News from Colombia
4/8/08
Hello everyone,
Picture this: eleven gringos dressed from head to toe in traditional Colombian costumes. Flash to them standing on stage, twirling their vivid green, red, and gold skirts to the thunderous applause of our Colombian peers. Let us take you back to yesterday morning.
As most of you know, we have been immersed into dance class for the past two weeks. As a big surprise to all our friends, we promised Xiamara (Our energetic dance teacher) that we would perform during the Barranquilla Day assembly. On the morning of our big day, we arrived at school at 6:00 AM to get ready. Butterflies fluttered in our stomachs as the thought of dancing in front of the entire school filtered through our heads. Piling into the dressing room, the boys wore lively colored trousers, capes, and shirts. The beautiful girls had costumes of large skirts, leotards, and frilly shirts. With blush as red as a clown's nose on both the boys and the girls (please note that ALL the boys were wearing blush), we were ready to make our big appearance. While waiting for our onstage debut, we read over our speeches, paced, and reviewed the dance steps.
Luckily, with the guidance of Nick´s counting and the energy from the audience, we were a success. No one fell, and we received the biggest compliment we could have imagined. One of our buddies told us that our dancing skills were even better than the Colombian dance team that performed before us. Because we can't start to describe this experience to you all, we encourage you to come to The Bite and watch us dance. Even though we won't have the same costumes, we promise you our skills will only improve. Also- check our pictures on the Colegio San Jose website. You can only really appreciate the costumes if you see them for yourself.
The rest of the day was spent attending classes and watching the Colombian girl´s soccer game. El Colegio
Here's an update on each group member's day.
Matt- Matt's mom made him a pair of pants, that we all look forward to seeing him wear tonight at the despedida (our going away party). We all also can't wait to see him model this homemade piece of clothing every day at school!
Nick- Nick enjoyed a rehearsal for a musical performance in the upcoming weeks. The songs were in English, and even though he had never heard them before, knowing Nick, he did his best to sing along. At the top of his lungs, of course.
Emily- Emily went to Aleta´s house for lunch and then later went to the fair where she was able to purchase some handicrafts to take home to
Andrew- Andrew spent an hour after school at Mauricio´s (his Colombian buddy) salsa class and continued to be impressed by their killer moves.
Owen- Owen went to the fair as well and got himself decked out in traditional mochilas (bags) and bracelets.
Reed- Reed walked with her mom around
Chris- After school, Chris went home and talked with his buddy and spent some time sharing the UPrep yearbook with Carlos Mario.
Devin- Devin took a trip to
Aleta- Aleta also went to the fair and picked up some souvenirs with her buddy (Angela), Emily, and Emily´s buddy (Natalia).
Melaine and Karen spent the afternoon relaxing together before the evening´s activities.
The group spent the evening (mostly) together at Maria Paola´s house for dinner with her family. We had a great time talking and reminiscing about her trip to UPrep. We had a long conversation about the Global Link program, and we all enjoyed meeting her parents who were amazing and welcoming people. We also talked about Carnival, school, transitions between living in different cultures, and how much she misses the community but still loves being home.
The dinner started off with a serving of deditos 'lady fingers' which are similar to a mini croissant. With these, came little sausages and Maria's dad also brought out pastry cookies which were loved by all. To finish off the feast, we had arroz con pollo which some of the group enjoyed the addition of ketchup.
After dinner a group of us went to Mauricio's house to eat more food and watch movies and basketball. Later we went out to the park in his apartment complex, and we played on the swings and monkey bars until everyone left.
Because this is our last email, we want to wrap up with what our plans are for the rest of the trip.
In a couple minutes we are going to visit Cecil's class for the last time, and also Ruth's English class, so the kids can hear native speakers. At about 12:30 we are taking a small trip to Juan Valdez to buy coffee to satisfy our cravings for 's magical coffee at home. At 5:00 the group will meet at Pizza Hot (No that is not a misspelling, it really is called Pizza HOT) with all of our family members for one last gathering. There, we will say our goodbyes as a group, and thank everyone for their hospitality and everything that they have done for us. We really can't thank them enough.
¡¡See you soon!!
¿SI? AH BUENO...
Aleta, Devin...and Reed?
4/7/08
Greetings,
I just received the daily check in from
You can see one picture on the main page at http://www.colsanjose.edu.co/es/. More dancing pictures at http://www.colsanjose.edu.co/es/content/view/49/111/ and pictures from their first days in
http://www.colsanjose.edu.co/es/content/view/49/111/1/2/ .
Enjoy!
