La costa atlantica after 3 years

Almost three years ago to date, I left the Atlantic coast of Colombia to join the English Language Fellow program. I had no idea that I'd ever go back after a year of living in Barranquilla and teaching at Universidad del Norte. It was a tough year, partially because Barranquilla is not exactly a paradise by any means, and because I was coming out of a six-year relationship with someone. I probably would have stayed a second year if I hadn't joined the ELF program, but I'm not sure how much I would have liked Colombia had I done that.

I've been in Manizales for 10 months now, and like it a lot. The people and the place have nothing in common with the coast. I began to remember while I was sitting in BOG waiting with all the costeños for the flight to leave. And getting off the plane at BQL, with trash all over the floor. And taking the circunvular and seeing all the dust and run-down buildings and traffic. All the people without homes. The stray dogs.  The unkept streets.  The arroyos. The brown-gray color of the water where the Magdalena meets the ocean (a friend who was still teaching in B'quilla refused to let him students use blue for the Magdalena, only brown or grey). Sure, there are some things that I'd missed, like being able to sit outside, wear sandals, and eat comida arabe.  The way people speak. Music everywhere. But Manizales is much more like home for me.

May 30th, the day I left, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.  Leaving Manizales, the plane takes off and circles out over Chipre, then heads back towards Bogota.  The view was unforgettable...the nevados in the background, with Manizales down in the valley, and nothing but green as far as I can see.  Too bad most days you can't see anything! 


Here's Grandfield, looking the same, but with another whole floor on his house and eating more than bread, cheese, and fruit. Friends that I miss.

You can see the disappearing beach near Puerto Colombia (global warming??).  It used to be full of palapas.  The pier is also in the distant, but half of it collapsed into the ocean because they didn't take care of it.  Sigh.


In Cartagena I was suprised to find that some of the teachers in my workshops were guys that I'd met three years ago when a group from the University of Cincinnati came down for a course on applied linguistics.  It was great to reconnect with them, and find out that my professor is bringing down another group this month for the same course.  Maybe I'll get to use my silla ganadora from Avianca and go pay them a visit! 

One new development in Barranquilla was that my friend Kathleen's husband, Jaime, had made a couple of vallenato songs/videos which aren't half bad (although I'm the first to admit that vallenato isn't my most favorite music ever). He's calling himself Jimmy now, which I found particularly amusing!



I went back and visited Uninorte, which was looking cute after adding some new buildings and some plants.  I even had a generous job offer from another institution, but not enough to make me want to leave Manizales. 

ELF Highlights: Barranquilla and Cartagena

Highlight 18

Date: June 1-3, 2009

Title: ELF Visits Centro Cultural Colombo Americano in Barranquilla

Participants: 187

From June 1 to June 3, English Language Fellow Erin Lowry imparted a total of five workshops at the Centro Cultural Colombo Americano in Barranquilla. Three of these trainings, a total of six hours, were attended by 110 public school teachers from the city, and focused on how to teach pronunciation and vocabulary, as well as strategies for integrating technology in large classrooms with few resources. The local Secretary of Education paid a visit the first day as a part of Barranquilla Bilingue program, and diplomas were provided for teachers who attended all three workshops.  In addition, two workshops were provided for Colombo teachers. The first, titled “Motivating Underachievers,” dealt with strategies for motivating students to learn English, in particular in the bilingual assistant programs at the binational center.  The second workshop, “Ideas for Authentic Listening,” introduced teachers to new online resources for engaging students in listening activities, as well as new ways to teach using authentic songs and film.  

Public school teachers share their experiences

Highlight 19

Date: June 4 & 5, 2009

Title: ELF Visits Centro Colombo Americano in Cartagena

Participants: 100

Senior English Language Fellow Erin Lowry spent two days in Cartagena giving workshops to teachers from the Centro Colombo Americano and the public sector.  On the first day, Colombo teachers discussed the importance of syllabus and course design in the morning, and methods for teaching listening and speaking in the afternoon.  An open house workshop on teaching vocabulary was scheduled for the second day for teachers from other educational institutions in Cartagena, but was unfortunately cancelled due to rain and flooding in the city. 

