A roaring monster and phone-call impossible

Oh the struggles...I mean challenges...I mean JOYS of living in a country where the people do not speak your language (and I'm not that great at speaking there's...I need some help form anyone reading this: is that the right "there"? Not only do I struggle with Spanish, my English is dissolving as well.)

Okay, the bulk of today was spent at the school. I'd like to say nothing exciting happened, but in all actuality, every day is a new adventure. Nothing worth dragging you through in writing though. Now that I think of it, I did get my schedule which is INCREDIBLY note worthy, but you'll have to wait for tomorrow. More pressing items are on my mind tonight.

Tonight I decided to tackle my first load of laundry. The washer looked functional so I put my clothes in, dumped some soap in, pushed some buttons, and all of a sudden the machine started groaning. Yeah! That wasn't bad. Then I realized there was no water, and she wasn't making noises anymore. So, I did what any logical problem solver would do and started pushing more buttons. Beep. Beep. Beep. It was like a phone where every button makes a different tone. After figuring out "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in button tones (okay not really, but it was a long time) I recalled seeing a user's manual in the closet. Score!!! I followed the directions. Nothing. I followed them again. Nothing. I tried a different setting. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Kicked it and decided to walk away (well, I didn't really kick it, I just went to get my glasses, because they weren't on at this time and neither were my contacts in. Ha! For those of you who know my eyesight, you might say I was foolish for trying to function without my eyes). Well I came and after taking a second look I realized there was a hose on the back of the washer where it connected to the wall. I turned on the spicket (more help please, is that a word?) and water started trickling in. When I say trickling, I mean the flow was like it was coming from a straw. At least it was progress though. Impatiently I watched the water and decided it needed some help. I filled buckets and poured away and all of sudden she came to life. The roaring monster just needed a drink, and now she's happily churning away! Wooo hooo! I'd like to pat myself on the back for success...I hope I'm not speaking too soon...as she is still groaning at the other end of the room. Moral of the story? Laundry takes me 4 minutes in the states - here it took me 45. Next time should be easier though. Battle = success.

So, my apartment complex is really neat. I have a direct phone to call a 24 hour security man at the front desk. He is my "portero" and he is wonderful. I actually have 2 of them and they both graciously help me with Spanish. Well, whenever anyone arrives for me or someone is here to see me, they call.  Brrrinnnnnggg. Brinnnnggg. Tonight the phone rings. "allo" (that's like the Spanish version of hello) Then Spanish comes flying at me a mile a minute. Most of the time I catch the important words and I do okay. Also, they usually call when my ride is here, so no big deal - I'm ready for it. But a call a 8:00 at night when I'm not expecting someone threw me for a loop. So I get, "a;dslfja;dsja;dlgkjad;lgkjas;lfkjads;lfjdsf" and pick out of the mess that Superwoman called and wants me to call her back at the school. Perfecto. Then he kept going....not okay. He was telling me something about having to press "111" and if I had any questions to call back. So, I tried about 20 different times to call Luisa but it was a fail. I reached a few wrong numbers. Ha! Remember prank calling in middle school. That's what it was like. Finally I gave up, swallowed my pride, and called him back for directions again. This is what I understood, "asdf;lajsd;flkasdf;lkajdf;laskd after press 111". (For your purpose I did the translating)  Great! I hung up with him, grabbed the other phone, and tried again and then failed again. Then I quit. I didn't want to call him back again. About an hour passed and I decided to just walk down the 4 flights of stairs and speak with him. Maybe that would be easier. Oh man, it was great. There was a 14 year old boy chilling with him at the front desk that spoke English about as well as I speak Spanish. We managed to figure it out, my portero was just telling me the extension I needed to press after calling the school number. By this time it's 9:00 at night and everyone who would be at school is gone. Therefore, it was a fail on almost every level. BUT now I know all about extensions and prank calling Colombians. So at least it wasn't a complete loss? Ha! Next time it will be phone-call POSSIBLE!

You're in a hairy...

It’s a lovely summer night but something is not right. It is 7:30 and it’s been dark for over an hour!! My initial response might be, “WTF mate”, but my mother has assured me that that isn’t a phrase a young lady should be using. Therefore, I shall not use it…but let’s be real, I just did. Love you mom and you won’t see it again. As a Michigander I tend to equate warm weather to long days…you’re not in Kansa *cough cough* Michigan any more Leannie. Sheesh. This darkness makes me want to curl up, read some free kindle books, and pass out. The long day behind me aids in that desire as well.

