Tranquila

Tranquila- this word wasn't taught to me in Spanish classes, but I've been hearing it and practicing it since day one in Colombia. Tranquila has many English synonyms such as relax, calm down, don't worry, you're welcome, or chill out. It's also one of those words that is used in ways we don't have an equivalent use for, and it is used A LOT. it can be used as an expression but also to describe a person or place. Everyone from teachers, to host moms, to the robbers have told me to tranquila. (Not surprisingly someone like me who cries easily gets told to chill out a lot.) But I have also been told I'm tranquila as a person (which I took as saying I'm more or less easy-going).

So the last few weeks in Bogota haven't been easy for me working many hours, healing and moving on, while still dealing with everyday cultural challenges of being in a new, weird place. Two weeks ago I had some particularly rough few days, and I felt anything but tranquila. So I thought about where I go to find tranquila, and the obvious answer for me is Vermont. Specifically way up in the little corner of Lake Champlain neighboring Quebec at my lake house. Long story short... I needed to make getting to Vermont and getting back to a peaceful place possible, and I did.

I have spent the last four days between Boston and Vermont, feeling more tranquila. I ate bagels and a lobster roll. I played with my puppies and stuck my feet and hands in the lake. I drank wine and (good) beer with friends. And I snuggled and picnicked with my love. I got the boost I needed to keep me going.

I wasn't planning on coming back to the states at any point this year. In reality, there isn't much about the states that I miss when I am away. My idea of a "home" has always been pretty open and has much more to do with the people I'm with that makes a place tranquila for me. But sometimes you surprise yourself with what you need. And I needed this weekend.

Thanks to everyone that helped me make this little break possible, and thanks to everyone who is part of my support system for this whole year's ups and downs. Tranquila is an important mantra I am going to keep holding onto throughout this year.

Not-So-Free Trade

Today marks the beginning of the United States and Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). How did I know this was happening? Surely not from reading any American news sources. I learned this at school when news broke that a car bomb had exploded only a few miles away. Five people are reported dead and at least 19 are injured. There have been other bombs found throughout the city today.

Who or what is to blame? Many say FARC; many say because today marks the beginning of a disastrous economic shift for the Colombian and  US economies. I won't pretend to be an expert on trade, (though I do love my Student Labor Action Movement folks and am proud to have gone to a certified Fair Trade college!) Free Trade Agreements have a record of ruining exactly what they are portrayed as helping-- strengthening economies. 

I have noticed living here how many more products say "Hecho en Colombia" than say "Made in the USA" at home. Colombia is rich with farm production of delicious fruits and coffee and really whatever they need. Apparently the FTA is going to help the consumer (at the expense of producers) and we will see the benefits like cheaper flowers for the US and cheaper cars in Colombia. A big price to pay for a discount if you ask me...

I think this article from Colombia Reports says it best, so I will leave it to the journalists to state some of the consequences of what happened today. On a personal note, it's impossible to 100% forget that Colombia is a conflict- state. It's just below the surface in everyone and everything I experience here. More reflections on this later, but for now please read on... 

FTA will negatively affect 1.8 million farmers in Colombia: Report

MONDAY, 14 MAY 2012 11:12 ROSEMARY WESTWOOD

On the eve of the start of the Colombia – U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the charity Oxfam said Monday the deal will bankrupt small farmers and increase poverty in rural Colombia.

“A significant number of small farm households would see substantial drops in their income as a result of the FTA,” the organization claimed in a report presented at a press conference Monday. “This would result in a deeper vulnerability for a population that has already been disproportionately affected by Colombia’s internal conflict.”

Oxfam’s report, presented in conjunction with human rights groups Planeta Paz and the U.S. Office on Colombia, said Colombia’s 1.8 million farmers will see their income drop by 16% as a result of the FTA, which takes effect Tuesday.

In an analysis of the small farm economy in Colombia, the report’s authors examined expected changes in domestic prices and what those changes could mean for the size and production levels of small farms.

According to the report, the deal with Colombia’s leading trade partner will hit the poorest farmers the hardest, arguing that 400,000 of those already making below minimum wage, currently set at $328.08 a month, will lose between 48% to 70% of their income.

To make up for the loss, the report said that farmers are "likely to take up coca cultivation" for illegal armed groups. The other option for farmers will be to “migrate to urban areas to join some 5 million Colombians – over 10 percent of Colombia’s total population –  who have been forcibly displaced from the countryside over the last 12 years and the great majority of whom live in extreme poverty,” it claimed.

The Colombian government has denied that the FTA will harm key agricultural sectors.

“I do not personally believe, nor does the government believe that an apocalyptic shadow is rising over the Colombian countryside, agriculture and livestock industries that will wipe out everything that has been built in the country,” the Agriculture Minister, Juan Camilo Restrepo has said.

The FTA will eliminate tariffs on more than 70% of Colombia’s agricultural exports to the U.S. immediately, while all remaining tariffs will end within 19 years. Duties on some of the more crucial exports, including rice and chicken, will be phased out over that time.

On Tuesday tariffs will end on 80% of American exports of consumer and industrial products.

Oxfam branded the agricultural negotiations of the deal “unfair,” criticizing the fact that sugar – a major Colombian export -- has been excluded from the tariff-dropping program all together.

