Remembering
For as long as I can remember, I have been involved in Remembrance Day activities in some way. If I wasn’t in a parade or attending a ceremony, I was watching Parliament Hill events on TV. Every year on 11/11, at 11:11, I was silent for a full minute.
I have two favourite memories from Remembrance Day:
The first was watching my brother play the Last Post on his trumpet in his air cadet uniform at a ceremony in Cornwall. It’s an extremely hard piece to play, and I was so proud of him.
The second was from a couple of years ago when a few friends and I braved the downtown crowd and went to the War Memorial in Ottawa for the Nov. 11 ceremony. There were thousands of people, long parades of uniformed veterans, cannon salutes, poppies everywhere.
It will be odd this year … to not only be at work, but be in class when all of my fellow Canadians back home are silently remembering the sacrifice of all those who fought for our freedom. I think Remembrance Day is an extremely important “holiday”, to honour those who made our country what it is today.
Today I will not be marching in a parade in my air cadet uniform, covering ceremonies for a newspaper article, watching events on TV or even wearing a poppy. But I will remember.
Recap: Nov 1 – 7
Well, my week was not at all eventful, but here’s the recap anyway.
Sunday – My Nova Scotia friend got married and I so wish I could have been there. Congrats, Janet!
Monday – It was a civic holiday in Colombia, and therefore we had no school. I decided to go for a run, but I’ve had a cold/sinus issues going on and my breathing sounded like … well, that I couldn’t breathe, so I headed down the mountain after only 2K.
Tuesday – We had a meeting with the parents to explain the new system of evaluation the school has implemented this year. I had heard all the information before and there was a powerpoint presentation to follow, but I was still impressed that I understood about 95 per cent of what was said in those two hours.
Wednesday – I sent my first note home with a student. I’ve had the “group directors” write notices before, but this time it was on me. It was in English, so I’m not sure how much the parents will understand, but I did my duty.
Thursday – I managed to find a reason that a video of my nephew eating was relevant to my Grade 11 students so we could watch it in class. I don’t think they were as amused as I, but oh well.
Friday - I had to explain to a student that his habit of not handing in assignments was causing him to receive a failing mark in my class. He seemed surprised.
Saturday – Emilse put up red and green towels in the bathroom. I’m pretty sure the colour choice wasn’t arbitrary … I’m not certain I’m ready for Christmas decorations yet (especially with weather as it is), but I guess I’ll have to adjust.
Another week, come and gone. In just over six weeks I will in Peru!
The best country
I am Canadian to the core (despite the title of my last post).
While I am able to see the flaws in some aspects of the nation, I am a firm believer that my home and native land is the best place in the world to live. I am fiercely patriotic and loyal. I take pride in our accomplishments, pray for solutions to our problems, and do my best to follow what is going on at home and abroad.
In my patriotism, I also recognize that other nationalities will be partial to their own countries. I think that is absolutely right and proper. I don’t expect Colombians to think Canada is the best country in the world.
The problem is, they don’t think Colombia is either.
I’ve informally chatted with several students in and outside of the classroom who answer “Estados Unidos” when asked what country they think is number one on the planet.
Now, living as the USA’s closest neighbour probably makes me slightly biased against it, but no matter where I am from I still believe everyone should have faith and pride in their own nation. The fact that many Colombians don’t have that in their country bothers me. It’s not everyone – in fact, one teacher here is extremely patriotic and has mentioned a few times how glad she is to be Colombian – but it’s the young people, those who are the next generation of leaders and business owners and contributors to society. I hope what I have heard is not a representation of the entire demographic, or Colombia is going to have serious issues in five to 10 years when half their employees and students leaves the country.
Colombia has been enundated with products from the United States over the last decade as the two countries strengthened their partnership to fight the drug war here and expand trade. Movies, computers, books, music – so much of the media and consumerism is hugely influenced by America, and Europe as well (France and Germany were a couple of other answers to the question). I understand that, and I can see how that in turn has impacted the young people’s view of the world. But even though Hollywood is sending films with Spanish subtitles to Colombia, it shouldn’t change how these youth view the globe.
It’s true that there are probably more opportunities in North America or Europe than in a nation still working to change the perspective that the only thing here is drugs and more drugs. But I hope this generation of young people realize that they can be a part of that change; they can help to bring more opportunities to Colombia and to make improvements, rather than leaving the problems to others and heading to the United States for jobs and education.
However, if they must head north, they should keep on going and come to Canada. It is, after all, the best country in the world.
Status update: Becoming Colombian
While I will forever be loyal to my home and native land, I am definitely adjusting to how things work in Cali. Here’s a few signs of my transformation to a Colombian way of life …
- I can make juice from fresh fruit including orange and lulo.
- I can listen to whole conversations in Spanish and only get lost a couple of times.
- When plans change unexpectedly, I’m less inclined to freak out.
- I never show up for my young adult Bible study on time (and I’m still early).
- I can roughly convert from Colombian pesos to Canadian dollars in my head.
- I have cravings for Colombian bread … this from the girl who could count on two hands the number of times she ate bread in a year.
- The guard dogs barely bark at me anymore.
Change of plans
One of the two main reasons I decided to hop over to Peru while I’m in South America instead of another country was to visit a girl I have sponsored for the last several years (the other reason is Machu Picchu). It’s also on my list of things to do in life.
But this morning I received the disappointing news that the organization - which is phenomenal, by the way – I sponsor Belen through is closed for an entire month over Christmas, and no one is available to take me to visit her. I guess it was to be expected that holidays would impact when I could see her, but it’s too bad it’s not even an option at all.
Belen will be 12 in November. I began sponsoring her at least five years ago (probably more) and we have exchanged dozens of letters and several photos over the years. Our correspondence has been especially exciting lately because I can read her original writing rather than relying on the translation to understand her note. She always signs off with something along the lines of “with a big hug and kiss” and I would love to give her a real hug someday.
I guess I’ll just have to return to Peru eventually.
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!
Cheryl