Colombo Cartagena teachers discuss the relationship between course objectives and evaluation methods

Highlight 20

Date: June 3 & 5, 2009

Title: ELF Visits Escuela Superior de Administración Pública in Barranquilla and Cartagena

Participants: 61

Regional branches of the nationwide Escuela Superior de Administración Pública (ESAP) in Barranquilla and Cartagena were host to Senior English Language Fellow Erin Lowry on June 3rd and 5th, respectively. ESAP had invited teachers from both public and private sectors in each city to attend a workshop on Shaping the Way We Teach English, a teacher training program developed by the University of Oregon under request of the US Department of State’s Office of English Language Programs. Shaping is a tool designed to standardize teaching practices of English as a foreign language in countries. Participants were introduced to the materials, and worked through a portion of an example module dealing with teaching large classes.  The materials, which include a trainer’s manual, DVDs with videos of classrooms from around the world, and a set of readings, were donated to all branches of ESAP that ELF Lowry has visited in the first half of 2009.  

Public school participants in Barranquilla pose after a workshop teacher training materials

Teachers from various institutions in Cartagena discuss how they manage large classrooms of 35 to 60 students

The Shakira Statue

This made international news! I've yet to see the statue, which is supposedly here someplace, but I think I'd be happier if I never do. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. I'd imagined one of those bronze-like statues (Simon Bolivar, Benito Juarez, los niños heroes, etc.), all traditional and old-style. I still hold that there must be other people who do good work in this city that deserve a statue before Shakira, though. Too bad when I asked people, they couldn't think of names. This is the kind of statue that goes in an amusement park or something like that, not out on the street in front of a university (unless she went there, which she didn't), which is what they want to happen here.

I'll comment on this later...

Sin definir sitio para escultura de Shakira

por Martha Guarin R.
http://www.elheraldo.com.co/hoy060322/sociales/noti7.htm

Para acordar lo concerniente a la instalación de la escultura de Shakira, que desde el lunes se encuentra en la bodega 15 de la Sociedad Portuaria, ayer se llevó a cabo una reunión convocada por la Primera Dama del Departamento, Elizabeth de Grijalba.

A nombre de la cantante barranquillera Shakira habló su asistente personal, Anuar Zapata.
También asistieron, Zandra Vásquez, directora del Centro Cultural Cayena de la Universidad del Norte, y a nombre de Planeación Departamental, Claudia Da Acuña. Además, el acuarelista y arquitecto Roberto Ángulo, el cantante y compositor Martín Madera y otros personajes ligados al mundo cultural y urbanístico.

La Primera Dama del Departamento anunció que se determinó crear un comité de estudio para que estudie lo referente a la colocación de la escultura. El mismo lo conformarían representantes de planeación de la Gobernación y del Distrito; representantes de las universidades con programas de arquitectura e ingeniería, la Fundación Carnaval de Barranquilla, sector privado y Cámara de Comercio, quienes serían los que financiarían el proyecto.

La directora del Centro Cultural Cayena de la Universidad del Norte, Zandra Vásquez, declaró que “la Universidad, su rector y la institución en general se sienten complacidos con la sugerencia de Shakira de que en su glorieta más cercana se instale su escultura”.

Precisó que no son ciertos los rumores en el sentido que la Universidad se opone a tal deseo de Shakira. “Se trata de predios públicos y por ningún motivo nos oponemos. En un comienzo se dijo que se planeaba colocar allí una obra artística con motivo de los 40 años de la Universidad pero no tenemos contrato aún con ningún artista y por lo tanto el anhelo de Shakira no altera ninguno de nuestros proyectos”.

