Bumps in the road in Bogota

Soo, it's been kinda a rocky road in Bogota lately. They're been some "issues" with IH Bogota to put it lightly. If any potential IH Bogota teachers are reading this, please feel free to email me to get a full history! Also, I got mugged the other day. I was so stressed out about the issues with the school that I decided to go for a relaxing walk. Unfortunately, as I crossed a busy road listening to my ipod, the music suddenly stopped and I reached into my pocket only to find no ipod! Grrrrr! Not impressed! I even ran after a guy saying "Fui robaron! Mi Ipod!" (I was robbed! My Ipod!). I'm not really sure what I expected him to do or say (perhaps hand over my Ipod?) but he just looked at me confused, shrugged, and continued walking. Well, at least my parents know what to get me for Christmas this year!

I'm at home for Christmas which is great! I originally wasn't going to come home but decided to surprise my family at the last minute. In light of what's recently happened in Bogota, I'm really glad that I decided to come home.

I'm also really looking forward to flying back to Colombia on the 28th of December to celebrate the New Year in Cartagena with my friend Chanell! Cartagena is on the Carribean coast in Colombia so we'll be ringing in the new year on the beach! I'll finally be able to get some color! Bogota has a mild/chilly climate because, while it's right near the equator, it's high altitude keeps the temperature down. I'm really looking forward to finally enjoying some of the Colombian sun!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Ivy

Election Reaction in Colombia

The reaction here in Colombia to the election has been pretty much non-existent. Most people here were actually rooting for McCain because he had a slightly more favorable position on trade with Colombia than Obama. Every time I hear someone say that I want to scream at them "stop being such a selfish bastard!"...but I´m not sure how to say bastard in Spanish...I should get on that. Honestly, if McCain had actually followed through on his promise and opened up trade with Colombia it, like everything else here, would have only benefited the top 5% of income earners.

On top of that, Bush actually does not have a horrible reputation here. He´s buddy-buddy with their current president Uribe. Uribe is widely popular here (they´re trying to change the constitution so that he can be elected for a 3rd 4-year term) because he has made significant advances against Colombia's main guerrilla movement, the FARC. This means that foreigners like myself can walk the streets of Bogota and most other urban and/or Northern areas without the fear of being kidnapped and held for random...something I support!

Here in Bogota, I have really only had an enthusiastic reaction to the election from the other teachers who are mainly British and Australian. I´ve also received emails and facebook message from friends in Europe and Canada in support of our new pres!

I´m glad that now, for the first time in my adult life, I can be both proud of where I come from and proud of our newly-elected government. Since I´ve spent a good deal of the last 8 years traveling outside the US, I´ve had to separate the notion of being "proud to be an American" from that of being proud of our government. Living in Scotland, Ireland, and Australian, I´ve gotten my share of¨ "ooohhh, you´re from the US?? Well, nobody´s perfect!" comments. My reaction has always been to say that yes, I´m from the US, yes, some of us are intelligent, globally-minded, and even have passports and yes, I´m proud of where I came from but, no, I don´t support the current government.

Watching Obama´s speech on Tuesday night (which was f-ing voiced over in Spanish here on every channel so it lost pretty much all of it´s magnitude for me), I was really overcome watching Obama and his family walk out on stage. Seeing a family that was so different than the slightly older, white image of the "typical political family" and knowing that this was the new first family of the US, really made an impact on me. Listening to the dubbed-over speech and catching about one out of ever 2 or 3 words, it was Obama´s image, his confidence, his sincerity, his poise, his youth, and yes his skin color, all of which were in such sharp contrast to Bush´s that made me think "wow, this is the new face of the nation and it´s such a fresh image for the US...hopefully signifying a fresh, new start!"

Anyhoo, that´s all for now, besos!

Ivy

Looking for an apartment in Bogota

I´ve started to look for more permanent housing in Bogota. The family that I´m living with is great but I´d ideally like to have a place of my own. I´m planning on staying with the family for one more month (November), then moving into my own place (with roommates hopefully!) in the beginning of December. I´d ideally like to find a place with Spanish speakers. What I don´t want to do is move in with other English teachers and speak English all the time!

This weekend I´m hoping to go away. My host brother has a friend who lives about 4 hours from Bogota and he´s invited us to visit this weekend. I´m super-psyched because it´s HOT there. Woohoo! I can finally enjoy being close to the Equator. I won´t, however, be suprised if we don´t end up going. The thing with Colombians is that they´re not super-great with following through with plans.

Anyway, today´s the first nice day in...weeks so I´m off to enjoy the good weather.

Later!

Settling in to Bogota

So, I actually like Bogota a lot! Hooray!

