Survived week one!

Hola friends, 

I'm am writing now from school. Not surprisingly, many things I expected to happen this week have changed. Last week I sat through many long (Spanish only) meetings and was told many different things. This week the students have arrived but it is still orientation for them. I believe I start actually teaching tomorrow, but I will not get my weekly schedule until tomorrow. This is life in a new culture. Having a job in another country really highlights are own protocols and cultural differences. Its been a wild ride but I'm looking forward to meeting my students and encouraging them to engage in English class. 


Here are a few things I have learned (or had to unlearn) so far:

•  Spanish! Even after just one week my comprehension has improved. The joke with my US friends is that as our Spanish improves our English gets worse. It's funny because it's true.
•  I may be teaching classes by myself. I have been preparing for a co-teacher this whole time but when in Colombia there are always surprises. Also, I am teaching 9th and 10th grade (and yes, even in Colombia they are mostly taller than me.)
• Internet at Luz Maria's is probably not an option anymore. Emile and I are going to look for other options because she is unhappy with us using  it so much. This means I won't have the flexibility I thought but I will just have to plan my online time more wisely. 
• Potlucks are just as cool in Colombia as they are in the US. Our first Friday here the volunteers got together at a former volunteers apartment. Incidentally there was a lot of Italian food and wine which I was perfectly ok with. I spiced it up with some mexicana guacamole and plantain chips! 
• Colombian friends rock. I finally met up with my Colombian friend Natalia in the swanky neighborhood of Zona Rosa. We danced the night away.
• You really never tire of the amazing mountain views that encase the city to the east and south. Here is a panoramic of the view from Guatavita Lagoon (where the legend of El Dorado lives).  

• The weather outside is weather. It is still a foreign concept for me to not have seasons or more importantly a mid-year wardrobe change. The funny thing is even though everyday varies between 45-60 degrees all Bogotanos complain of being cold. It also rains nearly every day around 3 or 4 pm. It's really like clockwork.
•  I found out my holidays and festivos! I have one week off in April, the last week of June and the first week of July, and the week of Columbus Day in October. I have a "festivo" (one day off/long weekend) about every month. BUT Colombia is very rude in making their Labor Day May 1st which makes September our only month without a festivo. How dare they not celebrate my birthday like the states...
• There is a TV channel here called Fox Life that has pretty much a combo of all my favorite shows- House Hunters, No Reservations, and multiple Food Network programs. Its fabulous for falling asleep to and feeling just a smidge of normal. (Also, the Spanish subtitles help my vocabulary, so its educational.)

This is about all that's new in my world. I will have more posts about my school at the end of this week once I start teaching. I miss everyone and hope to Skype/email with you often. Email and Facebook are the best ways to reach me while my internet is in limbo. I'm still waiting to find out if I can get mail at my address or not. 


Hasta Luego!
KB

Settling in

Finally I have moved into my new home in the Minuto De Dios neighborhood of Bogota. The last few days have been a little hectic, and there’s been many surprises. I moved in with my host mom, Luz Maria Sunday morning and was followed a few hours later by Emile (the other volunteer at my school). Her host family backed out and lucky for her Luz Maria had an extra room. It’s been great having another American roomie to explore and get adjusted with. Luz Maria is awesome but speaks very fast so I will hopefully pick up Spanish quickly. 

I’ll give a whole tour of our abode in the future, right now I’ll give you a taste with a picture of my bedroom (yes, the walls do give a small shout out to my college days) and the view of our street. 

Please note fleece on bed and pics on wall-- some things never change.

Quaint view from my window. Pics of the front of my house coming soon!

The neighborhood is really nice and I feel comfortable walking around by myself and even at night. Its literally three streets away from school which officially makes this my favorite commute ever. (It’s about the walk of Lyons to Jean Marie my SMC friends). Also speaking of SMC, there’s a strange man that blows whistles while bike riding all day long. We can’t figure out why yet. But it sure does remind me of Orientation whistles. The neighborhood is also right off the Transmilenio which is a bus-metro system that I have yet to try but am sure I will be talking advantage of often. The neighborhood is also not far from the “Zona Rosa” and “Zona T” districts where there is lots going on day and night. 

I have training at the school this week which hasn’t exactly been the most informative yet. The training is for all 100+ teachers and of course it is in Spanish.  I have met some great English teachers that I hope to be working with.  I should have my full schedule tomorrow. I have to get it soon because classes start Monday. 

So internet at Luz Maria’s house is a little funky- only one computer can be signed on at a time so we have to ask permission to unplug Luz Maria’s laptop. The school has wi-fi but I’m pretty sure things like Facebook and blogger are blocked.  We’ll have to see how that works out. 

As you can see, many things  are still up in the air. I know that this first week is one of the hardests because I haven't quite gotten into a routine yet. I'm looking forward to the weeks ahead, and you can look forward to more and more updates in the next few days about the house, school, friends, and my updated New Things list.

Chao!

Orientation Update

We finished the second week of orientation and the free time this morning has been well deserved! We have been immersed in TEFL teaching training and orientation into Colombian life at a non-stop pace. Thursday of this week was pretty exciting because we visited the US Embassy and the Colombian Ministry of Education. When we got to the Ministerio, we entered a surprise press conference with the minister herself! We were then featured on multiple news outlets yesterday including national TV, online articles, and the front page of “El Tiempo” (The New York Times of Colombia). This was all unexpected but exciting attention.  Heres a link to the article.