“He sugerido que se invité a las reuniones al comité técnico del proyecto de Monumentos Públicos para que participe en las conversaciones. Allí hay ingenieros, arquitectos, ambientalistas y expertos en la materia .
La Primera Dama del Departamento dijo que lo que se busca es llegar al mejor acuerdo para que la obra de Shakira se proyecte a futuro con toda la altura que altura, ante los ojos del resto del mundo

“No nos podemos equivocarnos en su ubicación”

La Primera Dama del Departamento, Elizabeth de Rodado manifestó que la escultura “se convierte en uno de los monumentos mas importantes que se van a tener el Departamento del Atlántico y Barranquilla y por tanto hay que hacerle honor, y no podemos equivocarnos en el lugar donde se vaya a colocar”.
“Para el Departamento es muy importante tener un escultura de Shakira y hay que buscar un lugar en donde pueda admirar en toda su dimensión para que la gente interactúe con ella, tomándose fotos, admirándola o disfrutando cerca a ella”.

“Hay que pensar en un sitio amplio, porque la obra para nosotros debe ser tan importante como lo es la Torre Eiffel para el mundo”.

Sugirió que se colocara en un sitio bello, como un parque en donde se puedan desarrollar eventos culturales y actividades que atrapen la atención no sólo del orden local o nacional, sino internacional. “Además porque estamos en la ciudad que tiene uno de los patrimonios más valiosos de la humanidad, como es el Carnaval”
Explicó que existe un ambicioso plan para crear un centro de negocios –proyectado por la Cámara de Comercio y la Gobernación- en donde se podría situar la obra. Además que se contempla la posibilidad de que sea en la Plaza de la Paz, y que las posibilidades también están abiertas para quienes tengan lotes o lugares donde se pueda situar la escultura.

Just skimming this article made me ill...I'll translate the good parts and make my comments later, once I've recovered from how utterly disturbing this is.

So, here we go. Why would anyone want to erect a statue of a 28 year old pop singer? Has this city nothing better to offer? And why would anyone want to put such a statue in front of a private university where the statuee didn't even go?

¡Carnavales!

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I knew I was back in Barranquilla when...

• I got to the Avianca desk in Miami and I had to pay $53 in airport taxes
• I was on the airplane and no one stayed in their seats, the kids behind me were playing videogames with the sound on and turned up loud, and the lady sitting next to me said the airplane food was "delicious" (hint: airplane food is never delicious)
• In the baggage claim area, passengers and their kids were jumping over and on the conveyor belt. On the conveyor belt
• I smelled the gas fumes from all the cars in the 5:00 traffic and wanted to gag.

Futbol

So I went on Sunday evening to see Junior play against one of the Cali teams. This was the fourth time that I've been to the stadium. It really irks me that every time I go, they change the rules about what you can and can't bring in with you.

Costeño Dictionary

Check out El nuevo diccionario del Costeño to learn lots of "Spanish" words in the Costeño dialect. You probably won't ever hear them from anyone who's not from Colombia's Atlantic coast, but it's still interesting. For example, we have boli: jugo (zumo) de fruta congelado que se vende en bolsitas de plástico transparente which are kind of like the popsicles you make out of Kool-aid in little Dixie cups when you're a kid, but tastier. They were called cubitos in Mexico.

Being diseased in B/quilla (or other places where you can get amoebas from the water)

I find it necessary to comment on the wide variety of strange health problems I've seen since I've been here. Fortunately, the only major thing that's happened to me so far is my twisted ankle that stayed swollen for over two months. I find strange bruises all the time, from the way-too-small shower and the crazy bus rides where I think that I'm going to fly through the windshield if I don't hang on the whole time, but I can live with those. My roommate woke up one morning to find a weird lump that looked kind of like a gigantic splinter on the back of one of her fingers, that then disappeared (just guessing, since she hasn't mentioned it since). Another girl I was talking to last night got something called a "dog" parasite from sitting in a chair at the one beach I go to frequently. I'd already decided to never, ever get in the water at the beaches in Barranquilla again, but that makes me think twice about even using the chairs when I go to soak up the sun! One of my coworkers called me this morning to tell me about the "mold" he got from his towels not completely drying after using them. Someone else got stung by jellyfish at the beach (which they didn't know at that time) and the doctors first thought it was herpes. The same person had some other strange kind of dryness/rash/growth that they said was from soap. I just keep waiting to see what will come next!