A few first impressions:

-The people here are ridiculously friendly and very patient with my improving, yet not great, Spanish

-Despite my initial concerns about safety, I feel pretty safe here. The family that I'm staying with has been super helpful about taking me around the city so, despite my horrendous sense of direction, I have a pretty good lay of the land so far.

-Although clean, the city is preeetty polluted. The "busetas" (small buses) that transport people around the city billow out smog...that´s probably because they´re from the 1960s...

-I went out salsa dancing this weekend and it was AWESOME. Men here actually dance. Well. It´s crazy!

-The public transit system here leaves a lot to be desired. Instead of an metro, they have a "Transmilenio" (see pic) which is an above-ground bus system. Think of the Green "B" Line in Boston which stops every 5 seconds for a T-stop or traffic lights.

-Traffic here in general is crazy. I think the biggest threat to my safety is the crazy drivers. They pretty much pay 0 attention to "walk" signs for pedestrians and I swear they speed up as you cross the street!

-It is crazy cheap here. Not including accommodation expenses (which will probably set me back about $50/week), I have managed to eat out every single day for every single meal, go out to bars and clubs, and pay for transportation around the city on less than $100/week!

-My English students are soooo great. My classes are going really well despite the early mornings (6am-8am) and late nights (6pm-8pm) shifts.

-The weather here is CRAZY! One minute it´s sunny, the next it´s dark and rainy. Since Bogota´s so close to the equator, I thought that the climate would be a bit warmer than it is. However, it sits 8661 ft above sea level (making it the 3rd highest capital in the world), so the weather is significantly cooler than the surrounding towns that are not in the mountains.

-The food here is very different than in Buenos Aires. There are plenty of cafes and panaderias (bread/pastry shops) but there isn´t the same "cafe culture" as in B.A. That´s probably because it´s less "Euro" and more "South American" here (although I´m told that as South America capitals go, it´s still very "Western"). The food consists of a lot of carbs- rice, beans, potatoes, something called "arepa" that I think tastes like nothing, more veggies than I ate in B.A. and a lot of "fast food" (hamburgers, steak, grilled chicken, etc.)

-There are a TON of independent restaurant in Bogota. Pretty much every restaurant is a "Mom and Pop" joint. In fact, my host family owns a "fast food" restaurant which differs from American fast food because it´s really fresh and made-to-order. Many restaurants here often have a more-or-less set menu for each day. This can be pretty difficult because they often don´t have written menus which means that I often don´t know what I ordered until it comes!

-I stick out here a whoooole lot more than I did in B. A.. They other day some kids yelled out at me "Mira la gringa!" (look at the crazy white chick). Minutes later, an entire (30-some) class of pre-teens stopped me to ask "do you speak English?", then roped me into a 10-minute interview for their English class.

That´s all for now, nos vemos!

Bogota arrival

I just got to Bogota yesterday. I arrived at the airport a bit overwhelmed and disorientated but luckily my host mom, Gladys, was waiting for me with a sign with my name on it. She escorted me to my new home for the next 2 weeks.

I'm living with Gladys, her boyfriend, her son Elaun, and Elauns friend Wilfriedie (or something). They´re all very nice and welcoming. Last night I walked around our neighborhood with Elaun and ended up going to a restaurant that he is somehow involved in (my tour was all in Spanish so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details) to have dinner.

No one that I live with speaks English. This is both great and horribly frustrating and overwhelming. I'm sure that by the end of the 2 weeks that I'm scheduled to stay with them, my Spanish will be much better. I do, however, spend a lot of time smiling and nodding without really knowing what I'm agreeing too. Luckily, they´re used to having English speakers who cant really speak Spanish in the house so they're very patient with me.

I visited the International House in Bogota this afternoon. I met the Director of Studies, Andy, and he showed me around the school a bit. The building is beautiful with lots of light and open terraces. Andy also gave me the course books for my first class (TOMORROW). Yikes! I have to teach tomorrow in the way-too-early morning (6am) for 2 hours! So far Ive only had experience teaching for 40 minutes at a time so a 2-hour long stretch is going to be a bit of an adjustment. Andy tells me though though that the students in my class are really great and I have nothing to worry about...I guess I´ll have better idea tomorrow!

Got the job in Bogota!

Well chicos, I got offered a full-time position in Bogota and just need to finalize a few things before I formally accept it! I'm pretty excited, and nervous, and ... that about says it. I've heard a lot of really good things about Bogota. Yes, it's not the safest place in the world but neither is NYC...or any large city for that matter. The current president has done a lot for Bogota and Columbia as a whole to make it a lot safer for tourists and citizens.

