Defining Success

September 21 – September 27

- Sunday – As usual, my family went to Mass this morning, and then we went out. This time, we went to Buena Vista just to hang out and go to City Park, which is like an arcade for children. It was raining outside, so we couldn’t really go anywhere because of the arroyos, so we stayed there for a while until the rain passed. My sisters even somehow managed to convince me to go on the bumper cars with them, so I had fun attempting to skirt around everyone. This evening, I also made dinner for my family.

- Monday – In PST, we learned about classroom management and heard from a counterpart in Cartagena about what we can do to be helpful in the schools. According to our speaker, the most important things are that we have a good attitude, smile, and work hard. Aside from that, everything is flexible.

- Tuesday – In Spanish, we listened to a song called, “Pedro Navaja”, as a listening activity. The song was very good and I still have it stuck in my head! We also learned about some of the characters we will see during Carnaval, like marimondas and other typical costumes. In technical training, we learned about assessment and co-teaching. After class, I explored a new mall, Americano, with 2 other volunteers.

- Wednesday – This morning, we had practicum and my partner and I helped students listen to and translate 2 songs, Change your Life and Imagine. In Spanish, we learned about travelling in Colombia and I did my 3 Zones dinámica, which seemed to go quite well.

- Thursday – We were at the office today and started with an, as usual, awesome resiliency session on coping skills and defining “success” in Peace Corps service. Success in Peace Corps comes in little things. As one person, you may not be able to change the world, but you can make a difference in someone’s life. We also talked about Peace Corps policies and budgeting, the latter of which was particularly useful, since most of us weren’t sure exactly what the money they’ve been giving us is for.

- Friday – Today was the last workday for one of the most awesome people in the Peace Corps office. Of course, he needs to go back to Central America and his Peace Corps country and he was just here temporarily, but no one wants him to leave. He’s a wonderful guy who’s open to anything and has a great sense of humor. I hope he has an amazing time kayaking through the Amazon in search of pink dolphins before he heads home. Aside from that, we continued to learn travel words in Spanish and learned about teaching morphology and phonology, as well as vocabulary in technical training.

- Saturday – The short version of today is that my host sister and her husband came over and we visited for a while. They’re both wonderful and, if it’s what she wants, my sister is going to make a wonderful mother someday.

- If you are having trouble finding fiber supplements, bran cereal is a good substitution. Unfortunately, bran cereal is very expensive here, but fortunately, granola is not and frequently contains a lot of dietary fiber. Consider switching from cereal to granola, especially when you are not feeling well.

- For being relatively cheap, Popsy ice cream is actually quite good. I highly recommend chocolate belga, which, right now, is definitely my favorite flavor.

- Unlike in some other Latin American countries, ice cream made with milk is quite common here, though you can still find your favorite fruit flavors made with water, as well.

- I may have mentioned this already, but no one travels when it’s raining because, about 2 minutes after the beginning of anything more than a sprinkle, there will be 1-foot-high water covering many of the streets and serious arroyos in some parts of the city. That means that arroyos and rain are also a perfectly acceptable excuse to be late to just about anything.

- Power outs and problems with electricity are relatively common, so be sure to bring a surge protector. For those who use Macs, the white box on your charger that plugs into the wall is not a surge protector, so you will still need to bring one.

- Make sure your computer and other things are insured for your entire trip. A friend of mine had his computer break 3 days after his Apple Care expired. If you don’t have insurance for your stuff already, clements.com has a nice plan for Peace Corps volunteers.

- Único is probably the best place to buy relatively cheap, but still quality, clothing. However, Farabella also has really good sales and some of the supermarkets also sell good clothing.

- I think the main supermarkets in Barranquilla are Olímpica, Éxito, Jumbo, and Carulla. Carulla and Jumbo seem to be more expensive than Olímpica and Éxito, but I’m still working on putting them in order.

- Submarinos are Twinkie-like cakes filled with different creams and are relatively good if you like Twinkies (or, like me, can’t remember the last time you had Twinkies or if you’ve ever had them, but still like sweet things).

- Colombina hard candies are good, but go with the coffee ones unless you really like banana. The fruit ones had 4 flavors, but after being in the bag together, they now have just one – banana.

- Colombina cookies are not very good.

- Colombina chocolate, however, is delicious, especially ChocoBreaks…like the ones filled with arequipe.

- Technically, you’re supposed to be the only one in your family with a key to your room. Trust me, you are not the only one in your family with a key to your room. Someone has a spare somewhere, which actually does come in handy when you accidentally lock yourself out of your room.

Puerto Colombia

September 14 – September 20

This week, everyone went to visit a current Peace Corps Volunteer at his or her site. Three of us accompanied a volunteer in Puerto Colombia, exploring the town, visiting with people she knows, attending a project meeting, and helping her with a drama workshop at her school for her English language students. The whole experience was an adventure and it was a wonderful opportunity to see what life is like as a volunteer.