All of this, plus the experiences I've had visiting the doctor and dentist here, make me seriously think about what would happen to me here if I really do get sick sick. Don't get me wrong, I know that there's good doctors here, but I've yet to meet any of them. Maybe it's because I've gone to the IPS (through the insurance I have here), and the quality isn't even close. Time to try private practitioners! The time it takes studying here to become a general practitioner is shorter than it is at home, and the doctors come out soooo much younger! That, on top of how much students cheat here (once again, certainly not everyone, but we've had some very interesting conversations on this in my classes!), make me question what the doctors tell me here. Well, I'll continue this rant later...time to go home and cook my Thanksgiving food!

Futbol Madness

I went to see Seleccion Colombia play Chile this past Saturday at the estadio metropolitano. Unlike the Junior game I went to where the stadium wasn't even half full, there were tons of fans at this game, all dressed in their yellow Colombian jerseys. Too bad Colombia didn't play well (a trend, I'm told), so they only tied 1-1. That means that today, Wednesday, almost all of my students are skipping class to watch the Colombia vs. Paraguay game, which will determine if they go to the Copa Mundial next summer. Colombia has to win or tied, I think, and Chile has to loose, for them to make it. People go crazy over soccer games here. It took us forever to get out of the stadium area after Saturday's game was over.

Today is also Dia de la Raza, an attempt at making Columbus Day something that we should celebrate. Didn't fool me. And tomorrow is the Juanes concert, so most of my students will be gone again for my evening classes. And I don't get to go...

Things are looking up though. I've been told that I can find pumpkins (canned or otherwise edible, hopefully) to make pie with, as well as canned cranberries. I know Thanksgiving is still a little ways away, but Canadian Thanksgiving was last week!

Boca de Ceniza/Las Flores

Last weekend I went to Las Flores to catch the train to Boca de Ceniza. This is where the Magdalena River and the Atlantic Ocean meet (on this map, the northernmost piece of land). The ecotrain, as it's called, runs out along the river, with the final part built on a man-made rock divider. Neither the ocean nor the river is very nice to look at there, but it was interesting to see the water where they come together. Someone also told me that there are supposedly pink river dolphins swimming around there somewhere, but I didn't see anything. This last picture is from the train, looking back at
Barranquilla and the bay,
ocean side.

A larger version of the "small" arroyo...this is the one that woke me up in the middle of the night with its rapids.

People paying their 100 pesos to cross what turned out to be a "small" arroyo in front of my house.

Arroyos peligrosos

So, people are scared of rain here in Barranquilla. Yesterday in my evening class it started to rain and the students immediately began to whine, "teacher, let us go home now, so we can still catch a boat," and, "teacher, I have to cross three rivers (flooded streets) to get home, so I need to leave now." I already knew that people don't leave their houses when it's raining here, but I still hadn't seen what they were talking about. There've been one or two days where the guy downstairs put out his portable bridge to be able to cross to the other side of the street, and I've seen people crossing the flooded parts in donkeys, but it wasn't that bad. Last night, I woke up around midnight to a storm. It was raining hard enough that the water was coming through my window (there's a large exterior window, then my window, which is actually inside the apartment. I got up to close the outside window, and when I looked out, there were rapids where the stree used to be! I can easily see how you could get washed away in a "river" like that. The street was completely empty, except for the couch cushions and various things I saw being swept past my house. Amazing. What's even more amusing is that they haven't figured out a way to put a drainage system in the city to get rid of the problem! Barranquilla's not much more than 100 years old in most places, so I find it hard to deal with the fact that they didn't plan any better than this. I'll post my pictures tomorrow of my "river" if they come out okay!