Anyway, my friend from home, Alexa, is leaving Buenos Aires today (where I'm still chillin'). She's traveling to Salta in the North of Argentina for a few days. I'm staying in B.A. for a few more days then meeting up with her on Saturday in Cordoba (to the west of B.A.). After that we're traveling to Mendoza (wine country, what! what!), THEN, on to Santiago, Chile (country number 18 for me!), before flying to Bogota on Tuesday, September 30th. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks from now on but I can't wait to get going!

Keep ya'll posted!

done with CELTA, now what?

So, I finished my CELTA certificate a week and a half ago. Since then, I´ve been seeing the sites of Buenos Aires and spending time with my friend Alexa from home. CELTA took up pretty much all of my time during August so I´ve finally had the chance to see some of the city and enjoy some of the nightlife here. Hooray!

Tonight, Alexa and I are taking a bus to Iguazu Falls (in the Northeast of Argentina). We´re staying there for 2 nights but the whole trip will take about 4 days since it´s a crazy-long bus ride and we´ll be spending two nights sleeping on the bus. Oh the joys of traveling in South America!

I had an interview this afternoon with International House in Bogota, Columbia. International House is a well-known and respected chain of English schools throughout the world. I did my CELTA training at the International House in Buenos Aires but since I don´t have an Argentinian work visa (sshhhh), they don´t have any work for me. The IH in Bogota will be able to get me proper papers and is looking to hire teachers for the end of the month. The timing and general location (South America) may work out.

The only reason I´m reluctant to work in Columbia is because of it´s reputation for violence. I´ve done some research on the internet and talked to a few travelers who´ve been to Columbia recently and overwhelmingly, I´ve found that it´s like any other city; there are good parts and dangerous parts and as long as you use common sense and take precautions, you should be fine.

I spoke with the Director of Studies of the Bogota school today and he reassured me that he feels safer in Bogota than he did in his native Manchester, England. He also said he´d give me the emails of some young female teachers from the school who I may be able to relate to better.

I´ll hear back tomorrow (yikes!) if IH Bogota wants to hire me and will go from there. Wish me luck! Also, if anyone reading this has traveled to Bogota and has any advice for me, I´d love to hear it!

Buenos Aires: Cheaper, but not dirt cheap

Before coming to Buenos Aires, I thought that since 1 USD= 3 Argentian pesos, the country would more-or-less be on 66% sale for me. Not quite. Here is a break down of things that are cheaper, about the same, and more expensive compared to home (Northeast US):

*All prices are in USD

Cheaper
1. Public transportation- one ride on the subway (subte) will cost you about $0.30. That also goes for buses. Not bad!
2. Steak- Argentina is know for it´s beef. The other night I went out to dinner with about 12 people. We went to a really nice steak restaurant (think Capital Grill or Abe and Louis in Boston). The total cost of:
i. appertizers (bread, salami, cheese);
ii. alcohol (about a beer and a glass of champaign for everyone, plus 3-4 bottles of wine);
iii. entres (we ordered "family style" so about 6 or 7 "share entres" for everyone including steak, duck, and more steak);
iv. sides;
v. and coffee
came to a whopping $300. THAT´S CRAZY! Litterally, a great steak dinner costs about $25 a head including everything!
3. Wine- Argentina has great Melbac wine. A decent bottle can go for less than $10! If you buy one for less than $3 (yes, I´ve done that), you basically get something that tastes like vinegar...no surprise there!
4. Accomidation- sharing a room in an apartment will cost from $100-$300/month. A one bedroom apartment will go for about $600/month.
5. Empanadas- okay, perhaps we don´t have these in the US (or at least not everywhere) but these tasty treats go for about $1 each!

About the same
1. Coffee- expect to spend about $2-$3 per cup
2. Average lunch or simple dinner- the cost of a drink (water or soda), a salad, small sandwich, or personal pizza, coffee, plus tip will cost about $11-$14/ person.

More expensive
1. Batteries
2. Razors
3. Anything electronic

finished with CELTA!

Hey all!

So, I know it's been a while since my last blog. I have been super busy with crazy amounts of homework, written assignments, and lesson planning. But, after a month of REALLY hard work, I have to say that it was worth it because I found out yesterday that I'm getting a B! For those of us from the American grading system, that may not sound too impressive. But believe me, the Brit's crazy no grade inflation/super critical all the time system is waaay harsher. I EARNED that B 'namit!

I'm looking forward to my friend from home, Alexa, coming next week. From now 'til then I'll finally be able to enjoy some of this great city without all the stress from the class.

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep my blog updated more regularly!

Besos!

Ivy