- Sunday – We have arrived at our volunteer site visit! Two other volunteers and I are here in Puerto Colombia with a Peace Corps volunteer who has been here a year, so we can learn about what she does. Of course, since today is Sunday, there was not a whole lot we needed to do, yet, other than explore the town, which happens to be right next to a beach, so you can guess what we did. We actually gathered volunteers from all the little towns in the area to come with us to the beach, where we ate lunch, hid from the wonderfully refreshing rain, and hiked along the shore, which turned out to be an amazing adventure. By the time we got on the bus to head home with the volunteers, most of us were covered up to our knees in muddy water from stomping through sand that became mud after the rain. The volunteers kept jokingly accusing each other of scaring us away, but we continued to insist that this was one of the most fun things we had done since we got here, which is definitely true!

- Monday – The volunteer we stayed with did not have too many classes to teach at the high school today, so we had a chance to get to know the town a bit. We walked around, taking pictures of sculptures and graffiti and looking at all sorts of things. The volunteer we’re with seems to know at least half of the people in the town, even though the area is pretty big. I wish I could be as sociable as she is, but she makes it seem almost effortless (though she did tell us maintaining relationships takes a lot of work). We went to her school for class, but there was some confusion with 11^th grade internships, so no one was in class and we ended up just planning. Throughout the day, we spent time with quite a few of the people she knows and even joined her for a meeting for a project she is working on – she and several Colombians are putting together a once-a-week class/club/group on environmental awareness and making art out of recycled materials. The group will be for students from several schools and those students will participate in trash cleanups and learn about microbusiness management, so they can sell the things they make. Overall, that seems like an amazing project!

- Tuesday – We joined our volunteer friend to help with a drama workshop she put on for her English students. The idea was to get students to talk and they got out of class, so that was certainly motivation enough to come to the air-conditioned auditorium/multi-purpose room to play a few drama games. After we got all the technology working, the workshop was very successful. Students seemed highly entertained by the video we made as an example drama and participated in the drama games we led for them, including a skit called, “The Dog Died,” where students needed to act out the same skit over and over with different themes, from extremely dramatic to opera to interpretive dance to anything at all. Their participation was wonderful and some of the students seemed to have quite a talent for being in front of an audience.

- Wednesday – Today, we’re back in Barranquilla and had our 2^nd day of practicum. My partner and I continued to observe one 8^th and two 11^th grade classrooms. The students seem wonderful and more motivated than a description of many “typical” Colombian students might imply (depending on who you heard it from) and I definitely look forward to teaching when the opportunity arises.

- Thursday – Today, we learned about gender and equality and how to consider gender in our projects. After classes, we went to soccer and I cheered on, well, both teams, since everyone playing was Peace Corps.

- Friday – In addition to having Spanish classes, we learned about classroom management and several different styles of co-teaching.

- Saturday – This afternoon, a group of us went together to see the Maze Runner, which was in English with Spanish subtitles. The movie was wonderful, if somewhat dark…I would definitely like to read the book if I can borrow it from someone. Afterward, we went to English conversation club at Mazzino’s pizzeria, which was as lovely as always.

- Occasionally, consider cooking (healthy) American food for yourself. Your body will thank you. I recommend oatcakes, which are cooked like pancakes, but consist of mashed bananas, oats, eggs, and whatever else you like (cinnamon, chocolate, other fruit, etc.).

- Bring bandanas to use as sweat rags. Even if your classroom has a fan, you will definitely need one. And don’t worry about looking awkward pulling out a bandana to wipe your face – Colombians use them, too.

- How to make huevos pericos (a popular Colombian breakfast dish, which is often served with toast or saltine crackers): Whisk eggs in a bowl with a ¼ - ½ teaspoon of the spice of your choice (oregano, cumin, etc.). Dice 2 small onions (or one medium, red or white) and 2 medium tomatoes (or one large). Cook onions in skillet with oil until slightly caramelized. Add tomatoes and a pinch of salt and pepper and cook for 1-3 minutes or until the vegetables stop simmering so much. Add eggs and stir, scraping the bottom of the skillet, until eggs are fully cooked. You can also add diced peppers of any color to this dish (add with or slightly after the onions).

- If you go to Puerto Colombia, I highly recommend staying at the Hotel Estambul. The people there are extremely nice and hospitable and are delightful to talk with. The equally nice cook (who they called the “casi dueña,” almost owner, of the hotel) also cooks wonderful Colombian food and the night watchman is happy to let you back in at any hour of the night (which, remember, starts at about 6:30 PM, so his vigilance is definitely appreciated).

- For some reason, hot chocolate is just as good or better here, despite the heat…probably because chocolate grows in South America…

- COS stands for “Close of Service,” not “Change of Station.”

