Colombia by the Numbers

158: Days I have been in Colombia

64: Days I have been in La Boquilla 

25-45: Minutes it takes to get from La Boquilla to the Center (depending on the bus)

2:30: Hours it takes to get from La Boquilla to the Peace Corps office in Barranquilla

1.760: Colombian Pesos to 1 US dollar 

1.500: Pesos to ride the bus

1.400: Pesos to buy a beer 

4: Teachers I co-teach with 

248: Students we teach Monday-Thursday 

15: Names of students I actually know

7: Are Juan David

3: Number of Lizards I saw in the house while I was walking downstair to get water yesterday night 

5: Days we had water this past week 

6: Books I have read since in Colombia (Odd Man Out, Playing for Pizza, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Smokescreen, Hunger Games, and the Odds)  

4.5: Seasons of Lost I have watched

3: Wins my softball team has 

7: Losses the softball team has

7: AM the average time I start sweating


12:  Number of priests that are currently in the house today to celebrate MENS day

Short Stories

Armpit Hair

I am just going to come out and say it, men here shave their armpits (I think it is more aerodynamic when fighting).  Now with that in mind, my first short involves my least  cooperative co-teacher asking me to do something for her....again.  I agree because I heard something about taking the kids to the beach to have Phys Ed.  I quickly go back home change cloths (tank top and shorts) and then take the 4th grade class down to play some beach soccer.  As we are about to get started I feel a pull on my armpit hair and look down to my left to see one of my girl students who does not even come up to my chest looking up at me.  She then says, “pelo” or hair for all of you English speakers out there.  Her eyes are wide open as she if she has never seen armpit hair before, but than again maybe she hadn’t (see first sentence).  Although very cute I learned my lesson and will no longer be wearing tank tops to teach PE again.

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Bordering on SWAG

At one of the schools I work at the rooms are separated by a thin layer of drywall and there are no doors so technically, and too often, students can leave the classroom and come watch what is going on in the MYSTERIOUS ENGLISH CLASS.  This is both really distracting for the students and for their teacher that has ADHD, me.  One day I see a fifth grader walking up to the class room with an air of confidence.   He got real close to me and said 21, 22, 23 and walked away.  That was all......He just felt like leaving his class to share that he knew a few numbers in the twenties.  This kind of stuff happens all the time, the kids just want to show you they ‘know’ English!  

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Profe Sandwich 

In one of my secondary projects, teaching English to a women’s empowerment group, the word got out that I didn’t know how to dance Champeta (very popular music in La Boquilla).  So one woman pulled out a cell phone and put on some music and then four others stood up and attempted to teach me the basic steps.....How truly Colombian!  Before I could even ask what I was supposed to do, I found myself sandwiched between two of the women.  So in the span of five minutes I went from speaking English to being sandwiched between two of my students while the rest chanted ‘Profe, Profe, Profe.‘  Again only in Colombia!   

Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I am still looking for a place where I can fix my camera.

CARNAVAL 2012, a Blur of a Weekend

Part of the group

“IM BACK!” I shouted in Spanish as I arrived at the bared in porch of my old family’s house in Barranquilla.  A minute later I was greeted by my old host uncle who looked really confused.  I guess my old host mom did not relay the message that I was coming back for Carnaval to all nine members of the family.  After a minute of a fairly awkward explanation of what I was doing at their house and the fact that I would be staying there for the next three days, it felt like I never left.  

Blackface/body costume (not considered racist here)

The reason I went to Barranquilla was to enjoy the second biggest Carnaval (Rio de Janeiro is home to the biggest) in the world.  If you are not sure of what Carnaval is just think of the party atmosphere and costumes of Mardi Gras with a Latin twist (i.e. great dancing, lost of body paint, and general anarchy).  Ever since I got the invitation to serve in Colombia and started doing research about the costal region, Barranquilla’s Carnaval began popping up everywhere on the internet.  It is in fact so important to the country that in 2003, UNESCO declared Baranquilla’s Carnaval to be a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.  Based on that information alone, I can not even begin to do justice to that weekend by explaining it in written word, but here goes nothing.

   This UNESCO masterpiece went far above and beyond anything that I could have ever imagined and ended up with me returning to the house at around 4am every night!  The first night we went to a live cumbia concert in a packed dirt lot.  It was there that I learned that at Carnaval it is tradition to get flower thrown in your face (look right) and get sprayed with foam out of huge ‘silly string’ canisters by complete strangers.  

The second day we went to the opening parade, la batalla de flores, where there were ornate floats and tons of dancers.  Also it was there that my camera ran out of batteries and I realized that I had left my charger at home.  However it turns out that it would not have mattered anyway because I am now at home and my camera is not taking a charge.  I think something is wrong with the battery.  So it may be a while before I can post any new pictures :( 

As I could literally write a book about this amazing experience, I will spare you all and describe the rest of the weekend in 10 words: sweat, loud music, dancing, friends, no sleep, street food, and beer (and does not count as a word)