Year One Highlights

Here's the thing: I got distracted (that happens easily), but now it has been more than 3 months since I have written and I don't know where to start.   So I thought I'd start with a little review to ease back into things.  If you've been following me since I started over a year ago, you already know some of the things I've been up to.  Looking back on the year myself, I started thinking about some of the highlights from the year, so here it goes, in no particular order:

1. Moved to a new country (duh)
2. Survived Carnaval in Barranquilla
3. Milked a cow (and survived my first overnight trip with Middle Schoolers) 
4. Held a (wild) tarantula. Not to be confused with overcoming my ridiculous (but legitimate) fear of spiders, because that didn't happen
5. Swam in the Amazon River
6. Caught a piranha
7. Went canopying for the first time (and the second)
8. Hiked (and almost made it) to a volcano
9. Kayaked on the Pacific
10. Tried yoga for the first time, and loved it
11. Made a BA Rubik's Cube cake for a lovely shared 11-11-11 birthday
12. Toured a cathedral carved into a salt mine
13. Cooked...a lot
14. Started scratching off my to-do list
15. Watched some amazing salsa dancers
16. Went tubing for the first time

I'm hoping this will get my butt in gear to keep this baby updated, but I'm not making any promises.  Until next time...

Murphy's Law

You know, the one that says if something can go wrong it will?  Yep.  That's the one that pretty much controls my life, and today is just another example of it.  All I wanted to do was to get home to Chicago after finishing my year teaching abroad (more reflections on said year to come), that's not too much to ask, is it?  Apparently, it is, because the Travel Gods certainly did not make are not making things easy today. 

I knew starting today, that the 1 hour and 55 minute window I gave myself to catch a connecting flight from Miami to Tampa was cutting it close, but several people assured me this shouldn't be a problem (I won't name names, but I have a Facebook status as support).  It shouldn't have been a problem, except that our flight from Cali to Miami took an extra 25 minutes.  Ut oh.  This left me racing as fast I could from my seat in 27A through the plane, up stairs and escalators, running passed and bumping into people while shouting "Que pena!" to the English speaking couple that sat next to me on the plane.  I got to Passport Control, cut a bunch of people missionary group (I know what you're thinking..."karma") to catch up to David who was ahead in line.  Then when it came time to choose the passport line, it turns out I picked the line with the slowest officer ever, who I later saw type one fingered to enter in the information for the girl ahead of me who also happened to have filled out her paperwork out wrong.  Awesome.  At that point, people who had been behind me and had not run and cut lines had in fact gotten in and out of passport control at least 4 people ahead of me.  Damn.  Off to the races again to get luggage, go through customs, recheck bag, go through security again and book it to my gate with about 40 minutes left.  Of course 5 different airport workers told me 5 different places to recheck my bag before I could continue running to security.  I made it through all of that with about 10-15 minutes before plane was scheduled to take off and continued to run until I found the flight information board to find my gate, I was goign to make it after all.  Then I find that my flight had been delayed 45 minutes.  At this point the dripping sweat and ridiculously red face felt really unnecessary, even more so when the flight was delayed another 20 minutes, so a grabbed a wrap from Au Bon Pain, sent a few "I'm here!" texts, and watched Obama's speech on immigration.

Flight to Tampa boarded and the stewardess gleefully stated several times that our short 35 minute flight to Tampa should be pleasant and apologized for the delays.  Except that when we were descending, there was "VIP action" in Tampa, and we didn't have clearance to land.  Turns out Obama was in Tampa, costing me another 15-20 minutes in the air, and getting my landing time way too close to my 4:30 take off from Tampa to Chicago.  Luckily, I was in 10B this time, not so lucky that I was stuck between the bronchitis brothers who hacked their way through our flight while I tried to read Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal.  I got off the plane pretty quick to find that my gate to Chicago was right next to the one I cam out of.  Perfect.  Delayed to 4:45.  Kind of perfect since I was cutting it close anyway, and now I can board with ease.  Except, no one else is boarding yet, and the plane doesn't appear to be here...hmmmm.  That would see to make it difficult to take off in 25 minutes.  As I went to check that I hadn't missed anything and that my baggage would make it to the plane, I overheard the woman at the counter tell someone else that there would be further delays and she would make an announcement soon.  The estimated departure time sneakily changed to 6:00pm and about 10 minutes later we were informed our plane was in Ft. Meyers due to storms approaching Tampa.  Great.  Guess I have time for a coffee and parfait from Starbucks.

