The Naked Truth

The Naked Truth

It’s October 27th, and in Barranquilla right now it is 91 degrees Fahrenheit (33C). The high today is 93 (34C) and a low of 79 (26C). This is how it is on a regular basis even though it’s the end of October. It’s sweltering ALL THE TIME. I’m always really bloody hot here. The shiny stickiness of sweat is commonplace. Could it be because of the temperature? Could it be because I workout regularly? Could it be because I’m constantly frustrated and disillusioned with my school? (Though I was incredibly impressed when one of my 6th graders used the word disillusioned correctly today, albeit mispronounced.) Do I have a fever? Am I not drinking enough water? It’s obviously because of the heat, but I feel like it could be a combination of the above.

I am in no way an exhibitionist, but because of whatever it is that’s making me uncharacteristically overheated, I spend a surprisingly large amount of time in my apartment wearing nothing at all.

No, no, no, now don’t worry. Again, because of the scorching sun, the curtains and blinds are closed almost at all times, and definitely when I am sin ropa. Having curtains shut all the time is counterintuitive to me. The first thing I do in the morning in Portland is open the curtains. Here, I might crack them slightly, but only when it’s cloudy or rainy, otherwise my apartment becomes an oven. No one can see in. I live alone and sometimes, OK, a lot of the time, I’m completely desnudo.

There is not hot water, so I take about 3 or 4 short showers a day to cool off.

The fan is my hero.

And yes, in case you are wondering, this blog post has been written completely in the buff.

Then There Are the Things We Fear

Then there are the things we fear

Before I came to Colombia I heard a lot of horrible stories about violence here. Barranquilla is supposed to be less violent than other big cities, and the whole country has improved since 2005. I haven’t had any problems here. I have remained blissfully apart from the sketchiness that exists here, but it is here. I have taken a cab through some really depressing and scary looking neighborhoods, where I’m sure there is a lot of crime, but that’s been roughly the extent of it. The thing is recently I have heard some not so pleasant news that is a bit closer to home.

This week at school we are having a mass for the sister of someone who works at our school. She was shot because someone tried to take her bag and she resisted. Apparently there was a lot of traffic Wednesday because someone was shot in a drug deal. The person who makes photocopies at our school and who rides his bike to school everyday, was mugged and his bike was stolen. The prevalence of drug money is around. Corruption does exist. The armed security guards everywhere are not there in vain.

I know that violence is all over the world and that the items mentioned above could happen anywhere. I know that it is pointless to worry about things that I can do nothing about. I have not been a part of or witness to any violence in Colombia gracias a Dios. I’ll do what I can to keep it that way.

“We live in a violent society, weirdos all around, get them before they get you.” – Stella from 'Foul Play'. My way to get them is to remain out of harm’s way.

The Reasons Why

The Reasons Why

Many people ask me, “Why are you teaching in Colombia?” The reasons are many: I wanted to be in a Spanish speaking country where it’s hot, on or near the beach, in a good school, etc.

Last weekend reminded me of the advantages of being a teacher in Colombia. It was a 4-day weekend and I went with a Colombian to a beach near Santa Marta called Casa Grande for a surf holiday. Since I’ve been here I’ve been saying that I want to spend time with Colombians and in nature. Last weekend I succeeded in doing just that. It was a much-needed weekend of rest.

Here are the that were on items on my 'to do' list that I accomplished:

• Go camping

Yoyi and I camped on the beach. As you can see, we didn't have many neighbors there.

• Spend time with Colombians - done!
  
• Spend time on the beach - the whole weekend
  
• Learn how to surf better

Yoyi surfed...

...and then he gave me surf lessons.

He's still a little bit better at surfing than I am. Only a little bit (ha ha ha).
A few of his friends I met told me that he is the best surfer in Colombia, which seems pretty accurate.

• Speak Spanish - claro
  
• See wildlife and nature - lots!
  

