Swim Camp

I woke up early Monday to cut huge sheets of styrofoam into little rectangles.  I was attempting to make kick boards for the campers, but with my lack of fine motor skills and a dull machete they came out looking more like pentagons.  However, I now had bigger problems as I was late to meet the campers in front of the elementary school.  So I left the house in a brisk power walk, sweat running down my neck, with all of those annoying little styrofoam scraps and balls still on the ground to clean later.

I ended up arriving at the school only 5 or so minutes late, but much to my surprise there were already seven students waiting.  So for the first time in my Peace Corps service and maybe the history of Peace Corps Colombia, students turned up to an event before the volunteer!!!  Once at the beach we split up into groups:  tiburónes (sharks), estrellas del mar (sea stars), cabballitos del mar (sea horses), and delfínes (dolphins) and hit the waves with our pentagonal floating devices.

Rule # one: Never put your head under the water.  Yah, that lasted about 5 minutes.  The majority of the campers were fearless and were flailing about, most definitely terms to get disqualified in any given stroke, before we spoke about floating on ones back.  It was obvious the kids loved it and I was astonished by the high retention rate.

“Great sucess”

-Borat     

Kick, Kick, Kick

Again, "Don't put your head under water"

MVP of the week! 

Una Hora Sin Basura

After going through the VERY long and sometimes tedious process of writing my first grant, I have finally received the money--YAY!  Months ago when I first started discussing project ideas with my counterpart (local High School art teacher, Environmentalist, Neighbor, and amateur donkey whisperer) we both agreed that getting the community involved in the ‘good fight‘ was vital to the project's success.  Thus hatched the idea, one hour without garbage (Una hora sin basura)

I barley slept on Friday night because I was so nervous no one would show up.  Now this is a legitimate fear of mine because there is so much pena in this community that when asked a question about attendance, “no” doesn’t exist.  That means “yes” is a maybe and a “possibly” means sorry compa‘ but I have other things to do or novelas to watch.  Luckily, all of those phone calls to remind the group members of the event paid off because nearly  50 participants (and a few fellow Peace Corps Cartagena Volunteers) showed up ready to do some serious garbage pickup.  

Dressed in our brand new, now sweated through, matching shirts we hit two major plazas and cleaned those suckers up real nice.  Simultaneously the megaphone man, not sure he has another name, drove around the town asking everyone not to litter from the hour of 10:00-11:00am; Much like he had the previous two days.  As the noon sun crept overhead, we decided to finish the activity up by walking around town and asking store owners if we could hang up environmentally themed posters outside for the public to see.  

Getting help from all ages

This kid thought it was BYOB (Bring your own bird).

The signs going up.

The Clean up Crew.

  

Winter is Only a State of Mind

My alarm sounded at 8:30 this morning and I woke up feeling guilty, like I needed to be somewhere.  It took me a minute to remember that school was out and all of the students are now on vacation until early February.  For me this means I need to change my mindset and start using a “winter” break state of mind.  For us Peace Corps english teachers this can mean a few different things.  One thing is for sure though, almost everyone will somehow be involved in a camp.  Over past breaks volunteers have held tons of camps involving numerous sports, team building exercises, and gender issues.  

Form the week of December 9th through the 13th I am going to be teaching one of my 3rd grade classes how to swim, with the help of a few good PC friends.  The idea all started in class, about a month ago, when my counterpart and I were teaching I like and I don’t like with sports.  One student said, “I lie eh-swiming.”  Than another admitted that she didn’t know how to eh-swim so I took a quick poll and to my surprise more than 90% of the class, including Gerledis who just said he lied eh-swiming, didn’t know how to eh-swim.  So after handing out a permission slip, we are ready for 5 days of eh-swiming lessons.  I am currently in the process of making kickboards out of styrofoam. 

For the rest of break I will be hard at work on the grant supported Mi Boquilla Florece project.  The goal is to finish the tree nursery before school starts up again.  Also we now have a symbol and a big event this Sunday so I will be back with more updates soon!

The design a 10th grade student made for the Mi Boquilla Florece environmental group

Rainy with a Chance of Cabildo

In Colombia, Carnaval de Barranquilla remains king of kings in regards to week long celebrations--there are a surprising amount of week long festivals in this country.  However, every November, a bit further south, Cartagena hosts the National Beauty Pageant.  This year the schools in La Boquilla, where I work, raised enough money to throw their own parade/Cabildo in anticipation for the excitement that comes with the fiestas novembrinas.  