And theeeeennnnn they got my order wrong at Starbucks.  Shocking.  Six months since I have had Starbucks, I'm the only person in the place, and they manage to get it wrong.  Sheesh.  It wasn't worth complaining so I attempting to slurp on what they made me and embraced the free WiFi at Tampa International.  And now as I have written this, the delay has extended another 45 minutes, a total of 2.25 hours late, as of now.  Who knows when I will actually make it home, but one thing's for sure I know it will be damn worth the wait.

Why Everyone Should Have a Rosa

In case you didn't already know, Rosa is the sweet woman who comes to clean our apartment every Wednesday, and I love her.  Not only does she do the obvious, like clean and iron, but she is consistently making other little improvements around the apartment and providing ways for us to be more tidy and organized; she's kind of like MacGyver, but older and Colombian.  For example:

• That pesky kitchen drawer that continually slid open for weeks on end?  She taped some cardboard to either side, so now its stays shut, no problem.
• The heap of shoes we had in the laundry room?  Why, she fashioned a shoe cubby from an overturned plastic shipping bin we had lying around.
• What to do with the collection of pens, pencils and markers that David brings home in his pockets everyday...Hmmm.  Well I suppose, if you are Rosa you would take the box from a hard drive that we haven't thrown away yet, put it on its side, and turn it into a pencil holder.  Genius.
• Vase for your birthday flowers?  Cut up a Gatorade bottle.  I actually came home and thought she brought us a vase, until upon closer inspection I realized it was in fact a Gatorade bottle.
• Frozen plastic containers full of water for watering plants without flooding them. 

These are just a few of the genius ideas she has come up with in our apartment.  If Rosa had a blog, I would be pinning her ideas to my "Good to Know" board like crazy.  And you all would be re-pinning them.  (Social media overload?  Possibly.) 

In addition to all her handy fix-ups, I think Rosa may also have special powers.  Every once in a while Every other day, our lock on our apartment gets all jammed so that we have to use the key to unlock the lock while the door is already open so that we can close it.  Sounds confusing, and its a pain in the arse.  However, it never fails that whenever Rosa as come for the day, it is magically fixed when we get home.  I have yet to figure out how she does it and I know if we mess up the lock, it won't be fixed until the next Wednesday.

In summary, we (and our apartment) would be a mess without Rosa in our lives.  She is just another one of the many characters in our Colombian lives that has made our year abroad so much easier and enjoyable.

Dear M.I.O. Riders, You Suck.

I like to think that I generally keep things pretty positive on here; true, I may complain here and there, but overall I try to see the bright side of things.  That's not gonna happen in this post.

The M.I.O. is the city sponsored system public buses here, and while I don't really have any qualms with the entity as a whole I certainly do have some issues with the passengers.  Now, if you are one of the M.I.O. riders that is capable of acting civil and like a decent human being, then congratulations, you are in the small minority of people that does not get an eye roll or huff from me at the station.  We have have actually at one time or another shared a frustrated glance, thanks for being awesome.  Unfortunately, such people waiting for the bus are few and far between.  In fact, they sometimes seem nonexistent.  Here's the problem: everyone wants to be the first person to get on the bus they are waiting for which, in turn, causes not only a mad dash for the doors when said bus arrives, but it brings people to clustering around the doors that approximately 2.5 people can fit through at any one time.  That means, even if a person sees that the approaching bus is not the one they desire, they will hold their ground firmly in front of the sliding glass doors so that when their bus does come, they can get on first.  News flash people: THIS DOESN'T WORK.  Really what you are doing is causing mass chaos and more importantly, irritating the hell out of me.  Hi, I'm the one kindly waiting at the back of the crowd until I see the T31 coming from down the block.  And guess what?  I always manage to get on the bus.  Although, sometimes its a close call after I have to push my way through the crowd serving as a blockade for the door.  Sure, I may not always get a seat, but its really not a big deal.  I come from the land of L trains and CTA buses where getting a seat isn't always likely, and sometimes standing is the better choice anyway. 