Lauren
¡hello friends!
we had a very busy weekend. after school on Thursday Aleta and Emily went to the birthday party of Emily´s younger sister. the rest of us went paint balling with our siblings and other kids from school. It was Gringos vs. Colombianos and the Gringos won one time. Karen and Melaine went to a market in the historic center of the city. after our activities we all went home for dinner.
Friday morning we arrived at school early and took a two hour bus ride to
Saturday we got to the school early once again. Today we were going to
Sunday we caught up on some much needed sleep. We met at Sarab, a local Arabic restaurant, for some lunch. Chris ate about 40% of his meal, an impressive amount considering his petite figure. We talked with the owner about Arabic influence on Colombian culture, and how he ended up in
Chris and Matt
4/4/08
The group is visiting
Lauren
4/3/08
Greetings from
Yesterday we met at school and had about an hour discussion about culture, which we had talked a bit about at
Matt- Matt showed his family pictures from home and explained about
Owen- Owen and his buddy Juan Carlos spent a long time on Google Earth looking at different places around the world, as well as Owen teaching Juan Carlos about the US and Seattle, its geography and all of its different landmarks. Then Juan Carlos showed Owen a little bit more about and
Andrew- Andrew´s neighborhood had a localized poweroutage for a couple hours last night. During this he spent the time outside talking with neighbors (in Spanish of course) who were also outside waiting for the power to come back on. He also really liked visiting Colegio San Jose Infantil where he and some other kids on the trip went to classes of preschoolers and kindergarteners where they were doing art projects and reading books.
Devin- Devin and Reed went to a 11th grade math class with her buddy Estefani where they found the teacher to be really strict and the class was run a lot more like classes do at U Prep. The students were not quite as student involved as at home but they were definitely quieter and the teacher demanded respect. Devin also talked to some new friends with Aleta for about an hour, which was all in Spanish because their new friends don’t know any English. That night she was also pleasantly surprised by how good the new fruits and sodas that she was trying were. She had bubble gum soda and guarabana with mora juice mixed together.
Reed- Yesterday Reed enjoyed going to the younger kids’ section of Colegio San Jose, where she spent time in classrooms helping with art projects and also assisting in teaching an all English class because the teacher felt, and we agree, that it is a really good opportunity for the kids to hear native english speakers. So Matt and Reed helped read books and pronounce words and sentences properly.
Aleta- Aleta went to the supermarket again where she got some amazingly delicious mangoes, and also tried gunabana and mispo. She also really liked talking with her new friend and Devin in Spanish for a while, where she felt her comprehension and speaking abilities improve.
Emily- Emily showed her mom and sister pictures of her family and also talked about them, what they were doing in their pictures and showed them a lot of things about her culture. She explained a lot of things about
Chris- Chris went home at 7 after staying at school for an hour after dance where he was talking with his buddy Carlos and his friends. When he went home h had Chuzos for dinner and finished off the night with some XBox games.
Karen- Karen was at school until 7:30 because her host was here at school working until then. She got home after dropping her `brother´ off about 20 minutes away in the opposite direction (difference in cultures that we discussed in the meeting this morning) and her host father made her a delicious salad and they talked about
Our whole group had pizza with El Padre Director where we talked about how we are getting along with our host families and what we think of Barranquilla and the school, both of which everyone had good things to say about.
We also attended and extra dance class from 5 to 6 last night to help improve and work on the Garabato before we have to perform it on Monday
We had a great discussion this morning about culture and languages, the importance of knowing different languages in different cultures, in America we find learning languages to be more of a luxury but in other cultures knowing English and many others is a key component to success. All of the students had something to say and there was about an hour of solid conversation and input.
We're having a great time and have a busy but fun weekend ahead of us, including a day in
¡Ciao! from
4/1/08
Our schedule has been completely booked since the last time we talked. We´ve been busy with dancing, playing music of the Colombian culture, visiting the
A little bit about each student and their unique experiences.
Chris- A highlight for Chris was sitting in on a music class, where he played the drums and bass. He also enjoyed some down time with his buddy Carlos when they chatted and took a siesta (nap).
Nick- Nick also went to music class and played the drums. He and Owen were invited into an unconventional hip hop dance class, where they watched the 5th graders show their moves.
Owen- Along with going to the hip hop class, Owen took a trip to Andrew´s house where they watched baseball and ate eccentric jello flavors.
Matt- Matt enjoyed attending physics class and was proud to tell us that he could read their entire lesson plan to the kids, translating the Spanish into English. Matt was also taught how to play instruments in the music class.
All of the boys, except for Andrew (who was was playing soccer) also attended the school basketball practice where they worked hard, and por fin it payed off. They won. Gringos vs. Colombians.