All four elementary schools participated in the event as did two high school groups and a number of community groups.  There were uniforms, face paint, firecrackers (busca pies), and unfortunately lots of rain.    The downpour only delayed the festivities briefly and luckily for me, one of my students moms decided to take it upon herself to use the weather delay as a good time to braid my hair, giving me a more appropriate look.  

Once the rain stopped and all groups were organized, we all began to walk/dance down the only paved road in La Boquilla.  I was asked by one of my counterparts to participate with Madre Bernarda elementary school.  Although I did not have a costume that resembled a tiger or face paint, I made up for it by providing tons of foam to spray and cornstarch to throw at students/bystanders, no one is innocent at cabildo.  It was a fantastic day to be in La Boquilla and see the community come together and celebrate.  

Keepin' it 100 

War Paint on some of my 4th graders at Madre Bernarda! 

4th graders at San Juan

Lost drummer boy

Crowd shot

EVEN the babies aren't spared

The Home Stretch

October 14th marked my two year anniversary in Colombia and I couldn’t help but thinking about everything coming to an end and what my life is going to look like when I get back to the States, but then I smelled something....It was puppy poop.  So after getting a plastic supermarket bag and disposing of Quilla’s do do my mind began to wander once again.  Recently, there have been days where I feel like I just got to site yesterday and others where I feel like it was 5 years ago that I lived with the catholic priest.  These contradicting ideas do not put my mind at ease when i wake up questioning whether i have 24 months left or if I need to start packing because I only have a week left; I guess that is just part of realizing that my two years of service are almost over.  Although my 29 months are coming to an end, I am very content knowing that La Boquilla will continue to work with the Peace Corps.

The other week I met the next Volunteer who is going to be calling La Boquilla home until 2015.  She was wide eyed and had tons of questions, much like I imagine myself two years ago.  She starts in a few weeks and I am looking forward to introducing her to all of the great people I have met and showing her some of the cool things my counterparts and I have accomplished over the past two years.  The so called passing of the torch is no doubt going to be hard, but I trust my Boquillero counterparts to welcome the new PC volunteer with open arms much like they did for me two years ago.

Quilla is 2 months! 

Photo Camp Update and More

The most recent photo camp was a one day workshop where the students answered the question, Where do I come from?  The students came up with some fantastic ideas including photos with their moms, families, friends, and even their dogs.  I am so glad that one of my Peace Corps friends introduced me to the Outside the Lens foundation because these talleres have definitely become one of my favorite secondary projects.  

Inside the classroom, working as an English teacher, there is only so much that you can learn about a students life, but working with my students at the camps I have gained so much insight into their lives.  I have now been to each of their houses, met their parents, and been offered some sort of fruit juice (no doubt because I show up drenched in sweat from the walk). This has helped foster a bond I now have with my camera camp students and their families that I don’t have with the rest of my English students.  I do however feel like I have become much more understanding with the vast majority of my students inside the classroom since the inception of the camp.  I now have a better idea of what the que pena could mean when their assigned homework is not on top of their desk at the beginning of class.  They probably didn’t have anywhere to work, may not have had dinner, or had to take care of their X number of siblings.  Although I swear some continue to break the classroom rules like their lives depended on it. 

I also like to think that due to the camera camp I was invited to a quinciñeras and have been gifted a puppy.  Yup thats right, during one of the projects that called for photos of their houses, I thought I was just sweatily enjoying a mango juice, but before I could even finish the refreshment, I was taken to a wheelbarrow full of puppies and then offered one.  Now how could one possible say no to a day old puppy in a wheelbarrow?    So I now have a puppy for the first time in my life.  Thanks Camera camp!  

I am a little intimidated by the new responsibilities that I will now have seeing I have never owned a puppy, but Quilla pronounced Kia like the car and named after the town I live in La Boquilla, and I off to a promising start.  We already had our first vet visit and are scheduled for a second at the end of the month.  As I put her in the cardboard box that once held my PC issued water filter and we boarded the local bus I realized that plenty of trial and error learning is headed my way, but then again that is nothing new. 

A more recent picture to come

English Song Competition #2

Wow it has been too long!