Then there are those who are fond of the psych out.  The "I have been standing here in front of you and now as a bus that you need comes I am going to move toward the door like this is also the bus I am waiting for, but then stop dead in my tracks so that you have to re-route around me and almost miss the bus you waited 20 minutes for.  I was actually just trying to get closer to the door."  Thanks.  I get it people.  You are worried about getting on the bus and getting a seat, and I understand why.  I sometimes worry too when I see the 4:00pm crowd waiting for the E21 and E31, but you are only making it worse. When you crowd the door, it makes other people nervous too, so they crowd the door and then people have to push through 30 people deep just to get the gosh darn T31!  See?  Its a positive feedback loop, not much different than this one:

So if everyone just waited for their bus to come before stampeding toward the door, then we wouldn't have this ridiculous problem, and everyone could get on the bus peacefully.  But it won't just happen, be the change people.

Oh and don't even get me started on the guy who gets on the bus and stops approximately 8 inches in from the door.  Hi, sir.  Do you realize I can't get passed you and the door is now shutting on me and the 20 others trying to get on the bus?  Thanks for caring.

Paddling the Pacific

When David's friends Tony and Randy decided to visit, we I spent a lot of time trying to think of a good trip to take them on while they were here.  Luckily we had a 3 day weekend, so that made getting out of Cali for a bit a little more reasonable, but still didn't give us much to work with.  After lots of blog stalking, Lonely Planet reading and advice from friends, we decided to do a kayaking trip to the Pacific with Julio and Bicivan, the same group I went with to Volcan Purace.  I had heard nothing but good thinks about this trip and it really couldn't be worse than the volcano hike, that is off course unless I were to fall and tear my MCL again, but that didn't happen, thank goodness.  In fact, it was probably my favorite thing that I have done so far.  Now, I know I say that a lot, but it really was quite the experience.  Even better, we had 4 other co-workers join us, 3 of which had done the trip at least one other time and Kristin's cousin visited last minute and jumped on board.

Saturday started off early, and to a bit off a rough start with me thinking at 4am that they had been kidnapped as they weren't yet home and David's phone mysteriously shut off mid ring.  Luckily, they were ok, well at least not kidnapped, and we eventually made it to meet up with the rest of our group and were on our way to Buenaventura.  After about a 2.5 hour drive, we were in Buenaventura, a major port city on the Pacific Coast.  While there are actually a lot of goods and money coming through the port, the city itself appears very poor because the people benefiting from the port don't actually live there.  While I wouldn't have minded exploring the city a bit, it left much to be desired and I was OK with jumping onto our lancha for the ride to Juanchaco.  I had been warned that this trip was rather bumpy, but we lucked out and although it was the bumpiest boat ride I had been on, it was smooth compared to normal.  Even better, I didn't get seasick at all since my tolerance for motion (cars, taxis, buses boats etc) has improved about 100 fold since being here. 

After settling into our camp-like cabins, we made our way to the beach to get our kayak on.  A quick tutorial from Julio and we set out to the Pacific.  The first day out was filled with the usual coastal rain, which actually wasn't bad since the weather was still warm and we were pretty wet from the ocean anyway.  We spent the next several hours kayaking through caves and caverns (I don't actually know the difference between the two) and exploring the many little tributaries off the bay.  To my surprise, David and I only flipped once and it totally was not our fault.  It was however David's fault when he "accidentally" hit me in the head with his oar going under the dock.  Then we flipped coming back onto the beach and I was covered EVERYWHERE with black sand.  All in all though, a good day out.

Some people needed more instruction than others.

Julio showing us a map of where we were headed

Sunday was an unusual hot and rain free morning and we set out to explore the three islands across from our beach, including a short walk, several waterfalls, tide pools and even a bat cave.  The sun and stops to hike and explore made for a long day, soar backs and ridiculous tan lines; I was wearing Chaco sandals and capris, so even one week later I have white strap lines zigzagging across my feet and it looks like I am wearing socks.  So attractive.  But oddly enough it was quite relaxing.  Our free afternoon was spent by most sleeping and then we went to watch the sunset over the water.