This is the picture that was featured on the cover of El Tiempo. The journalists asked us to jump as a joke… guess we can never trust the press : )

Anyways, life is going well. We’ve driven by my school a few times which is very exciting. It looks huge but this makes it very easy to find. Hopefully in the next few days I will find out more about school and my host family. 

Hope all is well in the states! Will update again soon!

First post from Colombia!

Hola! I have safely made it to Cota, Colombia for the first step of my journey- orientation! This the first of only a few times I will have internet, but I have a few updates to share with you. 


1. The weather has been unusually gorgeous which means unusually sunny and warm. This means us gringos have had to lather on the sunblock especially since we are now 8,000 feet above sea level. 


2. We had our first spanish lesson last night and it went well. I am in the beginner group but I feel it will be a perfect balance of challenging and what I already understand. 


3. My fellow volunteers are great. We are a diverse group but mesh really well and I already love them all. 


4. The retreat house has multiple puppies. My favorite is an old yellow lad named Lucas. We snuggled. 


5. We drove by my school placement. It looks huge (2,800 students!) but pretty nice and easy to get to. 


6. There are so many bike paths in Bogota that I cant wait to get a bike and take on the town. 


7. We watched The Two Escobars last night, an ESPN documentary and it was amazing. Highly recommended for everyone. 


8. We also got our first of many salsa lessons last night. I rocked it. 


9. I survived the blood test. Im A positive for all those curious.


10. Miss you all, but I am doing well and really enjoying my first few days embracing life in Colombia!


xoxo

The Ultimate New Year's Revolution- Colombia New Things!

Happy Birthday 2012! I'm sending out my final post state-side, and it's going to be an important one. Usually I don't pay too much time to New Year's resolutions, but this is a special year, and I think I ought to have some goals set for my new South American life.

Many of you readers may already know my dear friend and mentor Trish has a fabulous blog about New Things both at home and while teaching in Jordan for the year. Taking my inspiration from her, I present to you my thoughtful yet still incomplete list of New Things a.k.a challenges a.k.a "resolutions" for my wild ride through 2012. All feedback is welcome and encouraged!

So here it goes...

Learn Spanish: This may sound like a simple one but it may possibly be one of the hardest goals to accomplish. Yes, I'll be immersing myself in the language, but I've failed miserably at all prior attempts to roll my tongue and I certainly hope my American accent is as sexy to the Colombians as Sofia Vergara's is to us

Figure out how to add Spanish accents to words on my keyboard: Ok, this one really should be an easy one. Who knows the secret and can help me out here?

 

Learn to dance the salsa:(Among other dances.) I am in the land of the "hips don't lie" and I intend to come back able to teach all my fellow New Englanders how to get their groove on and "move like you come from Colombia." I promise that's the last  Shakira reference for awhile. 

Stay vegetarian: This one may take some work but should be mostly doable. I'll have to make some exceptions when I don't want to be rude or go hungry. But I think it's important to take some of the values that are most important to you with you to a new place. This will be one of mine. 

Cook a traditional Colombian dish: Speaking of food. I love learning new recipes and I certainly hope to dive into some yummy authentic cuisine. Also to this point I should include avoiding a Bogotano hotspot known as Crepes & Waffles and to branch out from Juan Valdez (aka starbucks) and find a favorite local coffee shop. 

Read 100 years of Solitude: I tried it once and found the book to be very hard to get through. But Gabriel Garcia Marquez is Colombian and I am bringing this with me to try at it again. 

Now for the adventure New Things...

Bogota bike tour! (http://www.bogotabiketours.com/) So this is a cool way to tour Bogota and I'd like to check it out. I covered the basic Bogota attractions last summer when I visited, but I am always game for getting a new perspective of the same place. The main goal for Bogota adventure is finding a groove that feels like normal life and searching for that niche of great culture and community that makes a place home.

Travel to Barranquilla for Carnaval (supposedly the biggest Mardi Gras outside of Brazil!)

Travel to Manizales and the coffee roasting region (The "student labor action movement" girl in me is dying to check out this region and meet the people behind the beans we are so addicted to. 

Travel to Cartegena for some R&R It's beautiful. It's warm. It's historical. 'nuff said.

Travel to Medellin, the city of eternal spring. Recent news says the world's longest escalator was just built there. Dubai's love for everything "world's greatest..." has given me the thirst for all things record-breaking.

Travel to Machu Pichu. Meredith, Eliza and I already have this in the works. Considering Peru will be my neighbor and this is a huge must see/ bucket list kind of place-- now seems as good a time as any. 

Travel to Central America (Panama, Costa Rica?) Companions welcome. Options wide open!

AMAZON! This may be the hardest challenge to accomplish because of the very much still ongoing conflict in Colombia. There are parts that are safe and tourist-friendly. The hard part is getting there. But again, The Amazon is a must see (preferably before all the species are extinct). 

e   That's where I will leave you tonight-- Just 25 hours away from landing at El Dorado airport. This list will grow much more once I find more places to explore. So far I think I have much to look forward to!