4th Grade Fashion Show

Some of the 4th graders

I figured it was about time I write another post about how my English classes are going.  And like the title suggests I just finished a big unit on clothing in one of my 4th grade classes.  Like all of the units this was both co-planned and taught (way easier written than executed).  So after a few classes of drawing pictures, playing games, and working on plenty of pronunciation my co-teacher and I decided that the students were ready for a fashion show to end the unit.  The students were supper stoked about this because for once they could choose what clothes to wear to school instead of the usual uniform that consists of a white shirt and quasi blue sweatpants.

I had a few ideas of what the students were going to wear--i.e. glamorous dresses, button down shirts, soccer jerseys, etc.  However, there were a few surprises as well.  My favorite being the one student who clearly forgot about the assignment, went home during a break and could only find one wool glove, but insisted on walking down the runway nonetheless.  However, I was not surprised that the girls got way more into this activity than the boys.  And by into it I mean EVERY girl turned into a Colombian high fashion model and did the whole walking down the, 4th grade girl created, runway....pausing at the end...... sticking out the ‘skinny arm’....doing their best Blue Steel (Zoolander).... turning..... and walking back.   

After the students were done strutting their stuff they had to say both their name and a phrase we had worked on.  So it went a little something like this: Hello my nom es Edgar an I am werrin pant, a tee chirt, an a hut.  To date this has been the most fun classroom activity I have co-planned and taught.  If only everyday could be the 4th grade Fashion Show! 

'work it'

Blue Steel

Your a tiger!

It’s Been Awhile (first two lines are to be read like the horrible song with the same title)

It’s been a while since I posted on my blog.

And Its been a while since I updated yall. 

Sorry for that...

Family at my dad's Boquilla style birthday party

So to catch everyone up, my most recent occurrence has been me going to Bolivia to reunite with my family--minus my brother-- and then all of us coming to Cartagena--including my brother and his girlfriend.  I had the greatest time with them and although I had not seen them in 10 months, after a brief 30 minute ‘catching up session’ it was like I had never left.  I was so happy to show them the amazingness that is Cartagena, but even more excited to show them where I have been working, what I have been doing, and where I have been living in La Boquilla.

Trip highlight:  Although my dad’s birthday is in July, my host family did not know this, and I wanted to show my family how we get down in La Boquilla.  So I told them it was his birthday.  I felt a little bad telling them this, but I figured since we payed for the entire party and everyone had a great time, there was nothing to worry about.  In typical Boquilla fashion there was enough food to feed the whole town, everyone danced, and the LIGHT beers were flowing like wine (Dumb and Dumber reference).  More importantly my family got to meet all 11 family members that I am currently living with, the 6 that are always here and 4 cousins from venezuela that are here for two months. 

However, don’t think for a second that those were the only people there because when my host family throws down the whole town knows about it.  So there were a bunch of neighbors, other Boquilleros, and cousins that live down the dirt road.  It was a magical night that was full of dancing--my dad with my host mom, my sister with a seven year olds and myself with a four year old neighbor-- and quotes.  My favorite quote of the night had to be when my four year old host sister came up to my family, after they were trying to get her to dance, only to tell us, 

“My mom says I can’t dance because I’m Christian.”  

-Four year old Evangelical 

It instantly became a vacation favorite and was repeated with frequency.   

My family has since left, but not before leaving me with Twizzlers, Peanut butter and more.  I really do miss them a lot, but I am very excited to get back to work and have a busy month ahead.  I hope to get another post up within the next fortnight, but for now enjoy a few pics.

My dad at his birthday party with a few of the guests

My host sister (getting the piggyback ride) and my cousin that lives down the dirt road, as mentioned above

More of the crew

Me and my host mom dancing salsa per usual 

Fiestas del Pescador (one month later)

The crowd on my street at the 4:00am opening ceremonies.  This was the first time everyone was able to see the three beauty queens---Kind of a big deal

Every year La Boquilla has a huge four day fiesta in honor of their patron saint.  This year the festivities started June 22nd and ended the 25th.  As it was my first year experiencing the fiestas del pescador I had no idea what to expect.  I did however, pick the brains of some locals, but even with their help what I witnessed was something both different and unforgettable.  La Boquilla transformed from a small fishing town to a bustling city for four straight days--it was as if the population tripled.  The events of the long weekend included a 4:00am parade, boxing matches, a bike race, concerts, drum circles, dances, more parades, and it all ended with the crowning of a new beauty queen.  The winning teen was from La Boquilla, beating out the candidates from Tierra Bomba and Boca Chica (two other fishing towns).  

