We eat our chicken with guantes

I was talking with my sister the other day and she declared that compared to my life in Colombia her's is pretty mundane with no exciting stories. Well I've got some advice for all of you who think that: live today looking for excitement; looking for something noteworthy. I bet you can find something. Maybe it's a bit easier for me at this point, but I'm sure the longer I'm here the less I'll have to comment on. But for now, I feel overwhelmed with the amount I could write on. Maybe I'll write a book. Memoirs of a gringa? Yeah..I like that.

Alright. Today is Sunday. Debbie and I met up and went to a new church. It was wonderful. There is an interesting trend I'm picking up on though. At the 2 churches I've visited in Colombia the same thing has happened: the pastor asks for new people to raise their hands (no big deal), then they ask that you stand up (now I'm feeling uncomfortable), then they direct you to a room where you repeat the sinners prayer. By now I'm wishing I never stood up. I look to my left, my eyes meet Debbie's and we decide to sit down. Yes, I am the silly gringa yet again. I feel questioning eyes all around me, but hey people, I love Jesus already. Let's be real, me going into a room with you will not save my soul. They do not know this though and I feel so awkward. Ha!Oh well. God sees my heart and can speak my language. lol Maybe next time I'll just go into the room and see what it's like to hear the gospel Colombian style.  I'm sure, if anything, it would be an incredible blog post....we'll see how bold I'm feeling next week!

After church Debbie and I went to lunch with her sister-in-law (I think that's the relation) Noemi who is about 65, Noemi's daughter Claudia, and Claudia's 2 boys David and C. (I don't remember his name. oops. lol). We went to this chicken place called Frissby. It is pretty much Colombian style KFC. One great difference, instead of mashed potatoes and biscuits on the side, you get beans and rice. I told you, these people love their rice. Unfortunately I didn't get fried chicken, BUT I learned an incredible cultural fact: they eat their chicken with plastic gloves. Where you'd find ketchup packets at our fast food places in the United States, they have these little glove packets. Ha! It was awesome. I saw these little things on our tray with pictures of hands on them. I asked Claudia what it was and she said "guantes". I figured they were little moist owlets to wash my hands, but then I realized my translation issue as I watched her take them out. The boys, Noemi and Debbie all followed suit. Our little family with plastic gloves all eating chicken....and this is normal. I'm excited to hang out with them again.

Ruler shock

Ah…pause…smile…ah! I survived my first half week of teaching and this morning I get a few moments to just sit here and take it all in. I’ve got a wonderful cup of Colombian coffee, the windows are open, and I can hear the sounds of Pereira. (okay…so I may have led you stray on that last line…yes I’m drinking “Colombian coffee” since I bought it here, but really it is instant Nescafe…also, the “sounds of Pereira” refer to the constant traffic and construction sounds of the city…but yes, I’m still smiling!) Ha!

                                                                                                                                                                                              

So Friday was an absolute joy teaching. No, all the boys didn’t chop off their mullets, BUT I am started to learn names of my kiddos and they are mostly wonderful. I’m being careful to remain extra firm, however, so they don’t walk all over me after the “honey moon” period at the beginning of the year wears off. They definitely have shown me how chatty/un willing to work they can be – so I can see how things could get challenging really quickly.

I have an image stuck in my head from Friday at school that I have to share. In my 9^th grade science classes we reviewed the scientific method using a quick and easy lab on thumb wars. Before I let them start we went through the steps of the scientific method and how they related to the “experiment” we were going to conduct. We got to the step of “collecting data” and I asked them to draw a chart with 4 columns and 4 rows. I hastily drew mine on the board as an example of what I wanted theirs to look like. Within seconds, every student pulled out a ruler and made perfectly straight lines for their chart. Yes, you read that right, they ALL used rulers and no I didn't ask them to. What? Lol.  As they drew up their charts I just stood at the front of the room with my head tilted and eyebrows scrunched in confusion. If you don’t know the nature of 9^th graders, they typically aren’t the ones most concerned with neatness. Yet, there were my 9^th graders drawing away. I chuckled as I looked at my chart on the board…ha! Maybe I should take some tips from them!

