Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined....

So we are finally in Barranquilla, Colombia, and I'm pretty sure this is EXACTLY the life we imagined. Warm weather days, cool Caribbean breezes, sprawling beaches, friendly people, and a community that offers more hospitality than we can ever hope to reciprocate. To say it simply, life is good. However, it hasn't all be roses and vacation fantasies.... but I will get to that in a moment or two.

To start, Barranquilla is situated on the northern coast of Colombia on the Caribbean Sea. While most guidebooks would suggest simply skipping it, passing through only en route to the more exciting nearby destinations of Cartagena to the west or Santa Marta to the east, I adamantly disagree. Barranquilla has a laid-back energy and a Caribbean friendliness that is certainly unique, and definitely not worth missing. Come visit me, and I'll show you!!

We are currently living in a boarding house of sorts, owned by an awesome woman named Margarita. She lives in the house with her two children, Kati and Edgar (college aged), as well as four other tenants, mostly university students. Our group has taken over the entire third floor, with each volunteer enjoying his or her own room and sharing a bathroom with one or two other people. The rooms are pretty basic, similar to dorm style, but they certainly do the trick. We share a kitchen, dining room, and living room with the rest of the house, but we get free internet and laundry, which is awesome. Also, there is roof access, providing the perfect setting for early morning tea, journal writing, exercise classes, and anything else fun that we can come up with. It has a beautiful view of the neighborhood, the beach, and and the city. On those rare moments that you can get the whole roof to yourself, its like a little slice of heaven.

While we are free to come and go as we please, Margarita is quickly becoming our second mother. She definitely does her best to take care of us and tries to join in on our adventures whenever she can. She has participated in our exercise classes, adventures to the beach, and dinners out with coworkers. Whenever possible, she drives us to run errands or to show us exactly where to find the best gelato. She helps us cook (we tried a few Colombian dishes) and even offered to take us out clubbing some time. She is definitely crazy, but we love her. Her kids are really amazing assets for us as well. They inform us of all the fun places to go and teach us the slang language used in the area. I couldn't imagine exploring Barranquilla without them.

La Playa, itself, is actually right outside Barranquilla city center, so it has more of a small town, Caribbean feel. Most of the buildings are cement walls with tin roofs, and resemble small seaside shacks. The people often sit out front and wave to passerbys, or let their children run in the dirt streets. However, due to La Playa's proximity to almost all of the city's universities, several brand new developments are also springing up nearbye. It's crazy to see these brand new condos just blocks from the shacks of the rest of town. However, the town certainly has a wonderful community feeling and a warmth that I'm excited to be a part of. I'm hoping that after we start teaching, we might get to know some of our neighbors a little better. the teachers at the school have already invited us out to dinner and to their homes, but most of them live closer to the city. Still, the Colombian hospitality certainly makes the transition here so much easier.

Anyway, while this the setting for our adventure, the true excitement doesn't come from the vibrant city, quaint La Playa, or even our lovely host family of sorts. I think what makes me smile the most every day is the kids. Whenever I get frustrated with my lack of Spanish, or my failure to make any kind of dent on my to do list, I remember the reason why I'm here. Our team of seven eager, creative, talented volunteers are in La Playa to work as English teachers, teacher educators, and community development associates at Fundacion Pies Descalzos, the Barefoot Foundation. It is an organization created by performing artist Shakira to work with displaced Colombians throughout the country. Colombia has the most displaced people and children in the entire South American continent and second only to the Sudan in the world. With a history of violence among paramilitary groups, including violent deaths, kidnappings, and lootings, a great deal of progress remains to restore the lives of these people. FPD has set up schools and community development programs all over the country, but the school in La Playa is it's most recent and ambitious endeavor. As a flagship school, a lot is riding on the success of this ambitious project and the children in this school have a long way to go.

The building, itself, is absolutely beautiful. The campus is connected by long outdoor hallways and seperate buildings for primary, transition, and secondary classes. It has a beautiful auditoriam (paid for by the Warren Buffet Foundation), a covered cafeteria (with local mothers providing nurtritious meals through a program set up by the Clinton Foundation), and a gorgeous AstroTurf soccer field that gets plenty of use. The rooms are covered in inspirational posters, the computer labs are equipped with the internet and other learning tools, and the library is slowly building up a collection of books, far beyond what these children have ever seen before. The rectangular pond (see left) at the center of the campus seems to put the final touch on a wonderful atmosphere for learning.

