Past (Part 3 of 3)

            Two days after, I participated in another workshop; this one was based on diversity in the Peace Corps. Myself (the Latino), along with Jessica (Half Chinese, Half Jewish), Drew (African American), Erik (Gay white guy) spoke about identifying with a specific "group" how this affects (positively and negatively) our PC experience at school and in the community.

As for my experiences, I haven’t had any really bad experiences but many awkward times. Like the time my host aunt asked me about my religion and why I haven’t been to church. The easy thing for me to have done was to answer "I believe in God" and "When can I go to church with you?” However, that’s too easy, I opted to tell her that, I'm not sure what’s out there but I do believe in science and evolution. And I don't want to go to church for those reasons. Big mistake! She didn’t take it well, "We don’t come from monkeys!" and "the previous volunteer went to church with us all the time!" After than exchange I didn’t visit my host aunt for about 3 to 4 months. I have yet to go to church.

In other occasions, the fact that I was born in Nicaragua leads them to bring up the disagreement between governments of Colombia and Nicaragua over the San Andres islands. Geographically the islands are closer to Nicaragua but Colombia has historically laid claim to them. Whenever, the topic comes up I just nod and smile. I seriously don’t care who owns them. I still get called "gringo" just for the fact that I speak English.

I also had my own fears about being "Nicaraguan-American", I asked myself, if the school/community/teachers/students/parents/host family going to treat me different cause I'm not a white, blue eyed and blonde volunteer? (Answer: Most people don’t care as long as talk to them in English) If my Spanish proficiency was going to help me at during my service? (Answer: It did to an extent, just because I can understand the language doesn’t mean I understand the culture. I also don’t like dropping my consonants at the end of words something that many Costeños do.)

Drew spoke about how it’s easier for him to fit in and how we (brown folk) are the majority here. The white volunteers are experiencing how it feels to be the minority. Jessica spoke about her experiences dealing with the Jewish and Chinese stereotypes that Colombians like to repeat to her so she can confirm them. Erik told some stories of his struggles trying to date other men in Nicaragua and in Colombia.

At the end we didn’t have enough time to answer all the questions the trainees had but my advice to them was to be honest with your self and with everyone else. Costeños will be very blunt and at times too friendly from the beginning, if you get offended tell them at the moment it happens. They might not like what they hear but they will respect you for it. Also, not everyone will like you just like you wont like everyone you meet.

            The weekend after I was in Barranquilla ten of the thirty trainees visited Cartagena so they could accompany us to our schools and see how it’s done. I was assigned Nathan, from Denver, 23 years old, never been out of the US before coming to Colombia. He's a great guy, ready to do some good in Colombian, he was also really excited to see my school, meet my teachers and the students. Of course, the Monday he was supposed to visit me, there was no school, the teachers had to go to an old day meeting in the city. However, he was able to see the school, meet the cleaning ladies and the security guards (who are the only ones that live in the town, all the teachers live in the city). We also walked around town, met some family members, enjoyed the scorching heat (he was also wearing a long sleeve shirt, rookie mistake) and a great meal at my host mom's restaurant. We also got to see "La Boquilla" which is a small beachside community where another volunteer lives.  They will soon find out where they'll be living for the next two years so it was important for the trainees to see how volunteers live outside of the city since most of the sites on the coast will be urban. I wish them nothing but the best of luck.

Visiting trainees.

The Mikes and I. ( Beer for education purposes)