Lunch time is always interesting at my school. First let me explain the procedure. 7-12 grade is released into the cafeteria area and it gets incredibly loud and awfully crazy. As I watch them I noticed how quickly they manage to get their set tray of food (there are no choices) hit up the salad bar and then sit down. Easy as pie? Well, kind of. In order to do this they are also dodging other trays, sliding by students pushing in line, and managing to hold a full out conversation with the person next to them. It is unbelievable really. A choreographed dance? Naw...but it's pretty cool.

 Also, teachers eat at the same time in the cafeteria with the kids. We get our meals in a separate line though which is really nice. We waltz right to the front, grab our trays and sit down. Now these meals are ENORMOUS. Let me tell you a sample meal we had last week: large bowl of soup, some sort of salad, fried plantains, grilled chicken, grapes, avocado pieces, watermelon, a piece of chocolate, fresh fruit juice and there is ALWAYS rice. These people can’t have a meal without rice. Okay – how the heck am I supposed to eat that all? Yes it is really yummy, but no my stomach just can't fit it all. At first I just got in the habit of telling the lunch ladies to give me really small portions (solo un poquito por favor...no no no..mas poquito....gracias", but then I had a brilliant idea: Why not bring a Tupperware container to school for my left over’s and I’ll just eat them for dinner? So that’s what I do now, I take half my lunch home and eat it for dinner. These meals are WAY better than my standard tuna on crackers or hard-boiled egg salad that I’d been living on.  Score! …oh yeah, and this is all for less than $40 a month. Sweet!

Now here is another incredible part about the lunch process. When anyone (both students and staff) is done eating, they file up to another window at the cafeteria, dump their paper garbage in a trash can, put any food they didn’t eat in a different one, place the silverware in the correct bin and then slide one of the lunch workers the tray and dishes. We have all metal trays, plates, and silverware that gets reused every day. When we take care of emptying our trays it immensely helps the cafeteria staff. It is surprising how well trained the kids are to do this. I try to picture cafeterias at other schools and I’m not certain the kids would do this. Yes, my school has great students. (Disclosure: Next week I may be saying the exact opposite. But we’ll have to wait and see.)

The sorrows of drinking water from the faucet

This is going to be a tough one to explain. I'll try and keep graphic descriptions down, but it's kind of an iffy subject to start with. Well, prior to coming to Colombia I was exposed to what water from another country can do to one's digestive system. In Nicaragua, for example, I ALWAYS drank purified bottled water. ALWAYS...well at least  until one night at a pizza joint I asked for a glass of water with ice. Warning. Warning. Warning. I knew I shouldn't drink it, but I was thirsty, so I did. And boy did I ever pay. I couldn't wander far from the bathroom because everything just went straight through me. Exploding diarrhea. Not fun.

I expected this sort of thing to happen when I moved to Colombia. But this time I was ready for it. I know that these symptoms usually persist for about 2 weeks and then our bodies get used to it and there is no need to be tethered to the bathroom anymore. My goal was to get my body acclimated to the little critters in the water. By getting them in me as soon as possible, I would (in theory) have had my run of travelers diarrhea before the first day of school. That first morning here I turned on my faucet, filled up a glass and slammed it. I half expected to get sick on contact...but of course, I didn't. I wasn't even sick by the end of the day. What about day 2? Nope. Day 3? Nope. Day 4,5,6,7,8....No. No. No. I have yet to have diarrhea and I have yet to feel sick. And you ask why this is sorrowful? You see, my sister's wedding is in 2 weeks and I have a dress to fit in. I was counting on traveler's diarrhea as my 2-week countdown diet plan. Nope. I guess it's back to square one with eating healthy and exercising. Isn't this weight loss thing supposed to be easier? Ha!

On second that, with my luck, the diarrhea won't hit me until the plane ride back from her wedding! Ha. That'd surely give me something to shed a tear about.


...you may have expected a post on  day 2 teaching, but I found this much more important tonight. There is always tomorrow.