This past week was the third annual English Song Fest and for the first time there were elementary schoolers participating, YAY!  My role this year was a bit different than it was last year, as a judge.  I was responsible for finding the judges (three fellow volunteers), teaching my elementary schoolers their songs and helping the middle/high schoolers with the pronunciation of their lyrics.  With these responsibilities I learned three basic pricipals:

1. My 3rd graders love reggae.
2. Colombian middle school girls love Justin Bieber 
3. Akon’s I want to Make love right now na na is totally acceptable to sing at a school function

As each elementary school grade only has one hour of english a week I new I needed to tweak the curriculum a bit in order to start introducing the songs in advance.  So it wasn’t long until I started belted out Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds for one of my 3rd grade classes and No Woman No Cry for a 4th grade class, The Beatle’s Let it be for another 4th grade course, and Rihanna’s Diamonds for my 5th graders.  

I was honestly surprised by how quickly everyone picked up the lyrics.  By the third week we were working our way through entire songs.  Now we do plenty of singing in English class, but this is the first time we attempted songs that weren’t necessarily intended for elementary schoolers.  I have to say watching 30 3rd graders sing and dance to Bob Marley has to be one of the cutest things I have seen in Colombia thus far.  I am sad that this was the last English Song Festival that I will see, but I am confident that the competition will be around for years to come!  
  

The judges

My Elementary schoolers getting ready to sing

    

The video is of the winner (8th grader) who obviously sang Justin Bieber.

Mural Site #2

Boquilla transportation where the ocean meets the lagoon 

TEAMWORK! 

Getting started on mural site #2

The high school student with the black winter hat designed the entire mural

The final product

Third Time’s a Charm

After a third house in two years I have a good feeling that over the weekend was the last move I will be making in La Boquilla.  To recap, I spent 6 months living with the Catholic priest of La Boquilla.  I was then forced to leave that house because the archbishop of Cartagena sent four more priests to live and train under my ex-roommate.  I then spent 14 months with a family that had either 7 or 11 people living in the house depending on the time of year. However, after the aunt went a little crazy on me a few times I decided it was best that I pack up my things and leave that situation.  That puts me in my current home.  I am now sharing a two bedroom and one bathroom house with a high school matemática y física teacher.  I have a good feeling that the third time really will be a charm. 

Although I am now working on house number three that is not to say that the others have been horrible by any means.  The padre’s palace was incredible, and my last host mom was one of the nicest people I will ever meet in the world, what a shame her sister had to go off on me like DMX....TWICE! But I will be visiting her plenty in the future....as long as the aunt is not present.

Talk about a coincidence, the same day my brother and fiancé moved into their first house I moved into what I hope is my last during my Peace Corps service.  This was a very traditional Boquilla move.  I spoke with my counterpart and in no time we had five strong high school alumnos (3 girls and 2 boys) and a donkey cart ready to go.  I honestly could not have done it without them.  To celebrate the world record time we made, 30 minutes for all of my stuff to be packed at my old place and moved into my room at the new place, we celebrated with 7 Powerades and and a liter of soda.  Mind you I did this all spending less than $10.  So I guess the move wasn't all that stressful after all.  I only hope my brother's move was as smooth as mine.  

Packing up Boquilla style

Fording the river

The best moving crew in La Boquilla

Real Cartagena vs Real Bucaramanga

It took me long enough, but finally after nearly two years I went to my first Real Cartagena soccer game.  A lot has happened with the team since I first got to site in January 2013.  The biggest change being that they no longer play in the top division, but were relegated to Colombia’s B division.  Needless to say they are now struggling to bring in fans.  This is a shame because the stadium is actually one of the nicer venues in Colombia and it’s 16,000 seats were filled not to long ago when Cartagena hosted a few of the games for the U20 world cup in 2010.  But really who can complain when you can get amazing seats for $5 and not have to wait in a single line?  Not this guy...

When I finally got to the stadium, 1 hour from site, I was immediately approached by ticket scalpers-- I wonder what gave away my gringoness?.  Now there is no way to tell if the tickets they were selling were real or not, but some of the scalpers made pretty convincing cases.  One lifted up his shirt to show me his Real Cartagena tattoo on his left peck as to say, "Would a guy with a local soccer club's tattoo on his chest really sell a gringo a fake ticket?" and another pointed to a tattoo of the team shield on his right calf.  But after spending some time in Colombia I thought it would be wise to walk the extra three minutes to the ticket window.  