Hanging out in the bat cave

"We're the three best friends that anyone could have..."

Monday was a no kayaking day and we all thought we were hiking to Ladrilleros about 45 minutes away, but we ended up going to La Barra almost 2 hours away which was not good news for my already-had-enough feet.  My sandals are not three-day-in-a-row shoes.  Ouch.  Walking back on the beach in bare feet helped and then came the socks and sandals which was a significant improvement. 

All in all a was an adventure filled weekend with good friends, good guides, good food and beautiful scenery.  Getting out of the city was a great way to enjoy time with visitors and a long weekend break and explore another part of Colombia.

El Lorax: En Busca de la Trúfula Perdida

Given my love for all things Dr. Suess and animated, seeing the Lorax was something I have been looking forward to, especially since Horton Hear a Who was so great.  Yes, I have seen all of the Madagascars, Ice Ages, Shreks and as well as most of the rest of the animated "kids" films released in the last 10 years, and I love them.  I even own quite a few.  They're the type of movie I can watch again and again and they still get a laugh out of me;  I have easily seen Monsters Inc. 10+ times.  When The Lorax finally came out here in Cali, I knew there was a good chance it would only be in the theatres in Spanish since it is easier to dub animated films and kids movies usually come in Spanish.  And so it was.  Last weekend I finally decided to go see El Lorax: En Busca de la Trúfula Perdida, and even recruited Jess to go with me.  I accepted the fact that I may end up lost in a Spanish movie, but thought since the intended audience was children under the age of 12, I might be able to pick up on a few things.  To my surprise, I understood just about everything that was being said, outside of the some of the songs.  Now, yes, I probably could have watched it in silence and picked up on the storyline, but the point is that I actually was able to follow the dialogue, which is pretty awesome. 

Luckily, there were less than 25 people in the entire 2:20 showing, as my tolerance for children in movies is low, so there were few interruptions to our viewing.  We were both quite happy with the movie and found ourselves laughing louder than anyone else in the theatre on multiple occasions.  And while I do think I understood at least 85-90% of the movie, I do want to watch it again, in English, just to check my understanding, and because it was a great movie.  Not to mention Pipsqueak, the most adorable little creature in the movie.   How could you not love him?

Even better, given the message of taking care of the environment, I have every intention of showing some all of this in my class next year during our Human Impacts unit.

The Birds and the...Geckos?

We have about 3-4 regulars in our apartment, geckos that is.  We see them all the time running across walls or even in the dishes in our sink.  I find them entertaining and sometimes can't help but watch them play or fight with one another, something I think David (and now probably others) judges me for.  I tried to play with one once and it bit me.  Oops. 

As I was sitting here posting my last blog I kept hearing their little clicking and squeaking sounds they make at one another and looked up to find two of them right next to one other, which I found super cute.  And then my living room turned into an episode of Life (a series that I of course own and love).  She wasn't havin' it though, and scurried away.  My Saturday nights are super cool sometimes.

  

Can you feel the love tonight?

Namaste

After almost 8 months of saying I wanted and was going to try Yoga, I finally did about 3 weeks ago.  Maggie, one of the 10th grade teachers, teaches a class after school on Thursdays, so I have had plenty of opportunities to join, and plenty of excuses for never actually going.  Back at the beginning of April I got the ok from my doctor to start running and trying Yoga after my knee/MCL debacle and decided I needed to go, for real, because I had a good feeling I would really like it.  Although I did attempt some Wii Yoga in college, that hardly counts as experience.  I think my biggest problem was my fear of feeling foolish as a first timer in a class of people who do Yoga almost weekly.  Luckily, I couldn't have asked for a more welcoming and open environment to attempt Yoga. 

