January 11 – January 17
This was another week of friendship and celebration. We
celebrated Christ’s Baptism at Mass on Sunday and another volunteer came to
visit on Monday. I met him at the Berlinas station and he came to my house to
help me set up my Internet – thanks to him, I finally have WiFi! After the
technology issues were done, we walked around Santa Marta, passing through
Parque de los Novios, Parque Simón Bolívar, and the plazas around la Catedral
and la Iglesia de San Francisco. We saw two other volunteers by chance in the
Centro and stopped to say, “Hi,” before heading to Rodadero to meet another
volunteer and his friend for lunch.
The next day, I went with one of the volunteers and his
friend to Minca. We hiked to Pozo Azul and I enjoyed wading through the clear,
icy water. After hiking back down into town, we met the Minca volunteer for
lunch at the Lazy Cat. After lunch, she took us on a walk to a gorgeous
viewpoint a little out of town that is now another one of my favorite places in
Colombia. I took pictures, but they could never do justice to that beauty…
The following day was my first day at school, though all we
really did was registration, so I didn’t need to do much. It was nice to see my
counterpart, though, and to meet some of the other teachers. After school, I
went with a friend to the Museo del Oro – this was my second time there and I
still haven’t seen everything, which is really just a good excuse to go back
and keep exploring.
On Friday, after school, I headed to Barranquilla for two
CII-3 volunteers’ bell ringing ceremony. They both gave their farewell speeches
half in Spanish and half in English and everyone cried at some point, though
they each rang the bell with a big smile and I’m very glad I’ll be able to
spend the next few weeks with them in Santa Marta before they head home. That
evening, I ate dinner with a bunch of CII-6 volunteers and then spent a lovely
evening with my Barranquilla host family before heading back to Santa Marta in
the morning.
- I still don’t know the translation for “moth,” but people
seemed to understand when I tried calling one a “mariposa de la noche” (night butterfly). A beautiful, big one
wandered into our house and I tried to gently convince him/her to leave until
(s)he went to sleep in the highest corner of the stairwell. Either way, seeing
the beautiful moth made me happy – such little things can so brighten your day…
- During training, we learned about the importance of
screening what you put in your blog. That’s why I try not to use names and my
interactions with volunteers get really confusing to read. My apologies for
that – please just work with me and, hopefully, you’ll be able to roughly
figure out the story. Thank you for your patience with my vague writing.
- I feel very blessed to have known three CII-3 volunteers
here in Colombia. Two of them had their bell ringing ceremony this week and one
will have hers next week. I’m going to miss all of them, but I can’t wait to
hear about their adventures in the United States. All three volunteers extended
their service beyond their 27-month commitment and all three did an amazing job
as Peace Corps volunteers and “ambassadors” of the United States. “Go big, then
go home.”
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