Quick Update: The Entire City is Watching

So I ended last post by stating in order for Junior to advance to the finals a miracle needed to occur.....Well it did and on Wednesday Junior won the most amazing game I have ever watched.  The game was right after our swearing in ceremony so I went to a bar close by the hotel with the majority of my fellow NEW volunteers.  Junior won 3-0 and then the game went to a penalty kicks, because of the aggregate system, Junior took it 5-4!  What followed at the bar was incredible.  There was tons of beer getting tossed in the air and showering everyone (So my nice shirt, tie, and pants were all soaked...I hope they are still ok to wear), tons of people belting the Junior songs for at least 30 minutes after the game, and all of the busses and cars honking as they passed.  WHAT A GAME!    

  So today is the first leg of the championship, in Barranquilla, and the city has been full of energy since the amazing semifinal win.  On Thursday I gave my host brother money to get a ticket and even pitched in on his for an early christmas gift.  He was so excited and told me they went on sale Friday.  However, after some reconnoissance work of my own, after training on Friday, I was told they go on sale Saturday.  So my host brother woke up at the crack of dawn Saturday to get the tickets as I went to class and a nice Peace Corps holiday lunch, complete with Middle Eastern food (Colombian style).  I got back at around 5:00 and my host brother was nowhere to be found.....At around 5:30 he appeared at the front door with a frustrated look on his face and explained that he had NO luck finding any tickets and he had been running around the city for the entire day!  I later talked to people that had camped out at the ticket stands Friday to get tickets the next day....so it is no wonder my brother had no luck.  So today I will stay in with my family and watch the game on TV with the rest of the city.

Now that I am on a two week break and have some time, I will write another post tomorrow about the swearing in ceremony and have some pictures up.

GO JUNIOR!           

Am I in Philly or Barranquilla?

I finally went to my first Colombian soccer game last Thursday (Playoffs) and it was well worth waiting for.  The team in Barranquilla, Junior, finished the season at the top of the table so hopes were high during the quarterfinal match.  The whole city got in on the action as everyone was wearing red and white, Juniors colors, and the busses to the stadium were more crowded than usual.  Once at the stadium we joined the pilgrimage, to the entrance, which consisted of thousands of sweaty bodies shoving and getting shoved to the front of the line.  There we were told  that we could not bring inside cameras or belts for safety reasons  (luckily one of my host brothers told me this so I brought neither).  So after being part of a mob that was relentlessly shoving, being asked to hand over any camera or belt, and passing through two separate pat down stations, I began to realized how crazy the Junior fans are and it brought back great memories of times spent at Philly sporting events.

Once in your section, the seating was general admissions so my host brothers and I met some gringo friends and sat down.  From that moment there was not any end to the cheering/yelling fans until we got back on the bus to go home.  Sounds included tons of cheering for Junior and even booing when players made mistakes (wow! how Philly esque), air horns (the man behind me had one and it was literally going off in my ear), two bands (they attend every home game never stop playing and lead the Junior songs), and vendors hissing (like trying to get the attention of a cat...psssss....pssss....pssss) to try and sell whatever it was they had.  

Half time was definitely the most entertaining part of the game as there was a huge fight in the crowd and suddenly around 1,000 fans rushed up the bleachers to avoid the conflict.  Minutes later, the police arrived and attempted to rip a group of men apart.  One man stood out from the rest, as he was still throwing punches with his torn shirt, when the police were man-handling him.  Another deja vu back to Philadelphia.  After half time the announcer said something I didn't quite catch and when asking for clarification it turns out that the Junior goalie and a player on the other team started to fight on the way to the locker room and were both given red cards.  The game ended in a 2-2 tie, but Juniors moved on because aggregate and are now in the semis.  However, yesterday they played the first leg and lost 3-0 so the dream season may be over this Wednesday unless they pull of a miracle.     

Side note:  Counterfeit tickets are such a problem that Junior have gone away from the paper tickets and now hand out stitched tickets, that appear like really itchy over sized tags in a shirt.  I guess they skipped out on the whole barcode phenomena......  

Ticket

Until Next Time!  