Andrew- Andrew had a busy day playing soccer with the Colombian 3rd graders in the morning, and the 11th graders during the afternoon. He then realized how it wasn´t a joke when people said Colombians can play soccer. Andrew also learned a lot about education during his visit to the Escuela Hebreo (
Emily- Emily enjoyed getting some excersise by shooting hoops with some kids, then she, Reed, and Aleta, ran around the track in the humid Colombian weather...a bunch. She was also happy to say that she could understand most of the movie National Treasure when they watched it at her house...in Spanish.
Reed- Reed also shot hoops and ran around the track, then seriously enjoyed the cold showers they offer here in . She also enjoyed a family bonding experience when they watched a movie all together.
Aleta- Aleta and Devin thought they were going to observe a dance class, to take pictures of the talented kids who have serious talent. Instead, they were summoned to the dance floor and had to attempt the tricky moves themselves with hips that don´t move like the Colombians, or like Shakira´s. Aleta also joined in on the excersise.
Devin- Devin shared some good laughs with her Colombian friends, as they all watched her embarrising attempt to dance Colombian style. She also took a trip to the grocery store with her family and was taught all about the different fruits and food they offer in . The Colombian coffee gets her going every morning.
Melaine and Karen- Our magnificent teachers went to Universidad del Norte (a local college). They were impressed by the media center as well as how high tech the university was. They also enjoyed a little bit of embarrasment when they were called into the middle of a dance circle to practice their Cumbia and Garabato skills (a typical Colombian dance, that involves A LOT of hip movement).
Along with all that activity, we also attented a tour through the
LA CUEVA!!!!
No rest for the weary! In the evening we went to La Cueva (the cave). This vibrant museum and restaurant (two in one) introduced us to the Barranquillan intellectual community. We had a delicious dinner accompanied by limonada cerezada (frozen cherry lemonade) which we all enjoyed. Our buddies and our teachers with their hosts, all got dressed up for this occasion. Before dinner was served we watched a brief movie about the famous writers of including Gabriela Garcia Marquez, who is one of the most famous writers of our time. In one of Marquez´s books there is a saying that "the most precious gift is bringing ice to the tropics", and in the museum was a treasure box full of ice which brought this novel to life. We all got to keep our hands on the ice while making a wish, but Andrew stood out the most with a record time of 13 minutes. Don´t worry, his hands have recovered and he was even able to finish off the evening with some piano playing in the restaurant.
We all think it is an amazing opportunity to speak Spanish and connect with this warm and loving culture. The people have welcomed us into their lives, homes, and hearts, and we can´t thank them enough. We all hope that by sharing our experiences in , people will know more about this country than what they see in the news. It´s hard to imagine leaving this place, these people and this culture in a little over a week.
Until tomorrow,
Reed and Devin
3/31/08
This is Emily and Aleta
Everything is going great here in
3:30 we came back to school to watch salsa practice for an upcoming performance. Both Mauricio and Maria Paola were in this class. We were blown away by their impressive moves.
After that the gringo boys (Americans) played a little 5 on 5 basketball with the Colombians. It was a good game, hard fought ´til the end, but the americans couldn´t quite pull out with the win. While all of this was going on we (Aleta and Emily) met some new 11th grade friends who invited us to go watch a pickup futbol game. The sweaty guys then joined us and we walked over to the track where the elementary school kids were having a track meet. We were immediately swarmed by tons of kids. Owen loved the attention. Nothing could wipe the grin off of his face -- it was adorable. After enjoying the hour of fame, the boys all (thankfully) went home to take showers.
Later, we all met up at Juan Valdez, a famous Colombian coffee shop that is very similar to Starbucks. We all ordered various drinks and sat outside on the patio for hours talking (mostly in Spanish) about everything and anything. There were about 30 of us. Everybody had a great time and it was a really good bonding experience for all of us.
Then most of us continued on to Juan Carlos´ apartment for a little fiesta. There they tried to teach us how to dance (most of us failed miserably) and we showed them a few of our own moves.
On Saturday most of the siblings had to go to school to practice for a test very similiar to the SAT. While most of us were still sleeping, Owen went to the track meet for the high school and won the baseball throw, complete with a medal. After our hosts returned home, we eventually met up and attempted to go bowling. We ended up eating at an outdoor restaurant where we tried new foods including chuzo desgranado. After we all walked back to Gorman`s(pronounced ¨¨your man¨¨) house for some more dancing and chatting.
On Sunday we all did our own things untill 4 when we met up at Juan Carlos` house for a little pool party complete with some American tunage. We were going to go see a movie, but seeing as it was a school night, we settled on eatting ice cream and McDonald´s at the food court in
Now for a few personal highlights of our weekend:
Reed had her first hour long conversation with her mom. They each shared lots of pictures and stories.
