Salento, at the end of a very long week.

Warning: This is a very long post, please do not feel obligated to read it in its entirety.

Hello everyone! It's been a very long week in Colombia. Today will end our first two weeks here, but it seems as if we have been here much longer than that. This past week was really busy, especially considering we had Monday off!

Last Monday Warren and I went downtown and really enjoyed wandering along Circunvalar. It's one of the main avenues in P---, and a lot of shops, night clubs, bakeries (pastry shops), and hotels line the street. At the bottom of the street in P--- Plaza, a mall. We had gone there before, but it was dark and it was also right after we arrived. Monday was much more pleasant because it was a holiday and it was daylight. Almost everything was closed, except for a few of the stores in the mall. It sounds strange, but we felt much safer and enjoyed ourselves a lot more since there were very few people on the street. I think we both feel confident enough to go downtown at night now. Last Monday we also wandered in to Exito, which is sort of like a Super Walmart on steroids. They sell everything from fresh baguettes to motorcycles to computers. We stocked up on the necessary snacks, etc. For $46 we got a ton of fruit and vegetables, sweets, bread, snack food, and 2 bottles of wine. Also, we gave in and bought Oreos.

On Tuesday we were back at Liceo Pino Verde. We started our first pronunciation class on Tuesday, and that generally went well. I am lucky to have great resources that the ELI let me borrow. Our schedule for the coming weeks is as follows: On Monday/Wednesday, we teach 9th-11th graders Speaking and Pronunciation from 3:15 to 4:30. On Tuesday/Thursday, we teach 6th-8th graders the same subject. We have about 28 people in the Tuesday/Thursday classes, and only 11 in the Monday/Wednesday classes. On Saturdays we have English play time, and we have two different sessions, 8:30 to 10 a.m. and 10:30 to noon. We have around 24 students in each group.

Anyway. On Wednesday we interviewed the 11th grade to help prepare them for upcoming standardized tests. It was really fun to interview them because we had to ask them questions about their goals and plans for the future. They are really interesting students. One of the students I interviewed wanted to major in literature (Spanish lit, of course) and had studied abroad in New Zealand. We had a great conversation! All of the students speak English well. It's really fun to realize that students in the USA and students in Colombia share so many similarities. We also attended the 11th grade's English class that afternoon, and they got to ask us questions. They asked a lot of questions I expected (Are you from the same Springfield as the Simpsons? Why do you watch so much reality TV?) and a lot of questions I didn't expect (Is Missouri empty? Do people really live there? Warren, what do you think of Colombian women?) It was quite enlightening.

Thursday was by far one of the worst days I have had in Colombia. I had to get up at 5 a.m. and I didn't go to bed until midnight on Wednesday because I was preparing for a pronunciation workshop that I had to present at 7 a.m. Thursday morning. I'm definitely not qualified to lead a pronunciation workshop, but Diana, our boss, asked me to, and I didn't want to disappoint her. I spent a lot of time re-reading my textbooks and planning what I wanted to present. The workshop actually went really well. I was surprised by how much I had actually learned about pronunciation (and how useful my textbooks really are), and the teachers all said they had learned a lot. Even so, I was exhausted the entire day, and it made me pick up on all the little things in Colombia that make me angry. (For example, the differences between the administration and the teachers and how each are treated.) Thursday afternoon we got home really late (almost 6!) and Stellita told us we had been invited to a dinner hosted by the Parent's Association. At first, I really didn't want to go, but Warren and I hadn't been invited any where yet, so we decided we probably needed to go. The dinner was held at a tapas restaurant in Pin., a really nice area near Circunvalar. I showered and got dressed up before we left, so I felt a lot better. The dinner was really nice. Everyone spoke Spanish, but they made an effort to include us. It was great to be out with adults again.

On Friday morning I gave the pronunciation workshop to the teachers who hadn't come on Friday. It went even better than Thursday, and I had gotten plenty of sleep. LPV doesn't really teach pronunciation. I think this is partially because the teachers are mostly native Spanish speakers and they aren't confident enough to teach it on their own. After the workshop Diana asked me if I could do another one, but for the next one she wants us to teach the teachers correct pronunciation! : ) We also started testing the 5th graders on Friday, but so far the students are struggling with the tests. It has math questions on it, but the questions are supposed to gage English skills, not math skills, and the math questions are hurting the students' scores. It's a bit of a problem.

Friday afternoon Warren went to UniCentro, the largest mall in the area, with a student and the student's mother. I stayed home, because I was sick. I blogged a bit about this on Friday, because I thought it was funny. I probably should have listened to all the worried people on Friday and gone to a doctor, but more about that later...