It also argued the deal leaves Colombian farmers competing against heavily-subsidized American products.

“For practically all activities that compete with imports, the net income or profit would decrease to zero,” the report argued.

That would be true for rice, barley, beans, maize, sorghum, wheat, chicken, and pork – products which would all become more expensive to produce than to sell.

“The future of the country's agricultural sector will necessarily depend on the implementation of a reform and modernization program, consistent and enduring over time,” the report noted.

Favored trade treatment with the U.S. and the eventual elimination of all tariffs will leave Colombia with its hands tied for trade negotiations with other nations, Oxfam also alleged.

“This takes away an enormous amount of flexibility from Colombia in future trade negotiations,” the report said. “It impedes the country from granting preferential access to other countries for products in which Colombia has a comparative advantage, in exchange for favorable treatment in products of interest to Colombia.”

Oxfam has been an outspoken critic of the FTA. On the signing of the agreement in October 2011, the organization called the deal “a step backward for development and poverty reduction in Colombia.”

The FTA has also been fiercely criticized by human rights organizations and unions in both Colombia and the U.S. due to ongoing unionist killings and labor rights violations.

For further reading, and different viewpoints:

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/economy/24042-qend-apocalyptic-mindsetq-on-fta-colombia-agriculture-minister.html

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/23469-colombias-unions-question-obamas-commitment-to-human-rights.html

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/economy/24048-fta-brings-100000-new-jobs-a-year-to-colombia-santos.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/05/reporting-from-bogota-a-former-cabinet-member-and-close-associate-of-ex-president-alvaro-uribe-apparently-was-the-target-of.html

Hold Up!

So I am back at school full time again and working through the roller coaster that each day of teaching brings. There are countless ways schools in the US differ from schools in Colombia, and some are more important differences than others. Some are actually enjoyable, like the fact that students here are much more affectionate and overall more caring than the typical US teenager. But some are annoying like the degrading playboy bunny notebooks all the boys have and the fact that all notebook paper is graph paper (seriously, no lines!). But one thing I think all the volunteers have experienced is just how often class gets interrupted. We’re talking big scale and small scale here. Here’s a list of my top ten favorites so far:

1.       Today was Dia del Saber, del Hacer, y de la Sana Convivencia. Don’t ask me what that exactly translates too but it means the math, science, social studies, religion/ethics, and Spanish teachers all programed different activities for the entire school to do today. This is great, because those subjects deserve special attention (and English Day comes in September), but this means I had to supervise my kids taking a math test today instead of teaching them future tense.  My classes are already all behind and at different levels. These special days are pretty unusual in the US.

2.       Dia this, Dia that! There’s always a day of something we need to celebrate. Language Day is celebrated through a field trip to the theater next week. You already know about Women’s Day and we had day of the student and child as well. Next week is Teacher’s Day and I can’t wait to see what goodies I get from this! Alas, I will miss more classes though…

3.       Our classrooms are outdoor style, meaning all hallways are outside and there aren't screens on the windows. This is sort of silly for Bogota considering the amount of rain we get. A few weeks ago we had a minor tornado run through sixth period. Many classes flooded and my ninth grade boys were screaming like babies over the lightning and wind whipping through the courtyard.

4.       Outdoor hallways mean pigeons in my room. Not often, but enough.

5.       Then there was the time my ninth graders moved into a fifth grade classroom because their wing is now under construction. About two days after the move, eight fifth-graders knocked on the door. They asked to take down their decorations and in the middle of my lesson the kids were removing posters from the walls. Needless to say I couldn’t get much done.

6.       Mass/Pastoral activities. Heck, this is the same as Catholic schools in the US.

7.       For the boys classes, anytime a girl enters the room there’s a solid to minutes of whistling.

8.       Sex education class. (And other psychological related things.) I remember having Life Skills class in middle school but they take psychology and mental health very seriously here, which is great! I was really tempted to go to the sex ed class when my students were pulled out but it was all in Spanish and I had grading to do.

9.       The last few weeks have been school-wide Olyimpics (Why they are not waiting until the REAL Olympics in July to learn about this I do not know and it boggles my mind!) So naturally we dedicated an entire day of school to the opening ceremonies and periodically students get pulled out of class early for games. This week about ten girls were pulled for a soccer game and came back to class with Vuvuzelas and balloons in celebration of their win. You try teaching present perfect with vuvuzelas.  Impossible.

10.   Ah, and finally. Last Thursday in one of my favorite classes, I plugged in the CD player to do a listening comprehension activity. The player immediately started smoking and within five seconds I (stupidly) unplugged it. But the cord was completely melted and the entire room was full of smoke. The smell of electrical wires flooded the air. The students evacuated to the outside hallways and went to get the maintenance man. Well, this was at 6:50 in the morning and the maintenance man comes in at 8. I was out of an activity and out of a classroom. Not one of my shining moments as a teacher.

There are new challenges each day and I certainly face the unexpected. But there are great surprises too. Some of my tenth graders knew I was having a hard week and wrote me a beautiful card with a little puppy stuffed animal and chocolates. It was exactly what I needed. These past few weeks after “the bad night” haven’t been easy. But grounding myself in my teaching is helping me see what is important here and why I need to stay. I wouldn’t have it any other way.