• 

This is Daniela with her pet zaino named Shakira

Yoyi and this dog were playing coconut husk ball

I think it's clear to see who was winning this little game

La vaca. How cute!

Un Golero - some type of vulture




las garzas

• Swim in the Caribbean - done.
• This was the beach where I surfed. Se llama Los Naranjos
  

• Spend time in the hammock

We put up this hammock near our tent

• Read and write - done from the hammock
  
• Enjoy the peaceful sound of the waves - ahhhh
  

I know, it was a very difficult list of things to fulfill, but someone had to do it.

The 'to do' list pretty much sums up our time. The last morning Yoyi and I got up before sunrise to see the Sierra Nevada mountains that are visible only in the morning. It was a little bit hazy and the pictures didn't really turn out, but picture palm trees and a river in the foreground, and snow-covered mountains in the background. All of this taken from a Caribbean beach. I've never seen that combination before.

Can you see the Sierra Nevada?

I got a little too much sun. The mosquitoes were bad, but the gejenes were worse. I don’t know what these little insects are in English or if they exist other places. I didn’t feel them bite, but later there were little red dots on my legs and they didn’t itch so I thought they were not a big deal. Yoyi seemed to think they were bad. Now I know why, they started itching a few days later. Now, a week later they look more like mosquito bites and are still itching like mad. In the final day of surfing, the fin jammed into my leg. I have a bruise the size of my hand. Between that and the gejen bites my legs have seen better days. No pictures of that though, and I think you're better off.

Overall it was an incredibly relaxing time and I came back to Barranquilla and school feeling very refreshed. Colombia certainly has its share of problems, but it also has a lot of beauty too.

Yoyi y yo en la playa Casa Grande

Hasta pronto Casa Grande

Sharks, Flamingoes, Guerrillas, Oh My!

Sharks, Flamingoes, Guerrillas, Oh My!

We have a 4-day weekend this weekend. Originally, I was planning a longer trip to Parque Tayrona. Then I thought since I had the time, and after having viewed some amazing photos of wildlife in the Guajira Peninsula, that I’d go there. Gaujira is ‘the wild west’ of Colombia. It’s located a bit further from here in the Northeastern part of the country where the desert meets the Caribbean. Sounds pretty surreal.

The main reason I wanted to go however; was to see the flamingoes. I have never seen flamingoes in the wild, and this is supposedly flamingo season. A funny little tidbit: flamingoes are called flamencos in Spanish, I don’t think they influenced the music or dance though.

My surfer friend Yoyi has an aunt who lives near the flamingo park. He called her to see if she would be in town for the weekend. When he called her I could tell something was amiss by his reaction. He put me on the phone and she told me, “Mira las noticias! Tiburones estan en el parque por la primera vez!” Sharks had come to the park apparently to dine on the flamingoes. I should watch it on the news. Well, that didn’t sound very good.

Fatima has a sister who lives in La Guajira. Last time she visited her sisters, guerrillas blockaded the road. She could go no further. She ended up having a friend take she and her son on secret detours to get to safety. Apparently the FARC were robbing people, etc. That really didn’t sound good either.

This is the Colombia that we all fear, but I have yet to experience. I am thankful for that and I am definitely not up for starting that kind of adventure. I can honestly say that I feel safer walking home from the bus stop here in Barranquilla, than I do walking from Alberta Street to my house in Portland.

I say no to ‘the wild west’ and yes to Parque Tayrona, where I will stay at a farm, and go surfing.

In the Kitchen with Colombia and Pakistan

In the Kitchen with Colombia and Pakistan

On Saturday night there was a party in Prado Mar at a colleague’s house. It was in a huge garden with a DJ then a live band, but that is not what this story is about. A teacher named Fatima had invited me to the party. When I arrived, she introduced me to her step-mom who lived across the street and told me on Monday that she would be having cooking classes there. That sounded perfect to me.

I first met Fatima at the beginning of the school year during one of the many day-long inservices. She arrived late wearing sparkly jewelry and blue stockings. The director introduced her as the art teacher. I knew immediately that we would end up being friends. I found out later that she had lived with her mom in Chicago and gone to the Chicago Art Institute. We ended up having a little art talk, as I’d taken an amazing class there way back in high school, and then majored in art in college. As time went on, I learned that her mom was Pakistani and that Fatima had spent her teenage years in Pakistan. The cooking classes were on how to prepare Pakistani, not Colombian cuisine.

Right after school on both Monday and Tuesday I attended Fatima’s Pakistani cooking classes in the enormous garden of her step-mom’s house. The table was set with an array of colorful and aromatic spices: cayenne pepper, garam masala, tumeric, cloves, cardamom pods, peppercorns, and cinnamon sticks. This was set on an Indian print tablecloth, under a nispero tree, with a swimming pool in the distance, and a stove set up outside. All the while the tabla beat of Bhangra music was softly playing in the background.

the gorgeous assortment of spices

the nispero tree

All the other attendees were Colombian, so the classes were taught in Spanish about Pakistani food and culture. Una buena mezcla. Fatima speaks excellent English (as well as Urdu, some Punjabi, and Hindi), and was able to tell me words in English when I didn’t know what she meant in Spanish, which, thankfully, was not very often.

Mmm spiced tea

The menu was to please all the tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, and salty, so that we left feeling completely satisfied. Since food is an international language, I will translate the menu from Spanish into English, but leave the Pakistani names as they are.

Menu Day 1
Garbanzo salad with cilantro and ginger
Potato cutlets with a yogurt and mint chutney
Spiced basmati rice with peas
Dahi Murgh (Chicken in a yogurt sauce)
Cardamom lassie

Menu Day 2
Pakistani chai spiced tea
Eggplant in yogurt sauce
Salmon with garam masala
Basmati rice with vegetables
Khir (rice with sweetened condensed milk)

Both menus were excellent and I definitely learned a few new cooking tips. For those keen observers, you may notice that chicken is on this list. Yes, it’s true, after more than 20 years of being pescetarian, since I’ve been in Colombia occasionally I have eaten chicken. (Dad, don’t fall out of your chair). I will try the smallest bite of anything, because I want to be open-minded and culturally sensitive. Beef still disgusts me in every form and I just can’t eat it, but have eaten chicken that has been rather tasty. It’s not like I’m going to start ordering chicken at restaurants, but if it’s being served I will eat a little bit. The sauce of the Dahi Murgh was succulent. I was thinking about making this dish with tofu or some type of fake meat when I prepare it.

Chef Fatima

Those of you who have heard the ingredients Colombia lacks may be wondering where she got what she needed to prepare the food. Well, she had to go to several stores and paid very high prices for items such as Basmati rice (a little bag cost $10 USD, and looked like something you could buy at Trader Joe’s in the US for about $1.79). As for the spices, they had been imported from India to the US, and she had bought them in Chicago.

Here is a complete cultural difference - many people have servants, maids, nannies, and even chauffeurs here. I don’t think it’s only the extremely wealthy, because when I have asked teachers where their children are (since this week kids weren’t in school and we still had to work) a lot of them have said, “They’re with the nanny.” During the cooking class there was a servant who helped Fatima with the preparation and serving.

Her step mom teaches yoga here. I will attend next week.

The yoga studio

I did not have my camera the first day and don’t have pictures of the final plates because it was dark by the time we ate.

After class, my friend Yoyi picked me up on a motorbike. We rode through the streets of the town of Puerto Colombia where people were socializing everywhere. After riding near the malecón, we drove up the dirt roads amongst little houses, with children playing outside accompanied by a soundtrack of vallenato music. He took me to a cabaña overlooking the Caribbean where the full moon shone on the waves. It was incredibly peaceful in contrast to the busy-ness of Barranquilla.

