Recap: Nov. 22 – 28
Wow, another week gone. I hope you’re all still enjoying my regular updates of life here in Cali … they definitely make me realize how fast time is going by.
Sunday – Let’s just say, I am very thankful there are other Mac users here. The power cord for my MacBook stopped working on Saturday, causing a mild panic … especially since I have a deadline on Monday for a bunch of school stuff. The pastor’s daughter loaned me hers, but I need to go buy a new one this week. I’m also thankful there is actually a Mac store in Cali.
Monday – I spent the entire afternoon after school writing and translating (with help) my logros – basically all the standards that students have to meet in order to achieve a certain grade level. Thrilling.
Tuesday – Sarah took me grocery shopping! It probably doesn’t sound that exciting to most people, but it’s been three months since I bought groceries for myself and it was nice to regain that little bit of independence.
Wednesday - At the beginning of the year, we were given the dates for the three periods of our school year. This period ends when classes finish for the Christmas break … except not really. I discovered that all of our grades have to be in to the office in one week, which essentially means our period ends on Friday and all marked work after that goes into the next one. I work well with deadlines, I really do – I just appreciate knowing what they are more than a week ahead of time, especially when it requires massive amounts of work.
Thursday - I assigned my Grade 9 class a project this week: creating a newspaper. They are all writing articles and drawing comic strips and other random things. Democratic as we are, we took a vote on the name and ended up with The Hot Empenada. I’m having fun planning the layout and overseeing the content. It sort of made me realize that I do miss production days at my old job … a little.
Friday - I made progress on compiling grades for my classes, but I also read Macleans and watched a movie. Generally, I strive to be productive at all times. But when I’m given a long to-do list, I suddenly find I’m pro at procrastinating. Something is wrong with this picture.
Saturday - Though that massive amount of work still awaits, I always keep Saturday mornings open for a run and cleaning the house. That’s done, but my biggest accomplishment of the day so far was making a giant jug of lulo juice … mmmm.
Viven solas
Emilse, the gracious woman who offered me a room in her home for the duration of my stay in Cali, left last Wednesday for a three-month trip to Oregon to visit her children and grandson.
Hence, I am living alone. For the first time.
It’s incredible to me how much my lifestyle has changed since leaving Ottawa in August.
I went from renting a townhouse with a couple of great friends, with downtown or a mall only a quick bus ride away, friends down the street and family with only an hour’s drive between us. Now, I am living alone in a little concrete home about a minute walk away from both my workplace and church … and it’s all behind walls and gates. A mall is close by, but under no circumstances can I go there alone – instead I am dependent on the two other families that live in the same compound for transportation anywhere. My friends are the few people that I can communicate with in Spanglish, and my family is on another continent.
It’s only been a week with the newest change in my living accommodations and those days have been some of the busiest since my arrival here, but there are a few up and downsides I’ve discovered so far.
Cons:
- My whole room smells like dog, since Dana now follows me everywhere
- Practicing Spanish is less productive with no one to correct my pronunciation or vocabulary
- Emilse isn’t here to let Dana outside when she starts doing the I-need-a-bathroom-now dance at 4 a.m.
- Lunch is not sitting on the table or stove ready for me when I finish school for the day
- The phone never rings and the house is sometimes way too quiet
Pros:
- I can eat anything I want whenever I want
- No one is around to make me feel lame for going to bed early or irresponsible for staying up late
- I can blast music through the whole house … and sing and dance along
- I don’t have to clean my dirty dishes right away
- Spanish practice becomes less embarrassing with no one to hear me mess up
- I sleep better with no one else stirring in the house (or maybe it’s just because I’m really tired lately)
And there you have it folks, the fabulous life and times of Cheryl in Colombia.
Recap: Nov. 15 – 21
I had a thoroughly jam-packed week, though it may not seem very exciting for anyone not … well, me. But here is my recap anyway.
Sunday – A friend of Emilse’s gave me a pedicure after church. While I don’t mind the occasional pampering, it’s more awkward than anything else when I can’t even make basic conversation with the person giving my feet more attention than I usually do.
Monday – Another civic holiday in Colombia – works for me!
Tuesday – I was told that all reports of problem or failing students was due, without being given the deadline in advance. I spent the entire afternoon compiling grades and figuring out what kids are below the passing grade and writing the reasons why. Oh, and Emilse’s shower was leaking so someone came over to rip up the bathroom and we didn’t have water for about five hours. Good times all around.
Wednesday – Emilse left for Portland about 5 a.m., where she’ll spend the next three months visiting her kids and grandson. I don’t think she slept at all, and therefore I didn’t get much shut-eye either (from her pre-dawn shower to a guard knocking on my window to talk to her at around 4 a.m.). However, I managed to hold onto a good mood all day and also secured another month on my visa that afternoon.
Thursday - Rehearsals are seriously ramping up for the school’s major December production, which includes drama and dance. Four of the six students in my Grade 11 class are heavily involved – including teaching younger kids the choreography – and were needed for a practice, so I once again had to adjust my plans to work with just the boys.
Friday – I spent two hours on a skype call with my friend, Sheri, finalizing more of our itinerary for Peru. After flip-flopping for the last week on what we wanted to do, we decided the Amazon jungle’s call is too much to ignore. More on the trip to come soon …
Saturday – The dog woke me up at 6:40 a.m., and one of the downsides to living alone is that I can’t hope someone else will feed her or let her outside. I couldn’t fall back asleep, but since then have been hard at work on the mountain of lesson plans and objective writing I have to do this weekend. Well, except for being distracted for a few minutes by the stack of Macleans magazines my mom sent me this week.
Recap: Nov. 8 – 14
I’ve been in Cali for almost three months now … here’s a recap of this week.
Sunday – I finally booked my flights to Peru and spent a couple of hours on skype with my friend planning our trip around the country. More details on our itinerary to come soon.
Monday – I’ve been waiting for the morning when I wake up and don’t feel tired but ready and energized for the day. When my alarm went off at the usual 5:35 a.m. I realized that might never happen.
Tuesday – I very nearly have all the names of the kindergarten students memorized. I know, it’s two months into the school year but in my defense, there are 12 of them, some look alike, I only see them a couple times a week, and they move around a lot. It’s hard to keep track of them, much less remember what names goes with each face.
Wednesday – I was writing something on the board during my Grade 11 class and I could hear a couple students chatting. I turned around to shush them and one boy had the most ridiculous look on his face that I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. It pretty much ruined my concentration for the rest of the lesson.
Thursday – My nephew had his fourth birthday. I can hardly believe he’s that old already. I told him happy birthday on a Skype call, and when I asked him to show me the presents he’s received he replied: “When you come back from Colombia.” I was able to watch him open the gift I bought for him before I left – webcams are wonderful things.
Friday - All week there has been talk of a big school presentation to celebrate the anniversary of Cartagena’s independence. Several teachers have been sick so it kept getting postponed and no one knew what was going on. They finally did something today, but it was a 15-minute skit by eighth grade and then it was back to class.
Saturday - I slept in until nearly recess time but didn’t regret it at all. Since then I have done a massive cleaning of my room and helped Emilse finish packing for big trip to Portland.
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.
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.
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).
Cheryl