Well, Julie and I have arrived safely here in San Jose, Costa Rica. I will be posting my journal on this blog as I did in Seattle in January for Overture I. There won't be too much to write here today because we essentially got an overview of transformational leadership principles (leadership is calling-based, reflective, contextual, servant, incarnational, and global). We did have the opportunity to "exegite" the city this afternoon.
When Julie and I walked around the city, we were looking for several things: signs of hope, signs of need, symbols, and surprises. I saw a lot of economic development and opportunities in this city, which I believe to be the greatest sign of hope. Still, the biggest need in this city is infrastructure development (such as transportation, waste disposal, etc.). The various colorful advertisements were the biggests symbols to me. I was surprised by the lack of cell phone usage (and ensuing abundance of pay phone usage), the fences and barbed wire surrounding every house and business, the number of security guards at businesses, and the large number of people walking around the downtown area.
All in all this has been a great experience so far. I'll have more of the in depth content from lectures and observations in future blog posts.
2 comments:
Bryan
I'm surprised about the relative lack of cell phone usage; many 'third world' countries have extended the cell phone system as it's easier and cheaper than building a land line system.
I'm not surprised by all the barbed wire and guards, though. Where there is poverty, there's usually a lot of theft. Where there's both poverty and theft, there's usually a lot of corruption, too.
John V
I was going to say the same thing about cell usage. In Kenya, even around the slums, there are a lot of cell phones being used...
- Tim
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