My first class with Maggie went pretty well if you ask me; I was able to follow along pretty easily with some prior knowledge of movements and poses and never completely fell over which I count as a win.  I even surprised myself with some of the poses I was able to actually do and hold, albeit not all of them. I went back the following week and although I felt sore in most places the next day, it felt good.  It is relaxing yet requires focus on specific movements or places and awareness of the body.  And I can tell you from how I feel the day after, it is definitely a work out.  This week we didn't have class due to an after school activity for teacher's day and I found myself actually missing that 45 minutes.  So much so that I just went in search of free online yoga videos.  I found a 50 minute beginner's video, and while it was not as good as Maggie's class, it got the job done, even when my internet stopped working and I had to re-load the video about halfway through.  And now I find myself wondering what I will do while I am home this summer and next year when Maggie is gone.  Maybe Mandi will take over (if you read this, take it as another hint and a bit of pressure hehe) or maybe I will have to try out Yoga in Spanish; that would definitely be interesting.

As you may have noticed if you are an active reader, a lot of this year has been about trying new things (hence the experimenting) and I think that Yoga is just one more reminder that I can't be afraid to attempt something, no matter how uncomfortable or awkward it may make me feel.  Hopefully I can keep this in mind as I finish out my first year here in Colombia, and not lose the sense of wonderment as I move into my second year.  Namaste.

Delirio: Hecho en Cali!

Delirio is a salsa/circus/orchestra show that, as the title says, is made in Cali.  The performance we saw (which turned out to be the premier of the newest show) was "María, un Delirio de Amor", which Carlos explained to us was a Colombian version of Romeo and Juliet.  It is based on a novel written by Jorge Isaacs in which cousins Maria and Efrain fall in love, but are torn apart when Efrain must move to London to continue his studies.  Returning years later, he finds that Maria has died.  In the show I couldn't quite decipher what happened next, either Efrain married a ghost, Maria came back to life and they married, Efrain died and married Maria or Efrain married someone else all together.  Hard to say. 

Regardless, the performance was amazing and the dancing and gymnastics/aerobatics blew me away.  If you watch the dancers' feet on the video, it would be easy to think it is double time; it's not.  We got an extra treat when we discovered that there was also a Michael Jackson tribute portion of the show "Nadie es Igual".  This made the $120.000 pesos more than worth it for me; all of the free stuff they handed us as we walked down the read carpet helped too.  This is a production that I think is worth seeing again, although I would probably wait for the next show for a little variety.  Next time friends or family visit I would love to take them to see this because even if you don't love salsa I think anyone can appreciate the talent it takes to perform in this show.

Now, I thought about titling this blog "Why Technology Hates Me (But Really It's Usually My Fault)", but then decided people would be more likely to want to read about awesome salsa/circus shows in Colombia than hear me complain more.  That doesn't mean I'm not going to complain, but I'll try to keep it to a minimum.  You see, we went to Delirio a week ago, and it has taken me about that long to finally figure out a way to finalize and upload the video that I made of snippets from the show.  First, Windows Movie Maker would crap out anytime I tried to rewind in the video as I was editing it.  Weird.  Then when it was finally done (several hours and restarts later) it wouldn't upload to Blogger.  As I tried to upload it to YouTube, I discovered that it wasn't actually in a video, but a project file.  Oops.  Save as video file, wait ridiculously long time for save, upload to Blogger.  Wrong. No matter how long I left it to upload I would come back to an un-uploaded video.  Several days of trying and finally decided to upload the video to YouTube and then post THAT to Blogger...after it uploaded to YouTube for more than 230 minutes.  Por fin, I have a video for you, and while I am not requiring you to watch it, I think it is worth the 5 days it took for me to succeed.  Even if I have a shaky video hand and there are people occasionally talking in the background.  Insider tip: if you click "watch on YouTube" you can watch it full screen.  Enjoy.

Also, we're kind of famous as this is on the Delirio Facebook page,
along with a few others.

Saturday Cooking: Fruit Leathers!

