So here we are, smack dab in the middle of my year here. In some ways I can't believe it's already June, but I have certainly crammed a lot of experiences into the first half of the year. Last weekend WorldTeach hosted our mid-year conference in a town called Fusugasuga. (Try saying that five times fast! Or at all.) At the conference we got together to relax, share stories, and re-energize.
We talked a lot about where people are along the cultural curve, a different spin of the phenomenon of culture shock. The stages are the following: 1. Begin high, things are new and exciting; 2. Slip a little lower, frustrations with everyday life being more challenging in a new place; 3. Higher, adjusted and feeling comfortable; 4. Low, confronting deeper issues; and finally 5. Adaption and assimilation.
Many of us at the conference did not feel the natural wave of the culture curve fit our experiences here. Of course everyone takes in a new culture differently, and in general has different experiences here that define their lives. In many ways, after the robbery, I felt like I was pushed off the cultural cliff. My sense of everything in a new place was tainted by the unfamiliar and now very scary. But I can see my personal wave headed back up again. Being around such great, supportive volunteers here and making connections with Colombian people and culture here has helped a lot.
I was reminded by one of the founders of my partner program here, Volunteers Colombia, that as teachers we need to be islands of excellence. We need to push away the excuses and focus on what we can control and make excellent in our classrooms. With the conclusion of my second quarter at school, the chapter here defined by the robbery has ceremoniously concluded. And I feel prepared to better dedicate myself to my classroom and give it my all as I finish what I came here to do. Third quarter will begin after my two week vacation and I will be ready to throw my heart into all aspects of living and teaching here in Colombia. There's been ups and there's been downs. That's my life here and I'm committed to stickin' it out and seeing what the next five months bring me.
And in case I need some visual encouragement, i present some of my ninth graders...
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| Daniel and Luis Felipe. |
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| Mauri and Felipe are buds. It took about 8 tries to get this picture. |
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| These guys made a cultural magazine called "Bogota is Alive." |
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| And for the ladies class. This is Smarty-pants Juana. |
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My girls using Vermont magazines as inspiration for Bogota magazines!
Natalia, Zuadi, and Monica |
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Sometimes they get me to be silly.
And yes, these stupid hats made it to South America. |
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