The End of an Adventure

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” — Henry David Thoreau

Two years ago, I started off on one of the best experiences of my life, having no idea what to expect.  Living in Cartagena, Colombia proved to be a growing time, full of fun, friends and adventure.  Life was simple:  I could live with minimal things, Guadalupe cooked and cleaned for me, bills and responsibilities were few.  

My job at COJOWA was fulfilling.  I was always treated extremely well, and the staff bent over backwards to make the foreign teachers feel at home and comfortable.  

End-of-the-year party at El Sitio.

Those of us that closed the place down dancing.

Waking up and coming home everyday to my amazing views was something I never tired of.  How can one be grumpy when they have this to look at and the lullaby of waves crashing in the background?  

The friendships formed while in Cartagena gave me a superb social life and a support system while far from home. These people became my family and were always there for traveling, going out, listening, or just taking a walk around the bay.  

Elizabeth

Becky

Michelle and Becky

Not only is Colombia a beautiful place filled with just about every landscape the world has, but its people are some of the warmest and happiest I have ever met.  My appreciation of the country has only grown stronger in my time there, and I know it will always be a home for me. 



Charlie

For the past year, I have tutored Charlie in math.  I taught Charlie last year in seventh grade and always thought of him as a kind and charismatic student.  After spending anywhere from one to six hours a week with him, though, Charlie became one of my favorite people here.  It didn't matter if I was sad about something, when I left Charlie's house, I had an extra bounce in my step.  The kid just has a way about him.  Granted, more time was spent regaling me with tales of middle school and his childhood than actual math, but it was impossible to get him to focus for too long.  At Charlie's house, I learned about soccer, especially Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović, new songs (including One Direction's "Night Changes"), what middle school boys really think about, buscapies (mini fireworks), and tons of other topics.  Tutoring Charlie was enjoyable, and as the hours together accumulated, he became a brother to me, filling in the gap of family during my stay here in Cartagena.  

The Best....and Worst Part....of Being a Teacher

It always amazes me just how much love kids have and how open they are with it.  My students have spent hours upon hours with me over the last two years and have seen all of my moods (some not pretty, not pretty at all), and yet, they still pour affection over me and simply accept all of who I am.

Although my kids show me appreciation all year long, the last few weeks have been turbofied.  It started on my birthday, a Friday.  As I walked into the classroom, a bunch of students were waiting by the door with balloons (let me tell you how distracting those were throughout the day) to give me hugs and wish me a happy birthday.  They even had the birthday song playing over and over on my computer.  A sixth grader, Vale A., brought in a huge chocolate cake for her class and I to share.

Then last Tuesday, we had a middle school award ceremony for academic and athletic achievement.  At the end, they announced me Teacher of the Year, an award I am quite honored by.

That Thursday, Elizabeth and I gave a pizza party to our NJHS members.  Some of the girls stayed behind at the end, so we were a bit late getting to lunch.

The music kids were giving a concert in the cafeteria.  Sixth grade had already been playing a couple of songs, but as soon as I sat down near the stage to listen, Toto (Jorge Mario), the lead singer of sixth grade, dedicated a song to me and made a really sweet speech on how they were going to miss me.  The song is "Caraluna", one we had listened to in class a few times.  The video quality doesn't do justice to Toto's singing, who is actually quite good, but you'll get the idea.

Then, as if the week could get any fuller, the last Friday of school rolls around.  When my 7B class came in second hour, I was impressed with how quietly they were doing their warm up.  Elizabeth came in just as I was starting on attendance and told me Carlos needed to see all seventh grade in the kiosk to discuss discipline and that they needed to bring their things.  Ah!  We had final review planned for the day, so I told the kids to go quickly and quietly and to nod their heads in agreement to anything that was said so we could get back to reviewing.

The first signs of me being duped were Carolyn (English teacher) dramatically yelling at my kids and me seeing sixth graders in the kiosk area.  I finally caught on when I heard my song, "A Ti" by Ricardo Arjona, playing in the background.  The sixth graders had planned a going away party for me and brought cakes, cookies, soda, chips, etc.  The 6A class had written on a COJOWA shirt several of my sayings, and the 6B class had made banners with them as well.  (Don't look too closely at the sayings: they make me sound like a horrible teacher.)  Plus, all the songs I had played in class were coming out of someone's laptop.  It was great fun, though terribly hot, and it made me rethink my decision to leave Cartagena....again.

