Dia de Deportes

Every section (primary, middle and high school) has a Sports Day at Bolivar, and every teacher has an opinion about it.  I'd heard near horror stories from primary Sports Day, but heard high school Sports Day is always fun.  Going into middle school Sports Day this past Friday, I really hadn't heard anything good from the other teachers or students about it, but I decided to go in with an open mind anyway.  In middle school, students and teachers in 6th-8th grade are placed in one of four houses: Dolphins, Squid Squads, Sting Rays and Barracudas (my house).  Yes, kind of like in Harry Potter, minus the Quidditch.  And magic.  In these houses students compete in various events throughout the day to earn points in hopes of winning the day overall.  They also get points for things like helping clean up trash or the sports equipment and sportsmanship.  In the morning we rallied with our houses to get pumped up, practice our cheer and make our way down to the soccer field to meet up with the rest of the houses. 

House flags & bulletin boards

Barracudas getting pumped.  Really.  We are.

When we made it down to the field, every house sang their cheer and then we got started with events.  Students from each grade in each house participated in track and field events including short and long distance relays, followed by a sort of obstacle course which had three-legged race, potato sack racing, something involving an inner tube and an army crawl. 

Then came the tug of war competition, which is were the teachers' "spirit" really came out, I for one lost my voice from screaming at students to "Puuuulllll!!!!!".  The muddy fields made for extra interesting conditions.  I had a FABULOUS video clip of Rob and Kristin really "encouraging" their Sting Rays, but I accidentally deleted it.  Dammit.  It was good.  But here is a quick clip of a fellow Barracuda teacher helping our kids out:

 

Our 7th graders kind of got smoked on this one.

After all this we finally got a break, time I took to go order our Breaking Dawn tickets online, obviously.  After break was time for other various sports, I watched the boys 7th and 8th grade basketball games, which the Barracudas took 1st in both.  Then there was boys soccer then time for lunch.  As you can tell, the day got less and less exciting, I got more and more tired and hot and the kids became less and less well behaved.  After lunch there was the pool events which were at least some what entertaining if for no other reason than our boys who participated (and were generally the only ones who participated throughout the day) had no idea what was going on, and to be honest neither did I, but amusing nonetheless.

The Dolphins won the day overall, with Sting Rays in 2nd, Barracudas in 3rd and the previously first place Squid Squads in 4th.  Overall, I think there are some definite improvements that can be made to the day to make it better for kids and teachers alike, but I wouldn't say it was a terrible day (just long and hot) but it wasn't my favorite day either; I'd call it a draw.

More pictures from throughout the day:

Binationals in Pereira

Every year, the schools in Colombia that are part of SACS get together for Binationals, a several day sports tournament hosted by a different school each year.  The high school, middle school and teachers all have different locations at different time of the year.  As I mentioned at the end of my Panaca post that I went straight from Quimbaya to Pereira with three other 7th grade teachers for Binationals.  As you can imagine, three days filled with activities with 7th graders followed by more traveling and a weekend of sports is exhausting.  Good thing this was all followed by Semana de Receso. 

Anyway, after the buses taking everyone back to Cali dropped us off closer to town, we wandered our way around asking how and where to catch a bus to Pereira.  And by "we" I mean Christian, one of the PE teachers.  Thank goodness for him because the collective Spanish of Durkee, Scott and I probably wouldn't have gotten us far.  We found a helpful little old man who informed us we could just wait at this corner for a bus to come and he would flag it down for us.  Sounds great.  We grabbed something to drink and waited with all of our bags outside a little tienda for the bus to come, with no specific arrival time.  After about 15 minutes, the man informed us that we in fact had to go somewhere else to catch the bus.  I didn't actually catch what he said, but we had to get up and do more wandering so that's what I inferred.  We wandered for about another 10 minutes until we found a bus place, where they told us we had to go to a different corner to catch the bus to Pereira.  Five more minutes of wandering and we found the bus, ready to leave.  Luckily it was the first stop so we all got seats after paying our whopping $5000 pesos (close to $3 USD) for our 1.5-2 hour bus ride.  As is the case with most Colombian buses, the driver stopped anywhere and everywhere to pick up anyone and everyone along the way, which is why our trip was a little longer.  It got pretty crowded and hot, but luckily I had grabbed a seat next to the window and exhaustion from Panaca allowed me to sleep the majority of the time.  Even when an elderly gentlemen was jabbing his elbow into my side for about 30 minutes.  Thank you sir. 

When we got to the bus terminal in Pereira we caught a cab to our hotel and Christian got us all checked in.  Then we went out to the centro to grab a bite to eat, at which point we realized that Christian, bags still in hand, wasn't actually staying at the hotel.  His parents live about 30 from there and he was going to stay with them.  So in other words, he went COMPLETELY out of his way to make sure we got to our hotel and found a place to eat safely and double and triple checked that we knew how to get back before he had more traveling of his own to do.  Amazing.  Yet another reason I love Colombia, my school and co-workers.  Scott, Durkee & I grabbed some Italian food and looked around the mall a bit before heading back and waiting for the people from Cali to arrive.  Their bus wasn't leaving school until 6pm so they weren't scheduled to arrive in Pereira until about 9:30-10:00.  When I got back to the hotel I caught up on Internet, attempted to read before passing out around 8pm.  Woke up when David knocked at the door and then pretty much went back to sleep until morning.  Field trips are exhausting. 

