Yeah, that's my dirty foot in that photo, but hear me out, please? You see, these feet of mine have traveled all over, and some of the best travels have been in the name of Girl Scouting. And yes, those are gold shoes I am wearing with some fabulous green nail polish on my toes (I had my hands did up too!). Seriously, thank you Target for having some Girl Scout green nail polish in the dollar section! Little did I know that shortly after I took this photo, my whole world was about to change.
The two ladies above would the awesome-sauce Heather and Janelle. I was fortunate enough to have met them at the bridging back in March thanks to our phenomenal program director, Betsy. At that point, I had just been selected to be the adult delegate from GSHG and was so lost as to what I needed to do. Heather and Janelle have been an invaluable resource to me and have even helped my troop (I bet they didn't realize they did!). They have also become wonderful friends, and I am so thankful to have someone to talk to who understands what I am going through (and not have to explain!).
And so began our opening ceremony.....
In case you can't see the photo above very well, that would be our very own CEO down there dancing with some Scouts and Guides! Seriously, as far as a Girl Scout CEO goes, she's rockin'!
Interesting tid bit..... GWF was planned by a group of scouts. Yes, you read that correctly- the forum was planned by the girls! And, they did a kick@$$ job!
The five WAGGGS regions were presented in a flag ceremony with all of the country flags in their regions. Many of the countries had their own scouts/guides bring them in. They were then placed by their region. It stayed up the whole time we were there and was pretty amazing just to look at it. It really made you stop and think.
Heather made an interesting observation (which I found to be true). She said that Melinda Carol is like the Bon Jovi of Girl Scouts. I mean really, she is. We all know her, and her songs, and she sings at all of our big events. She did several amazing songs with us, including a really awesome one from Africa!
Connie Lindsay (our National President) and Anna Maria Chavez were also present at the opening ceremony. It was amazing to see their support in us.
We immediately fell into our sessions. The scouts and guides were off on one side of the hotel, and we adults were put on another (I should really ask Sa'Haara and Madison if they would like to guest blog on here!).
Remember what the first year of college was like? For me, I felt like my head was going to explode with all of the information that was being crammed into it. With all of the research I had already done, I felt like what more if there for me to learn? Oh yeah, a LOT more. We learned some frightening statistics on the MDG's, women's accomplishments and abuse (verbally, physically), and where the planet is heading. We also did some break out sessions to learn more about the MDG's we felt like we needed to learn more on. Listening to women from other countries who have experienced or witnessed these problems first hand shocked me. It literally took everything in me not to burst into tears listening to some of their stories.
Thankfully, lunch was next (it was a nice break), and I made more new friends. After lunch, it was back to work. We learned more about the MDG's and the issues at hand. Still, I was fighting back the tears! We learned about the 3 themes (2010: plant, 2011: grow, 2012: share), Stop the Violence campaign (this is IMPORTANT!!!!!), and more.
After this, the adults broke up into two groups- US scouts and international scouts/guides. It was there that something truly amazing happened. At our table, we were discussing what WAGGGS meant to us. I won't post the details/answer because this is a question I intend to ask others in the future. I will say this- one woman had a truly incredible idea that I want to do in the future. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarf. More on that later....
Our day was finished off by a wonderful tour of Chicago on.... A DOUBLE DECKER BUS!!! Yeah, it was awesome. We spent the first half of the tour down below, but finished off up top and saw some awesome things!
Pretty awesome, right?! Thankfully, we got back at a good time and were able to squeeze in a short shopping trip around the corner before going to bed early. We had to be up early Tuesday. To be continued.....
Hmm, I don't think anyone has ever referred to me as Awesome Sauce, but I'll take the compliment! Also, keep in mind that I'm from New Jersey so Bon Jovi is a REALLY big deal up here :)
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