Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia
Hello! I've been here nearly a week but haven't been able to write much with limited WiFi. It could be a few days or over a month until I get WiFi in my apartment; but if it is the latter, the school will give me a little USB drive that gives basic Internet (emails, etc, but no TV streaming). Right now I'm sitting in Juan Valdez, kind of like the Starbucks of Colombia, in one of the malls nearby.
A few miscellaneous observations from this week:
- I need to learn more Spanish. ASAP. Basically no one outside the school speaks English, and many of the secretaries, clerks, janitors, etc speak only Spanish.
- Bathrooms are interesting. Many don't have seats (gonna really up my quad strength), many don't have toilet paper in the stalls, only one dispenser near the sink (so you gotta know how much you need beforehand), and most cannot handle toilet paper flushed (so you throw it away).
- You can't walk around with your phone out (it will get stolen), so I have NO IDEA how all these people are controlling these Pokemon gyms (I've played a few times when we were in our coach bus during orientation week).
- People dress nicer here. Short shorts are considered slutty, plastic flip flops are only for cleaning the house, and people dress up to go to the grocery store. Usually nice jeans and a cute tank top or blouse. No guys are wearing pants that are falling off and showing their underwear.
- Living up a steep hill from the grocery store is terrible but I guess a good strength and endurance workout.
- There are not as many bugs as I thought there would be. Wayyyy less than the swarms of mosquitos in Chicago. I think I've seen like 3 the whole time I've been here. I'm probably not going to hang the mosquito net I brought.
- The sun is BRUTAL and MERCILESS. Very hot sun. In general, the temperature is ok (upper 70s right now) and there's usually a nice breeze so it's comfortable. That sun though. So sweaty. I keep sweating off the sunscreen I put on, so my face is a little burnt.
- There's a lot more motorcycles and mopeds here, and neither they nor the cars stop or even slow down for pedestrians. Beware crossing the street.
- You can walk down the street drinking a beer at any time of day. You cannot order mixed drinks; you get a full bottle of liquor to share and a few little bottles of mixer (I.e. A handle of rum and 4 one-liter bottles of Coca-Cola. Pour your drink with only a splash of coke, because otherwise you will run out of coke.)
Alright...I promised a recap of this week, so here goes! We flew in on Monday, and you already heard that whole story.
Tuesday
We did some paperwork, went to the notary, went to take Visa pictures, got SIM cards for a three-month prepaid plan until we figure everything out...boring important stuff. Then we had a tour of the school, which is GORGEOUS and so big! It's so open and has so many views of the mountains. I'm so excited to work in such a cool place. For a snack, we got our first of many Colombian empanadas!
Wednesday
We had a couple of presentations; HR, Atlas (our unit plan/curriculum map system), etc. Then we got our classroom keys (you saw that video already) and later went on a brief bus tour of Bucaramanga (due to traffic, wasn't much of a "tour") on our way to an authentic Colombian lunch at Chiflas.
On the way to Bucaramanga, we had Obleas, a traditional food of Santander.
Obleas are two wafers with arequipe (kind of like caramel or dulce de leche) and other things. Mine had arequipe, fresas (strawberries), y queso (cheese).
The Obleas place had some really fun romantic names for the different kinds you could order.
At Chiflas, we had arepas, potatoes, chorizo, and blood sausage, and that was just what they put on the table while we waited for our order. I had originally ordered some kind of combination plate, but they only served that on Fridays I guess, so the waiter suggested this BBQ plate and I went with his suggestion. It was yummy, it was barbecue ribs (HUGE), yuca, and a plantain.
I had the rest for dinner last night.
I also had my first Colombian beer! Nothing to write home about...standard beer. Kind of like Miller or Corona. After lunch we went to HomeCenter, which is like Home Depot meets IKEA meets Bed Bath and Beyond.
At Chiflas, we had arepas, potatoes, chorizo, and blood sausage, and that was just what they put on the table while we waited for our order. I had originally ordered some kind of combination plate, but they only served that on Fridays I guess, so the waiter suggested this BBQ plate and I went with his suggestion. It was yummy, it was barbecue ribs (HUGE), yuca, and a plantain.
I also had my first Colombian beer! Nothing to write home about...standard beer. Kind of like Miller or Corona. After lunch we went to HomeCenter, which is like Home Depot meets IKEA meets Bed Bath and Beyond.
Colleen and I got too much stuff...getting it all in the taxi and later up the stairs was a struggle.
Thursday
We got our laptops (pretty nice, HP, Windows 10) and had a presentation about our health insurance (you can get transplants covered in your 6th year!) and our Colombian pension (12-15% interest per year!). We then had a class on Colombian fruits and juices (more on that later). After some time in our classrooms, we went to Club Campestre (a really fancy country club) to meet our host families. La Familia Bodeguero-Blanco is super nice.
The dad (Luis) is Spanish, the mom (Luz Elena) is Colombian, and their 3rd-grade daughter (Semara) was born (and lived half her life) in Miami.