Crowd at the boxing match

Two high school students exchanging some punches on the makeshift ring that was constructed on the softball field.   

I couldn't believe how many people came to La Boquilla.  

The three beauty contestants (In the middle is the La Boquilla representative).

Late might Vallenato concert with well know, in Colombia, singer Farid Ortiz

 La Bopquilla really put on quite a magical fiesta for their patron saint 

Getting to know more than the Coast of Colombia

Day 1:  We should have known 

View from the hostel

As I waited for a bus to the airport, in the scorching costal sun, with a fellow PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) we both couldn’t hide our excitement to finally enjoy a week where we would not be constantly drenched in sweat; We were going on vacation outside the coast.  When we checked into our flight to Medellín we were so early that we were placed on an earlier flight.  However, we should have know that things were not going to work out as planned.  After asking why people were not looking happy and no planes were leaving, we were told that a military plane outside had caught on fire and the entire airport was temporarily closed.....After drinking all the free juice and soda we could--I guess the airline felt bad too-- the plane finally took off.  And after a brief stop in Bogota, we finally stepped off the plane in Medellin, the city of eternal springtime.  But when I went to get my bag, it was nowhere to be found....  Thus we waited and when I finally did get my bag a few hours later the three other PVCs that were accompanying us on the vacation arrived, so we took off together to the hostel.  

Botero sculpture

Day 2:  This can’t be Colombia 

Day two started off with all five of us talking about how we didn't feel like we were in Colombia for the first 10 hours of the day--no exaggeration.  First of all the weather was a key component and opposed to the upper 90s and 100 degree weather we are now accustomed to, we were now in a climate that was constantly around 75ish.  There were also traffic signs, cars that followed the traffic signs, trash cans, and a lack of ear drum bursting music.  When we finally started the day, we dedicated it to exploring the city via the Metro, the only metro system in Colombia.  So we walked around a bunch and visited a few parks.  It was weird not sweating because the heat.  Later, we headed out for the night and taught those Paisas (people from Medellín) how to dance-- The belief on the coast is that costeños are the best dancers in Colombia and that if you are not from the coast you can’t dance.

Park dedicated to Botero's sculptures

Day 3:  Are we really in Colombia?

View from El Pueblito Paisa

 Still in shock that we were in Colombia, we started the day off by visiting a tourist attraction known as El Pueblo Paisa.  This is a constructed pueblo that is supposed to resemble a typical township of the area.  After walking up tons of stairs built into the side of the mountain (good practice for the following day), we were greeted by welcome gusts of wind when we got to the top.  After exploring the town and the magnificent view for a few hours, we headed back to the unbelievably clean Metro and in the direction of the largest outdoor escalator in the world.  Again the view on top of the six connecting escalators was absolutely breathtaking--common theme of the vacation.  These escalators serve a huge purpose to the community, now making it completely free to go up and down the mountain side as they please where before the citizens would have had to walk a long distance up and down a steep hill or pay for a bus or moto.  Starving we looked for dinner in the community and encountered the Bandeja Paisa, the typical platter of rice, beans, plantain, a sausage, chicken, an egg, and an arepa.  All delirious after the unheard of amount of calories we just inhaled, we thought it would be a good idea to get matching spray on tattoos and did exactly that. 

Largest outdoor escalator in the world

View from atop the escalators 

Bandeja Paisa 

Creation of the Seahorse club

Day 4:  Stairs     

The Rock

After waking up late we decided to head to a small town outside Medellín, Guatape, where there is a huge rock with 740 stairs and a great view of the surrounding towns and lake.  So after wheezing up 740 stairs with a constant breeze, the top was actually a little chilly--I can’t believe I just said chilly when talking about Colombia.  Upon our return we were all hungry and decided that there was no better way to end the day than with two large Dominos pizzas!  We called it an early night because the following day we would be waking up at 5:00am to head to a nature reserve.  

