The Duck-and-Run

Wow. It seems like forever since I've sat down to tell a story and looking back at my last post, it really has been quite a while. 7 days isn't quite forever, but the scary thing is that 7 days can very quickly turn into 100 days and before I know it years will have passed without getting a thing written down. Not really, but I mean I see the potential. So, I haven't written in a while. Is it that life in Colombia has become normal and mundane? Ha! Impossible. This country is full of craziness for us gringos and I'm not certain the day will ever come when something doesn't surprise me.

As the sub-title to my blog eludes to, I live in Pereira, Colombia. This city is the capital of the department Risaralda. It's like saying I live in Lansing, Michigan. Not the capital of the country but just of our little "state". The city itself has around 1/2 a million people. Although it's not THAT huge, for a Yooper like myself that number is nothing to cough at. What I find interesting is that even though it's a big city, I'm typically confined to a 23 block radius (No I didn't count the blocks. Yes I made the number up.) Unless I go exploring, there is really no reason to leave my little area. I have a grocery store, a mall, lots of restaurants, and my friends all live in this area. You know who else lives in this area? A large portion of my students. And guess what? They like to hang out in this little barrio too. This means I see them. All. The. Time. (I hope you paused slightly after each of those words and let them sink in. That's why the periods are there. Ha!)

I feel like in the United States, when you run into your students they will normally do the "duck-and-run".  Oh gosh, there is my teacher. Don't let them see me in real life. Here it is the exact opposite. Usually when my students (or students that go to my school that recognize me) see me, they want to make sure that I know they saw me. MEASE LEAN!!! Yes. That is my name. We exchange greetings, they sometimes introduce me to their parents or boyfriends and then we continue on our way. If they don't stop and scream my name, they will at least make sure at school the next day I know they saw me.

Student (who knows my real name): Hey Leanne! I saw you yesterday!!!
Me: You did, where was I?
Student: Walking, you were wearing jeans and a blue top.
Me: Yes, yes I was. I never doubted for a moment you didn't see me.
Student: But yeah, I saw you.

I find these conversation very interesting. I wonder what is going on in their little minds that makes them desire so strongly to tell me they saw me. The other foreign teachers and I are now developing the duck-and-run. See a student, run for cover!