Saturday morning Warren and I had our English Play Time sessions. I was really sick, but forced myself to go. The students were terrible for both Warren and myself. Partially because I was sick, and partially because the 1st-3rd graders are wild little monkeys, Diana helped me with the second session. During this time, I discovered:

1. Colombian children do not learn how to play Duck, Duck, Goose.

2. When Colombian children learn Duck, Duck, Goose, they love it.

3. Colombian children will play Duck, Duck, Goose for 45 minutes if given the chance.

4. Diana is a genius. She suggested that we could use minimal pairs in Duck, Duck, Goose to help little kids learn the difference. (A minimal pair are 2 words that only have 1 sound that is different, like bit and beat. So in her version, it would be "Bit, Bit, Beat!")

On Saturday afternoon we slept and I tried to recover. It didn't really work, but Warren did his best to put up with my whining.

Sunday was fantastic, despite the fact that I was sick. Andrea and her sister took us to Salento, which is this sleepy little town high up in the mountains in the Quindio region. It's supposed to be a tourist town, but the only tourists are Colombians. The drive was great. It was the first time we had been out of P---, and we were able to see coffee fields and flower farms. The mountains here are beautiful, and the views are just amazing. We ate lunch (okay, Warren and our hostesses ate lunch) in the valley below Salento. Warren had smoked trout (a whole fish, head included) and patacon, which is a deep fried plantain chip that was larger than his plate. I had mora, or blackberry juice. Warren loved his food. I've never seen him enjoy anything as much as he enjoyed the trout. I, on the other hand, loved the conversation. We talked to Andrea and her sister, Juanita, for a long time. Andrea described what life was like only 8 years ago. People in Colombia could not leave the city, even if they owned a farm or a home in the country. It was too dangerous because of the FARC, the drug lords, and the paramilitary. They would stop cars driving past, and if the passengers were rich, they would kidnap them. Andrea's mom was even kidnapped for a little while! Andrea described how scary it was, and how limited they were. She explained that now that the current president, Uribe, has cleaned up the country, they feel free. They can go to the country on the weekends. They can drive to Salento. They are safe, and they don't have to worry about being kidnapped. Andrea really likes Presdient Uribe, and she also really respects the Colombian Army. We saw a lot of army men while we were in Salento. They were on the road, and every time we passed Andrea would say, "Hola chicos!" She was obviously proud of them. I know I'm not Colombian, but I'm proud of them, too. They make me feel a lot safer, of course, but I really admire what they do. Colombia isn't a safe place to be in the army, and I know that they don't have the same benefits American military people do. Without the Colombian army, Warren and I wouldn't be able to safely travel in Colombia. Also, it has made life in Colombia much better. Eight years ago, people lived in fear. Now they can be worried about fashion or about education, they can buy homes in the country or take trips to the Amazon. I think that a lot of the social problems here will probably also start to improve. I know that they are talking about environmental issues, and I'm sure that as the country becomes more stable, they will also address the rich-poor gap and other problems.

I digress. After we had lunch we went to Salento. It's a very quaint town, and we were told it was very traditional. The houses are painted in bright colors, and many of them have cute little balconies. There is one main street, and it is lined with little souvenir shops. The shops primarily sell jewelry, coffee related foodstuffs, and things made out of the giant bamboo found here. We bought a lot of little things, and I got 3 new pairs of earrings. (Which, by the way, are crucial to Colombian fashion. Women always wear long, festive earrings.) Visiting Salento was a lot of fun. I was still feeling a bit sick, but the weather was warm and we really enjoyed our trip. I put up all the photos on Facebook, but for those of you who don't have access to Facebook, you can see the photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/MelodyStratton.

Today I am going to the doctor. I was instructed to stay home from school, and I am going to see a doctor who has children that attend LPV. I really didn't want to go to the doctor, but I've been sick with no signs of improvement since Friday, and I think Stellita is ready to drag me there if I don't go willingly.

I'll blog about the trip to the doctor later. I also want to blog about Stellita, but I think it might have to wait a bit. I want to get a picture of her first!

I hope everyone is well! If you have time, I would really appreciate it if you left a comment or a little check next to interesting, cool, or funny. I'm not trying to get attention, but Warren and I want to know how many people are reading the blog. If there are a lot of you, I'll definitely try to write more often. (Especially since no one wants to read such a long entry after 3 days with no entries!)

Have a good day!