View from the top

Tired after the 740 stairs

Three walled cabin we stayed in

Day 5:  Rio Claro and the splitting up of the Seahorse Club 

A nice and early 5:00 wake up call and a three hour bus ride to the tune of Vallenato and two children vomiting were well worth it when I arrived with two fellow PCVs at Rio Claro!  I could hardly believe that this nature reserve wasn’t the location Jurassic Park was shot; Everything was so pristine and green!  We hiked two kilometers to our three walled cabin and after being memorized by the clarity of the rushing river below us and the many animals that were making all sorts of noises in the close by forest, we decided to do some exploring.  So for the 4th of July  we swam, we rafted, we drank.  And  although we didn’t have fireworks, we enjoyed some beer and rum while watching the most spectacular lightning storm I have ever seen. 

The river

Day 6:  We don‘t want to leave

Waking up with the natural light that shined in our three walled room the three of us met and could not believe that we not only slept with covers, but that we had to leave the wonderland that is Rio Claro only one day after arriving.  We really didn’t want to leave so we decided to stick around for a few hours after we checked out.  We went ziplining, jumped off a 26 foot rock, swam some more in the river, and hiked barefoot through some muddy terrain.  The ride back was bitter sweet as we were really excited to meet up with and share stories with the two that didn’t make the trip, but at the same time we were all wishing we had a few more nights at Rio Claro--At least there was no smell of vomit on the ride back.  After sharing stories we did some souvenir shopping for out host families and grabbed one last meal in Medellín.  And since we decided to save some money, we didn’t book the hostel for the last night because we had an early flight, so we did what any true costeño would do....Stay out all night.  

Spider at Rio Claro

3:00am faces on the last night/morning

What an amazing vacation and I can safely say that although Medellín has a history of bad publicity due to the violence and drug related issues caused by Pablo Escobar, I never once felt in danger.  The question is now not weather I will return, but when I will return.           

The Busy Month of June

June started sweatier than usual as I packed up all my things and moved four houses down, the dirt road, to the my new host family’s place.  After living in El Padre’s compound, for lack of a better description, I really got used to having quality time to myself; After meeting the seven members of my new family (not including the flying cockroaches) I quickly realized that quality self reflection time was no longer going to happen everyday.  Before I could even memorize all of their names or save the cell phone numbers of my new loving host family I was rushed off to the hospital.

I came home one day from work and felt really faint and actually a little chilly- I know chilly when weather.com says if feels like 114.  So I tried to Sietsta off the illness, but I couldn’t even fall asleep because the splitting headache, my aching spine and knees, and the shifting from violent shivers to the soaking in my own sweat.  After having a few delirious conversations with the PC doctor I was instructed to head to the approved Peace Corps hospital, which is in the ‘poopy’ part of town, not anywhere near La Boquilla.  I was so sick that I couldn’t even call a cab or stand up, so I did the logical thing and started yelling my host moms name from my room, after knowing her for 48 hours, she began to help me like I really was her son.  She not only called a cab, but came with me to the hospital and did not leave my side for the next three days (I highly doubt the Padre would have done this).  After using about a roll of toilet paper each day and fighting the aching pains in my spine and knees, I was finally told I had a fever and a bacterial infection in my stomach.  So to say the least I would not wish this illness on my worst enemy and will now take more of a caucus approach to drinking the water here.  As I spent the next few days recovering and eating what was supposed to be bland food (All food is fried on the coast and is thus hardly bland) I finally got to get to know my new family and could not be happier at the new place.

After I felt 100% I finally got started on a secondary project I knew I wanted to pursue the second I got the invitation to be a volunteer on the Colombian coast, where the people live and breathe baseball.  So the firstly, my community counterpart, Fidel, and I sat down for a nice fish, firied plantain, and coconut rice lunch and discussed a master plan.  We decided it was best to hit up each of the four elementary schools in the community and advertise the baseball and softball ‘school‘ we were going to start; with the idea that when we receive equipment we would start an interscholastic league--better to dream big and then change your plans that not have any at all.  

My counterpart throwing some soft toss

Some early morning stretching

"fielding position everyone"

This girl can play!