   

Add on all the heartfelt letters and teary (students) quality time during breaks, I was not yet ready to say goodbye to my kids when Monday rolled around.  They had welcomed me with open arms, and the likelihood that I would be seeing any of them again soon was not high.  This is the worst part of being a teacher:  bonding with a group of students and having to say goodbye to them at the end of the year, knowing that even if you see them again, it will never be the same as when you had them all in class.

Pictures were taken and a speech given to each class.  Only the kids exempted from the final exam could hug me, though.  The others had to wait until Thursday: I can only take so much mushiness, which thankfully, the students already know.  I sure am going to miss these guys!

Cosmic Run 2016

A few months ago, I made a wager of 100,000 pesos ($33) with Daniel, my Colombian friend, on COJOWA's Cosmic Run.  I had absolutely no hope of beating him in the eight-kilometer run, but I thought the motivation would help me to train harder.  Why was there no hope, you ask?  Well, Daniel is a professional volleyball player, over six feet tall, and incredibly athletic.  Add on the fact that he is uber competitive, and I didn't stand a chance.

The Wednesday before the race (which fell on May 28th), Jenn (another teacher) just happened to mention on the bus ride home that her only goal in the race was to beat me.  Ahhhhhh!!!!!!  Another win-or-die person!  I am only competitive with myself, so needless to say, my stomach was in knots for the next few days.  

Oh, and did I mention that I had not trained outside once until the week of the race where I ran for a measly thirty minutes at a slow pace and just about had a heat stroke afterward?  Things were not looking good for me.

The day of the race finally came.  While getting ready at home, I was constantly receiving voice messages from Mama....of her singing motivational songs.  It was quite inspiring!

 The four-kilometer family run started first, and it was fun seeing many of the students as they finished.

When the eight kilometers got underway at 7:45, a light rain had begun to fall, cooling us all down.  Unfortunately, that only lasted for twenty minutes, and soon the full effects of 100% humidity and 90 degree weather were being felt.  In my excitement, I had started off too quickly and was regretting my lack of control.  I always thought Cartagena was a flat city, but it turns out I was wrong;  I noticed during the second lap that there were a couple of hills!  (Okay, they were probably just slight inclines, but they felt like mountains.)

I beat my own personal record and passed the finish line at 39:43, about a minute before Jenn and Daniel.  (Not to give him any excuses, but Daniel had trained for three hours that morning.)  We joined our friends who had cheered us on and those finishing after us and proceeded to celebrate the completion of the run by sitting in an outdoor cafe, which was a necessity because our sweat would have frozen us had we sat indoors.

With the race over, I now need something else to train for.....maybe another bet?

Colorado Trip

The weekend after Suesca, I flew to Colorado to help Bianca wedding dress shop.  It was mid-May, and the temperatures were literally freezing.  One day, the high was a measly 46 degrees.  Seriously?  Luckily, there were heaters everywhere, so the weather merely confirmed my love of warm, humid climates.

Upon arriving in Denver, Bianca, Mama, Katie and I all shared a lovely hotel suite:  two separate bedrooms, a kitchenette, a living room, and the pièce de résistance, hot water!  Yes, yes, I know:  this is the United States; of course they have hot water.  It doesn't matter.  I still greatly appreciate the luxury.

We spent that night catching up and got an early start the next morning.  Bianca had appointments at three different bridal stores.  Ummmm....never having been married, I had absolutely no idea there were so many styles to choose from.  Bianca must have tried on at least thirty dresses before narrowing her choices down to two.  (It's a problem when one looks good in everything she tries on.)

Being a monumental decision, we stopped at a winery down the road from the last bridal shop to help clear our heads.  Picking up some wine from Costco, we belted out Matchbox Twenty all the way to Outback where we refueled before kicking back at the hotel.

Fresh the following morning, we stopped at both stores so Bianca could try on the final two dresses.  Boy, is she going to be a beauty in the one she picked!

Thoroughly elated, we stopped by to see Bianca and Tim's new house before meeting Dad and Tim for a bite to eat.  It is exciting to see a new chapter in Bianca's life beginning.

That night, Mama, Dad and I stayed in Fort Collins with Tim (brother) and Katie.  It was good to see their four kids again and get to know them a bit more.  On Monday, we grabbed lunch and walked around (in the rain)  in downtown Fort Collins, a pleasant way to spend the day.  My flight left Monday late night, so poor Dad drove me all the way to the airport.  Luckily, we grabbed some Starbucks before heading out and had enjoyable conversations, so the ride went quickly.

For such a short trip, I feel I was able to pack in quite a bit of bonding time, and I look forward to seeing everyone again this summer.  Plus, two girls' weekends in a row isn't too shabby.