They got me a cute succulent that I am keeping on my desk in my classroom. After lunch, they took me on a tour of the club, and Kate's host mom signed us up as guests for the club.
Friday
We had breakfast (arepas stuffed with egg) and coffee with our mentors and some other teachers at school. After mingling, we had some classroom time (I finished decorating! Expect another tour this week). Later, we went to one of the teacher's houses for a barbecue.
What an attractive group of teachers.
Los Newbs
What a neighborhood.
Super fun and super tasty! He's got such a nice house in such a nice neighborhood. After passing out for a few hours, we met up at Megan and Andrea's apartment and hung out for a while.
Saturday
On Saturday a few of us met up with one of our Colombian colleagues, Rafael, who took us to El Centro, a market in downtown Bucaramanga. It was really cool, but also very overwhelming. People everywhere yelling at you to buy their wears...I even had a guy walk up to me to try to sell me a (probably stolen) cell phone. So many people.
I bought some really cheap and yummy fruits!
We all got some delicious juice.
Bucaramanga is famous for its "Hormigas Culonas," or large-bottomed ants, which you eat as a snack. Supposedly they taste like peanuts or granola. I don't know yet. However, the city has these painted ants all over, a la Chicago's painted cows.
When we got back from El Centro, I went to the grocery store since the only food I had was what they gave us when we moved in. Unfortunately, I live up a STEEP hill from the store and bought too many heavy things. Man am I going to get fit living here. I fell onto my bed and laid there in front of my fan for a while until we went out that evening. We went to our first salsa club, Discoteca Calison. Everyone that was dancing was REALLY good. And according to Colleen, who tried to dance with a few people, you really only dance with people you know rather than strangers. Mostly we just sat, drank, and talked. A few danced (that knew how). The Colombian husband of one of my colleagues poured me a shot of Aguardiente, the typical Colombian liquor of choice. It's anise (licorice) flavored, so it's not my favorite. It's definitely pretty strong though. After a while of salsa, we started trickling next door where there was more music variety and less experienced dancers. Lots of early 90s hits there...think "I Like to Move It Move It" and "Pump Up the Jam."
Sunday
After sitting at Juan Valdez and starting this (long, sorry) blog post for an hour or so, all us newbies met up for a "Tour de Homes." We started at the apartments closest to school (mine's 3rd closest at 6-10 min walk) and walked to each apartment and explored. The closest is literally right next to school, and the farthest is probably a 20-minute walk. It was cool to see everyone else's places and compare. It took us nearly 4 hours by the time we were done, since we chilled for a bit at each one before moving on. I made my best day since getting my fitness tracker thanks to the tour!
The view from Kelsey's balcony - check out that double rainbow!
The night-time view from Ryan and Kate's roof.
They got me a cute succulent that I am keeping on my desk in my classroom. After lunch, they took me on a tour of the club, and Kate's host mom signed us up as guests for the club.
Friday
We had breakfast (arepas stuffed with egg) and coffee with our mentors and some other teachers at school. After mingling, we had some classroom time (I finished decorating! Expect another tour this week). Later, we went to one of the teacher's houses for a barbecue.
Super fun and super tasty! He's got such a nice house in such a nice neighborhood. After passing out for a few hours, we met up at Megan and Andrea's apartment and hung out for a while.
Saturday
On Saturday a few of us met up with one of our Colombian colleagues, Rafael, who took us to El Centro, a market in downtown Bucaramanga. It was really cool, but also very overwhelming. People everywhere yelling at you to buy their wears...I even had a guy walk up to me to try to sell me a (probably stolen) cell phone. So many people.
When we got back from El Centro, I went to the grocery store since the only food I had was what they gave us when we moved in. Unfortunately, I live up a STEEP hill from the store and bought too many heavy things. Man am I going to get fit living here. I fell onto my bed and laid there in front of my fan for a while until we went out that evening. We went to our first salsa club, Discoteca Calison. Everyone that was dancing was REALLY good. And according to Colleen, who tried to dance with a few people, you really only dance with people you know rather than strangers. Mostly we just sat, drank, and talked. A few danced (that knew how). The Colombian husband of one of my colleagues poured me a shot of Aguardiente, the typical Colombian liquor of choice. It's anise (licorice) flavored, so it's not my favorite. It's definitely pretty strong though. After a while of salsa, we started trickling next door where there was more music variety and less experienced dancers. Lots of early 90s hits there...think "I Like to Move It Move It" and "Pump Up the Jam."
Sunday
After sitting at Juan Valdez and starting this (long, sorry) blog post for an hour or so, all us newbies met up for a "Tour de Homes." We started at the apartments closest to school (mine's 3rd closest at 6-10 min walk) and walked to each apartment and explored. The closest is literally right next to school, and the farthest is probably a 20-minute walk. It was cool to see everyone else's places and compare. It took us nearly 4 hours by the time we were done, since we chilled for a bit at each one before moving on. I made my best day since getting my fitness tracker thanks to the tour!
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