So many celebrations

March 8 – March 14

     This week was normal other than the usual large number of celebrations. (I have noticed that many of my blog posts are titled “Happy [Something]!”) Sunday was el Día de la Mujer, so I got a flowering plant for my host mom. Friday was my US dad’s birthday, so Happy Birthday, Daddy! And Saturday was a particularly special Pi Day because it was March 14, 2015, 3.1415.

     I spent most of my weekday time either at school or at mochila class. My mochila is coming along slowly, but surely, and I had a chance to meet with the teachers at my school to figure out an English schedule and ideas for my Classroom Observation Report. On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to teach one of the 2^nd grade classes the Sign of the Cross in English, which was fun, challenging, and an interesting culture lesson.

- Your Classroom Observation Report will most likely be due at Reconnect. Because up until that point, you have been mostly observing classes at your school, the report is an initial analysis of your school’s needs and what you believe you can do to help. I highly suggest asking the teachers at your school for ideas, unless you happen to have a million ideas of your own.

- If you have a chance to grill while you’re here, take it – grilling isn’t as common as it is in the US (probably because most people just have regular grills that take hot coals and that’s it) and the food is delicious. One evening this week, there was a sort of “guys’ night” party at my house and they had a parilla, so I got to use the grill when they were done and thoroughly enjoyed grilled vegetables and pineapple.

Happy Peace Corps Week!

March 1 – March 7

     This week is Peace Corps Week – on March 1^st, 1961, John F. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps and Sargeant Shriver took over as the 1^st Peace Corps Director. I appreciate all the notes on Facebook and well wishes from RPCVs at home.

     This week, I observed Transición (Kindergarten) for the first time, helped teach family vocabulary in 3^rd grade, and taught my “Give me 5” hand signal for silence in 2^nd grade. I also observed 1^st grade and helped a few students practice reading – applause to all teachers who teach basic reading because, though I’ve heard it’s not as difficult as it looks, I can hardly imagine teaching it myself!

     The weekend was busy with Mass, Stations of the Cross, and lots of crocheting. I went to mochila class Saturday morning and then met a few volunteers at another volunteer’s house to work more on our projects. Sewing together is fun and it was neat to see what everyone else is doing.

- Galletas de leche + peanut butter = Do Si Dos. To be honest, Do Si Dos (or Peanut Butter Sandwiches, depending on your Council) are far from my favorite Girl Scout cookie, but if you’re really missing the season, these things are pretty amazing! Just spread peanut butter on the galletas de leche that you find in packs of 4 in any tienda and enjoy!

- For a brief history of Peace Corps, please check out http://www.peacecorps.gov/about/history/ .

- The “Give me 5” hand signal that I’m using with my 1^st through 3^rd graders is a classroom management trick I learned in the United States. I found out there that it doesn’t always work with high school kids, but I’m learning here that it does work with primary grades. You just raise your hand and count down with your voice and fingers, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.” Students should also raise their hands and count down with you (good English practice, too!) and not continue to talk after you reach 0. Especially in classrooms here, this requires a lot of practice, especially the “not talking after 0” part, but it’s definitely a good idea to have some sort of signal for silence, so you don’t destroy your voice every day in large classes of small children.

6 months in Colombia

February 22 – February 28

     As of Friday this week, CII-6 has been in Colombia for 6 months. At staging, we were strangers, but already getting to know each other as all of us flew through a team-building activity. Six months later (and well before now), we’re friends – good friends…maybe even lifetime friends, some of us…because once you’re a Peace Corps Volunteer, you never really stop being one…

     This week, we had a few meetings and lots of time to spend with other volunteers. On Sunday, we had our VAC regional meeting in Santa Marta, and then we joined two people visiting from the office for dinner in the middle of the week. I went to Stations of the Cross on Friday and joined a few volunteers Saturday morning for our first mochila-making class, which I’m very excited about! (The teacher is so sweet and helpful and short, which made her very easy to identify! And now I have a tiny mochila circle started.) That evening, we celebrated Kwanzaa (yes, Kwanzaa – a little late, but better late than never!) as one of our Diversity events. We met at a local restaurant and learned about the customs, symbols, colors, and 7 principles associated with the holiday. We said libations for our ancestors and talked about the children in our lives. We ate together and shared meaningful gifts and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to learn about a holiday in which I’ve never participated before and that one of our Santa Marta volunteers was able to celebrate and share a tradition that is part of her family’s culture, but not typical in Colombia.

