Festivos, Food, and Floods

It is hard to believe much time has passed since I have been here as well as how little. Some days it feels like I have only been in Colombia for a week, while others it feels like I have been here for half of a year! I guess that is all a part of this crazy new life I am leading!  So much has happened here since I have written a post, starting with my first Colombian vacation!

A few weeks back we had a festivo (holiday-meaning no school) so we decided to spend our long weekend in Palomino and Santa Marta.  Our first night was spent in Palomino which is this little hippie town on the coast of Colombia with a jungle type landscape (as it is in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range).  It isn’t a huge tourist location, which was nice, but it is known for the Kogui indigenous tribe that resides there.  It was amazing seeing the tribe and the area as I had just learned about it the past weekend at the Museo Del Caribe in Barranquilla.

The hostel that we stayed in consisted entirely of an outdoor area where hammocks were hung for people to sleep in.  Luckily it wasn’t that hot so it was really nice to spend the night outdoors! That first night we got ahold of some churo (sorry if this is misspelled) which is an indigenous moonshine made out of sugarcane and we went to a local venue with live music. I was surprised to hear more of a rock and alternative style of music with flutes, guitars, drums, and an amazing female singer who was able to perform an Alicia Keys song perfectly!

The next morning we woke up to go tubing down the river that goes through Palomino and comes out at the ocean. We hopped on moto taxis with these huge tubes and they took us through dirt roads where we were dropped off at a trailhead.  The hike was a bit unexpected, but the forty minutes of mostly uphill walking through the landscape was actually pretty nice.  The tubing experience itself lasted about three hours and it was amazing! The landscape was beautiful (I felt like I was in a Jurassic Park backdrop) and we got to see the different structures and areas of the indigenous tribe.  The trip finally ended at the ocean where we hiked down the beach back to where out hostel was located.

As exhausted as we were, we were ready to continue our trip, so we hopped on a bus going to Santa Marta where there was a festival taking place. Our hostel that night actually had beds, and I splurged on a room with air conditioning (which I have not had since I have been in Colombia).  The festival itself was very crowded, but not much was going on by the time we got there so we walked around a bit and then hung out at a few places around the waterfront.  The next day we did some sight-seeing where I saw the oldest church in South America and got some great ice cream.  Santa Marta was beautiful, and I wish that I was able to see more and do more while I was there. It is definitely on my list of places to go see again while I am here!

This trip was definitely the highlight of the last few weeks of my life, but I have definitely had a great time staying in Barranquilla for the past few weeks as well.  I have continued to practice my salsa dancing, and I believe that I am finally at the level where I won’t be laughed at in public.  You should see how amazing most people are at dancing here! I also went to a reggae concert this past Friday at the French Alliance. It was a small show, but there were so many instruments and performers on stage it was really fun to watch. 

I also learned how to successfully make arepa de huevo this past week as well.  If you do not know what an arepa is, it is a corn flour patty (sometimes with cheese mixed in the dough) that you can fry, grill, or cook on a stove. It can then be cut open to add different meats, cheese, or eggs and is then drizzled in an array of different sauces.  The arepa de huevo is first fried, then a raw egg is added, and it is fried again.   I would have to say that the arepa and the empanada are my two favorite street foods, although I have not been able to try everything yet. I am hoping to learn how to cook many more Colombian foods while I am here.

In the middle of all this fun I have actually found time to teach too! I have actually started a few different projects at my school. There is a day coming up in October at my school for English.  For this day different students perform songs in English and each grade level has a room where they have activities and performances in English.  Every Thursday I have been working with the third, fourth, and fifth graders to help prepare for this day. I am coaching the girls to sing their songs (which I should be more embarrassed about because if you have heard me sing before you know it is not a great thing).  I have also started the English Club where I meet with a few of the best performing students in their grade level to prepare for the activities and performances.  With my third graders we are going have a news room with different sections for Sports, Weather, Arts etc. With my fourth graders we are creating a small town and there will be different tour guides and activities where they can tell you where different buildings are and what each business does. With my fifth graders the room will be a job fair where each student has a different career and activity to explain what their job is.   So far everything is working out well, but my planning and the student’s preparing has just started so we will see how it all goes!

Everything is a little more difficult now as the arroyos have started (flooding in the street). Barranquilla does not have a drainage system so when it rains it just flows down the roads. I have experienced a few of these so far, and they can be pretty dangerous. Every time it starts to rain the whole city shuts down, cars pull to the side of the road, and people just stand there watching.  Some of the buses still run, and I had the experience to be on one of them when the arroyos hit on my way to school the other day.  The water went all the way up to where you would step on to the bus (probably a good two feet) and was flowing down the street.  I have never experienced anything like it before! I had the fun of walking home during one of the rain storms yesterday.  It started to pour down as I was walking home from lunch, and instead of waiting it out I decided that it wasn’t that bad and continued walking.  My clothes and shoes are still drying out!

Despite the flooding and the humidity that comes from it, everything is going great out here. My navigation skills are improving, I’m enjoying my school, and I am cherishing all of the new experiences that I have. I can’t wait to see what happens next!