So after a few weeks of practice we have had as many as 70ish kids and as few as 20ish kids and with only the two of us, Fidel and myself, 6 gloves, 5 baseballs, and 2 bats there is plenty of ‘disorden,‘ but it is great to see how enthusiastic these kids are and there is some serious 10 year old talent in La Boquilla.  

A plea for help- If you are reading this and have any baseball equipment that you don’t use anymore I would be more than happy to take it off your hands.  Please email me at mband1115@gmail.com so we can figure out a way to get it down to Colombia.  Thank you all for keeping up with the blog!   

I will leave you with a picture of my community class

        

To New Beginnings

Last Thursday night I received a Text message that informed me I had to find a new host family to live with because four new priests were going to be moving into, what is now my old, house.  If it wasn’t bad enough that I received this information via text, it wasn’t even sent from the Padre, but rather a Peace Corps employee.  Quite frankly it felt like I was broken up with through a text message sent by a friend of my girlfriend, who I had been seeing for 5 months.  To make matters worse, I still had to live in the same house with her for the next week.  I guess the Padre was only obeying Costeño commandment 10, thou shalt avoid conflict as all means.  

On Friday morning I met with one of my community connections, a mother of a student, and told her all about what had happened.  Together we went and explained what went down to La Hermana.  It turns out she can express frustration in Spanish a hell of a lot better than I can so I’m glad I called her!  Although La Hermana told us not to worry, after the meeting my community connection/friend and I decided it was better to start doing some investigating on our own.  I knew it was going to be difficult to find a house in La Boquilla that met all the Peace Corps standards because when the Peace Corps had months find a house here before I initially started my service, it was thrown together last minute.         

For a week straight we walked around La Boquilla looking for possible host families and the majority of the time realizing that things were not going to work out for one reason or another or that the family simply didn’t have enough room to take me in.  Although it was quite frustrating walking around in mid 90s heat and humidity, that can only be described as having the density of a brick wall, all week I remained hopeful.  This is in large part due to the wise words of a Peace Corps Colombia Response Volunteer, Erich.  He told me the only way to survive is to, “Just go with the flow.”  And this living situation was the flow so I was trying my best to just go with it.  To this day I think this is the best advise I have received since in Colombia.  

Exactly one week from talking to La Hermana about the housing situation, some of the Peace Corps staff came down to La Boquilla to help me with my search.  With the PC staff, I went back to her office  to share the news of the unfruitful house hunt with her.  As we entered the office, she was sitting behind her desk with her usual warm smile.  The first words that came from her moth were, “I FOUND A HOUSE (in Spanish obviously)”!  This news brought a collective sigh of relief from myself and all of the PC staff.  Together, the whole gang of us approached the new house and there were greeted by my new host mom, Janeth (Tidbit: Janeth has died red hair).  After asking her a few questions about her family and seeing the room I already started to feel at home.  

Saturday I said good bye to the Direct TV and the bachelor lifestyle at the Padre’s house and moved all my stuff four houses down to my new residence.  I was greeted my new host mother (Janeth), my two host sisters (Irina and Julie, both in their 20s), Irina’s  daughter (Valeria, 2) my host brother (Delys, 19), his son (Delys, 3 months), his girlfriend (Fiama) and a bunch of cousins.  For the next two hours instead of unpacking my stuff, I got to know a little bit more about the family while two girl cousins combed my hair, put it in braids and then in a pony tail.  I do have to say I really did miss this family aspect when living with the priest.  So all in all, I am happily moved into a new house and still going with the flow of Costeño life.  Also if you figure that 50% (generous number) of La Boquilla go to the Catholic church, now each 300 people have their own priest.           

Pictures Before My Camera Was Stolen

Some of my students after school

I am still not sure how this Anteater ended up in La Boquilla

Beer cans hanging from a wire infront of one of the schools I work at

Some pigs I saw when I was leaving school one day

The road I take to get to my schools 

Just some pants and an animal carcass out to dry 

School assembly 

Some  of my 4th graders hard at work

Helped on translating the school slogan into English

Teaching my 3rd grade the days of the week in tune to the Adam's Family theme.

There's Monday and there's Tuesday
There's Wednesday and there's Thursday
There's Friday and there's Saturday
And then there's Sunday
Days of the Week (X2 with snaps)
Days of the week (X3 with snaps at the end)