I’m cheating by stealing an article from another blog again, but it matched perfectly on so many levels that I had to share! People have asked me why I like living here. Oftentimes it’s hard to put into words because it’s not any one thing….it’s all the little things that add up.
Without further ado…enjoy!
http://discoveringice.com/2272/travels/101-reasons-to-love-colombia.html
As teachers, we have some of the most peculiar and most wonderful things happen to us, often in the same hour. I’ve had students poop down their pants and leave it for us to find on the floor. I’ve had more kisses and hugs than I can count, and not always in the most appropriate of places. I’ve had chairs thrown at me. I’ve had “I love you” and “I hate you” notes from the same child within 5 minutes. I’ve had insect attacks in our classroom. I’ve had tricks played on me and I’ve played tricks on kids. We’ve had laughter, tears, pain, and anger. But most of all, we’ve learned and grown together.
There are times when I feel like I nailed it…you know, said exactly the right thing at the right moment. Man, those moments feel good. There are other times when I screwed it up. I reacted without thinking first, let my impatience show, or simply said the wrong thing. How I wish I could go back and fix those moments. But then along comes an instance when I realize how rewarding this job is and how it is worth all the time, energy, stress, frustration, and regrettable moments.
One day this week, we were at closing circle and sharing the best part of our day. Students are not required to share, but since we’ve started it, it’s been amazing hearing what they enjoyed the most and really reaffirms my decision to be a teacher. Even if 40-50% of the time, they say recess! J One of my more difficult children raised his hand and in his broken English where he repeats “I me” a lot, he went on to say that he hearts his school…he hearts his friends….he just hearts everyone and everything. It was not related to a best part of the day at all, and I started to redirect him, but then realized how impassioned he was and just let him talk. As he continued to go on, I gave our “me too” silent signal and so did many other students. It just warmed my heart. It made me smile. It made me laugh. Especially since he literally said “I heart _____” rather than “I love”. And If I’m being honest, I got a little teary-eyed.
As I went home that afternoon with emotions still running high and thinking about what it is that “I heart”, I couldn’t help but reflect on my experience thus far in relation to the culture shock continuum I posted 7 months ago.
At about 6 months, you finally get to the At Home phase. I’ve definitely felt all of the above emotions, though it hasn’t been such a smooth down and back up…rather, it’s more of constant ups and downs like a roller coaster, but I feel that it’s typically been higher than lower. I can’t explain where I am right now because it’s not on the continuum. I feel at home here, but what’s more is that I feel HAPPY. Even when I was “at home” in Indianapolis, I didn’t feel happy. Working 60-80 hours a week and having zero time to take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially doesn’t allow room for happiness. Now I’m only occasionally taking work home or doing it on the weekends (except this weekend because I’m behind). I go to the gym. I go to salsa classes. I go to tumbling classes. I watch a TV show when my internet is working. I practice a new language. I cook. I go to the pool sometimes. I read books, though fitting in time for adult books is still hard. I travel to new places (Bogota last weekend. The coast for Spring Break is booked. Hopefully Peru and Bolivia this summer.) I spend time with friends. I do things on the weekend. All of this was unimaginable for me when I was home. Is this what makes me happy? Activities? Time to do what I enjoy? I don’t know…probably.
People say to me, “Oh, you’re living the dream.” Not quite. Remember that most people only post the positive things, myself included. Shit still hits the fan here. Work is still stressful. Drama still exists. Miscommunications happen frequently. I’ve cried, yelled, and felt crazy. Problems of all sorts still occur. But let me be cliché for a moment…what I’ve come to learn is that it truly IS how you respond to the situation. It’s all about your mindset. A few quotes that echo what I’m trying to say…
(Click on photos for sources.)
And my favorite, which used to be my phone background as a reminder to keep growing, keep taking chances, keep challenging myself…
So many people get stuck where they are because they’re AFRAID. Stepping outside your comfort zone is terrifying. Believe me, I know. The night before I left for Colombia, I was physically ill and couldn’t sleep. The unknown is scary. But you know what’s scarier, at least in my opinion? Settling for a life without ever trying to figure out what really challenges you and what fills your heart. Living your entire life with a “what if”.
Now, I’m not saying traveling and living internationally is for everyone. Not at all. Even for me, this is what makes me happy at the moment, but come 3 years, I might be singing a different tune. What I’m trying to say is that you need to be responsive to what you are feeling at this point in your life and not try to sweep it under the rug. If you feel a yearning, check it out. Big or small. Go for it. You’ll never know how it turns out until you TRY. Figure out what it is that you “heart.” And really, can the result be so much worse than living a life full of “what ifs”?
The literal translation means “coexistence”. At our school, it means a field trip to a location nearby, where you do team building and self-esteem activities. On Thursday was my class’s convivencia and beforehand, I really had no idea what to expect. As it was our first field trip, the kids were excited beyond belief. Plus, it was a casual day which meant no uniforms for them!
We arrived at a finca about 20 minutes south of town and led the students to a pavilion to meet their leaders. I found out later that convivencia is common all across Colombia, and the leaders of our group travel around doing this for different schools. Unfortunately, many public schools do not have the funds to do it, but at our private school, parents pay a “convivencia fee” along with their regular tuition that month.