That long day behind me I just referred to was also an incredible day. Principal James picked me up from my apartment (I might have inserted my address there, but my sister would have gone crazy..love you Elise) and we headed out to see the school. It is an incredible place. My writings won’t do it justice, so I’m not going to try (or maybe my brain is on overload and I’m just not up for the challenge?). Let’s just say all the classes/corridors are open to the outdoors, we are surrounded by greenery and farms, and the school’s ecopark is fantastic. Biology teacher haven! YES! I feel like I escape city life – what a blessing. The first half of the day we passed locked in a board room going over different policies. It was a lot, but mostly beneficial.  The” we” here includes myself, the 4 other new teachers, Luisa (aka superwoman), and the curriculum coordinator Orlando. 

Anyways, the biggest thing I came out of there with is that I love listening to Colombians speak English. Ha! My favorite was when Orlando was explaining something and said, “blah blah blah…you’re in a hairy…blah blah blah” Ha! I think he was trying to use the idiom “in a hairy situation” but missed the last word.  I silently chuckled and looked around the room. It didn’t seem anyone else found it comical – heck, I thought it was great. What a wonderful man though and apart from that blunder his English is near perfect. I guess he organizes the staff volleyball league too – we will be friends. More on that to come later.

After the morning there we had lunch and toured the school. Did I mention that it is gorgeous? We met several people, of whom I don’t remember many names, but they all extended a warm welcome to us.  After the tour Luisa took 2 other teachers (Stephen and Laura) and me down town to get our “cedula”. This will be my ID card while in Colombia. Luisa was our mother hen and we were chicklets  (biology disclosure, I do know they're just called "chicks"...but I like chicklets better tonight) following her around from location to location and doing what we were told. An extremely complicated process for a foreigner becomes easy when a local, who has helped over 20 teachers do it in the past, takes control.

Although the Red Cross gave me a sweet card with my blood type on it, Colombia didn’t accept that so they had my finger pricked again to verify. It was legit. The nurse squeezed some of my blood on a slide and then someone else looked at it right there and told me I was A+ (mind you, not read “A plus” but “A positive”…we aren’t working in the school system anymore). What do you know, that’s exactly what I was told in the US. Good thing my blood type hasn’t changed? From there we went and got passport style pictures. In my introduction letter it told me to bring 7, yes SEVEN of my own pictures (at the grand ‘ol price of $45). Good thing I didn’t and was being rebellious because I don’t even need 1 of my own – Luisa had it taken care of. At the end of this all we went to the immigration building. Sadly, we were running too late and by the time we got there (4:50) they wouldn’t accept our documents. Again, Superwoman took care of it and we will return tomorrow.

From there I was dropped off at my apartment. I’m still not certain how to get there, but tomorrow I’ve committed to walking around my neighborhood to get my bearings. I should probably go to the store too, as my diet has been…interesting…since I’ve been here. I’m sure that will be an experience in itself. I’ll relive that for you all another day. 

I've exhausted of writing for now, so until next time…don’t find yourself in a hairy!

What's this all about anyways?

Hello. I’m glad you’ve stumbled upon my ramblings of life in Pereira, Colombia. My first and foremost desire is to be quite frank with you, so let’s get real: I am no aspiring journalist. Maybe on those late nights/early mornings when insomnia overtakes my sleep I can picture myself as an up-and-coming writer and think up exceptional stories. However, without fail, sleep eventually surpasses this imagination and I wake up in the morning, the story has fled, and I settle once again in amateur blogging. With that disclosure, I will proceed.

July 28^th, 2012 I moved to Pereira, Colombia as a 9^th grade science/ 10^th grade biology teacher. This is my first teaching job and just happens to be in a Spanish-speaking world. I wish I could tell you what I was thinking when I accepted the offer.  I’m not certain I was – but I mean I had prayed it up and God opened doors, so heck – here I am. Also, I’m teaching at a bi-lingual school so my kiddos are expected to be taught in English and understand English so at least I have that on my side.

So back to what this blog is all about. Simply, I just want to retell moments, successes, failures, laughs, tears….really just life so that you can catch a glimpse of Colombia through my eyes. That’s all.  I’ll try and keep it positive and I hope you enjoy!