Volleyball and basketball games weren't until 1 in the afternoon the next day, so neither David nor I bothered to set alarms.  Luckily we woke up at 7am to discover our bus was leaving for the school at 7:30 for the day and we would be back until midnight or later.  Quickest shower and re-packing ever.  We made our way to Licio Ingles, the host school for the morning soccer games.  Still somehow exhausted and having little knowledge in the rules of soccer, I spent my morning sitting on a bench attempting to read/nap.  Lunch came around and then it was time for volleyball and basketball.  One of the other three schools didn't have a team and Bolivar had enough for two, so we split up.  Not sure if it was A and B teams (in which case I was definitely put on B) but we both lost to the other two school playing, but I will say we put up a heck of a fight.  I still have floor burns from all my awesome diving for balls sans knee pads.  Three games in a row was exhausting and while it was fun, I was certainly fading and glad it was over.  After our games, the basketball moved from the outdoor court to the covered (but still open-air) court.  Good thing, because most of the players were sun burnt from playing outside for 2-3 hours. 

Most of the Bolivar competitors

After all the sports we showered and changed to get ready for our evening with all the athletes at a finca another school was renting out.  Although finca literally translates as farm, it refers more to a countryside house or estate.  After several stops along the way we finally got there and I got to enjoy my first ever lechona, a traditional Colombian meal consisting of a roasted pig stuffed with rice and other vegetables.  Looks gross, tastes delicious.  The rice from the pig is served with an arepa and some of the crispy skin from the pig.  In general, lechona is made for special events or occasions, our co-worker had one for his wedding, and they can feed MANY people.  Although I was originally very excited for a night of fun, the blaring music and onset of continued exhaustion (I'm telling you it was a LONG 5 days) and excitement wore off and all I wanted to do was sleep.  Others agreed.  While some partied and danced, especially when the live band came, many of us sought hammocks, empty couches or any open floor to rest on.  Finally around 11:30 our friend Lyndi had had enough and called several cabs, since our bus wouldn't be going back until after 1am.

Sunday was meant to be another day of sports, but instead of school against school, we integrated teams and played.  The day started a little later and there was one soccer game and then lunch and then a basketball game.  No one who played volleyball had any interest in playing so we didn't.  We're a bunch of bums.  We packed up and boarded the bus for our trip back to Cali.  After 5 days gone, getting back and sleeping in my own bed never felt so good, but I'd probably do it all again given the chance. 

Oh and in case you were wondering, the school that hosted Binationals didn't have a softball field, hence, no softball.  Bummer.

No Pork Castle for Me, Thank You

Every Wednesday I play volleyball with some other teachers, who happen to all be better than me, and speak more Spanish than me.  But, despite my lack of skills in both I managed to get the invite to play at the Binational teachers tournament in October, score.  Let's face it I'll probably sit the bench, but I'll take it.  Anyway, earlier this week (meaning yesterday, since its only Tuesday) one of the teachers, Octavio, sent out an email, which was entirely in Spanish.  Usually somewhere along the way someone will translate it to English, but this one didn't.  I read my way through it and used a little Google translate, but finally decided to kindly ask Amy to give me a quick run down of the invite.  As I suspected, Octavio was inviting us all to his house after volleyball Wednesday to celebrate the upcoming games as well as other various things, for some chorizos and beer, but if we preferred a pork chop (costilla de cerdo) to email him so he could order it.  I decided this morning that I'd be able to go and emailed back "Voy a asistir tambien, pero no castillo de cerdo para mi.  ¡Muchas gracias Octavio!", Reply All of course.  Now perhaps you didn't notice the slight spelling error, just as I hadn't, but my word has an O on the end, not an A.  Which means I replied "I am going to attend as well, but no pork castle for me.  Thank you!"  Within the hour I got a response informing me of my mistake, and when I saw Octavio on the bus he mentioned it too and assured that we'd all have a good long laugh about it tomorrow with our beers and castillos. 

Cassie, Casi

Before coming down to Colombia, I pondered how people would pronounce my name since Spanish doens’t really have the A sound like in “aaaaapple”, nor do Colombians have an obnoxious Chicaaaaaago accent. They also don’t have the long A sound like in “basement” (no idea why that was the example that came to mind) which would rule out “Casey” that I have learned to respond to over the last 24 years. Which by the way people, its pretty obvious its Cassie with A like in “apple” and not Casey with an A like in “basement”, I mean look at it: 2 S’s and “ASS” is right there in case you needed help figuring it out. I digress. So when I came down I was not surprised when people would hesitate when saying my name because the only A sound they use is like in the word….well I’m stuck. It’s just a Spanish A, which kind of sounds like the sound an O makes in the word “obvious”. Also, I just realized that “ape” would have been better than “basement”. Darnit. Focus.

