Recap: Oct. 26 – 31
Here’s my weekly recap:
Sunday - I ate buffalo for the first time on an excursion with the pastor and her daughter. Not going to lie, it was pretty delicious.
Mmm .... buffalo.
I also made a friend in a live (and we think quite pregnant) buffalo.
Monday – The tenth grade students continue to sing to me on a regular basis. They have added a word: “Oh, Miss Cheryl Brink …”
Tuesday – My class on gerunds and infinitives turned into a “learn about Cheryl” hour.
Wednesday – I had an interesting debate with Grade 10 about the existence of an invisible parallel universe.
Thursday – All of my classes went quite well, but by the time the final bell rang I was feeling pretty much like crap. With so many students sick over the last few weeks, I shouldn’t have been surprised I caught something. I decided to skip the run I had planned and took a nap inside.
Friday – I went to Cali’s Gospel Festival with some friends. It was an evening of fun Colombian live music in an outdoor theatre … great times! We ate stuffed arepas afterwards, which were delicious. I don’t know if there has been anything I’ve eaten here that I didn’t like at least a little.
Saturday - My throat is still sore but I’m feeling better and managed to run a slow 5K this morning. I now have to mark projects and do other teaching-related activities.
News flashes
I have been severely lacking in the newsy blog posts lately, and I am way overdue for a rant, but time has been in short supply lately … as well as internet I can depend on. The latter problem seems to have been resolved; as for the former … not so much. But for now, here are a couple news bites that caught my attention this week.
- Another foot has washed ashore in British Colombia. This is the seventh in two years to show up on a random beach in a sneaker. Police are still puzzled as to where they are coming from and what caused the death of the people the feet used to be attached to. I blogged about this last spring when a few feet washed up within a couple weeks of each other. It’s a disturbing trend and quite the mystery.
- An Ekos poll was released yesterday, showing the Conservatives are still on the upswing while the Liberals are doing worse than the NDP in a couple provinces. Here’s Kady O’Malley’s analysis of the new numbers.
- There’s a pretty good chance the National Post is going to fold due to its massive losses over the last few years, unless CanWest can shift it to another part of the company that can support it financial. Apparently the newspaper with 277 employees has never made a profit since it began printing 11 years ago.
And that’s all for now, folks. What news have you been reading lately?
Oh, the excitement
Apparently the fact that I’m currently living in Colombia and teaching English to high school students is not enough excitement for my life.
If all goes as planned, I will be spending Christmas and New Years’ in Peru with my fabulous friend, Sheri. We are hoping to have two weeks to explore Lima, Cusco, Arequipa and Lake Titicaca. Machu Picchu is on our to-do list, as well as visiting a girl I have sponsored through Compassion Canada for the last several years. Sheri is the one who was brave enough to go skydiving with me, and we’re thinking bungee jumping over the Amazon jungle should be our next major thrill.
Sheri and I with our skydiving certificates. It wasn't the first adventure we had together and it won't be the last.
So, that’s December and early January. At the end of the month, my sister-in-law is due to have a baby boy and I am already impatient to meet my new nephew.
There will be another addition to the Brink clan in April, when my sister Lisa is due to have her third child. Another baby to spoil.
Though school here ends in July, I will heading back to Ontario in May to be a bridesmaid in my dear cousin’s wedding. She is going to be a gorgeous bride and I am thrilled to be able to be a part of her big day. It also gives me a great excuse to return to Canada for a weekend and hopefully have a few moments with my family (and the aforementioned new baby) before jetting back to Colombia for another month and a half.
Chrissy and her fiance, Joel.
I’m also considering a quick excursion to Vancouver on my way home from Cali to visit the other new nephew, but that’s still dependent on a few other factors. Like my bank account, for example. As always, donations of air miles and cash to Cheryl’s Travel Fund are always welcome.
Recap: Oct. 18 – 24
Another week has come and gone. It’s ridiculous how quickly time is passing by here in Colombia. My schedule doesn’t change, but every day is different from all the days before it. There’s virtually no opportunity for the routine to become mundane. Here’s what happened in the last seven days:
Sunday – There’s an older woman in the church who always makes a point of greeting me before the service. She gives me a huge hug and tells me that she loves me. I don’t even know her name, and it’s possible those three words are all she knows how to say in English, but it totally makes my morning.
Monday – I gave Grade 11 a make-up assignment for the apparently ridiculously hard test from last week, which half of them failed.
Tuesday – I missed the memo that all the teachers should start wearing their uniforms now, after six weeks of school. I stared down a defiant four-year-old in kindergarten.
Wednesday - I was sung to by one of my Grade 10 students. It went something like: “Oh, Miss Brink …. Oh, Miss Brink.” I was entertained.
Thursday – I found peanut butter in the store and was totally willing to pay the outrageous price for the taste of home. But then I went back to Emilse’s and made arepas, drank lulo and felt Colombian.
I love lulo.
Friday – Began my brainwashing … I mean, teaching … of the students in our elective course about journalism. Lesson one: taking notes.
