Living on $4 a day had Never Been so Easy

Week 1 of Training:  A Day in the Life 

I will attempt to take you through a day in the life, which will be pretty hard as I usually am not fully awake until around 9 and my day start with a 6:30am wake up.  So I am pretty sure I sit down for a HEARDY breakfast first (I told my family I don't eat a lot the first day and am still unable to finish the majority of my meals...I wonder what my plate would look like if I had told them otherwise?).  This meal usually consists of some sort of plantains, some form of carbs and fresh juice.  The juice is by far my favorite part because I have never heard of many of the fruits so it is somewhat of a mystery.  I then head outside and attempt to hail an overcrowded bus (more on public transportation to come later).  I take this 45 minute to 1 hour bus ride and arrive at the school (Colombo Americano) at around 7:50, already sweating an unhealthy amount.  Classes start at 8 and for the first half of the day we are split into small groups according to our level of Spanish.  At 12 we are given a 1 hour break to eat our CATERED lunch in an open aired cafeteria.  This meal consists of a given meat (chicken, pork, beef, or fish), rice, an attempt at salad and a form of potatoes or yucca.  All 23 of us then reconvene and work on technical training until 5.  These afternoons can consist of anything from security training to learning how to teach english to nonnative speakers.  I then return home around 6 absolutely exhausted and obviously still sweating.  I am so exhausted at this point I can't really do much but eat and hang out with the family.  Dinner is usually some sort of meat (chicken, pork, beef, or fish), rice, an attempt at salad and a form of potatoes or yucca and more fresh juice (look familiar minus the fresh juice?).  I truly don't mind that I have the same thing for lunch and dinner often as those of you that know me know I ate the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday at witt.  I end up going to sleep around 10-11 every night.    

The Bus System: Are there any maps?  Of course...NOT!

So to sum up the public transportation I would use the following 4 words: cheap, crowded, sweaty, chaotic.  So a one hour trip by bus only costs about 50-60 US cents.  However those 50-60 cents do not by any means guarantee you a seat on the bus as most days I find myself somewhere between the first stair on the bus (hanging out the window with the wind blowing in my face), and the top of the stairs on the entrance.  After about 15 minutes I can usually make it through the turn gate (like at baseball games) and pay the driver, but this is not exactly any better because I am now standing in a mass of people sweating even more and there is no wind blowing in my face.  Eventually I get a seat after many stops in the span of about four blocks.  You may ask yourself why the bus stops so much in such a short period of time.....Well it is because in Barranquilla there are no bus stops and you just have to press a button and the bus will stop.  So pretty much driving here is pure anarchy as buses taxis and motorcycles are constantly cutting across lanes of traffic and there is an ever present sound of horns, but I would have it no other way!

I really want to put up pictures, but every time I am going to go somewhere my host mom tells me not to bring my camera because it COULD get stolen....Well I may have to take a risk one of these days to get some pictures of the bus 'situation', the training school, baseball field down the street, sand soccer fields (which are in every barrio), and my HOST FAMILY!  I hope to have them up soon.      

"People Are Strange When Your a Stranger"

Hotel Days:
So I will start by saying these past few days have been pretty busy, the orientation activities last from 8-5 everyday! The format is for the most part straight lecture and PPTs, but getting to know all of the people better makes up for the lack of interactive activities.  The other day there was a two hour lecture on security where we did learn a lot, but it was in the format of Scared Straight.  The dude the Peace corps hired for head of security is like some ex narco-traffico cop and total baddass so I really don't think there is than much to worry about.  We also had an interview in Spanish to see what group we would be placed into which was pressure packed.  The format consisted of a person asking you questions and recording what you said with an old recorder and another behind you writing stuff that you said down.  On the last day of the orientation we each got papers saying who our host family was, where they lived, any animals they had and a few facts about them.  I read my paper in amazement as I counted that I would be the 10th member in the family (and yes I plan to write a sitcom about 10 Colombians and a Gringo if you were wondering)!
Also we went out one night and I quickly learned that I will have to learn salsa quick here if I plan on doing any dancing bc it seems to be everywhere.      

WELCOME HOMEThe last day of orientation part of my family came to pick me up, Sra. Sixta (mother), Karen (sister), and a niece whose name escapes me at the moment.  We soon hailed a cab and attempted to put all luggage in the trunk which didn't work so we had to use a rope to tie it down.  About 20 minutes later we arrived in Los Pinos a barrio in Barranquilla (look it up for pics now I should be able to post some as soon as I take some).  Once we arrived I could barely put my luggage in my room before my host sister, nice, and one of my brothers (Gonzalo, 13) told me they wanted to show me the town.  And as soon as we stepped outside people began to stare at me, which I could have predicted, because it was quite obvious that Los Pinos is NOT a tourist destination and that I was definitely the first 'live' gringo they have ever seen.  What followed was all a blur that consisted of eating tons of food (rice, beans, chicken, plantains, etc...).  After showing me around the town we came back home and I put all my stuff away and then headed to the mall with my host sister and her boyfriend.  We went in and saw this huge gathering of people and soon approached to see what all the fuss was about.....and what do you know..... just a Break Dance battle on a sunday night (I will try and find it and put it up because there was definitely a camera there).


Welcome to Colombia
So the next day I had my welcome to Colombia moment when I woke up, sweating obviously, to only see my host mom's sister watching some telenovela.  I asked where everyone was and she explained that one of the two dogs (my favorite one) had been run over by a bus and was killed earlier that day.  What was crazy was she had absolutely no emotion at all.  I soon look over out the door and see four members of my host family shoveling dirt into a hole and could not even begin to comprehend how I would have dealt with the same situation.     

Beside that sad bit of news all is great here beside sweating every second of everyday!  I hope all is well in the States and keep me posted on anything important that happens.  Also not quite sure what happened with the background color....         

About

LMFAO says it best.... Im in Miami B****

The day started early as I had a 6:10 flight from BWI.  After landing in Miami and waiting in the humidity for 20 minutes the hotel shuttle finally came and I got some much needed help loading all of my stuff onto the tiny bus (I may have packed a bit over 80 pounds).  After I arrived at the hotel all was well and I took a much needed shower and a power nap.  I awoke to my roommate knocking on the door and the rest of this story is going to sound like it is straight out of a movie.  Firstly, his name is also Mike and he lived in DC for five years, but not only do we share a name and city, but he studied abroad in Chile as well.  So Mike and I grabbed some lunch and headed to what would be a six hour 'staging event'.  The eeriness continues as I soon meet a man older than myself, around my brothers age, named Adam.  It just so happens that he was born and raised in none other than..... Takoma Park!    

I soon meet all of the other members of out group (23 people in total) and realized how diverse our group is in both terms of age and hometowns.  There are three of us who just graduated from collage and the rest range from finishing Collage in '10 to people perusing their PHDs and an older woman who has taught english almost everywhere in the world. Additionally the group has three people who have taught english in Korea.
In regards to Hometowns the group ranges from a graduate of the University of Hawaii to someone who lives 10 minutes from the hotel and drove in today.  Needless to say I am very excited to get to know these people and arrive in Colombia.
On a side note the Peace Corps loves acronyms so today I learned about a dozen: PCT (Peace Corps Trainee), PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer), RPCV (returned Peace Corps volunteer), STD....well not that one, but you get the point.
Love and Peace from the Miami international Airport

T Minus One Week

So as I leave in less than a week fall is in full swing here in the States and I can't help but remind myself this is the last time for a long time I am going to experience the cool temperatures and my favorite season for some time.  This is because according to my Peace Corps information packet where I will be going in Colombia boasts weather in the mid to high 80s all year round!  Which brings me to my next point....Packing.
     So I was informed that I am allowed to bring 80 pounds of STUFF with me to my site.  Now like myself you are probably wondering how the hell are you going to pack 80 pounds and make it last for two years....Well again I have no idea, but I am sure that I will be forgetting at least a few key items as I pack (per-usual), but Barranquilla is a big city so I am sure I will be able to find anything I forget in country.  So far my list consists of a beach chair, blow up beach ball, twizzlers, and a 9 iron (if only I was kidding).  So if any of you have suggestions on some key items I should bring feel free to tell me via this blog or any other way that suits you.  Also this may be my last post until I am in Colombia depending on the internet situation I have in Miami for the one day orientation type deal.
SIDE NOTE: just googled famous people from Baranquilla, where I will be flying into and training for a few months and the list consists of: Shakira, Sofia Vergara (hispanic woman from Modern Family), and Last years World Series MVP Edgar Renteria so needless to say I will be in good hands.