Week 2 Word Vomit

Barrio San Antonio in Cali, Colombia (taken with a glass of mediocre wine in hand!)

Happy Super Bowl Sunday to my fellow Americans! #TeamCamNewton I actually am the biggest bandwagon follower in this matter. Surprisingly many Colombians are eager to watch the game as well. The extent of my Super Bowl plans include running downstairs for the Coldplay halftime show.

I write with a less than stellar wifi connection, so pardon any typos or misspellings; however I am sure Gym will send me an email with corrections later (love ya, Dad). I have some significant life updates for ya’ll:

1. Found a house! Well, room. As of next week I will be living with a Colombian host family. My Argentine host family was the absolute best part of my abroad experience and upon arriving in Colombia I knew I wanted a similar living situation. I am not permitted to speak ANY Spanish during the school days (my kids think I am an absolute idiot, more to follow on this) so I wanted to place myself in an environment that would force me to speak Spanish outside of the classroom. I will be living in an all female household with a returning English Teaching Fellow who has been here for 6 months. The days of living out of a suitcase are coming to an end!
2. I successfully took the Mio,the bus system here in Cali, to work and back all week!These little victories fuel my days here in Colombia along with my daily café con leche from Juan Valdéz. In fact, a fellow passenger even asked me for directions the other day. Of course I had no idea but was flattered that I at least appeared knowledgeable and capable of responding in Spanish. Fake it ’til you make it.
3. é á ú ñ ! After three days of internet searches and exhausting every button on this new Asus, I finally learned how to add accents to my PC. I miss you, MacBook. I can now properly type in Spanish, qué bacano!
4. Perhaps the most exciting part of my week was meeting my co-teacher and students! I will be working with both 9th and 10th graders this year. There is a wide range of English skills at my school with a few students who may even speak better English than myself to students that lack a vocabulary outside of “hello teacher.” While I am working towards Spanish fluency I cannot speak any Spanish at the school. The idea of the program is total English immersion. Obviously I can speak Spanish and using these language skills would definitely make my job easier but my lack of Spanish in the classroom forces students to search and think in English terms. I do have some fun playing dumb too… “Como estás Profe? What? English?!” This type of exchange happens daily and I love watching the students faces during this dialogue. At times during school I feel like the stereotypical “dumb blonde” but I am getting used to that as many Colombians stare at me like I am a walking toilet during my commutes around the city.

This week marks my one-month anniversary here in Colombia. The past four weeks have been full of frustration, challenges, and new experiences. (Cue the emotional reflection!!!) Perhaps the most exciting thing about being in Colombia is I have another nine months to continue pushing myself out of my comfort zone, my place of residence for most of my life: growing up in Oakwood, attending a small college, and saying no to new. My past experiences are invaluable and my time spent both at Oakwood as well as Davidson played integral roles in fostering my passions, however, since I can remember I have been controlled by routine. My routine was my comfort zone and anything outside of that was forbidden territory. A solid routine is absolutely necessary for academics and sports but I constantly found myself absorbed by calculating every minute of each day to the point that I could not tell anyone my interests outside of field hockey nor who Sara really “was.” Hell, I still have no idea who I am but my experiences abroad have helped me realize that not knowing, not calculating, and not being a slave to a strict schedule is quite okay. In short, Colombia feels good. I cannot tell you my schedule for tomorrow nor what time I am supposed to show up for work, but I am okay with that. The people here are lovely, the coffee is strong, and the food is rich (I could use a shipment of hot sauce) = I am happy. Two years ago I would have never jumped on a bus unsure if it is even going to my destination, asked a stranger in mediocre Spanish for directions, or even imagined that I would be living in the happiest country in the world.

Everyday is really freaking hard. It’s little things like “Oh do I order at the table or at the register?” “I literally have no idea what I am eating right now.” “You have to pay to use the bathroom?!” Of course all of these would be simple tasks in the United States which shows just a small glimpse of the challenges while living abroad. Obviously these are not life or death issues, why are all of my examples about food? Classic. But in all seriousness this has me thinking about those who come to the United States with little money, even fewer English language skills, and perhaps are facing life or death issues. I should probably write the rest of this post in my journal like the 16 year old I am. I could spend days discussing this…

Check out this Colombian band! The music here is fantastic. Expect a post or three on Colombian music later.

Bomba Estéreo

Also, I am crafting a Colombia Spotify playlist for all those interested (Julia).

Spotify Playlist !

Wow that was a lot of wordage, congrats if you made it to this point. I will send you an empanda or something. peace. -SF