More costeño weeks

August 2 – August 15

     There were no classes on Monday. On Thursday, classes were cancelled in the morning due to a lack of water at the school. In the afternoon, I went on a surprise trip with one of my counterparts to another school for emprendimiento (entrepreneurship, which is taught in many schools here) training. Friday, we celebrated the Battle of Boyacá, so surprise, there were no classes. On Sunday, there was no water or electricity at my house for most of the day and my English class was cancelled. On the upside, I had lots of time to do other things, like cook, do laundry, catch up on work, and rest. I also had a chance to visit with a few volunteers who were in Santa Marta on Saturday, so that was quite lovely.

- If someone at your school can let you know when classes are cancelled, try to get on their email, phone call, or WhatsApp list. Especially if you live far away from your school, this will make your life much easier.

- Having no water or electricity makes me extremely thankful for battery-powered alarms and being able to sleep on the floor. Do bring a battery-powered alarm clock (or something else that works for that purpose) and don’t bring anything to sleep on the floor (unless you really want to), but do acquire something culturally appropriate for sleeping on the floor (yoga mat, camping sleeping mat, bamboo mat, etc.) once you get to your site if you happen to be somewhere extremely hot.

- When the power goes out and houses here get really hot, Colombians tend to hang out in places that have air conditioning, like malls. Of course, we live in a city, so if you’re in a pueblo, somewhere in the shade can also work quite well. If you’re in a pueblo, I hope that the people you live with also thought to have well-ventilated, cooler houses. Considering the number of times we have power outs even in the city, samarios probably should have thought of that, too, and many did…before concrete became popular…

Project Management and Leadership

July 26 – August 1

     This week was our Project Management and Leadership training, which we attended with a counterpart to work on developing our projects. I stayed with our Minca volunteer in Rodadero and enjoyed a hot shower and air conditioning the night before training and then we travelled together to Centro Recreacional Turipaná, where our training was held. The campus was beautiful and seeing everyone was wonderful. After creative, productive days in training, we’d get together to swim, visit, and laugh. We planned new projects and developed ideas, while learning about leadership styles, writing objectives, assessing needs, and creating budgets. Following that adventure, I stayed with several other volunteer’s at the Tubará volunteer’s house, where we ate good food and continued to enjoy each other’s company before heading home the following day.

- The students here love playing learning games, partially because they are so unusual. We played a memory game with 3^rd grade to practice English words for school supplies and they were very enthusiastic. School supplies are laid out on a table and students have 1 minute to look at everything there. Then, they turn to face the back of the room, while the teacher removes and hides 1 object. Students turn back around and raise their hand to guess which object is missing. They were very good at the game and seemed to enjoy learning in a different way.

- I am proud to say that I can actually pull water out of our well in an emergency. I know, that’s such a small thing, but it’s an important thing to be able to do here. I came home from training to an empty house and no water, so I hauled the thick concrete slab off the top of our well and pulled out water. Another important thing I learned in the process is that, if there is water available to the house, there’s a switch that turns it on and off, which is also good to know. So, in case you are ever home and the water goes out, make sure you know where to get water and how to turn the water back on once it becomes available.

¡Feliz Día de la Independencia!

July 19 – July 25

     Happy Colombian Independence Day! That’s July 20^th, by the way. In 1810, patriots in Bogotá stirred the people into protests that led to a temporary independence that later became permanent. These protests occurred shortly after similar demonstrations had taken place in Quito and Caracas, with varying levels of success, though Cartagena and other regions in Colombia had, by this point, already declared independence from Spain. Essentially, this day is a bit more complicated than America’s Independence Day, but it is a day to be celebrated, nevertheless. ¡Que viva Colombia!

- English class with the tour guides in the Centro was cancelled, so I ended up helping tourists find things, instead – mostly the nearest supermarket and ATM. Even having things cancelled tends to end up leading to some other adventure and I’m glad I could help.

- It rained on Thursday! “The sounds of rushing water and pounding thunder were so beautiful…” Then, the weather was slightly cooler on Saturday, a welcome effect of evening storms.

A very Colombian day...

July 12 – July 18

 

     The following is my journal entry from Thursday, which reflects a perfectly Colombian day – it’s not every day I have a chance to wait quite this much, have quite this many things cancelled, and am still happy about how the day went! “This morning, I went to school to find classes had been cancelled for an assembly introducing each grade’s soccer team. I stayed to watch and the presentation was very neat, especially from the two 5^th grade classes. Then, I went to Buenavista, which was closed, so I went home. In the afternoon, I went back to school to find there were still no classes, so I walked to Buenavista again. This has been a good, Colombian day.”

     On a more productive note, on Sunday, I went to my school to help assemble trashcans made of recycled plastic bottles, which was fun. All the bottles were clean and about the same size, so we poked holes in the ends and sides of them and strung them all together horizontally and vertically with wire to make cylinders in which to put trash bags. We had between 5 and 10 students and we only managed to finish one because they’re a lot of work, but maybe we’ll make more in the future.