However, despite all of its many assets, the school is still lacking in many aspects. We quickly learned that even after one whole school year, most kids across all grade levels could barely speak a word of English. On the first day, we struggled painstakingly through "What is your name?" and "My name is." The English teachers, themselves, while enthusiastic, only possess a basic level of English and lack in correct pronunciation, vocabulary, and knowledge of engaging teaching techniques. This not only makes our job difficult while teaching the students, it also presents a major challenge with lesson-planning alongside our co-teachers. The language barrier will especially prove challenging for me, due to my severe lack of Spanish skills. However, while the situation before us is certainly challenging, we definitely have a lot to contribute. We all bring powerful life experiences in working with children, most of us in the education field. We also received a great deal of valuable TEFL training during orientation. Furthermore, the foundations we establish through curriculum development, classroom techniques, and English usage both in and out of the classroom will drastically transform the way this school conducts it's English education. Through working alongside local teachers, we will help improve their language and teaching skills. While working with the students, poor children will receive constant access to native English speaking and engaging teaching techniques. While we constantly face challenges of resources, language barriers, and the last-minute, casual Colombian way of doing business (we still dont have class schedules), I know I have something to contribute this year and after meeting the children, I have already realized I have a lot to learn. I cannot wait to see the amazing way God uses us in the months to come. I could not be happier about calling La Playa my new home.

There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth...not going all the way, and not starting.

So I'm finally ready to set the stage for you all about my new life. Since a lot has happened in the last three weeks, I'll try to break it down. We'll start with getting to Colombia and orientation. More to come on Barranquilla!!

DEPARTURE

Ok, so as usual, I tried to cram as much as humanly possible into my last weeks in the US. In the last week alone, I fit in: working, a family reunion, a lunch excursion with friends from DC, dinner with Lauren and Laura, a dentist appointment, coffee with Sylvia, dinner with Ashley, New Year's Eve, getting stitches in my foot, making applesauce with my grandfather, Lauren's wedding, packing, and all of my pre-trip errands and shopping trips (with help from Kris and mom). It was pretty ridiculous. I definitely wish I had planned better and could have made my last week a little more relaxing. I felt like I rushed through all my goodbyes. However, I expect most of you guys to come visit so I'm not worried ;)

Anyway, after I stayed up all night to pack, I rushed to the airport, only to find both my suitcases grossly overweight and so late that i had to be put into the expedited security lane. I arrived at my gate in Philly right as they were calling my section to board (i.e. success!). Then i had two connections, one in Dallas, and another in Houston, where i met most of the other people in my program. It was a long day with lots of air time and minimal sleep. We arrived in Bogota around 10 pm, completely exhausted and thrilled, all at the same time. Needless to say, I did not have any problems falling asleep.

ORIENTATION

So the next two weeks consisted of a whirlwind of activity. Much of the first week contained necessary activities such as registering our visas so we could get cedulas (official Colombian identification cards), applying for Colombian bank accounts, setting up cell phones, etc. We also took classes in Spanish and TEFL at two area high schools, Gymnasio Moderno and La Montana. This entailed being out the door by at least 8 every morning and not arriving back home until 5 or 6 at night. In the entire two weeks, I think we had one cumulative day off. Needless to say, it was exhausting

The hotel we stayed it was absolutely lovely. It was up on a hill so it had great views of the city from the surrounding neighborhoods, kitchens in every unit, and the most amazing breakfast, made to order, every morning. Needless to say, after my fellow volunteers, what I probably miss most about Bogota is definitely the breakfast ;).

Besides classes and logistical tasks, we had several fun adventures during Orientation, as well. We heard several interesting speakers and visited many important government offices, including the Ministry of Education, United States Embassy, and the Inter-American Development Bank. We were fingerprinted, searched, and questioned. However, the information we recieved was definitely worth it (in my opinion). At the Ministry of Education, we actually met the Minister, herself (see below) , after which we heard an interesting discussion about education in Colombia by the director of bilingual education. We spent the entire day at the Embassy (where there are absolutely no pictures allowed - not even one taken from behind a bus window. trust me, I checked). While these discussions were obviously more beaucratic in nature, it was certainly interesting to hear the Embassy's perspective on education in country and the programs they are currently working on. Plus, while arguably a bit overdramatic, the security briefing contained interesting information to keep in mind. Still, with every speaker we encountered, the same message resonated loud and clear. Colombia is more than thrilled to have us here. They believe that we have a great deal to offer, and hope that the foundations that we create this year will continue to strengthen and translate into big things for Colombia. There is certainly a lot of weight on our sholders, but I have no doubt that our group will rise to the challenge.