Attack of the mullet and an evil bus lady

I think it’s safe to say that first days of school are intimidating for the majority of us. Whether you’re a teacher or a student, no one is safe. Now, imagine you’re teaching at a new school in a new country for the first time. Your stomach is in a knot as you glance down the hallway. Squinting into the light bouncing off the floor, you see them: All 400 high school students coming your way. It’s not so bad, until you notice the mullets. Yes. I mean business in the front, party in the back. That’s when it hits you and you realize you’re in over your head….okay, come back to the reality of reading my blog. Luckily for you, the mullets have disappeared. For me, however, I get to go back and face them again tomorrow! Seriously, I’d say over half of the boys have mullets. So that’s the first shocker of the day.

The next observation I make is that everyone has dark hair /dark features. Its strange looking into a sea of faces and realizing that most of them look like each other. Not only are their physical characteristics similar, they are all in a school uniforms. Khaki pants with a white shirt. Both have the Liceo Ingles logo on them and look extremely comfy. I’m going to try and get my hands on some. Anyways, this makes name memorization quite challenging. Its not like, “Oh yeah, Juan Pablo likes to wear black.” Or “Alejandra always has the cutest necklaces”. Nope. Good ‘ol face recognition. Then we throw in Spanish names. Ha! Reading off roll is nearly impossible. After first period, I quit and had them say their names. Like that was much easier…”ad;lsajs;dfljkooo jfas;lkfj;sez.” Excellent, I’ll mark that you were here. Ha!

On to the evil bus attendant. So in the afternoon we ride home on a bus with the students. Not only the students, I shall add, but a bus attendant. Some veteran North American teachers from my school told me she is evil. She treats the kids like angels but all other staff like garbage. One time she made one of the teachers give up their seat because they were sitting in, “the seat the student usually sits in.” Come on lady, there is no such thing as assigned seating on the bus and we are teachers. She has very little respect for us. Thankfully she’s wonderful with the kids though; that alone covers up all iniquities. I’m lucky I haven’t had a run-in with her yet. After a long day of school, she might just make me cry. Ha! You probably think I’m joking.

Overall I’d say the day was a success. Yeah they probably think I’m crazy and want to test the new teacher – but that’s okay. They are stuck with me for the next 2 years as I honor my commitment…that is unless something utterly awful happens (mullets do not justify this…although I considered it)

More on teaching tomorrow…I’m wiped out and need rest for the circus tomorrow!

Blood Volleyball Debbie Mani/Pedi Bliss

Alright folks. I've been neglecting this lovely place to decompress all my thoughts. So tonight, I shall disclose important events of the last few days:

1. I donated blood in Colombia. The red-cross type organization came to our school, so I figured heck, why not. The United States won't take my blood because I've traveled in Latin America, so Latin America can have some of it. The process was clean and smooth and I even got my own little card that told me my blood type...still A+

2. I stayed after school on Friday to play volleyball. It was legit. These people really can plan and it's really a lot of fun. Some guy we played with is also on the Colombian version of survivor. He's basically a reality tv star here and I didn't even know until women kept interrupting our game to get a picture with him. He is also unstoppable on the vball court and the only Colombian I've seen over 6'. Also,  I guess the staff gets a team together and goes to a tournament in October. It's in Baranquilla this year and I can hardly wait to go. Cute little beach town to play in a volleyball tournament - bring it on! Can life get any sweeter...oh yes it can!

Hear is my new vball friend who is famous: http://lafiscalia.com/wp-content/uploads/Desafio_JHON-ALEXANDER-JIM%C3%89NEZ-2.jpg

3. Met Debbie - an incredible woman who lives in Pereira 1/2 the year and the USA 1/2 the year. I stumbled upon her blog and we got coffee together one night and went to church on Sunday. It was so encouraging and just lovely to get her insight on everything. She also showed me some great spots around the city!

4. Got my first manicure and pedicure...for $8.50. Wowza that was fun =) If any of you ladies come and visit me, we should probably go.  It's a 5 minute walk from my house.

5.  Work...Work...Work...my kiddos come in 2 days...so again...work...work...work

Well that's all for now! I'll be back to enlighten you with an adventure soon!

Big Man With Machete

It was a dark stormy night…oh wait…it wasn’t stormy, but it was dark. It seemed appropriate to start my horror story there, but my integrity won’t allow me to mess with the details. So let’s start over, last night it was really dark. Ha! That sounds lame, but you get the picture. Anyways, the point that it gets dark at night isn’t quite the focal point of my story. You could have guessed that from the title.