Arrested Development Moment and Site Visit Pictures

If you are a fan of the show Arrested Development you will enjoy this post, but if not some of the references may be a bit over your head.  So as I wrote in my last post I was going to visit the site where I will be placed for the next two years, La Boquilla, 20 minutes outside of Cartagena.  Although it is a short bus ride to the city center I assure you that La Boquilla is a different world (See pictures below).  For example, they have one main road and the rest are dirt (now mud because it is rainy season) and some strategically (some not so strategically) placed stones so when it rains you will not get stuck in the mud.  However, unlike the locals I did not have the proper attire for walking during a heavy downpour, knee high boots..... So I nearly destroyed a pair of my shoes in the deep mud.

Ok so I mentioned an Arrested Development moment I experienced well if you are a fan of the show it was a true Michel Bluth moment.  During one episode he was trying to figure out who Gobs girlfriend liked, "who is this hermano guy?"  So as I arrived in La Boquilla and my host family, Single mom who teaches a class about how to raise and catch fish, started talking about some 'hermana (sister)' of hers and asking if I had met her.  I told her no and she said she was a fantastic woman and that I would have to meet her.  I thought nothing of it at the time, but the next morning when I arrived at the school I was literally asked by five different teachers if I had met their 'hermana (sister).'  I soon started to think why does everyone want me to met their sisters and why is this one of the first questions I am getting asked?  I was later told to follow my counter part to a different part of the school and did so accordingly.  We soon arrived outside of the school headmasters room and was then introduced to HERMANA Elizabeth!!!! Wow it turns out that is wasn't any of their sisters, but rather a NUN (See Picture below) that runs the school.  I felt really stupid to say the least.  Upon meeting the HERMANA she told me my beard was cute and offered my gummy candies, wow does she know the way to my heart!

 School Information:  The school is quite special because it actually consists of five different locations creating a mega school of 3,000 students!  I will primarily be working in three of them with primary schoolers (grades 3-5).  This is a change for me because I have never taught primary before and to make things a bit more difficult there is no English program so I will not only be co-teaching with the teachers, but teaching them English as well and hopefully creating a sustainable English department in the process.

The site visit was very exciting and some highlights include: Realizing that I will be living/teaching two blocks from the beach, having amazing meals for $2.50, going to bed to the sound of the waves or an amazing drum circle each night (La Boquilla is famous for its music and even has a drum festival), seeing that both soccer and baseball were regularly played on the beach, going into Cartagena and getting to see the walled city, meeting all of the nice people I am going to be working with, and swimming in the ocean EVERYDAY!  

The Beach

Me and the HERMANA

A really good road in La Boquilla

In the distance are some hotels in a bordering city

The view from the amazing seafood restaurant

One of the schools I will be teaching at

Water in Cartagena 

Clock Tower in Cartagena 

The walled city of Cartagena

My host cousin, Maria de Los Angeles

So when I got back from La Boquilla I met my little cousin!  Also my next post will be as an official Peace Corps volunteer as I have my swear in next Wednesday.  Also tonight is a huge celebration for the immaculate conception of Jesus so this will be a first for me.  I hear there is a lot of drinking and candles are light and put in pretty boxes in front of each house at 2:00am.....I will let you all know how it goes!  

Much love from Colombia!   

Girl Power and Site Assignment

The adventure continues here in Colombia and I thought I would start this blog entry by describing two situations that a pair of girls encountered here in Barranquilla.  During the first six weeks here in Colombia we have had tons of security training and in the multi-hour sessions it is often easy to doze off and day dream about more pleasant things (Going to the beach, eating American food, and what it would be like to be able to dance like a Colombian).  However, the sessions have helped at least two girls already as there have been two attempted drive-by theft attempts (not the kind with a gun).  So the drive-by attempt is quite popular I hear and is executed by men on motorcycles and occasionally accomplices.  The first attempt happened one early morning as my friend was out for an early stroll (if you want to exercise it better be in the morning because exercising in the heat of the afternoon or the darkness of night is just asking for trouble), she suddenly felt someone grab at her purse and she quickly pulled it back before the men on the motorcycle could snatch it.....Peace Corps women 1 Colombian thieves 0.  