Girls' Weekend

In the beginning of May, we had a three-day weekend, so Michelle, Becky and I headed to Suesca for some relaxation and rock climbing.  We left for Bogota at the crack of dawn on Saturday and made it to Suesca by lunchtime.  

To enjoy the beautiful weather, we walked a few miles along the train tracks and passed a deep canyon before arriving at a small town.

The walk was peaceful with our only other company being cows and birds.

At the town, we ate at a pizzeria that had been recommended to us.  The owner wanted to show us the  remodeled rooms in his small hotel while we were leaving, so we literally missed the bus by two minutes.  The entertainment for the next hour while waiting for a taxi was well worth it, though.  

Camilo and his two teenage kids were coming in to eat as we were leaving.  After ordering their pizza, they came out to chat.  Since we were still sitting by the side of the road when they finished, Camilo decided to take out his guitar-like instrument and just start playing.  The kids were really nice and good at conversation, but I cannot imagine what they were thinking when their dad started serenading us.

Here is just a little clip; the concert went on for at least ten minutes.  Where does one look when someone is singing to you?!  Needless to say, it was an enjoyable taxi ride home.

On Sunday, Peter picked us up, and we headed to the giant rock wall.  I had asked Peter if he could teach me some technical skills while we were climbing.  This was probably not the best idea since I am still a major novice, but I learned how to belay and clean the gear off the mountain.

Michelle is pregnant, so she only stayed to watch us get up the first pitch before heading back to town to relax.  

Becky began by flying up the first pitch...fast enough to make Michelle comment she looked like a little lizard.  I took a bit more time, making sure I didn't fall off the cliff to my doom.

Michelle way down at the bottom of our first pitch.

Our first climb took at least a couple hours to get up due to our slow climbing abilities and the wait time in between the four pitches.  It was a perfect day for being outside, though, so it didn't matter.

(Unfortunately with me always being the last person up, I wasn't able to video Becky at all.  I apologize for all the videos of me, but at least it should give you an idea of the experience.)

We did one more climb.  Becky recognized it instantly as the final climb of our last trip to Suesca.  I had loved this climb and was looking forward to it again.  Of course, Peter then told us that we would be going up even higher and traversing across the rock face before rappelling down.  Great.....

Poor Peter was a busy man during this climb.  Not only was he focusing on keeping Becky and my ropes taut, but there was also a lady up top that needed Peter's advice to continue climbing.  

The climb has a bunch of different techniques to go up, my favorite being hugging the giant boulder and sticking my butt out to climb.  (Poor people below.)  I had to wait on the wall several times while Becky scaled to the where Peter was since I just don't like climbing with a loose rope.  (Remember: I'm an amateur.) 

The part below is where we had to traverse across the wall (where the rope is).  There were awesome footholds, but the handholds got sketchy halfway through.  At one point, I had to hang on to the gear sticking out of the wall.  The issue came when that gear needed to be cleaned (taken down).  Luckily, there were small, hidden handholds, and I arrived intact at the rendezvous point, elated by just having tried another climbing technique.

That elation didn't last long, however, when Peter informed us that we would be rappelling from that exact spot.  Ummmm.....it was definitely higher than any other place that I have rappelled from, and it looked deadly.  I was a wee bit freaked out, and the wait time while Peter set everything up didn't help.

We were on that narrow ledge for about an hour because Peter had to reclimb the mountain to check the gear and then climb back down to wait for us to rappel.  Although he still had us belayed to him, we were actually belaying ourselves with the rope.  

When it was Becky's turn, she quickly unhooked herself and bounded down the cliff like a fearless mountain goat.  Ugh....pressure!  Finally, Peter called that I could start.  I unfastened all the gear and then slowly made my way to the edge of the cliff.  Honestly, the five steps it took to get over the edge and have my feet on the mountainside were the scariest.  After that, it wasn't so bad as I went at an extremely leisurely pace (as witnessed in the video below).  The past hour of churning insides were for naught. 

Our superhero rock climber.

We met up with Michelle and Otto afterward and celebrated with a double cheeseburger and fries and then sat around the fire at the hotel with some hot wine.  Add on the hot shower, and life truly does not get much better.

Flowers

During our trip, Becky made a point to stop and "smell" the roses.  The flowers in Colombia are gorgeous and just about everywhere.  Although some of these pictures are mine, most come from Becky's iPhone, which I begrudgingly admit has an excellent camera.  Here is just a sampling: