Video fun

This is a short post, just sharing some videos from school.

The first one is a video that my students sort of tricked me into making.

After I danced with them at a school assembly, my 11th graders wanted to get me to dance more. They told me that they were doing a project in ethics class about champeta, a very very common musical genre born in the "barrios" of Cartagena. The lyrics are usually pretty raunchy, but the music is very fun and lighthearted, and it is truly everywhere. I have really grown to enjoy champeta, especially because it is so fun to dance to.

So, instead of this ethics project, my students actually just made this video to copy the existing music video of this champeta song. It was a fun little goodbye gift from them, and it was a ton of fun to make. To my own demise, here it is:

The second video is one that my friend Natasha made for me at the request of my co-teacher, Rosalia. These are all photos and videos taken from my phone over this past year. Lots of good times with students :)

"Last" day of school

"The thing about chaos, is that while it disturbs us, it too, forces our hearts to roar in a way we secretly find magnificent."
-- Christopher Poindexter



Whenever I think about my school -- nay, Colombia, this is often a perfect quote.

This, and a quote from the Batman movie that Natasha once ingeniously pulled out while we were in a particularly crazy cab, cruising the always-crazy main avenue of Cartagena (think motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic on all sides, men and women carrying large boxes of fresh fish, fruit, mops -- yes, mops, and any other commodity you could possibly think of, sweltering heat, honking horns, buses nearly colliding with each other, men hopping on and off of said buses and yelling their destinations, people selling energy drinks to drivers as they are stopped, and ladies juggling with fire at intersections):

"You are a visitor to the darkness, but I was born in it."

The Batman quote was a response to my question about how anyone could possibly be a sane cab driver in Cartagena. It rang so true. Most people in Cartagena don't bat an eye at the chaos that surrounds them, but I was a visitor.

Even aside from the busy streets though, the perfect word to describe Cartagena is chaotic.

The grocery store is sometimes so full that I have to sidestep through an entire aisle, and at small tiendas the only way you are attended to is to fight your way to the front and firmly say, BUENAS! to make your presence known. Most of the time I try two or three atms before I find one that works. Many of the old buses don't have designated stops -- you just have to flag it down to get on, and then yell, PARADA! to get off. Essentially, there just isn't much of an "official" way of doing things hardly anywhere in Cartagena, and the result is a fair bit of chaos.

My life at school is similarly a hot (literally) mess. I sometimes come to school having no idea that there was an event planned, and many other teachers don't know either. Meanwhile, students run, dance, jump on each other, sit on each other's laps, laugh with their heads completely thrown back. Sometimes, not enough teachers come to school, and one class of students is in complete disorder. Or a sudden rain starts falling hard and floods the open-air pathway between classrooms and students literally scream at the sound of thunder. Basically any moment of joy, of sadness, of excitement, even of stress -- in the classroom, it's all magnified, and the result is noise and movement and confusion.

It's chaos.

But wow. There was no way I could have known how sweet chaos could be.

Chaos has been good for me, in many ways. It has taught me to be more assertive, to speak up if I need something. It has given me the opportunity to practice a level of inner zen that I never thought possible. It has helped me learn skills like management and prioritizing.

And at school, it has weirdly helped me focus.

In the midst of chaos, I have often found my students and fellow teachers completely lost in the present. With so much noise around them, it is safe to simply be themselves.

I know I talk a good deal about the joy that my students bring to school. It has been tough to describe, but chaos is a part of it. Their unfettered excitement, the immediate surrender to emotion as they bound and sing the moment they feel like it -- it's so liberating. I feel a part of their happiness, even if I'm only watching.

Last Thursday, there were a lot of goodbyes and a lot of tears at my school. It was the last day that I would have all of my classes together, before the Carnival festivities of the next week and the makeup days for struggling students after.

I wrote my students a note in Spanish, and I went to each class to read it aloud. Here is what it said in English:

Dear students,

I am not sure of what I could say that would accurately describe how thankful I am to have landed in a place like Bertha Gedeon de Baladi.

I guess I can only say that because of you, I am returning to the United States as a different person. To every single student -- you have probably taught me more this year than I have you. Each of you has touched me in a different way. All of you are so dear to me. Every day that I come to school, I feel re-energized by your smiles and inspired by your love for each other and your incredible attitudes. You are all so young and so full of life -- please don't ever lose that! 

There are many great things about the United States, but one thing I don't miss is the culture being so focused on time and money. I believe that in Colombia, the culture is more focused on the things that truly matter -- family, love, happiness, enjoying the present. These are beautiful things that Colombia will one day show the world. Your country is incredible, and you should all be very proud to call yourselves Colombians. It is the most open, dedicated and resilient place that I have ever visited. 

I may not be here in person next year, but I will always be thinking of you. You have all taught me that it is possible to love with no limits and to live each day with a full heart. For that I can never repay you. 

If you ever find yourselves in Colorado, please come and find me! I will be waiting for you. 

There was happy crying, and songs and cake and poems from students. They are all incredible people. 

There was watching of a slide show and, of course, singing.

But my favorite moments were always those when something was said or done, and the students erupted into fits of noise, be it laughter or dancing or shouting. I could feel myself smiling inside and out, welcoming a new wave of joyous, colorful chaos.

In a word, my year in Colombia certainly has been chaos. But, as said in my now-favorite quote: it has also been magnificent. 

Looking back: Cuba!!!!!

The infamous Paseo de Prado

OK, I am getting closer to catching up. Now it's time to talk about CUBA!

I went to Cuba for nine days with Natasha during the last portion of our "summer" break. I'm not even sure how to describe the trip other than to say we had an incredible time and Cuba is the most confusing country I have ever visited in terms of everyday life being affected by politics.

With the U.S. and Cuba opening up their borders to each other, we figured it would be a good time to go and see what the Europeans have been checking out for the last few decades before all the gringos change stuff. ;)

I guess I can't keep talking about Cuba, though, without describing the BIG, stupid, idiotic mistake we made and which we realized about ten minutes upon landing in Havana

... which was that we brought the wrong money to exchange.

Essentially, we read that we shouldn't bring U.S. dollars to exchange for Cuban pesos because Cuba charges a 10 percent tax on the exchange (just one of many of the effects of decades of poor relations between our countries).

"No problem," we said to each other. "We'll just bring our Colombian pesos!"

We got to the airport and found out that Colombian pesos can't be exchanged. Anywhere in Cuba.

Being the overly-confident travelers we were, we had neglected to check up on that.
So, we were stranded in Cuba with nothing but useless money. We had no U.S. dollars and credit cards that worked only in Colombia and the U.S. (thanks again to poor relations, most U.S. credit cards still don't work at Cuban atms).

Thankfully, our taxi driver worked with the hostel we stayed at and agreed to take us there for later payment. The hostel gave us bottled water to drink, and the next morning we set out to try and solve our money problem. We finally came upon an agency that helps tourists and desperately knocked on the door, even though it was Sunday and closed. A man opened up after we had been whining at the door for a while and kindly agreed to help us with our problem. Long story short, we got money wired from Natasha's mom, who had a calling card she used to call us at the hostel to get our information.

In the meantime, the man at the agency took pity on us and bought two of our meals. In our free time we walked around Havana in a weird state, knowing that everything truly was out of our reach with no money.

The fact that we were penniless for 24 hours in Cuba, though, made the rest of the trip all the sweeter.

First stop once we got money: Cuban manicures!

View of the Malecon from the famous Hotel Nacional 

The next day, Natasha and I fondly refer to as Fun Day. We went a little crazy, running around old Havana, sipping on mojitos and coffees, getting our nails done, striking up conversation about what it's like to live in Cuba with street vendors, haggling over the price of jewelry, and jumping into one of Cuba's many infamous old-school cars, which served as a taxi, to drive along the equally infamous Malecon -- the seaside highway that carries you across the east and west sides of Havana.

Photos in our first old-time taxi ride along the Malecon

More Malecon

Havana is, in some ways, similar to Cartagena. They aren't too far from each other distance-wise and it's obvious that the same Spanish colonists inhabited the cities around the same time period, thanks to the colonial (and beautiful) architecture. Both have clearly made a concerted effort to maintain their historic downtowns (maybe even at the expense of directing resources to other parts of the city) but it was pretty obvious that there was far less upkeep in Havana overall.

It was bizarre to walk around Old Havana, with grandiose, beautiful colonial buildings, then turn one corner an feel as though we were in 1960s Brooklyn.

Malecon sunset

I guess it was almost exactly as you would imagine it from pictures -- there were old men and women sitting outside on their stoops, many with a cigar hanging out of their mouths. There were vendors and pedi cabs and sooooo many children, riding bikes and playing baseball in the dirt streets between buildings. There was music everywhere. And, there really was this haze hanging among all of the tall, decaying buildings. I always noticed that gritty sort of coloring in pictures of Havana, and it's real! It's a real Havana Haze.

The view from one of our home stays with a dug up street

Later on in our trip, we met a girl in Havana named Yodalis who spoke very good English. We took her out one night for dancing and pizza and picked her brain about Cuba.
We learned that Cubans make an average of about $25 per month, but living expenses are far higher than that. We saw a good deal of construction -- at times, the middle of the street would be completely dug up and residents would use boards laid over the giant ditches to get around -- and found out that construction is incredibly slow and omnipresent.

While we paid a fair price for our places to stay, we found out that our hosts probably barely see any of the money we pay them, because taxes are so high, and they must pay every month regardless of whether someone stays with them.

We learned that many Cubans seemed to contradict themselves in the same sentence regarding their opinion of Fidel Castro. Seen as a historic war hero who overthrew Batista, he was always spoken about in a respectful way at first. Cubans often mention how he brought first-class education and healthcare to the country, which is true to many extents. But in the same breath, they would finish by saying how horribly crummy the economy is in Cuba, and how difficult it is to make ends meet.

Yodalis said she would like to have a family, but can't imagine trying to raise children with so little money.

More dug up street

We saw real-life propaganda, including a front-page newspaper article about the great Communist leader of China, and billboards everywhere about the greatness of Fidel. And Che Guevara's face ...absolutely everywhere!!

Cuba newspaper propoganda

There was no internet except for one or two computers in established businesses and in a few zones in each city, where you had to pay for a card to use an hour of wifi.

Most Cubans seemed to like Raul Castro -- Fidel's brother, who has taken over since Fidel got sick. Raul is a lot more lax and one of the reasons that relations between the U.S. and Cuba have been improving. Before, Cubans weren't even allowed to leave the country to travel, and restaurants didn't exist as private businesses. Both of those things have changed, although Cubans receive rations of basic food staples and other necessities. For many average Cubans, cuisine outside of rice and meat and beans is simply too expensive to try.

It was weird to look at a big company -- the rum company, Havana Club, for example, or any classy hotel -- and realize that it was essentially a business arm of the government. I wanted to remain objective and apolitical while I was there, but I couldn't help but start to feel like it was just unfair to everyone who worked in any business that they didn't actually receive the money we were handing them.

Politics aside, though, Cuba was truly beautiful. After Havana, we took a two-hour taxi ride to Vinales, the region where most of that famous Cuban tobacco is made.

The farms, too, were completely retro -- everything done by hand.

In Vinales we went horseback riding to a cave, where we were guided through a pitch-black path to a pool of water. We jumped in and swam in the dark cave for a while ... and it was one of the more bizarre experiences of my life, haha.

Buddy shot after horseback riding in Vinales

We swam in a cave!

The next day we did some more cave exploring and saw a giant outdoor mural before heading to one of Cuba's notoriously pristine beaches.

Cayo Jutias beach

The water was so warm, it was truly like stepping into bath water. And so, so clear. Cuban beaches were really living up to the expectation.

The last city Natasha and I visited was Trinidad, a colonial town farther east of Havana, full of cobblestone roads and live music on literally every corner at night.

We went on an awesome hike outside of town that lead us past a beautiful waterfall and then a pool of water where we went swimming, and we ended the trip with heading out to a bar that was in an actual cave. It was a little crazy for our taste, but it was pretty fun to be inside of an actual cave and drinking Bucanero (my favorite Cuban beer).

Pretty waterfalls!

Where we ate lunch

Rooftop view of Trinidad

Trinidad sunset

Natasha and I came home feeling as though, with no internet and literally no contact with anyone but each other and Cubans for the last nine days, we had truly gotten lost in the country. It was so incredibly interesting. I'd definitely go again ... wink wink, nudge nudge to anyone who is interested ;)

Looking back: Traveling to Cali, Popoyan and San Agustin

So, summer break.

Was awesome! We had three weeks total. Technically, it was "winter" break in Colombia, as the long break comes during our winter, from December through February.

 A girl in my group, Natasha, and I decided to take advantage and explore more of Colombia for about a week before my mom came to visit. We took a Colombian "road trip" in the southern region, starting in the Salsa Capital of the world, Cali, and working our way southeast to San Agustin.

Cali is difficult to describe. It is very big-- several million people -- but unlike any other city in Colombia. It is somehow a little grittier than Bogota or Medellin, but also more rewarding once you get to know it.

The climate is cooler than on the coast but the days are still hot under the sun. The entire region is beautifully green. From Cali to San Agustin, we saw many green grassland valleys with palm trees, green mountains and rolling hills. Awesome countryside for a road trip!

We arrived in Cali on a Saturday night and decided to take advantage of the city's reputation and try our hand at salsa dancing.

Natasha hangin out at the top of a hill in Cali

The next day, we ventured out to explore, including the historical colonial area. This picture to the right doesn't quite capture it, but we had a magical moment with the owner of a pinwheel shop. Pinwheels are a tradition in Cali as a gift for children from their godparents. Neither Natasha or I knew this before showing up in Cali, but we kept seeing them pop up everywhere -- in public art, on signs and displays, and beautiful ones spinning in the breeze like these ones out of this man's shop. We both bought one, even though it was a giant pain to carry around with our big backpacks.








The day after, we headed out to Popayan, which is Colombia's "whitest" city haha. The entire colonial downtown is totally white buildings, and very beautiful in the sunlight.

We spent an afternoon wandering, photo-taking and trying to find the best local food specialties.

























The day after that, we decided to take a bus to Silvia, a much smaller town up in the mountains where we were told there was a great, lively market.

And there was! Silvia was also just so green and gorgeous. We had a super authentic market meal alongside Silvia's indigenous population (think Bolivian indigenous clothing) and ran around the market for a while before walking up to a church for some more great photos.

Here's a bunch of photos, just 'cause it's so pretty!

Our traditional lunch

 We finally made our way down to San Agustin after a rocky and long bus ride. We stayed in a hostel at the top of the hill and actually befriended a few backpackers to go check out the ancient statues that draw tourists.

The statues were amazing, but the countryside was even better! San Agustin was a tiny town and it was fun to walk around downtown as well. We ate some good food and after a few days packed it up to head home so that I could meet my  mom!!



Sooooo pretty!!!

Looking back: Traveling to La Guajira

I struggled with what to title this next post, as I know that I have all but abandoned this blog in the last few months.

But, seeing as my friends and family in the U.S. are stepping into fall, I thought it might be appropriate to focus on my "summer" travels here in Colombia.

You'll have to forgive me, though -- lumping my travels means starting back in April so that I can be sure not to leave anything out. I also lost a good deal of photos from La Guajira, as they were mostly on my old phone and are now lost in cyperspace.

So, without further ado (and to avoid procrastinating on this blog for yet another two months):

April: the month that I went on a trip to La Guajira, the northernmost tip of Colombia, with my 29-year-old host sister. 

Allll desert in La Guajira

I had agreed in a sort of spur-of-the-moment decision. My host sister, Angelica, owns her own store in the historic downtown of Cartagena, and takes regular trips to La Guajira to re-stock handmade items from the region, which is mostly indigenous. 