- TDY still stands for “Temporary Duty,” though it is usually used to refer to the person doing the job, not the job itself. Example: “He’s your TDY [Program Manager, Director, etc.] for now.”

Exploring Barranquilla

September 7 – September 13

Halfway through the week, we had our first morning of practicum. For our teaching practicum, another volunteer and I work with a wonderful mentor teacher in an all-girls colegio in Barranquilla, where we learn techniques for teaching in Colombia and also help with English classes. On Thursday, we celebrated my host sister’s birthday and, on Saturday, we explored the Centro of Barranquilla with our language classes.

- Sunday – This morning, I went to church with my host family. This time, we went to a different church, which was farther away and air-conditioned. We actually met up with several other family members for Mass and praying with them was nice. In the afternoon, I went with two friends to the market and then cooked dinner in the evening. The vegetables for my tortilla española took way too long to cook for who knows why, but it still tasted great. I also discovered that brownies here need a little extra flour and a little less vanilla, but that brownie fudge is also delicious.

- Monday – During training today, we had Spanish class, as usual, and also learned a method for peer observation and providing feedback, which I actually like even better than methods I learned before, since this way suggests having the teacher give him- or herself feedback before the observer does. We also learned about how to analyze the English education and general needs of our communities. I put the brownies I made in the coffee room, so I am not sure how many people found them, but everyone who did seemed to like them, so that makes it a success.

- Tuesday – In Spanish class, we learned more words to describe someone’s physical appearance and, in the afternoon, we learned about the functional approach to teaching. Even though I have a background in education, I appreciate knowing what seems to work best for most Colombians and am excited to try using this method (as well as bits and pieces of others I have learned) for teaching English.

- Wednesday – This morning, we had our 1^st day in our practicum schools. I am teaching at el Colegio Mayor de Baranquilla, a school for girls from preschool through high school. This seems to be one of the more prestigious schools – students tend to show up to all of their classes and behave relatively well. I really like the school itself, too – there are posters and signs and paintings of the school’s values everywhere with 3 floors of classrooms and a courtyard for gym in the middle. The teacher I am working with is also very nice and her English is excellent – I am excited to get to know the students and her style of teaching.

- Thursday – Today is September 11^th. It has been over a decade since the 9/11 attacks, but not so long that those who were lost are forgotten. We Remember. On a less solemn note, today was also my host sister’s birthday. At around 11:55 last night, I awoke slowly out of a deep sleep to the extremely loud sound of a Mariachi band (with turned-up-all-the-way speakers), which was in our living room. The musicians and singer were wonderful and I’m pretty sure everyone within a kilometer of our house knew it was my sister’s birthday. We also had a family party for her in the evening and had a delicious arequipe cake and sang, “Happy Birthday,” in very out-of-tune English and much-more-in-tune Spanish. Sometime during the day, I also gave her a card, which ironically (considering the previous night’s event) had a musical theme, since my sister likes to dance.

- Friday – Today was rather cloudy, but not rainy, so I took time to take pictures of the Colombo’s campus. We learned words for describing personalities in Spanish and, during technical training, talked about methods for teaching large classes and how to work within Colombian educational cultures.

- Saturday – This afternoon, we went in small groups to explore el Centro, the “downtown” of Barranquilla. We took pictures in the Plaza de Simón Bolívar and of the Iglesia de San Nicolás de Torontino, though we were unable to go into the church at the time. We also walked through the shopping centers there, which were very tightly packed and full of people, more so than anything I have seen in the United States. I thought about buying things, but I was pretty overwhelmed and decided I could probably buy what I needed someplace quieter and less chaotic…

- Thunderstorms are amazing. At first, they make everything really humid, but then they bring the temperature down significantly and make life more pleasant overall. A lot of the locals aren’t fans, though, because rain also causes arroyos, which translates to “streams.” However, arroyos are more like “flash flood rivers” that careen down streets sweeping away cars, buses, and anything else in their path. They also tend to make a lot of people late and cause…surprisingly little stress…

- I live in a neighborhood sitting in the highest part of Barranquilla, which is nice because there’s always a lovely breeze blowing. It does make nights sound like there’s a hurricane coming, but I can sleep through just about anything and the neighborhood is otherwise relatively quiet and safe, so I like living here. If you’re in the area and are dying of the heat and humidity, come visit and enjoy the mirador, an overlook of the city, and the nice breezes.

- Ask what the price is to go to such and such a place before you get into a taxi. (Just open the passenger side door and ask.) That avoids unnecessary arguments at the other end and gives you a better chance of getting a fair (or almost fair) price.

- Dulce de leche is called arequipe here.

- A cake is generally called a “pudín”, rather than a “pastel”. Anything pie-like is usually called either “pie” (just like in English) or “torta”.