Saturday – I have to seriously begin planning how to help my Grade 11 class rock the English portion of their national testing in April (the Colombian version of the SATs).
Status update: Learning Spanish
Well, I’m not fluent in Spanish or anything yet … but here’s a few signs that I might be getting closer to my goal of being bilingual:
- There are fewer blank stares in my Grade 6 class when I explain a new concept
- Emilse and I can actually sit down and chat over lunch (not about politics or global warming, but still)
- I’ve forgotten some English words
- I’m starting to second-guess my English spelling
- I actually listen when people talk in Spanish, instead of unconsciously tuning them out
- I’m quite good at Spanglish
- I’ve answered Emilse’s phone a few times and not made a complete fool of myself
- I’ve been told I have good pronunciation
- I know (most of) the Books of the Bible in Spanish
I still have a long way to go, but progress is progress!
Two months later
Two months ago I stepped off a plane in Cali, Colombia. It’s incredible that so much time has passed already; I have learned so much and somehow fallen into routine as a Christian school English teacher.
I have faced a number of challenges but have also experienced a ridiculous amount of joy. The students here are beautiful, warm and … sometimes inattentive, but we’re working on that.
The church here has welcomed me with open arms and the customary kiss on the cheek. Here’s some of my new friends.
Sarah, Luis, Magda, Lorraina and Julieta (with Cali in the background)
Eight more months to go …
Recap: Oct. 11 – 17
It has been a crazy week. I think this is the longest I have gone without blogging, and I apologize, but life is busy. To prove it, here’s my recap of this week.
Sunday – A group of my new friends here took me out to San Antonio, a really historic and artsy part of Cali. There’s a church hundreds of year old up on a hill, with a great view over the city.
The church in San Antonio with crowds of people hanging around inside and out.
We also wandered down one street with lots of locally-made crafts and jewelry before stopping for some shaved ice, which was basically a huge glass full of fruit with some ice at the bottom. Yum!
Monday – My incredible cousin and close friend got engaged to her Mr. Right and I am so excited for her … and the honour to be a bridesmaid in her wedding.
Tuesday – After our first day back in class, a friend drove me back to the government agency to get my passport stamped. I’m now allowed to stay in Colombia for another month.
Wednesday - There was a massive thunderstorm just as class was finishing, and my Grade 6 students freaked right out. They were asking me to pray and practically hiding under their desks. It was pretty much chaos but kind of hilarious at the same time.
Thursday – I’m finishing up the first unit with most of my classes, so we played some fun review games.
Friday - I gave my first test to Grade 11. Apparently it was really hard; even my best students had trouble with it. Well, now I know what not to do.
Saturday - I just spent the last two hours on skype talking wedding plans with my cousin and a trip to Peru with my friend, Sheri. There is plenty to be excited about in my world. But now, I should probably get some work done. I have tests and homework assignments to grade, tests to write for next week, and lesson plans to do.
Chao, chicos!
Recap: Oct. 4 – 10
Last week’s post on my weekly activities seemed like a hit, so I decided to make it a regular Saturday feature. There were no classes at Ekklesia this week, as it’s a national school holiday. Instead, we teachers spent our days updating the standards, definitions and purposes of the core courses we teach for the school’s files. Good times.
Sunday – Emilse prepares communion for the church every month, so I decided to help out. It was the usual grape juice and crackers … but we actually made grape juice. As in, throw the little guys in the blender, strain out the seeds and skin, and pour the rest into little plastic cups. Delicious.
Monday – My nephew had his first day of preschool! Unrelated to me, yes, but noteworthy all the same.
Tuesday – The pastor’s daughter, Sarah, drove me to the north end of the city to apply for a visa extension. We had to do some running around to photocopy paperwork, pay fees, etc, but it went well and I enjoyed exploring more of the city.
Wednesday - I discovered the test booklet I have that goes along with my English curriculum is the student version … as in, I don’t have the answers. Looks like I’ll be writing all my own exams this year …
Thursday – The education laws in Colombia changed recently, so a few teachers spent several days writing an entirely new evaluation system for the school to comply with the legislation. They presented it to the rest of us professors; it’s clear and thorough, but also means more work for us especially since we’re already a month into the academic year and now have to adjust how we are grading our students.
Friday – For the third time in the week, someone I was supposed to meet with to discuss curriculum and lesson planning didn’t show up. I guess this is the Colombian way?
Saturday – My mom sent running shoes I left behind, so I attempted a jog around the makeshift basketball court here. It was hot, but I sweated it out for a half hour or so … it definitely felt good to be running again.
Snapshots of South America
I can hardly believe I’ve been in Colombia for seven weeks already. Here’s a few more photos of my experiences in South America.
Lightening flashes across the sky during a thunderstorm over Cali.
Mangos ... yummy!
A view of the city from dieceocho, a highway through the mountain range.
Playing pictionary with some new friends.
Siloe ... probably the most dangerous area in the city but it's beautiful at night ...
... bonita, no? I quite enjoy the view.
Cheryl