- I went to lunch with a former Peace Corps volunteer who happened to be in town and that was wonderful! Being able to keep in touch with former volunteers is awesome and I’m so glad I was able to visit with her and walk around Santa Marta with her for a while.

- This week, I gave a quick re-explanation of what I do as a Peace Corps volunteer for most of my counterparts and then we had time to make materials for English classes for the rest of the year. I appreciate the school administration’s giving me time to do this, since teachers likely won’t have a chance to make materials or spend much time just on English class outside of school.

- After school one day, I walked with a 5^th grader almost to her house near Buenavista, just because we happened to be going the same way. Talking with her was nice and that’s quite a walk, so I’m glad I could accompany her. I don’t often feel like I know my students particularly well, since I work in a bunch of different classes and usually just once a week with each class, so having that opportunity to visit with just one student was good.

- There’s a new farmer’s market closer to my school than the other one. Did I mention how much I love farmer’s markets and being able to fill my backpack with fresh fruits and vegetables for less than 20,000 pesos?

- I’ve also started taking an online class on service learning from Roots & Shoots, which is Jane Goodall’s youth environmental action program. The class is free and I love learning things, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Hopefully, this training will help me be a better volunteer here and a better teacher in the future. I highly recommend finding ways to keep learning things while you’re a Peace Corps volunteer. You’re learning anyway, just by being in a new culture, and you likely have tons of free time at this point in your service, so why not take your education to the next level and actively seek out new things to learn?

Back to School

July 5 – July 11

     And, we’re back at school. I’m finally starting to plan groups and projects with counterparts in high school and, hopefully, we’ll soon have a women’s empowerment group, Samigas, and an environmental awareness and action group, Verde Mi Ciudad, going at the school. English classes were interesting this week, too – 1^st grade listened to Old MacDonald to learn about animals and 5^th grade read a short story, The Magic Backpack, to learn school supplies. I think everyone feels refreshed after the break, so hopefully, now we’ll really start to get stuff done!

- One of the most effective ways to encourage students to join out-of-school or during-school groups is by going to each classroom and presenting the group and its purpose to the students. This is a thousand times easier with a counterpart, since even if you do speak Spanish, your counterpart speaks Spanish that the students will understand and react to, making people more likely to join your group. Having a counterpart also make the project sustainable, so they can continue meeting after you return to the United States.

- And even before you present your idea in classes, you’ll need to write a proposal to the school’s principal. Fortunately, official-looking documents aren’t the norm here, so if your proposal is well thought out, well written, and looks professional, you likely won’t have much trouble getting approval.

- If you’re in town, La Pizzería Italiana Gourmet is an excellent pizza place in the Centro. It’s not the cheapest, but the pizzas are big and delicious. We went there to celebrate a volunteer’s birthday and had a wonderful time visiting and enjoying great food.

- “Espero que sí, creo que no.” I hope so, but I think not.

Camp GLOW

June 28 – July 4

     Yay, camp! This week was Peace Corps Colombia’s Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) 2015. We had an amazing week and watching our campers’ confidence in themselves increase over just these few days has been an amazing experience. I was a co-counselor for the Blue Diamonds group and was able to lead discussions on community service and professional development. We had other charlas on leadership, self-esteem, gender, general health, and sexual health and rights, too. We went on a nature walk, swam at Pozo Azul, and explored La Victoria, the coffee finca up the road. We had large group games, morning yoga and zumba, discussion time with a panel of successful women professionals, a talent show, and of course, a beautiful campfire. Campers were already leaders when they came, and they left with the skills and confidence to use their talents to start projects in their communities. What a truly beautiful experience…

- GLOW was amazing. And there are GLOW, HERO, and BRO camps, as well as others, at Peace Corps posts all over the world. Wherever you are, apply and go, if you can. It’s an experience you’ll never forget.

- Happy USA Independence Day! Though I honestly spent most of the day sleeping after coming home exhausted from Camp GLOW, I was happy to think (and dream) about all the red, white, and blue, fireworks, patriotic music, and happy, outdoor celebrations going on at home. Happy Birthday, America!

- Typical Colombian parties involve sharing food, dancing, drinking, and sitting in a circle outside in plastic chairs, while listening to loud music and conversing when the music isn’t too loud. The plastic chairs are very important and are practically a symbol of Colombian culture. I thought we used them a lot in the US, but I clearly had no idea how much they could be used. Also, the host usually serves the food to guests, rather than leaving it out for people to take, like we do. You can certainly say, “yes,” when someone offers you alcohol, but if you say, “yes,” once, be prepared to be gently pushed to continue saying, “yes,” quite a few more times! I went to a volunteer’s birthday party on Saturday and was excited to see a few people from Camp GLOW, as well as other volunteers and the birthday girl’s Colombian friends and host family. Parties often go from 2000 to 0500, but I just stayed for a little while, still quite tired from an awesome week at camp.

