Meetings and fried food.

Last week was another planning week at school, I hope that its not the same amount of planning at US schools, I don't think I can make it as a teacher. We spent all day Monday listening to the different departments present their student projects/activities they planned for the year. I really don't have anything to say during these meetings but I want to show my English teachers and the other teachers that I support them (I also don't have anything to do during the day so it gets me out of bed). When it was the English department’s turn, none of the teachers wanted to present our projects, they were all so nervous. They spend all year talking to students but they get “stage fright” in front of their peers. I almost volunteered but I wouldn’t know what to say about any of the projects. Most of the week was spent listening to coordinators talk about how we need to motivate the students through engaging lessons and projects. They finally announced what classes are the teachers going to teach but there is still no class schedule. 5 days before school starts no schedule, just going with the flow.

Also, how we need to involve the parents and the community, during and after school. There was much talking done but I didn't see anything being planned so I guess we just have to wait and see. On Tuesday I decided to skip the meeting and go visit Monica, a volunteer that lives in Cartagena. She has AC and Wi-Fi at her school so she is very popular, two other volunteers were there too, Mike and Christina. On Thursday, I decided to leave school early and visit her again, one of the teachers she works with, Jesus, gave some English teaching materials so I didn't completely squander my whole morning on the internet. I also took the time to complete my SELF (Site Locator Form) that includes all kinds of information about my site, emergency contacts, map of the barrio and different addresses. One interesting piece of information it asks for is two people in the neighborhood that have a car: 0. No one that I know has a car in Pasacaballo. There are lots of motorcycles but I cant ride on those.

The highlights of the week were meeting the volunteers from a religious Austrian foundation called “Madre Herlinda Moises” (previously FUNSCRI but everyone still uses it the old name). I met 3 of the 4 volunteers, 2 from Austria and 1 from Germany. They are have been here since September and will be here for a year, also teaching English in the community. They have a very nice building in town and I’m looking forward to collaborating with them teaching English and/or teaching/playing basketball. All of them like to play basketball (of course they are fans of Dirk Nowitski and the Mavs). The foundation has been working in Pasacaballos for around 50 years so they are quite known. Although, my host cousin is not too fond of them, he said they have been here for such a long time but they haven’t changed anything around here. I wonder if other people around the world feel the same about the Peace Corps, they’ve been around for that long in some countries.

On Wednesday afternoon, after watching Real Madrid tie Barcelona at my cousins (Gianci short for Giancarlo but people pronounce like Yankee) bar, I helped him put together an Ikea like closet. He has room right behind the bar, quite convenient. I convinced him that we shouldn't wait for the people from the furniture store to come put it together since it’s simple enough for two regular guys like us. Four hours later we were 90% finished! Mostly, because some parts were too big, some holes were missing and we placed some parts upside down. I really enjoyed the experience aside from getting to know my cousin, I also got to know his friend Ferdinand (real name Fernando) and co-owner of the bar. I also introduced them to world of Pandora Internet radio, listened to some of the best music 90’s and 2000’s. He did finally finish the closet the next day.

Friday’s school meeting was another doozy, during the break teachers had an impromptu karaoke/dance session. They hooked up their phone to the speaker system and started singing. It was awesome! The break lasted a bit longer and they probably sang 5 songs until the principal, 

who surprisingly didn’t join the singing, interrupted them. Here is a taste:

On Saturday, 6 of us volunteers attended the Fried food festival near the center of the city. It's a contest that includes 36 of the best “fritangas” or fried food shops, of Cartagena selling different types of arepas and empanadas filled with chicken, chees, pork, meat, seafood or all of them. It was quite a feast not good for my diet but very delicious. Although, I thought there was going to be more variety, I really wanted some “chicharron” or deep fried pork.

All in all a successful week! Here are some pictures from Saturday night:

Festival trinkets

Fried goodness!

Enjoying my third arepa.

El Castillo de San Felipe

Clock Tower