I guess maybe I have been here a little to long because as I finally got to my seat the two teams had already been playing for 20 minutes.  Luckily I didn’t miss a goal and everyone left happy after the 2-0 Real Cartagena win.  If I had to estimate I would guess there may have been 1,000 fans inside the stadium, 200 watching from the outside, 75 cops, and 4 police on horses.  So even though the stadium is in a sketchy part of town the amount of police made the venue feel a bit safer.  However, the 100 diehard fans were by far more impressive than the sound security.  These select few were out of their seats jumping, singing various Real Cartagena chants, and whistling at the opposition and ref for the entire 90 minutes.  Now it is one thing to paint your face and yell for the home team when the seats are packed and everyone is doing it, but it was just crazy to see 1/160 of full capacity yelling as if the place was sold out and Real Cartagena were playing with a shot at the championship on the line.  With only a few more months left in Colombia I am glad I got to check a visit to the local fútbol club off the bucket list.            

And the crowd goes wild! 

Nothing But Respect

La Boquilla does not have any grocery stores or any type of chain stores for that matter, but what we lack in name brand establishments we make up for with the crazy amount of tiendas around town.  There are tiendas about every 100 feet which makes getting things around La Boquilla pretty easy.  Need a banana? Go to the tienda.  Need a baseball cap? Go to the tienda.  Need rat poisoning? Go to the tienda? Need a bag of soda? Go to the tienda.  

Living in a predominantly Afrocolombian community it was apparent from the moment I got here that the vast majority of the stores were owned by cachacos, people from the interior.  However, it wasn’t until recently, that I started to wonder why.  I started asking people all around town why this phenomena existed and was told every single time that, “Cachacos are good with money.”  Upon asking further questions I realized that there are only three families that own virtually all of the stores around town.  So that leaves teenagers working many of the stores by themselves. 

I have nothing but respect for these hard working cachacos.  They work everyday from 7:00am until around 10:00pm.  In my 19 months in La Boquilla I do not remember seeing the tiendas ever being closed.  Not on holidays, not on Sundays, not even on Christmas--for Christ’s sake, literally.  Not only are they open everyday for around 15 hours, but I tend to get stressed when standing around the store for more than 10 minutes.  First off there is no such concept of a line, the customers all know they get served on a come and see who can scream louder biases, so they adjust their volumes accordingly.  Unfortunately for these hard working cachacos the hassle doesn’t end there.  People get very impatient when having to wait, but with no concept of a line and if yelling isn’t your thing what else can you expect.  So it is very common to hear harsh comments thrown in the direction of these young cachacos, even if they are in a playful manner.  Also customers get really upset when they think a product should cost less than the asking price.  So this often leads to a debate where the cachacos are forced to pull out their notebook and add to the running total of store credit.  I am just glad they lowered the price on Powerade to under a dollar and for that I want to thank the two 17 year old boys that work at my favorite tienda. 

My favorite tienda

MURALS site #1

After three weeks of battling what seemed like a pretty constant afternoon drizzle, we finally did it!  We painted eight murals at one of the schools I work at.  By we I mean: the high school art teacher, 5-10 high school boys (depending on the day), and some really appreciated  GRINGA help (Thanks Amigos de las Americas).  Let me start by letting you know that I am in no way an artist.  In fact my handwriting has been described as chicken scratch from since I can remember and I was actually not able to complete a high school art project because I was deemed inept by the teacher and had to instead draw dixie cups as the rest of the class painted still life--LOOK AT ME NOW PATRICIA.  However, I was not going to let that minor detail stand in the way of co-leading a successful art project.  And that is a huge reason I love being a Peace Corps volunteer.  No one ever questioned by ability, asked to see my resume, or attempted to long distance call one of my references before we started the project.  I just had an idea, found people who wanted to collaborate, and a school coordinadora that was looking to beautify her school.

I really had never done anything like this before so I had no idea how to start the project or set an accurate timeline.  But in the end like most things PC related projects, it somehow got done.  I look forward to sharing the pictures from future mural projects with you all in the future!  As I only ruined one pair of khakis I see this first mural project as a great success.

Photo Camp

There have been times in my Peace Corps service where I have questioned just about every last skill I thought I once possessed--i.e. my teaching, spanish, and organizational abilities just to name a few.  Camera camp this past week was NOT one of those times.  Thanks to a PC friend who introduced my buddy and me to the San Diego based Outside the Lens foundation.  The foundation donated 20 digital cameras and a list of lesson plans to my friend.  After the three of us selected two projects: Pieces of me and HOPE we, who all have a pretty limited background in photography mind you, were ready to teach 15 Boquillero high school students how to take the perfect shot.  