Sometimes my life here is really exciting; today was not one of those times.  That is unless you find fruit leathers really exciting (like I do) then, well, this just might blow you away.  I have found myself spending quite a bit more time in the kitchen, particularly on Saturday afternoons, experimenting and trying new things.  Today's venture stemmed from thinking about good homemade, healthy snacks to take on an upcoming kayaking trip in May; any all day/multi day outdoor adventure require snacks, unless you want cranky travelers.  Also, I made dried apple slices a while back and they turned out pretty good, so I figured why not try some fruit leathers.  While most kids (like David) hated when parents tried to trick you into thinking these were a suitable replacement snack, I was the one who preferred these over the Fruit-By-The-Foot and Fruit Roll-Ups, and still do, but they are just so darn expensive.  Luckily, as it turns out, they are pretty easy and cheap to make!  I looked up directions on several different places, but ultimately I kind of just went with it; I still really hate following recipes step-by-step and I'm not sure why. 

1. Cut and clean the fruit you want to use (I used strawberries), cutting away any spots that you wouldn't normally want to eat.

2. Add to large saucepan with enough water to cover the bottom.  I don't think the amount of water is important; you want enough to stew the fruit, but the more you have the longer it will likely take your final product to dry.

3. Add the juice from one small lemon (I think this helps bring out the flavors) and sugar to taste.  I only added a sprinkle to mine because as the leather dries the natural sugar from the fruit will become more concentrated, so be careful not to add too much.

4. Cook the fruit until it is very soft and mushy.

 

5. Then add the fruit to a blender and puree

This made about 2 cookie sheets of fruit leathers.

6. OK here's the tricky part.  Line a cookie sheet with plastic wrap and brush with olive oil.  This step about made me lose my mind.  I had at least 3 attempts with plastic wrap before it was thrown across the kitchen because the plastic was sticking only to itself and NOT where I wanted it.  One time I managed to carefully lie it on the pan I messed it up when I tried to brush it.  This led me to use parchment paper.  I brushed the pan first with oil and then put the paper on top, the oil helps the paper to stick down.  Then I brushed the paper with a little bit more oil to avoid the fruit sticking to it.  Genius.  I filled one pan with about half of the puree and evened it out with a spatula.  Then I considered that the fruit might still get really stuck to the paper and I would be either A. eating a lot of parchment paper or B. ruin an entire afternoon's attempt at fruit leather.  This led me to the plastic once again for the second time.  This time I was smarter than the plastic wrap.  I again brushed the pan with oil so the plastic wrap had no choice but to stick.  Gotcha!  I then had myself a little experiment testing which worked better: parchment paper or plastic wrap, at which point I considered writing this post entire in the format of a lab report (nerd alert), but decided to save the public from complete and utter boredom.  You can thank me later.  Oops.  Sorry about the excessively long step 6!

Don't worry, each tray had equal time on the top and bottom rack
in order to ensure only 1 independent variable.

7.  These bad boys go into the oven at about 140 F or 60 C to dry out.  It helps to keep the oven door propped open a bit to get the air circulating around the trays. 

8.  Wait an excessively long time for fruit to dry.  On the bright side, all this made the apartment smell absolutely delightful, but that just made me want them to finish sooner.  In the end it took about 4 hours.  Some unevenly thin parts were a little too dry and I would want them a little thicker next time, so timing will vary.

9.  Discover that parchment paper and plastic wrap work equally well and decide you will definitely use only parchment paper next time.

10.  Enjoy homemade fruit leathers!

10.  Try other fruits.


Verdict: Success!

These will definitely be making an appearance on future outdoor adventure trips as a super yummy and healthy snack hopefully with some other tasty flavors.

Celebrating Earth Week

In honor of Earth Day/Week, the Middle School decided to get our kids out and enjoying the world around them for 1 hour everyday.  While this meant shorter class periods and trying to get 11-14 year olds to class on time with no bells. it also meant (hopefully) getting the students to see and understand some things that they might miss on a normal day.  There were several activities planned for the week, such as: a water walk to represent how far some people have to walk for fresh water, garbage and recycled art, yoga and meditation, Frisbee golf and a nature scavenger hunt.  I decided to sign up to help make and chaperon the nature scavenger hunt, and a good decision it was; as it turns out, our students really like to complain about walking and touching garbage, so some activities didn't go over as well as intended.  It took some time to get groups engaged in deciphering the clues and wandering ALL over campus to find the nature objects, but in the end we had two teams get all 21 of the clues and several others come pretty close.  On the second day we had students complete the hunt, I was wandering myself to make sure students weren't slacking off, and I decided to capture the images for the clues too.  Here's what I found:

1. Never say you can't, just find a tree with a hanging plant.

2. Near the place you learn the ABCs, you'll find fern-covered palm trees.

3. Don't give excuses starting with but, do your best to find a giant hut.

4. Look for flowers that appear just like the sun, but don't be fooled it must be a real one.

5. A place you can go to sit and eat too, here you will find trees waiting to greet you.

6. Follow the path to walls made of stone, the green coverings offer a cool natural tone.

7. Finding a palm tree will fulfill this stop, but in order to succeed you must leap, jump or hop.

8. I normally hang high in the trees, but it is possible that I have fallen to the ground.  No matter which way, I am a tasty treat for animals all around.

 9. A natural looking door is what you should look for

10. We’re easy to find, we crawl, we fly, and we can even sting.  Of one of us a small image you should bring .

Do you see what I see?

11. Look for me near the base of a tree.  I am often poisonous, so make sure you don't eat me! 

12. I am the color of t-shirts, shoes, backpacks and sometimes even ink. Combine the red and white and you get the color______. Go find something this color and take a great shot. Just make sure it´s grown and not bought!

13. Look for me, I’m everywhere among the other colors in the ground; Over there in deep violet pigments I am around.

14. You can find me in all those places where the Gods bled;
And stained Mother Nature with this beautiful color instead.
The blood painted pieces in the puzzle of creation;
You will find on the Bolivar Campus and across the nation.

15. Parts and pieces painted with drops of sunlight are found in flowers and TREES where they shine so bright!

16. Near the soccer field, the water tumbles clean and free.  Snap a photo of this and be sure to capture the palm tree.

17. Near a great waterfall you will have a good vantage, take a picture of your team in the middle of this bridge.

18. A scary plant that grows out of the dirt, it is best to not touch it, for you just might get hurt.

19.  Near a place where Bolivar is feared, you will find some trees that wear a long beard.

20. A typical palm tree this is NOT, it is shaped in the form of something we use when we´re hot.

21. Although it has no organs and has no feathers, find this bright bird all grouped together.

OK so I may have had an unfair advantage considering I made the scavenger hunt with Jeff and our principal, but you will notice that technically I didn't fulfill some of them since I couldn't be in the pictures, like the jump shot in front of a palm tree (because I was the photographer).  I also snapped this of a baby chucha, which is kind of like an oppossom, that the had to catch from the boys bathroom.  Super cute as a baby, not so cute as an adult, especially when it runs across the science building balcony (or in some cases into classrooms) while you are trying to teach.

Bonus points?

I think our students got at least something out of the activity and I might dare say that some even enjoyed it.  Hopefully they can appreciate the amazing campus we have with such diverse natural beauty that we can see almost on a daily basis. 

The Amazon: An Audio/Visual Tour

There were many situations in which a picture just didn't do justice to some of the things we experienced in the Amazon.  Luckily there were a few situations in which audio and video at least helped to capture the experience.

This mostly just sounds obnoxious in a video, but I thought I would share anyway.  Santander Park in Leticia, Colombia is where you can experience this phenomenon everyday at sunset.  Hundreds (if not thousands) of little birds, pajaritos, similar to a parakeet, gather in the trees in Santander Park for their nightly rest.  Before actually resting of course, they communicate and chirp away resulting in this chatter.  Although this audio helps, it certainly doesn't do it justice.  I was in awe of the collective sound of all of these tiny blue an green birds.  They are also almost as loud at sunrise when they awake and leave the trees, a sound we heard in the morning from our hostel at least 4 blocks from the park.  A definite, almost unavoidable, must see hear if you stop in Leticia.

This was taken during our first trip by boat to our lodge.  The slow and serene ride was unlike anything I have ever done: so simple, yet so amazing.  Due to the high water levels we were literally boating through the Amazon jungle, ducking and attempting to avoid trees and branches in our way.  Note: the audio in the second part of the video was removed due to the disrupted silence of "Are you filming?" asked mid video by a certain tall friend and later by David's rendition of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance"; I just felt as though the video could do without them.  No offense. 