The next attempt consisted of another female volunteer and two thieves.  We had just got back from the beach and almost all of us went directly home.  However, one girl decided to do some vegetable shopping in the market.  After she had purchased some fresh eggplant a man approached her and asked her the time (this man was the accomplice).  As she was distracted by this question another man on a motorcycle came by and tried to grab her purse.  However she had other ideas and swung her bag of eggplant at the man, much like deranged elderly woman are portrayed on television these days, hitting him repeatedly until the bag broke and the eggplant flew to the dirty sidewalk.  The two men fled and the volunteer was able to pick up her eggplant and later use them to make, from what I hear, an amazing eggplant parm later that weekend......Peace Corps women 2 Colombian thieves 0.  Thus, so far half of the attempted thefts against women have been fended off by vegetables..... Moral of the story: those thieves better reconsider next time they see a gringa with a bag of produce! 

New News:  On Thanksgiving day we were told where we will be working for the next two years.  I was pretty sure I was going to be staying in Barranquilla as I had my site visit here, but in true Peace Corps style I was tossed a curve ball.  I was told I will be in a small town outside of Cartagena called La Boquilla.  This little fishing village is surrounded by an ocean on one side and a lagoon on the other.  I don't really know much more about the area than that, but I am going to visit La Boquilla on Tuesday for the week and am very excited.  My next post will contain pictures of the site visit!

-A famous musical group from Colombia, Bomba Esterio, taped a music video in La Boquilla so I hope this link provides you all with some more insight into where I will be...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-vDLf7cmf0

      

Barranquilla: the City of 1.5 Million Dancers

So I have been here for a little over a month now and have come to the conclusion that there is not a single person in Barranquilla, besides us gringos, who can't dance.  Dancing is such a huge part of the culture here that children basically start dancing as soon as they are able to walk.  I have literally witnessed a class of 10 year olds take a break from their everyday studies (math, reading, writing, etc.) to have a second instructor walk into the room and DANCE with the students for 45 minutes..... you don't know a bruised ego until you get out-danced by a bunch of 10 year olds.  The kicker here is that everyone is not only dancing to Salsa music, but there is Cumbia, Vallenato, Merengue, Champeta, and Reggaeton.  Lucky for me it appears as my host family's personal mission is to teach me how to dance to every type of music listed above.  So at every function where music is present, which is EVERY function, there is also a gringo trying his best to figure out first what type of music is playing (some are pretty similar) and how to dance to the given rhythms.  Sometimes my family even goes out of their way to get me dancing.

So it was my birthday on Tuesday and when I finished Skyping my mom and dad my host family had a surprise birthday party for me set up with food, cake, and decorations (pictures below).  So back to the dancing....so after the great party we all sat out on the front patio and talked for a while.  We suddenly heard music blaring from a house down the street (blaring music at all hours of the day/night is very common here).  Before I knew it my host sister was introducing me to three cousins and demanding that I learn to dance Cumbia.  So there is the example of going out of their way to get me dancing.  Next thing I realize is that this is not just some dance, but there is choreography and my sister is asking if I can participate in the dance preformance the following day.  So my cousins say yes and I begin to learn the choreography with seven other colombians.  On the day of the dance I went over to their house to practice some more, but to my surprise there were only four other people there.....What happened to the rest?  This we will never know, but this did not make my cousins happy and they were actually so displeased that they called the performance off (Plans falling through.....THEME?).  All in all I still learned Cumbia and actually am really digging all of the dancing that plays such a huge part in the lives of EVERYONE in Barranquilla.

Exciting news:  This Thursday we will be told where we will be for the next two years!  I will keep everyone posted.  

Pictures:  Birthday/Cumbia Crew/Random 

The host family at my surprise birthday party

The Dance Crew

A Raspa'o (flavored crushed ice with condensed milk on top) Vendor 

There a a few of these Kiss themed Mona Lisa pictures around town

The road near my house a few hours after an arroyo

Boat at the beach.  The beach is about 45 minutes from Barranquilla and is not known to be really nice, but the water  is perfect!