Day one started like any normal day.  A few students showed up at 1:00pm, the actual starting time, but the majority nonchalantly strolled through the door around 1:30 and the last group of girls rolled in at 2:15.  Once all 15 students gathered in the cramped room, they all managed to dejar la pena at the door and actively participate and enthusiastically used their new technical language, burs ayh you (birds eye view) was heard around the beach for the next three days.  

The first project we worked on, Pieces of me, had the students selecting their favorite body part and taking photos of it.  Along with pictures, the students also wrote poems about the importance of that body part.  Day two had the students thinking creatively, often a problem in the classroom, and designing photos to depict their definition of esperanza.  My favorite part of the week had to be looking at all of the different definitions of hope the students came up with.  More photos and final projects to come soon.

Hope Project: Wishing for a cleaner La Boquilla

Pieces of me project: 7th grader selects her legs as the focal point for her project

   

Long Overdue

As the final week of a three week school break approaches I only feel it is time to write a new post on this recently neglected blog.  This past month has flown by as the past four weeks have been the busiest to date.  I FINALLY finished writing a grant, worked at a sports camp in Barranquilla, escaped the summer heat in Bogota, celebrated the 4th with fellow Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) and staff, and made final preparations for the photography camp that starts in my community tomorrow.  So where to start???

I will start by explaining the grant.  The high school art teacher and I are working on an environmentally charged grant.  The idea is to make the beautiful La Boquilla even more ascetically pleasing, while at the same time motivating Boquilleros to begin taking better care of the environment.  The grant is going to help create a bring native flowering trees back to the area.  We got a plot of land donated and there we will be raising the two species of trees.  When mature, these trees will be relocated around town. To go along with the reforestation of La Boquilla environmentally/culturally based murals are currently being painted around town and education al workshops will commence in the near future. 

Students working on one of the environmentally themed murals

Needing a break from the grant writing, I spent three days in Barranquilla helping other volunteers with a sports camp for middle schoolers; The camp was a huge success.  I helped out wherever I was needed and lead a few sessions myself.  I even got to take to the diamond and worked with surprisingly talented youngsters hone in on their baseball skills.     

Happy campers

After the camp a few PCVs and I headed to the countries capital and enjoyed a nice few days in a much milder climate.  Contrary to the beliefs of many costeños, Bogota was GREAT.  The people were really friendly, the city was beautiful, and most importantly the weather was in the 60s!  So for the first time in a LONG time I was wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirts and was walking without breaking a sweat! 

View of the big city atop Monserrate

Getting back from vacation, the festivities continued as a bunch of PCVs and staff members meet in Barranquilla to celebrate the 4th of July.  We did this is style with a softball game and a BBQ complete with hotdogs, hamburgers, watermelon, and an assortment of desserts.  By the end of the BBQ and countless hotdogs and watermelon slices, I could barley stand up to go grab a celebratory beer.

Next up two PCVs and I are going to be putting together a three day photography camp at my site. We will then move to another site for three more days of camp.  I promise to post more frequently in the coming month.  Enjoy the AC for those of us who don’t have it! 

Encuentro Intercolegial De Danza C.B.C

Two weeks ago a group of forth graders, my counterpart, and I boarded a charted bus sent to pick us up in La Boquilla.  After a fifteen minute ride to the Colegio Britanico de Cartagena, a British Bilingual school, my 10 very lucky forth graders had no desire to leave the airconditioning.  Eventually my counterpart persuaded them and we all walked to the C.B.C's large open air auditorium, where the first interscholastic dance competition was to about to begin.

The video is of my students stomping the yard to a famous Cumbia, traditional Colombian music, song.

The Beauty of Technology

At the beginning of the 2013 school year, one of my counterparts approached me and brought up the fact that there are not enough opportunities for the students to speak english inside the classrooms.  After this chat we decided that we would go about solving this problem by starting an English conversation club for 7th and 8th grade students.  So technically the club is open to hundreds of students, but since it takes place after school, only the very motivated students show up.  