Of course this wasn't David's only ride on the Tarzan swing, but his near collision with a tree, the quick save by our guide and subsequent elated "Gracias" make it a real gem. 

No, there's nothing wrong with your computer or the video, this is simply the sound of an Amazonian rainstorm, one that happened to occur the night we slept in the jungle.  Luckily, our trusty guides covered us with a sturdy tarp, so we woke without being soaked.  Again, the audio hardly does a good enough job of capturing what it is like to be sleeping in the middle of a rainstorm in the Amazon: sounds I won't soon forget.

This Stuff vs. Amazonian Insects

When I shared with friends at school that we would be venturing to the Amazon for spring break I received lots of advice.  One being to make and bring our own bug spray for a couple reasons: 1.  Amazon bugs are supernatural and may not be phased by your normal store bought spray.  2.  Its better to take natural spray because sprays containing high levels of deet and other chemicals are not only harmful to you, but to the environment.  After sending several people to several different stores, we finally found what we needed and decided to get together after school one day to throw together a giant spray of bug repellent.  Luckily, there were three science teachers so we had access to lab and other helpful tools. 

Grinding up camphor tablets

INGREDIENTS

• 250 mL alcohol
• 250 mL "menticol"
• 6 camphor tablets
• 1 oz. 10% "Eurax"
• 2 Tbsp citronella essence
• 3 Tbsp Johnson's baby oil
• Nopikex soap

The process was fairly simple; after crushing the Nopikex soap and camphor tablets (which I learned is the science-y name for moth balls) with a mortar and pestle we combined all the ingredients together and stirred.  A lot.  The website with the recipe said to use a blender, but we certainly weren't going to use the same one we use for food and purchasing one for the occasion wasn't exactly ideal.  Hence, the excessive stirring.

What we got were concoctions in various shades of yellowish-green that smelled, well, like bug spray.  After testing it for a week in the Amazon, I would say the stuff works pretty well.  It doesn't last as long as I would like, so repeated applications are necessary, but when I did have it on, I wasn't bothered by the mosquitoes or other biting insects.  So I'd say that in This Stuff vs Amazonian Insects, this stuff wins.  Next time you head to the Amazon, or any other insect infested areas, give it a try. 

The New Normal

Now that I have been here in Cali for more than 7 months (crazy, right?) I have been looking back on some of those things that really threw me for a loop when I first got here.  I still don't think I ever really had culture shock, but there are definitely some things that caught my attention my first few weeks.  These are now things that I see or experience quite often, and usually don't think twice about, except for maybe a laugh or two.

• Being in a cab with the tank reading E and/or having to stop for gas
• Seeing a family of 4 riding on a moto
• Knowing its OK to cross the street only when the street performers and jugglers entertain waiting traffic
• Ridiculously enhanced breasts and butts
• Not having Internet and/or power at school in the morning.  OK, so the power thing has only happened twice after rainy nights, but I've learned to embrace it and have an energy free alternative just in case.
• Our cab driver watching music videos on a portable player, normal right?
• Motos that drive on the sidewalk to avoid traffic
• A horse or mule drawn wagon on the road with cars, trucks and motos
• Brand representatives at the stores trying to sell me things (e.g., toothpaste, laundry detergent, chicken seasoning, etc.)

There is however, one thing that I would like to add that I don't think I will ever get used to that still makes me awkward/uncomfortable/anxious: that would be the workers in clothing stores that attack me upon entering and continue to follow me around the store.  They are kind of like that servant in Adam Sandler's "Mr. Deeds" who is "very, very sneaky".

I specifically learned to say "solo mirando" to help them understand that I don't want a shopping partner and that I am just browsing; unfortunately, few actually get the message.  This leads me to move swiftly through stores in attempts to avoid and dodge the workers and in some cases not even enter stores where the worker to customer ratio is not in my favor (really anything over 1:1 is dangerous and scary).  Needless to say, I haven't shopped a whole lot here in Cali.


I'm sure there is plenty more to add to the list, and it will likely continue to grow.  I will keep you updated on all of the quirky things I witness on a daily basis here in Cali.