I’ll rewind a little bit so you can get the full picture. Like in any city, there are more dangers when it gets dark. Not only are there more dangers, but I get more scared. Because of this, I’ve made sure to be home long before dark so I didn’t have to worry about it. The past few days, however, I’ve been assured over and over again by both Colombians and North Americans that my area of town is very safe and as long as I walk straight home I should have no reason to fear.  So, last night I took the risk.  A group of us teachers met up for dinner and by the time I mosied home it was well after dark. As I parted ways from the group, they yet again gave confidence to my shaking knees and told me that I’d be fine. Whelp - off I went to face the dark and whatever may lie within it.

Turning off the main drag where we ate, the street gradually darkened.  About 100 paces I noticed on the next street corner (the street I had to turn down) was a man in a dark suit clinking around a garbage can. My pulse started picking up. Keeping my cool I warily/cautiously proceeded. I knew walking in the dark was bad. But then it got worse. My eyes drifted down (don't make eye contact with the enemy) and just then I caught the glint of a giant machete hanging from his leg. I mean this thing could chop through the oak logs (that take me 19 swings with an ax to split) back home in a gentle swooping motion.

I peeked behind me and decided running back seemed more ominous than continuing home. I had no cash to hail a cab, no way to contact my teacher friends, and this was the only way home. I also knew that as soon as I turned the street corner this man was on, there would be a security guard on duty (my friends gave me that detail). My fight or flight response kicked in and I knew there was no way I was staying to fight. The score would settle at Big Man With Machete: 1 / Leanne: 0 The other option was flight. My little feet kicked it in high gear as I zoomed by him trying not to let him smell my fear. He didn’t even look up and before I knew it I saw the welcoming smile of my portero. I narrowly escaped death, but death I did indeed escape.

This, however is not the end of the tale. In the morning I told all my teacher friends the unfortunate turn of events after I had left them. A calmly as ever a Canadian (who’s been here over a year and knows my neighborhood well) listened empathetically, then responded, “Sweetheart, that man with the machete is the security guard we’ve been telling you about.”

 Wow Leanne…wow…

The big reveal: my teaching schedule

Tonight I'm making this quick because quite frankly I'm just burnt out. This was my day: 6:45 pick up, meetings all day conversing with the entire staff (some in Spanish, some in English), home by 4:30 for an hour, dinner with teachers until 8:30, walked home, bible time, and now it's 9:15 and I desire sleep more than staying awake. The thought of being picked up at 6:42 (yes, that is the time they told me) strongly prompts this desire as well.

However, before I hit the sack, I must resolve the cliff hanger of yesterday! I'm sure the majority of you have checked back several times waiting to hear about my schedule (maybe evening forfeiting sleep), but for those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, here is my promise from yesterday, "Now that I think of it, I did get my schedule which is INCREDIBLY note worthy, but you'll have to wait for tomorrow."  ...Today is yesterday's tomorrow so I must fulfill my word and explain.

I received my schedule. I will be teaching 9th grade science and 10th grade biology! WOO HOO! I'm sure you're all thinking, "wow. that was incredibly note worthy...pause...not" (ha! do your best Borat voice in your mind). Let me divulge more. So at my school there are 7 periods in a day. Each day I have 2 sections of 9th grade science and 2 sections of 10th grade biology. Stop for a moment and do the math (or just peak ahead one sentence and I've done it for you). This means I only teach 4 periods a day and have "off" (off implies I'll really be grading/planning my life away and still have work to bring home) 3 periods. To those of you who are versed in how high schools in the states function, this is just unheard of. Of course there are curriculum meetings, content meetings and lunch duty thrown into those time slots. But you know what there no room for? Complaining on my part.

Another note worthy tid bit is that my schedule changes every day. For example, on Monday my first class is ScienceA during second period but then Tuesday I see my ScienceA group during eighth period (well, actually, as I mentioned earlier, my we only have 7 periods...just trying to keep you on your toesies and your brain in good condition)...but the point is, I see all my classes during different periods every day during the week. Kinda weird. I like routine.

Well I hope you're as satisfied with the big reveal of my schedule as I was when Monica showed me :) And now I bid thee fair night!