Throughout the morning, students participated in some team building activities like this ball game below.
Then they talked about Hopes and Dreams, including what they wanted to be in the future and how that profession is beneficial. They paired up and traced each other’s profiles before coloring and decorating it like their future professional self.
There was a giant soccer field, playground, and some animals there, so we spent our snack time and recess exploring that area. It was SO great just observing the animals and talking about them with many of the students, rather than all the pressure you have in a school setting. I even have some great videos of the turkey gobbling at them to go away! haha
Enter more games, activities, discussions, etc…..then came my favorite part and the whole reason I wanted to write a post! Students were given a blindfold. Soothing music was put on, the leader was talking them through the growth of them, as if they were a seed. Students relaxed down onto the ground, felt their heart as their seed center, stretched and grew, and so on. I felt as if I was at the end of my yoga sessions doing the Savasana! They were mostly calmed down over 10 minutes of this…of course, being first graders, some were curious and kept trying to take off their blindfolds! haha.
Then we were told to choose about half the class that we felt were sufficiently calmed. Those students went around to the still-blindfolded kids, gave them hugs, said thank you for different things, apologized for others, and in general, had kind exchanges with the others. I LOVED seeing the reactions on everyone’s faces and the hugs. Then they switched places. Several kids began crying. Once they all took blindfolds off and some kids saw the others crying, of course they began to as well. Seeing this made ME cry! The students went around and did lots of hugging, then they all started coming over to my assistant and I. I cried more and the kids noticed. We talked about how it was out of happiness, instead of sadness.
We had finished up most of the activities by that point in the day, so it was lunchtime and extra long play time! The students were LOVING the merry-go-rounds, and I got 19 of them going fast on one of them. I explained to the Colombian leaders how they are now illegal in the states. Shortly after, one of my kiddos fell off a different piece of equipment (a climbing arc thing) and split open her lip. Whoops. Then another boy fell while trying to spin the merry go round. Whoops again. But as I tell them…they’re tough! They’ll be just fine. Kids spring back so easily most of the time.
While not necessarily educational in the traditional sense, this field trip was one of the best I’ve ever been on. It was like counseling for a group of kids! They do it again in the spring, but also with parents. Very neat. Today during our Morning Meeting at school, we talked about what we had learned yesterday…they seemed to have absorbed most of it! Of course, some students were fighting within minutes, but hey, they’re kids…right?
I’m not sure if I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors. I get eaten alive by mosquitos every time, I get sunburnt, and I’m terrified of everything that flies at me. I love camping, but more than a couple days and I’m done. Of course, I’m not sure where my intense desire to do Machu Picchu and the Ciudad Perdida 5-day hikes come in then. Perhaps it all started when my mom and step-dad took us on a camping trip to Canada when I was a kid. Looking at these pictures, though, maybe not…
Sometimes though, after inhaling pollution on the streets every day, you get a hankering for a visit with nature. Luckily, some other teachers knew of a place just outside the city where you could get some fresh air. There is a little neighborhood area called Pan de Azucar (yes, that means “Sugar Bread”) that you can walk to from Parque San Pío, which is in Bucaramanga.
Saturday morning, 4 of us took off. It was only about an hour up, although with constant picture-taking, it took us a bit longer. Instead of telling you all about it, I’ll just show you. My highlight was picking the cacao pods off the cacoa trees. I had no idea they grew like that…you have to pick the deep red ones, break them open against something hard, and then you pick out these little white nubs that you suck on. Inside are purple beans, which is what they dry and ferment to turn into cocoa. Unfortunately none of the ones we found were very juicy at this time, but now I’ll know what to look for next time!
It was really nice to get out of the city and into some peace and quiet for awhile! Afterward, we headed to a wonderful vegetarian restaurant with delicious, cheap food and a health foods store connected to it. I stocked up on some quinoa, coca tea, and a fiber mix. Glad that I’m starting to find things I’ve missed since being in the states. As I get to know this area more, the more it really feels like my home!
As I sit in the Panama airport for my 7-hour layover on my return to Colombia (better than the 10 hour layover on the way), I can’t help but reflect a bit on my time at home. It’s peculiar, really, because being home for 3 weeks was enough to almost make me forget about my life and job in Colombia. It was like I never left in July. But as soon as I began the return journey, which always includes people watching and sleeping in airports, it was like that part of me turned back on.
It was great seeing all my friends and family, not having to think so much to communicate, eating all the foods I missed and then some, and having my car to drive around! Thank you to everyone who opened time in their schedules to catch up with me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Below is a list of some thoughts that crossed my mind in no particular order during my 3-week vacation. I wish I had written everything down because then it would be more complete, not my sporadic remembrances, but hindsight is 20/20.
As it always is when you move to another culture, you find that you miss certain parts of your own culture, while discovering that parts of your new culture really make a lot of sense if you stop to think. Being home was great, but vacations are always a bit haphazard and I’m ready to get back to my regular routine.
Okay, and the warm weather. 🙂
Teach. Travel. Taste. 