One of the first activities we undertook was starting a pen-pal relationship with the middle school Spanish classes at the Lowell School in D.C.-- thanks mom!  Now after four months of trying to set up a Skype conversation, last week we finally succeeded.  Sadly this this initial Skype session took a lot longer to set up than I could have ever anticipated.  This prolonged back and forth between the Spanish teacher in D.C. and myself is 100% due to my daily schedule, or lack there of.  The truth is that after more than a year in site I still never really know when school is going to be canceled because of holidays, teachers having a cita medica, the water going out, or if there is a funeral in town.  Although never knowing may appear to be a bit stressful, the silver lining is you never get bored of the daily routine!  

After telling my students that the Skype convo was going to start at 7:45am, they started arriving at 8:20 for the 8:30 meeting, smart right?.  That gave us a little time to have a few laughs and  practice our pronunciation once more.  One we got the call my students students were all smilies.  First the 8th graders spoke (in English) about La Boquilla then the 7th graders asked their questions.  This was followed by the Lowell students asking their own questions (in Spanish).  One of their questions was about dance and my students didn’t only want to talk about salsa and champeta, but they wanted to demonstrate.  So I threw on some Joe Arroyo and all my students started dancing salsa liked seasoned pros, but I guess that is what I should have expected when walking and dancing coincide in regards to developmental milestones in La Boquilla.  On the other hand, when my students asked to see some American dancing, the Lowell students were painfully shy and all refused.  We ended the session with an awkward goodbye when a handful of Boquillera middle school girls confessed their love  for a tall blonde 7th grader named Robert.  At least they were saying “I love you Robert” and “Where is Robert” in English.  I have not seen a face that red since I forgot to put sunscreen on at the Beach last year.  Next Skype session my students will teach the D.C. middle schoolers how to salsa (in English).    

Team Photo

Los Playeros

After five failed attempts by teammates I had to take over the camera.  So this is the squad minus myself.  We now sit at 10-3 and are looking sharper than ever with our NEW uniforms!

Seeing a Part of La Boquilla For the First Time

When I talk about La Boquilla, I often speak about the beach.  I consider myself one of the luckiest PC volunteers in the world because I literally live a stones throw from the shore--granted the person throwing the stone has some baseball experience.  However, after 15 Months in, the small peri-urban paradise, La Boquilla (18 in Colombia) I have not once mentioned the lagoon.  That is partially due to the fact that I really have never explored the religiously named body of water, La cienaga de la virgen.  The majority of the contaminated body of water  lay parallel to the beach, but there is a small portion where the salt and fresh water meet.  Now that you have let the fact that I have been in Colombia for 18 months soak in.....Let’s get back to the lagoon.  A PC friend of mine approached me one day and asked, “have you ever been to the lagoon?”  I responded, “no.”  Well thats the end of that story and now you all know that there is a lagoon in La Boquilla. 

ESTOY MAMANDO GALLO!  Which means I am only kidding here in Colombia.  I know some of you are just dying for the direct translation so I won't let you down. Estoy mamado gallo literally means, I am sucking rooster (or c**k).  Definitly a gem of a phrase here on the coast.  

At around 10:00am, three friends and I embarked in a wooden canoe along with a guy that held a large stick to help navigate the vessel.  The man with the stick, a friend of a friend, stood in the back pushing us through the mangrove tunnels and around various birds.  Now I have never been to Venice before, but I imagine it is exactly like the Boquilla mangrove tour!  

It is getting REALLY hot here so enjoy a few minutes in the air conditioning and send me your coldest  vibes!  Also pictures of the softball team are coming soon.         

I took over for a minute

Mangrove tunnel

We caught a local in the act of fishing

12 Men 1 Cup: The Story my Season Thus Far

Now don’t be crude, I am simply talking about how Los Playeros, the softball team I am playing for this year, drinks water during our games.  Our coach brings a pail, a cup, and three large sandwich bags full of ice.  He then finds a house by the field and asked the family if he can fill the pail with water.  So to start each game we have 12 men using one cup to hydrate themselves for the seven HOT innings, hence the title 12 Men 1 Cup.  I however, can’t partake in this hydration bonding because I was instructed by the Peace Corps doctor to only drink filtered water, so I have to bring my own.    

