

Longs (Pantalones)
From 6pm onwards, we all don long trousers and sleeves to discourage the bugs that aren’t deterred by DEET

Maxis
Short for Maxi Pali, the stock-everything shop about a kilometer from Fieldbase where you can buy all those things you forgot/ran out of/lost

Nicas
An affectionate term referring to the native population of Nicaragua

Ninja
A popular game/energizer used by venturers and Project managers alike. Everyone stands in a circle and tries to hit the team members either side of them on the hand via a single ninja movements. Sound effects welcome

POPS
Legendary milkshake and ice-cream parlour chain found all over Costa Rica – perfect for a sweet splurge

Pork and beans (Frijoles con cerdo)
Another staple foodstuff for trekkers: tinned beans with a slightly sausage twang, served cold for lunch. Usually accompanied by dry cracker dust, sprinkled liberally on to the top. If you’re in a hurry, this can be consumed without cutlery straight from the can

Project Managers (PMs) (Guías)
Project staff for the expedition. Each of the groups has at least two PMs who work with the Venturers to develop skills, lead projects and challenge themselves

PURA VIDA!
A very special Costa Rican phrase that means hello, goodbye, I’m great, it’s good, pure life, basically any positive, feel-good thing can be Pura vida!

Radio check (Chequeo de Radio)
As well as a daily SITREP, all Alpha projects are required to complete a second radio call-in each day to check in, receive messages and report any developments

Review (Revisión)
A round-up that assesses how everyone feels, what went well and what needs work. This is sometimes an ‘activity’, sometimes a chat around the campfire, or sometimes just a bit of time to reflect. It’s an important part of everyone’s personal development so we make sure it happens every day

Roadtrip (Paseo Volando Rueda)
The logistics team and some of the Field Base team drive the Bravos on a loop round to each of the accessible project sites once per phase. They deliver kit, supplies, site visitors, messages from the blog and of course the all important post

Ropa Americana
Purveyors of the finest second hand American threads. Perfect for fancy dress/obtaining that long coveted college sports jersey

SITREP (Reporte de la Situación)
Literally Situation Report. A special radio message sent from the satellite project sites back to fieldbase once a day. It follows a certain format and includes all sort of handy information like where they are, what they’ve been up to, what they need and what they’re planning to do next

Tang
A fruity powder that is used to make squash. Jolly useful for taking away the chlorine taste of purified water

Ticos
An affectionate term referring to the native population of Costa Rica

Trangia (Mini Cocina)
A portable cooking stove. Used primarily for trekking, a trangia’s compact design makes it perfect for easy transportation. Literal translation in spanish - mini kitchen. Makes sense

Turrialba
The location of Fieldbase

Venturers (Aventureros)
Participants in the Raleigh expedition. Aged 17 to 24, they come in three varieties: Host Country Venturers (from Costa Rica and Nicaragua), Partnership Venturers (positive young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in the UK who participate in Raleigh expeditions as part of a longer term development programme) and UK and International Fundraising Participants (who work hard to raise money to contribute towards the charities work and expenses in order to take part in the expedition)

Wash up (Revisión Final)
The last few days of expedition, spent debriefing, returning equipment, performing skits, and most importantly enjoying the farewell party (tears alert)

Zero (Cero)
A radio term that identifies the radio controller at Fieldbase. Fieldbase monitors the radios 24-7, listening out on three frequencies for calls from our satellite project sites. When the radio alarm sounds, we might answer something like this: “Hello unknown call sign, hello unknown call sign, this is Zero, this is zero, do you copy, OVER?”