I can’t believe we’re here…the last full week of Pre-Service
Training! We spent the week wrapping everything up – learning helpful things
for the first few months of service and finishing documents we’ve been working
on throughout training. Some of the CII-4 volunteers are heading home and,
though we’re sad to see them go, we’re grateful for what they’ve done, confident
in all that they will do, and very excited to Swear-In next week!
- Sunday – ¡Feliz Día
de los Muertos! I went to Mass this morning and we heard about the blessed
dead and how they are still with us. This afternoon, I went with a few friends
to see Dracula, which was very good and perfect for Day of the Dead!
- Monday – Not much to report today other than that we
didn’t have classes, so I just relaxed and enjoyed a rainy/windy power out.
- Tuesday – We learned about working with displaced students
and watched Los colores de las montañas
to learn a bit about the way life used to be for of some of our displaced
students. I found out that Colombia is 2nd in world (after Somalia) for
percentage of the country’s population that is displaced, which is part of why
the Peace Corps is here. In the evening, we had a despedida for one of the CII-4 volunteers – it’s always hard to say
goodbye, so I prefer what he said. “See you in two years!”
- Wednesday – We learned about various aspects of Colombian
culture today and about the subjunctive in Spanish. We talked about the
subjunctive yesterday, too, though today was a bit easier, since we’re starting
to get the hang of it.
- Thursday – We learned about what to do during our first
few months at site, as well as what to do in medical emergencies. We talked
about facilitating behavior change and conducting a needs assessment. At the
end of the day, everyone went upstairs to the office for a volunteer’s close of
service bell-ringing ceremony before our last day of soccer at the cancha.
- Friday – We finished our PST chivas and debriefed our practicum
experiences. Then, we heard from líderes
de bilingüismo and representatives for the secretaries of
education in each departamento. In
Spanish, we played a game like Clue, where we answered random questions before
we could guess who committed the crime, with what, and where. In the evening, a
bunch of us went to a CII-6 volunteer’s concert – she’s integrating extremely
well and is part of her family’s band as a singer. Needless to say, they were
wonderful!
- Saturday – Today I watched La vendedora de rosas for Spanish class and also joined another
volunteer for Chinese food, which was good.
- “For all that has been, thanks. For all that will be,
yes.”
- Santa Marta’s líder
de bilingüismo is actually a counterpart, as well. He
seems really nice and is very open for ideas and questions.
- Los colores de las
montañas is a story about the lives of displaced children before they were
displaced and is told from their point of view. The film takes place in
Colombia and is a good resource for learning about the displaced population
here.
- Your PST chiva is a document that tracks your progress and
learning in PST. You’ll work on it each week to check your understanding of
topics covered that week and identify questions you still have or things you
still need to work on.
- La vendedora de rosas is a Colombian
film about the lives of children living in drug-torn Medellín. Medellín may not
be quite the same now, but the film was made not too long ago and life for many
of the actors is much like it was in the film. In fact, the actors are children
actually pulled from the street and taught how to act. The filming company paid
for everything for them, but unfortunately, I believe they were not actually
paid, so they had to return to life in the street after the film and publicity
were over. The film is sad, but good for understanding some of the children
you’ll be working with in schools.
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