Now those avid blog readers of mine--I am talking about you Cali, Gio, Sarah, and Sue--you may notice that I am on a different team this year.  Well after last years up and down season with Los Caribes (way too hostile an environment for a small town softball league), I decided to hit the free agency marked.  I quickly became firmado with Los Playeros and so far so good!  I knew I was going to have to earn my spot on this team as there are definitely a few teammates who could have played collage baseball--Boquilla is well known for its athletes and especially its peloteros, ball players.  So I started the season on the bench (my college position), but was soon given an opportunity to play 1st base (my high school position).  So recently I have been platooning 1st base with a 40 something year old mustachioed Afro-Colombian whose kids sit in the dugout at every game.  However, while he is playing, I am usually the designated hitter.  It turns out that I may actually prefer DHing because I get to escape the unforgiving sun for the majority of the game.

Although the ‘stadium’ had lights installed in 2010, Boquilla can’t pay the electricity bill for every game to be after sunset, so there is only one game a week under the lights.  That means that so far this season all seven of our games have started between 9am and 2pm.  I have found the only way to survive the constant low-mid 90 degree heat accompanied with the 85% humidity, in baseball pants, is to think about jumping into the ocean the second the game ends.  It does however make me feel a bit better knowing I am not the only one complaining about the heat.  Many of my teammates often complain about the unforgiving Boquilla climate as well.  For the majority of them, it doesn’t help that they wear long sleeve shirts to accompany their baseball pants.  I was curious as to why they would torture themselves by wearing mock UnderArmour shirts, so I asked a few of them.  They simply responded by saying they didn’t want to get any darker.  I thought this was very interesting because when the typical gringo goes to a hot climate they want to get a tan, but all the Boquilleros on my team despise the idea of getting a tan.      

So about a quarter of the way through the season We sit with a 5-2 record and have another game this weekend.  I will take a team photo during our next game and be sure to post it in my next blog.

My Peace Corps Country is Better at Soccer than Yours

Starting 11

FIFA currently has Colombia ranked 6th in its world rankings.  The next highest Peace Corps country, Ecuador, is ranked 11th.  So what I am trying to say it is a great time to be a Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia.  The entire country is buzzing and it is beautiful to see all socioeconomic levels come together to support La selección,  La tricolor, Los cafeteros, or whatever else the newspapers are calling the Colombian National fútbol team.  Historically, Colombia has a very rich soccer history, but they haven’t made the World Cup since 1994 and back then the Colombian game was very different.  During this era, Colombian soccer was riddled with drug money hence the name narco-fútbol.  If you haven’t seen the ESPN 30 for 30 The Two Escobars then stop reading this blog now and go find a way to watch it!  You will learn all about Colombian fútbol in the heights of the Escobar era.  

The World Cup qualification games take place in the Colombia’s largest stadium, El Metropolitano, which happens to be in Barranquilla, a short two hour bus ride from my site in La Boquilla.  So I felt like it was my duty as both a fútbol fan and a fan of all things crowded, loud, and sweaty that I attend at least one World Cup qualification game.  That game was Friday March 22nd against Bolivia and it was more crowded, louder, and sweater than anything I could have imagined. 

I met up with a PC friend at my host family from trainings house, where I stay when I am in Barranquilla, and after the entire family heard we needed directions to the stadium, they did something very common here on the coast.  My brother started by giving us the name of one bus, then my host mother chimed in with two more possible routs, she then called my host uncle who had two more potential routes.  So instead of giving us the name of the easiest bus route, we left the house thoroughly confused and still without a clue of how to get to the stadium.  So I ended up asking a taxi driver his opinion and by some sort of miracle he told my friend and I ONE easy route.  So sorry host family for not listening to your suggestions, but I am horrible with directions and interpreting three people yelling bus routs in a foreign language is not yet my forte.

We boarded the bus and got dropped off right outside the stadium.  Three hours before the game even started, the stadium grounds were rumbling with noise and there was an endless sea of yellow--Colombia’s soccer uniforms.  After finding our seats--two hours before game time-- the sun was shining bright and I already began to smell a bit ripe (nothing any deodorant could do on this day).  The game finally started and after 90 minutes of nonstop chanting and horn blowing Colombia had won 5-0.  

My face red from the sun, we left the stadium in the massive yellow exodus to the public transportation.  What a great game and I really can’t compare it to any sporting event I have been to in the States.  But what I do know is that this will not be my last World Cup Qualifier game I go to in Barranquilla. 

Since I wrote this Colombia lost a heart breaker to Venezuela 1-0, but they are still strong contenders to qualify for the 2014 World Cup!

Sea of Yellow 2 hours before the start 

5-0 win!