Guest Post by Warren

Hello! Warren is going to blog today, so be excited. I thought you would appreciate his perspective instead of my random banter. -Melody

It rained a little extra today to make up for yesterday's sweltering rain-starved heat. We woke to grey skies and unusually crisp air for P---, and D-ita told me that she was cold and she expected a lot of rain today. Never doubt a local, especially when she's the one who feeds you every morning and each night. When we arrived at the liceo, Melody and I first went to Lucho, who teaches 11th grade (the highest grade at LPV) English, as he had requested we interview his students with original questions to approximate those they will have to take before entering university. Lucho is the most candid teacher I know at the school--he apparently spent the early part of his life in New York, and so his English is spot on and full of idioms with an ever-so-slight accent of his Latino upbringing. He had his students come one-by-one to our simultaneous interviews. The kids were quite sharp for the most part; the spectrum of their English ranged from decent to extraordinary. During our gentle interrogations the rain finally came down in a brief torrent that lasted, at most, twenty minutes. By the time the interviews were over, the sun was glinting brightly off the moistened vegetation and a moat of murky water had filled around the Plazuela del Saman ("Little Plaza of the Salamander"--a shady alcove where a brick sidewalk rings underneath the leafiest tree you've possibly ever seen).

We probably should have prepared more for the 5th grade English assessment tests that we are to administer to those unsuspecting 11 year-olds, but it requires a lot of patient, extended reading and practicing on our parts. The tests HAVE to be administered in a specified manner, and honestly, it's mundane and tiring, and so we've been putting it off in favor of preparing lessons for Wednesday and Thursday and Saturday and et al. We'll get around to it in due time. Besides, our fifteen minute snacktime around 10 am turned into an hour-and-fifteen-minute-long affair when Lucho got ahold of us and we talked about everything from the price of cars in Colombia (horrendously expensive, by the way), to our opinions on the last three American presidencies (it's true, most foreigners love Obama), to how Colombian parents pay for their children to attend LPV (drug lords are still out there doing what they do best, and one student's father was apparently extradited to the US last year). Do NOT take this to mean that anyone who has money in Colombia is in the drug business; it is quite uncommon. Lucho confirms that prostitution, even among members of the upper classes, if far more widespread.

Chicken burritos for me for lunch, pinto bean burritos for Melody, and I also had some fresh, lightly salted tortilla chips that were perfectly deep-fried, and which Melody began stealing from my plate. I gave her dirty looks as payback. We talked to a couple of girls whose names I cannot recall, and of course Justin showed up and talked to us in that sweet, teacher's pet, fifth grade way of his. I can't help but like the kid: his English is impressive, he loves learning, and he has the Spanish version of my middle name as his first.

Today's after school "Let's Talk" was for the eleven students (eight of whom showed up) in the 9th to 11th grade section. We spoke about appropriate and inappropriate topics of conversation (e.g. occupation and salary, respectively), had them read Spanish with gringo accents to help them better learn American English pronunciation, and had a talk about the advantages and disadvantages of learning English. Beforehand, Melody had confided her nervousness in teaching potentially unreceptive know-it-all high schoolers, but I felt like they might be one of our best groups. Indeed, I thought the activities went smoothly and well, and that the kids were willing to interact with a couple of newbies at this teaching thing. (Well, maybe I should just speak for myself here.)

Stellita was at the dining room table on her mini laptop when Melody and I returned "home" at 5:30. She showed us pictures of Cartagena she had taken last year and also called a woman she knew in Bogota about us (M and W) going there in the near future. The odds are in our favor, as the woman there will look for a hotel for us that is cheap, safe, and comfortable. Stellita left for her finca and we had dinner of bean soup, rice with tomato, fried yuca, Melody with a broccoli/cauliflower mix and I had a steak. D-ita is a good cook, but seriously, I really can't have such heaping portions. I'm gonna be a fat guy soon.

Tomorrow there is a pronunciation workshop for the TEACHERS at 7 am that Melody is leading. Wish her luck. I certainly will. This means we have to wake at 5 am, hop on the bus at 6:10, spend a full day at LPV, and then lead the 6th-8th grade "Let's Talk" from 3:15 to 4:30. Sleep is getting harder to come by these days. My spirits are high, and my Juan Valdez pure Colombian coffee intake will undoubtedly need to be higher. Thanks for reading, and good night. -Warren