Living ON the grid and a Very Colombian List

Many people who are about to join the Peace Corps talk about living off the grid, but my experience couldn't be any further from that.  The city of Barranquilla is literally set up as a grid.  Opposed to the normal layout of many cities with winding Avenues, Streets, Drives, Roads, and Lanes, Barranquilla is a bit different.  There are only Calles and Carreras in this city of nearly 1.5 million.  The Calles run from east to the west and the Carreras south to north.  So you think it would be pretty hard to get lost right.....Well if you know my less than stellar sense of direction it is no surprise that I have already gotten lost a few times.  The most notable time was trying to walk to the Peace Corps office with another volunteer, who has very little Spanish experience.  The 'adventure' lasted about two hours and needless to say by the time we arrived we were both drenched in sweat and dying of thirst. 

Learned in Colombia

1.  Plans fall through:  I know I was going to write about the soccer game I mentioned in my last post, but (^) the plans fell through.  It was ok because I had some work to do anyway, but I hope they don't fall through again next Wednesday as we are scheduled to go to another game.

2.  Arroyos:  There is no drainage system in Barranquilla thus when it storms (which occurs often as it is currently the rainy season) the streets turn into class 5 white water rapids.  I mean you literally can't cross so your best option is finding shelter and grabbing a Snickers because it could be a while.  I will try and get pictures of the next arroyo so you can see what I am talking about. 

3.  Punctuality:  or should I say lack there of... People on the coast do NOT show up to anything on time.  I am told it is part of the culture so I should not be offended when someone (student, teacher, friend) strolls in 30-45 minutes late.

4.  Watch out for bagged drinks:  So a lot of drinks come in bags here (cheaper than cans or bottles).  However, you have to be very careful because once you bite off one of the corners you can't put the drink down or else you will wear it.  Unfortunately I made this mistake, only once, and ended up wearing mango juice on my pants for the rest of the day.  

5.  Costal Spanish is hard to understand:  The Spanish spoken here is very difficult to understand as they don't pronounce the S's and drop the D's completely.  So this often ends up in chunks of words missing.  I am 'efinitely 'tarting to get the hang of it though.  

6.  It is easy to find cheap beer:  The local favorite Aguila (definite monopoly on the beer game in Barranquilla)  is often sold for less than $1.

Gio my next post will include some of the "nitty gritty Colombia" pictures you requested.  Thou who asks shall receive! 

Hope all is well Back in the States!   

  

Peace Corps Office/Bilingualism Week/Host Brother's Birthday Party/Site Visit

Pictures from the PC office:

View from atop the Peace Corps office (I have heard that it is the best/only view you can get of Barranquilla)

 Some of the 23 members of the group on the Peace Corps office roof

Bilingualism Week:

 These Pictures were taken at the Javier Sanchez school during their Bilingualism week.  As some of you may know Colombia as a country has a goal of being bilingual by 2019 in all of its schools.  Thus promoting bilingualism is ever present in the school system (so much so that there is a week dedicated to it).  In the picture to the right a few members of our group, Peace Corps employees, and school staff are posing by a sign that was made for the week.  The picture on the left was taken during the presentation the school put on for us (The 5 trainees, including myself, that were at this specific school).  The presentation included a music and dance portion where the girl pictured above took turns grabbing each guy one at a time and dance salsa with them.....so pretty much embarrassing ourselves in front of a room full of laughing students.  

Birthday Bash:

 Some of the fam sitting outside on the front patio hanging out for my host brother's birthday.  Observation: People in Barranquilla are really good at sitting out on their front patios for hours at a time and relaxing (must be some kinda past time).  Below is a picture of my host brother cutting the cake with a RUSTY machete.......Still tasted good though!  

Site Visits:
This week was SITE VISIT WEEK!!!! What that means it that us volunteers got to travel to Santa Marta, Cartagena, or if you were really lucky go absolutely no where at all and stay in Barranquilla to shadow current volunteers and see what an 'average' day in the life is life....Well I was one of the lucky few.  However, I did not really care that I was not getting to travel as I love my host family and the city.  The two days actually turned our really fun as a few of us trainees started by chatted with two current volunteers over some beers.  I then went to an amazing school on Tuesday (see pictures).  The site visits finish tomorrow and I will be headed straight to my first Colombia soccer game tomorrow.  The club team from Barranquilla currently sit in 1st place in the primer Colombian soccer league.  I can't wait to write about it in my next post.