Matt taught his 3 year old host niece the colors in English and met all of Fabio´s friends.
Owen (as we said before) won a throwing competition. Juan Carlos was very proud of his ¨¨brother¨¨ and was wearing his medal.
Nick met all of Nicolas´ aunts and cousinds and ended up wearing a Carnival costume while they whipped out the video camera for some very entertaining footage.
Both Owen and Nick met La Reina de Carnival (the carnival queen).
Chris met his host great-grandmother and went to ice cream and the arcade.
Andrew watch an Atlantico Junior game with his entire family complete with lots of yelling in Spanish.
Devin met her host father who is a police officer. He had been traveling and brought her back presents and they talked a lot about what he does.
Aleta watched anime and cartoons with her host brother and talked about Halloween in between playing with her dog.
Emily had a long conversation with her little sister and bonded over some Hannah Montana and still cannot understand a single word her housekeeper says.
Overall we are having a great time and have learned so much. We are amazed by how well we can comunicate and how willing our hosts are to help us with language. Our Spanish has already improved drastically and will hopefully continue to do so. Our dance skills are still a little sketchy (especially the boys) but hopefully with some more practice you will be able to tell that we´re actually dancing and not flailing around in pain.
Hope all is well back in the rain and clouds (we´re enjoying the sun and working on our tans (mom that´s for you!)).
Ciao,
The Gringas
(Emily and Aleta)
3/28/08
All is well, we have been here for a full day and night, everyone is great and enjoying themselves. As Karen and Melaine have said in the previous email all students have been through a full day at CSJ. After most of us attended classes, along the lines of English, physics, and computer class we all took different paths as the school day ended at two. Most of us went home to our host families and had lunch, as their new school schedule does not include a time during the day for lunch.
I (Nick) went back with my buddy Nicolas to my host family´s house after receiving a ride from his uncle with Matt because his ¨brother¨ Fabio needed to take a test for college preparation. We ate, and then Chris and his buddy Carlos Mario came over and Chris, Matt, and I all witnessed miracles as the ¨brothers¨ all played Dance Dance Revolution, as we failed miserably. We then went to a mall where we walked around before going to a massive arcade on the top floor. After spending time with us at the mall, Reed and Daniela left to go to Daniela´s grandmother´s house. They went back to her house and watched a movie in Spanish.
Owen and Andrew went home right after school, and at 4, left to play baseball with their brothers, Juan Carlos and Mauricio. Once finished Owen played basketball with some guys from the school. They finished and Andrew went home to watch the France-English soccer game.
Emily, Devin and Aleta shared similar nights while talking and getting to know their host families there. Emily went home with Natalia, and she spent most of her time talking with her family, and getting a tour of her 7 year old sisters ¨casita.¨ Devin exchanged dance moves with Stefany and stayed up until 1 sharing different aspects of their cultures. Aleta spent time looking at pictures of Angela and her friends before going out for pizza at the mall.
Only through a complete day all of us have learned alot about Colombian culture whether through a PowerPoint about the city or in conversation with friends and family. One thing that was very apparent immediately was the casual nature of their lives. They place alot of importance on the social aspects of their lives, and take a more relaxed attitude towards school. People spend more time with extended family, whether it be receiving a ride from an uncle, or going to dinner with a grandparent. We are looking forward to a nice weekend with our families and will send another message on Monday.
¡Adios!
Chris and Nick signing out
3/27/08
We arrived safe and sound to the warmest welcome you could imagine (literally and figuratively)! Last night as we waited to go through customs, we could hear the cheers from our host families waiting outside with signs and balloons.
After a bus ride back to Colegio San Jose (CSJ) we met the padres and said goodbye for the evening. After some time spent geting to know our families and a few precious hours of sleep (wake-up call comes at 5 am around here!), we gathered at CSJ at 6:30 am for our welsome ceremony. The entire school gathered to hear the bilingual remarks from the school leaders and before we introduced ourselves. Padre Rector talked about how important these kinds of connections are for creating a world full of peace and love. These were nice words to hear and reminded us once again of the unique nature of Global Link and all that the program stands for. It is clear that we have very big shoes to fill as guests because our hosts are so welcoming and caring.
We toured the lower and secondary schools before hearing about the history of
The day continued with visits to classes, lots of smiles, kisses hello and jokes in the hall...and it is just 1:30 pm here. We´re going to get alot out of these two weeks!
Student morale is high. Everyone seems content with their families. After all of the excitement of the first day (and long trip here), we are looking forward to settling in to Colombian life. The next reports you hear will be from students (who are currently in the last class of the day here).
Un abrazo,
Melaine y Karen