Love

June 21 – June 27

     This was a very important week in the United States and June 26, 2015, will likely go down in history. Rarely do I comment on US news here, and I won’t really comment this time, either, except to say that, on Friday, the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage. National landmarks were lit with rainbow lights and people celebrated across the country. Then, on Saturday, two of my friends back home were married. And, of course, June 21, was Father’s Day. Happy Father’s Day, Daddy! Regardless of anyone’s political views, what a beautiful week this has been for love.

- Sometimes, buses or taxis or motorcycles just stop running. That usually means there’s some sort of transportation strike. Luckily, multiple types of transportation don’t usually strike at the same time, so you’ll almost always have a way to get places. Monday, there was a bus strike (or, at least, I assume so, since there were no buses running), so I walked to school – it was a lovely walk and the streets weren’t as busy as usual, so that was nice, too.

- I watched a movie called, The Next Three Days, which was awesome and extremely suspenseful. It was filmed mostly in Pittsburgh, the city closest to where I live in the United States. Without giving away the plotline, toward the end of the movie, the family whose perspective we followed fled to Venezuela, which I thought looked a lot like the Coast of Colombia. I watched the credits and was thrilled to learn that they were actually in Cartagena and Taganga, Colombia. Pittsburgh and the Colombian Caribbean Coast – my home and my new home. What an awesome coincidence.

- Forms, forms, so many forms. I filled out my vacation request form for Christmas and did my VRF this week. Try to have forms, especially vacation forms, filled out as far in advance as possible, especially since you need to have your time approved before you buy plane tickets!

- “Es amor, es amor, es amor, es amor, es amor.” ~ Somos Dos, Bomba Estéreo

¡Feliz Día del Estudiante!

June 14 – June 20

     My goodness, there are a lot of holidays here! On Wednesday, we celebrated Students’ Day. Students wrote cards to each other with encouraging messages and, at the end of the day, a magician came to perform for everyone in primary school. Following the show, we had a dance off among the students and, because we are in Colombia, it was amazing to see how many of them really know how to move!

     Aside from that, it’s neat to see how people celebrate soccer here like we celebrate football in the United States. Several times, I’ve seen people outside someone’s house, sitting around a TV in plastic chairs, all wearing tricolor (yellow, blue, and red – Colombian flag colors), and cheering on Colombia’s national soccer team. I believe the Copa América is going on right now and the game-watching parties and cheering I can hear sometimes from my window remind me of the Super Bowl.

- I’m very excited to say that I just got my MUSA dress and it fits great! A volunteer in one of the pueblos is helping a co-operative of women improve advertising for their sewing business, MUSA. He asked if any of the volunteers in our group wanted a dress made and, excited to support another volunteer’s project, I said, “yes.” I found soft, green fabric and a dress I wanted to have copied and gave the volunteer those things plus a note thanking the women for their work. They finished quickly and now I have a very inexpensive, beautiful handmade dress.

- Happy Birthdays and Happy Father’s Day to my US family! I hope you’re having a wonderful time celebrating June!

- We had another Camp GLOW meeting in Puerto Colombia. Camp is coming up fast and I’m so excited for all the things I’ll be helping with!

Resources

June 7 – June 13

     On Tuesday of this week, the mayor came to Sede 1 to present us with several hundred new tablets for the school. The ceremony was a big deal and lots of families, students, and teachers were present. Government officials and school administrators spoke. Successful athletes from our school shook hands with the mayor and, after the ceremony, we celebrated the Colombian way, with lots of music! Students from our school performed traditional dances (cumbia) and singers from the community had everyone dancing to their urban songs and raps. My school appears to have a lot of wonderful technological resources. I hope we have a chance to incorporate them into our teaching…

- If you’ve never tried pitahaya (dragonfruit), you definitely should. You just cut off the ends of the yellow outside, cut down the middle, and scoop out the translucent fruit with the black seeds. It’s a beautiful and delicious fruit. It’s also great if your digestive system isn’t working so well, which my host family reminds me every time I bring home a pitahaya from the farmer’s market. “No, Mom, I’m fine – I just like dragonfruit.”

- If you have the opportunity, try to help other volunteers with their projects. I helped the volunteer at the school near my house work at his granja on Saturday and had so much fun! I spent most of the time filling bags with sawdust/rice compost, while answering American culture questions students asked me. Yay, Goal 2!

- Peace Corps Colombia has a number of committees volunteers can join, including ones for Gender in Development, Diversity, and Health and Environment. I’m on the Gender in Development committee, which is the one that helps with camps like Camps GLOW and HERO, and all of the committees work on different project and help make service more productive and interesting by bringing together a group of people interested in the same types of projects. So, if you have the time (and trust me, you will), consider joining a committee.