The next day I also got to see Fatima’s cute apartment that had a fruit tree off the balcony, and a view of the sea. After seeing more of Prado Mar, I might need to reconsider moving there. After all, I am living so close to the Caribbean, it might be nice to actually be on the water instead of in an apartment building that could be anywhere in Colombia.

On the bus ride home I ended up sitting next an adorable little 4 year-old girl whose father I’d met when I’d gone surfing. She was a rather loquacious child and we talked the entire way to Barranquilla.

This was more of what I had imagined my experience would be: spending time doing things I like with Colombian friends, and talking in Spanish. Ahora estoy mucho más feliz.

Little Addendum (with lots-o-links)

Little Addendum (with lots-o-links)

There are some bits of information that I have learned post publishing that I would like to add here. Because it is not obvious in the color scheme of this blog, anything underlined is a link to more information if you click on it.

To add to Junior:

I found out that a Junior player named Javier Florez killed a fan who was heckling him. Yikes! Name calling hurts a LOT here. The thing is, that after he paid the fine of $75,000 USD, he was released from prison and is playing on the team again! I probably even saw him play at the I attended. I heard this from 3 Barranquilleros, as the folks are called here, and confirmed it on colombiareports on the internet.

I also read this from offside, which I hope was written tongue in cheek:
“Javier was also supposedly high, but on marijuana – so chances are this was a more mellow murder than it could’ve been.”

How is a murder, even if you’re high, ever mellow?

To add to Things That Make Me Laugh, Smile, or Cringe:

I noticed yesterday the slogan in small letters under Cunit
el sabor preferido (which means – the preferred taste)
I think that one can safely be put in the 'cringe' category.

To add to A Not Altogether Peaceful Peace Week:
Things have gotten better at school. Community Circles in my class have gone over incredibly well. Behaviors in my 6th grade class have improved considerably. For my extracurricular class with the 7th and 8th graders, I had one boy who behaved horribly, but I handled it very calmly and yet, firmly.

School is incredibly busy, and challenging, but now the challenges are more of the normal kind of teaching challenges, not the kind of challenges where basic needs are not being met. I know how to do all the essentials and I’ve even had some good food. For some reason yesterday there was an international food day at school and we could buy rolls from a sushi restaurant that catered the lunch. Yum! Oh, of course there are still the occasional hassles – like yesterday when I got home from school there was no water, but when I arrived home last night it was on again. These are the kinds of things to be expected in Colombia, and as long as they’re temporary, which they usually are, they don’t bother me that much.

Late yesterday afternoon when going to find the Tourist Information Office, that according to my guidebook “...should be open by now”, I accidentally ended up going to a really cool museum, Museo del Caribe (which incidentally did have a bit of tourist information). The Museum was in an incredibly new and ultramodern building in a very unlikely (read: sketchy) setting. (Don't worry, I took a taxi to and from there) There were 5 floors divided like this:
Naturaleza - Nature
Gente - People
Palabra – Word
Acción - Action
Expresion – Expression (that was obvious, but false cognates are in abundance, so never assume)
I think that right there gives you an idea of what is valued in Caribbean in Colombia. I spent a lot of time in Naturaleza to see about places that I’d like to visit.

Outside view of Museo del Caribe

Next weekend (Oct 9-12), after being in school since August 10th, we have our first holiday. It’s a 4-day weekend, so I am making plans to get out in la naturaleza.

As for now, it’s a rainy Saturday morning and I have a ton of work to do for school for Monday. Now that I finally have all the materials and standards, I need to get my yearlong plans done by Monday, I was told this on Thursday. We don’t have students next week, but we have meeting after meeting with about 3 hours of free time all week, hence working on a rainy Saturday. There is some big party at a colleague’s house near the beach tonight, so I’d best get cracking on schoolwork.

To send you off, here's one last link of where I plan to spend most of the day. Mmm coffee.