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)

The 10 Costeño Commandments

I.  Thou shalt not refuse food from a Costeño

II. Thou shall sit in a circle during all Costeño gatherings

III. Thou shalt not complain about the volume of music

IV.  Thou shalt not complain about the time music is played at such volume

V. Thou shall eat white rice with every meal

VI. Thou shall arrive at least 30 minutes late to ALL events

VII. Thou shall sweat at all hours of the day

VIII.  Thou shalt not pronounce the S or D in any words

IX. Thou shall accept invasion of ones personal bubble as a lifestyle

 X. Thou shalt avoid conflict at all means (even if it means finding out you have to move in one week via text message....This just happened to me)

Ruthless and Toothless

Getting hassled on the beach is a common occurrence here in Cartagena (and it even happens in my hood, Boquilla, but much less because the overall lack of tourists).  The beach venders here are ruthless and try and convince you that you just need that new pair of sunglasses or a bathing suit (like you would forget one of those items when going to the beach).  Also I can’t help but notice that a fair amount of the vendors are missing some teeth (see title).  These vendors are smart and have a few nifty strategies you have to be aware of as a gringo/prey.  

A few of my personal favorites consist of the good ‘ol Transative law method.  This is when a vendor forces something upon you, often jewelry, and then refuses to take it back because beach rules state that when you touch it you buy it.  Another is the, Beach banking system.  This is when the vendor, usually massage ladies, tell you that you don’t have to pay now for the service because the given vendor accepts beach credit.  Now I am not sure what beach credit is, but I am guessing they are not talking in terms of sand dollars.  Then there is my personal favorite and most awkward method, the Don’t mind me method.  This strategy is common among all vendors and occurs when a vendor walks up to you and then proceeds to stand next to you without exchanging a word for an extended period of time.  I have experienced message ladies standing awkwardly, for me at least,  in front of me not exchanging a single word and just waiting for me to ask for a massage for five minutes.  

At first, these vendors frustrated me because I just wanted to relax for a few hours and soak in the scorching Colombian sun, but now I am coming to terms with the fact that this is how they make a living.  With that in mind my patience has increased tremendously and I have to admit it is quite nice when you are burning in the sun and see a raspa’o vendor or beer man walking in your direction.