As if my last name were’t foreign enough, these poor people can’t pronounce my first name either. I kindly pronounce it for them as I would in the US and receive confused stares, not surprisingly so as this is a vowel sound unknown to them. However, it seems that they DO know the long A sound and alas, Casey I am again. I kindly repeat it using the Spanish sounds turning my name to Casi, with a Spanish A and an emphasized I (which soulds like a long E). I knew before coming down here that casi in Spanish means “almost”. Although I did NOT realize just how hilarious people would find it. Like when I play volleyball after school on Wednesdays with some Colombian teachers. I’m running and running for a poorly hit ball and just miss it and John Freddy (who speaks little English) says, “casi, Cassie” and then laughs to himself. Funny right? Or when I am running for the bus (which was leaving 3 min too early) after softball on Friday and Harold yells, “Corre Cassie, casi allí Cassie!” (“run Cassie, almost there Cassie!). Or when I almost get a hit past David in softball (because for some reason they always put us on different teams). Si casi.

I may have to change my name.

Fastest Blog Update Ever

First 2 days of school down woo hoo! I love my kids (I know I´ll take that back at some point this year, likely within the next 2 weeks), they are so darn cute and have the cutest little Colombian accents. They ALWAYS say hello and goodbye, and `Thank you Misses´ (with a long e sounds like meeeses) when class is over. One of my Manuela´s told me today that I dress beautiful, guess I´ll have to keep dressing to her standards. I have been on their case constantly about speaking English in class when they are doing group work, which then means they keep asking me words in English which is fun for me to try to figure out what the heck they are trying to describe. Yesterday we had and 8 period schedule for the first day, but today we had our standard 5 period, so I only taught 3 classes and was done by 12:50 right before lunch. Tomorrow I will only teach 3 again, but this rotating schedule is tricky to figure out: today class periods were A,B,C,D,E with a 30 min break between B and C and 40 minute lunch between D and E, but I only taught A, C & D. Tomorrow will be classes F,G,H,A,B with the same breaks and lunch etc etc. Although its tricky for planning, it gives me usually 140 minutes of prep time and the day seems a lot shorter. Still no Internet at home arrrggggagagrgrgrrgrgrgagag. Although I think I am getting used to it, I really hope we can get it up and running soon. Today after school some teachers are playing volleyball and tomorrow is softball, then next week starts yoga and body combat, no wonder everyone here is so fit! Oh and it should be noted that Middle School (me) beat High School (David) last Friday in kick ball 24-14. Off to plan some lessons before volleyball!

Retracing My Steps

Yes I KNOW I haven´t updated this religiously, but no Internet at home + first week of school + moving to a new country makes it difficult to find time for some of these things. But I will try to retrace the steps I have taken here in Cali since my first post.

Our first Friday here we had lunch at our director´s house which is here on the campus. We had arepa which is a traditional type of bread treat they have here and pan de bono which is hot cheese filled bread rolls, both delicious. It was also a juice workshop in which we got to try different juices and combinations of all the yummy fruits they have including caruba (David´s favorite), lulo, mango, papaya, maracuya (passion fruit), guanábana (my favorite) and a couple others I can´t remember. They were just as delicious as the food. During our lunch break Joe, our director (who is originally from Indiana), took out his set of Bocce balls. David and I quickly got on a team and showed off our skills. Everyone was pretty impressed with us and those who weren’t playing pulled up chairs around where we were playing and started watching. Our team won 3 of 4 if I remember correctly. David told me that I throw just like my grandpa, which if you know my grandpa is a pretty great compliment for any Bocce ball-er to receive.

That Saturday we spent the morning shopping some more and then moving into our apartments. Since the bus moved south to north, David and I had LOTS of helpers moving our things to our apartment. We unpacked and unpacked and unpacked some more, then decided to take a break for a swim. While we were up at the pool Sebastian and Matilde stopped back by with our Space Bag of sheets, pillows and towels we left on the bus. The security guard gave them a really hard time about getting in because he couldn’t call us because we didn’t have phones. We were glad to see they were being so strict. We decided not to go dancing that night and stayed in. We attempted to put curtains on our floor to ceiling glass doors in the bedroom, but they were too short length and width…and then the holder for the rod came out of the ceiling. Needless to say we were up preeeeetty early Sunday morning…

And so we ventured back to Homecenter (similar to Home Depot or Lowe´s) to return our cortinas and buy new hardware along with some other things we were in need of. I was worried about having to return something, but given my overwhelming experiences with returning things in the states, it wasn’t too bad. I was even able to double check (in Spanish) that we could use the voucher for other things if we couldn´t find curtains. We found some that are still too short, but they get the job done so they were good enough for us. In the afternoon we went to the new chemistry teacher, Wojciech's house where he and his wife Sonia made us homemade pizza´s and gave us a chance to make some pizzas of our own with the ingredients we brought. Very yummy and very relaxing after a busy week. Monday started a loooong week of meetings, but also gave us a great opportunity to meet all of our new co-workers. Those updates will have to wait for another time. Ciao!