La Guajira is like a state in Colombia, but it's mostly desert. It has a capital city, Rioacha, and other smaller cities that look just like the rest of the coast, but it also has a lot of land under the control of the tribes, especially the Wayuu, which is where my host sister buys most of her hand-stitched bags.

The region has actually been in the news quite a bit. As all of it is in Spanish I only catch bits and pieces, but many of the tribes who live on the very very northern tip of La Guajira are starving (understandable, as they live in a desert and have been in an extended drought) and often count on food and resources promised by the government, but which  never come. Needless to say, I wasn't totally sure what to expect when I got there.

Angelica and I on the bus to Maicao, La Guajira

We took a night bus (a solid nine hours -- kill me!!) and stayed with friends of Angelica's from college who are Wayuu but who live a modern lifestyle. Still, there is little indoor plumbing in the entirety of La Guajira, and things like air conditioning or shops not open air in general were hard to come by in the town they live, called Maicao. 

Angelica was really sweet and wanted me to see as much as possible, so she took me to have lunch with her and her main bag supplier, a Wayuu woman who lived a very simple life with her children. Nonetheless, she shared everything she had with Angelica and I, including the region's specialty: chiva -- goat! It was fried and one of the most delicious  meats I have ever tasted.

We explored a little bit around their property, including an area that used to be a lake but which was completely dry due to extreme drought in the region.

That night, we were invited to a party. A birthday party for a mother of one of Angelica's friend's sister's boyfriend's mother's. 

That's right. haha. 

It looked like the entire town had been invited, and all of the family members showed up wearing shirts they had made that described their relationship to the woman of the night.

(Here, a sidenote: I have learned that birthdays in Colombia are a big deal. Practically everyone I have met here asks me when my birthday is. And unlike in the U.S.,, it's very common to announce to the world when it's your big day. Colombians seem to love to be showered with sweet words and small tokens of affection, and they also love to do the showering. On the coast especially, it's not uncommon to see a little house with streamers and balloons outside. Always there is a big cake and plastic lawn chairs arranged in a circle. There is a giant speaker out on the porch playing music very, very, very loud, even if no one is outside. And, eventually -- sometimes immediately, and sometimes a few hours after the adults have a little more aguardiente in their system - there is dancing).

So, this party was one of those typical Colombian birthdays I had seen -- but multiplied by 1,000. So many people. So many lawn chairs. So. Much. Liquor. Our little table was supplied with a bottle of rum, and when it ran low, another one magically appeared. And another. (Don't worry, mom -- I was too busy trying to following the 15 different conversations going on in Spanish to take part).

Angelica and I exploring desert

The other thing I love about parties here is how Colombians drink. Usually, one person stands up with a bottle of liquor in their hand, and they pour a tiny bit into a plastic cup -- one of those cups that you would use to take a dose of cough syrup. They hand it to out, then someone takes it and returns the cup. They refill it and hand it to the next person. And so on, in a neverending circle. It's funny to see someone take on the responsibility as shot master, but also a lot of fun. 

Anyhoo. My table was really kicking back those tiny plastic cups. 

And then, a mariachi band came and played, and everyone danced. And then, another band came, the same kind that plays during carnaval in Barranquilla.

And even though I had only just met all of Angelica's friends, they grabbed my hand and made me dance with them. They started calling me "amiga Ana" and I stopped worrying about the fact that I was only understanding about 50 percent of any conversation, and I started to just have fun.

Then we got tired, and Angelica and I went home. 

But that's not all -- I promise, I drew out this story for a reason. 

Because when we went back to the friend's sister's boyfriend's mother's house, around 11 a.m.

the next day .... The party was still going on.

People were still dancing ...There was still a shot master, though it was a different person than before. Music was still playing. There were fewer people, yes, but a solid number of people upright and celebrating.

Yup. Angelica said she wasn't surprised. She said .... and I kid you not .... that these parties sometimes go on ... for a week or more. I'm not kidding!! That's what she said!!

It was pretty obvious from our trip to La Guajira that it is probably one of the poorest regions in the country. But it was an interesting, and inspiring, and crazy and a little bit of a sad experience, too, to be a part of something so simple that was reason for so much celebration.