We also managed to fit in a little fun during our two weeks, as well. Excursions included La Laguna de Guatavita (an ancient Lagoon, associated with the indigenous Muisca people), the small town of Guatavita (with its adorable shops and touristy stands selling anything you can imagine), Catedral de Sal (a Cathedral built into a salt mine, now greatly commercialized for our touristy pleasure), hiking to the top of a nearby mountain (amazing views), Museo de Oro (Museum of Gold), and the historical Bolivar Square (picture >>>>). While we certainly did not spend enough time sight-seeing in the city itself, we definitely crammed a lot into our two weeks. In the free evening hours, there were groups that went running, did yoga, ran exercise classes, played games, went out to dinner, and sat around talking until the wee morning hours (or as late as possible to still get up in the morning). On the weekends, we went salsa dancing (or in my case, tried to) and explored area restaurants. A few of us even enjoyed a traditional Colombian meal of Ajiaco (a chicken soup of sorts) at a local woman's home. Good company, good conversation, good food, what more could one ask for?

For our last night together as a group, we explored a city favorite (or so we were told) called Andres Carne de Res. Honestly, words cannot this establishment. It looked like a trailer park and a Christmas parade and a TGIF all threw up to birth this building (if you want to see pictures, check out my facebook albums!). It looked like it was held together with peices of tin and seemed to stretch on forever. There were Christmas lights everywhere, trees growing in the middle of the restaurant, tin decorations hanging in every nook and cranny. Your senses couldn't help but go on overload at the amount of craziness that was surrounding you. Plus, it was expensive!! You had to pay just to get in. However, after two hours of waiting, or so it seemed, we finally got our food and something to drink and it all seemed to turn around. The food was wonderful and the dancing was just what we needed to end a fun-filled two weeks together. Sadly, the restaurant was 45 minutes from our hotel and half the group (myself included) had to leave at 6:00 the next morning.... and I hadn't packed. It was touch and go for awhile but I pulled it all together. Dreary eyed and saddened to be leaving our new friends, the folks headed to Barranquilla and Cartegena boarded the bus, ready to embark on the next leg of our journey. And what an adventure it has been.....

For pictures of Bogota, feel free to check out my facebook albums (embarassingly I have more than one):
22 Gringos take on Bogota
I take too many pictures: Bogota edition

The Lovely ladies of WorldTeach^^^^

The Dashing Gentleman ^^^

525,600 minutes... how do you measure a year?

I have officially been in Colombia for three weeks, so I am well aware that I have a lot of catching up to do. However, before I delve into the highs and lows of moving to a new country, meeting and falling in love with my fellow volunteers at orientation, and getting acclimated to my new home and workplace, I want to take a few minutes to talk about life. how its measured and how we go about navigating it.

I recently read the blog of an amazing young woman, exactly like me. She graduated in May, absolutely loves children, and felt the need to avoid the working world by volunteering abroad. She had an infectious smile, an adventurous spirit, and a quiet resolve to make the world a better place. The only difference between us was that she left for her year of service in June instead of January, and she chose Haiti instead of Colombia. Otherwise, our paths were similar. I read countless posts about working with the kids, the difference she made in the lives of orphans, and the numerous things she learned about the human spirit and its ability to endure. She had titled her blog 535,600 minutes and was in the process of discovering how she would measure a year. this year. However, the world changed, things shifted, and in a split second an earthquake in Haiti trapped her in a building collapse and she died. Her year of service ended on January 12th in the first of two earthquakes in Haiti. She never finished her year. never saw the fruits of 525,600 minutes of giving of herself.

For me, this blog severely challenged my perspective on my year. The effect was subtle at first. the emotions simple. surprise. sadness. But I couldn't help identifying with this girl. She wasn't out to save the world. She just wanted to do what she could, with what she had. I had previously been thinking about my year in the big picture. What would I accomplish in a year? What did I hope to leave behind in December? I thought about my projects in long term, even learning Spanish. Would my projects be sustainable? Would I set myself apart from the group in my own way, as everyone else seemed to be doing? However, her blog made me remember that the whole point of this year, for me, isn't the big picture. It's not what I can write on my resume, the long list of accomplishments I can compile, the connections I can claim to Shakira or her foundations, or the countries I can visit. The big picture is certainly important and sustainable change is undeniably crucial in developing countries. However, for me, this year is all about the small things. The day-to-day victories will make this year, or month, or day, worthwhile. I may not change the school system or inspire all of my students to speak English, but I will teach some. I will inspire some. I may not be fluent in Spanish when I leave (and in fact, probably won't be) but I will be better. I will smile every day and make the people I encounter feel special, worthwhile. I will do what I can with what I have. every day.

I just wanted to take this opportunity to remind myself, and anyone else crazy enough to read this blog, to find the small victories in the every day. I wanted to remember that we never know how long we have: a month, a year, two years, ten years. I can only hope that I accomplish in my time here, however long it is, half of what this girl did in Haiti and inspire others the way she did me, reminding me about why I came here. for the smiles. the small victories. and a chance to grow as a person. one day at a time.