- SENA offers a series of free classes, originally designed to train women for the work world. This does not mean men cannot participate (some of the class teachers are men), but that was the original intention. I have heard of artisanal classes (mochilas, shoes, palm branch crafts, etc.), basic working classes (how to handle food, etc.), cooking classes (general cooking, desserts, etc.), and more. If you have time (and, especially at the beginning of your service, you will), I highly recommend learning about the classes and taking the time to train yourself in one or two (or more) of those areas.

- I won’t try to give too much information about Kwanzaa, since I’m definitely the wrong person to ask about most of the traditions. One thing I did want to include, though, is a list of the Nguzo Saba, the Seven Principles associated with the holiday. They are:

• “Umoja (Unity): To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
• Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
• Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brother’s and sister’s problems our problems and to solve them together.
• Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
• Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
• Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
• Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in our people our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.”

– Dr. Maulana Karenga

¡Feliz Carnaval!

February 15 – February 21

     ¡Feliz Carnaval! Happy Mardi Gras! I was very lucky to be able to go to Barranquilla for this year’s Carnaval celebration. I stayed with one of our volunteer couples and they are definitely some of the sweetest people I know – I appreciate them and all the volunteers who open their homes to other volunteers at the drop of a hat. I joined a volunteer for one of the parades on Sunday and then went to the Parada de Fantasia myself on Monday when another volunteer couldn’t go and said I could have her ticket. There were extravagantly colorful, tropical bird-like costumes and beautiful dances, good music and lots of espuma.

     On Tuesday, I had a slightly quieter day and went to do some work at the Peace Corps office. I said, “Hi,” or, “Hola”, to anyone I happened to see, filled out forms, exchanged books, picked up school supplies, etc. Then, I went to dinner at Villa Country (a nearby mall) with a few volunteers and saw more volunteers while we were there.

     I got back to Santa Marta just in time for the Misa de ceniza on Ash Wednesday. After all that craziness, it’s nice to calm down and just think about God…that’s probably part of why people go crazy for Carnaval – by the time you’re done celebrating, you’re definitely ready for Lent!

- Barranquilla supposedly has the 2^nd largest and most extravagant Carnaval celebration in the world, right after Río de Janeiro. Obviously, then, it’s worth going to Barranquilla for at least one of your Carnavales in Colombia. The 5+ day celebration is crazy and you’ll be very tired of crowds and waiting and espuma and being tired by the end of it, but it’s definitely worth it to see all the beautiful parades, take in the vibrant culture, and just celebrate being alive!

- Cumbia is a traditional type of dance in Colombia. In fact, if someone asked me to mention a few things that were extremely Colombian, cumbia would definitely be one of the first things to come to mind. The dancing is beautiful and difficult to describe other than that it looks like the dancers in each pair are courting one another – there’s lots of bowing and following one another around whatever happens to be the stage. The steps are based mostly on a drumbeat, which also may explain part of why so many people here have such an excellent sense of rhythm!

- Espuma is foam sprayed out of a can. Imagine silly string, only foam comes out of the can, instead of string. Most of the foam for sale is white, which is good, since all the colored ones stain. That said, do not wear nice clothes during Carnaval (unless you’re in a parade and have a pretty costume). In fact, plan for your clothes to be possibly destroyed or, at least, damaged during Carnaval. I’m not saying it’s going to happen for sure, but better safe than foamed, cornstarched, and everything-elsed, right?

- As I’ve mentioned before, the Peace Corps office has just about everything. The medical office can give you free replacements for the stuff in your medical kit. People in the office know the answers to almost all your questions or can direct you to someone who knows if they don’t. All the forms you’ll ever need are just outside the volunteer lounge and the lounge itself contains a hundred useful things – computers with Internet, a media computer, a mini library for pleasure reading and reference materials, a set of shelves devoted to free school supplies, more free volunteer-donated stuff under a table, volunteer mailboxes in a file cabinet, free printing (within reason), etc. And it just feels nice to be there – people know who you are and that what you’re doing is important and you always see someone you know…it’s a nice place…

- If you have the opportunity, try to learn how stuff works in your house and even your school if you’re lucky enough to be friends with someone who knows. Specifically, learn how the water in your house (and school, if you can) works. A lot of the time, machines shut themselves off when water is not available and, when water becomes available, someone needs to turn them back on. It’s nice when you can be the person who knows how to do that, so you don’t need to wait a long time for someone else. Yay, self-sufficiency!

- When you’re sick, drink water – lots and lots of water.