A NEW YEAR, A NEW JOB, A NEW LIFE...

Hello, cyberfriends!  Yes it has been a couple of months since my last post and I do apologize.  Life has been busy!  Well, for those of you who don't already know, I pretty much started out this new year with a new job...well, I had been thinking about quitting Montessori since last year and had a goal date in mind--February 1st.  Over the holidays, I was contacted by the director of a school in Villavicencio (a town about 3 hours or so outside of Bogota), whom I had met with before, back in July of 2012.  However, I wasn't really liking the idea of moving to a smaller town where I would have no friends and getting paid much less. So I decided to keep looking.  With February 1st quickly approaching and no new options on the horizon, I was giving up hope.  I was still thinking about quitting and just spending a month or two of my life dedicated to seriously job hunting but with all my student loan debt, upcoming trips to Cartagena and New York in the back of my mind, quitting without a job on the horizon was NOT an option.

But just when I was telling myself to suck it up and ride out the rest of my Montessori tenure, my friend Mike called me one morning at the end of January, leaving a message saying if I was interested in a job to call him back.  So I called back and he handed me to the English department chair of his new school--Gimnasio Los Andes--who told me there was an immediate opening for a 5th grade English teacher at the school since the teacher has unexpectedly quit a day before the school year was to begin (which was the next day!).  So I went in for an interview the following day, January 31st, which took ALL day (I had to miss a day of work at Montessori, which translated into missing 3 days worth of pay--the bastards!) but ended up leaving the school at 3pm the same day with a new job!!!  So my goal of having a new job (or at the least, leaving my old one) by February 1st worked out afterall!  The universe consipred!  Thank you!  So Friday the 1st of Feb was my last day of teaching at Montessori. The following Monday and Tuesday I had to return to get my Paz y Salvo signed so that I could get my money and I also had to return to Fridays in a row to sign for my check and actually receive my severance pay (over $4 million pesos!).  I officially started my duties at Gimansio Los Andes on February 6th and it has been an awesome experience thus far!

The school is located in the north of Bogota, off of the autopista which is one of the major roads through Bogota and is used to go to cities and towns north of Bogota.  Getting to my school almost feels as if you're leaving Bogota because all you see is forest and fields once you get up that far north.  But the funniest thing is that in a car with no traffic, I live only about 10 minutes away from the school.  However with Bogota's notorious traffic (which as I mentioned in a previous post IS CONSTANT) it takes nearly an hour (and sometimes longer, as I will mention later).  Luckily, I am able to take the ruta (school bus) that passes by the gas station on the other side of Avenida Boyaca from where my apartment is.  It passes by between 6:45 -6:50 and normally I'm at school by 7:30.  However the last few days the traffic has been even more horrific and the first turn around on Autopista has been closed so we have to go several more miles north to the second turnaround to get back to the road by the cemetery where my school is.  The school looks like a normal school (unlike Montessori, which looks like Disneyland) and everyone I've met so far is really friendly and supportive and the students are, overall, much more motivated and respectful than those at Montessori.  Another major difference is that the school values education much more (we spend a lot of time lesson planning, in area meetings, etc) and the administrative staff understands we have a life outside of school, too, so we are able to leave around 3:30 everyday (except for staff development Wednesdays) and they are much more flexible when it comes to leaving for appointments, emergencies, etc.

So far the teaching aspect has been fun.  This is the first time with 5th graders in a real subject matter (I don't count Typing and Jeopardy as real academic subjects) and although I did teach in Guatemala, I wasn't a principal teacher but rather more like an auxiliary, volunteer teacher.  So, I consider this my first time as a REAL teacher.  It's exciting but also challenging.  I have 4 fifth grade groups, each with about 27 students.  I have some very difficult (behaviorally) students, but for the most part they are all really motivated and participate well in class. Most of my students have a very low level of English so it's extra challenging because most of the time I want to speak in Spanish with them to make sure they undersand, but I'm trying very hard not to and forcing them to adapt to an only English environment, especially because this school has plans to transition to a fully bilingual school over the next 5 years.  It's hard because there are some students who do understand me and do well and then there are those who don't understand a word I say and I want them to do well but sometimes I am left with no option but to repeat instructions for a particular assignment in Spanish. Overall, I've learned a lot just within the last month here and I enjoy what I'm doing, much more than I was before.

Last week the English department sponsored a US-style homecoming week for the entire school, full with English only activities during the breaks (kareoke, spelling bees, sports activities, etc). To top it off there was a Homecoming dance for the high schoolers, which we all had to chaperone for last Saturday night (yay! working on a Saturday). It was interesting being on the flip side of a dance...making sure the kids weren't having sex in the shadows, drinking booze, or doing drugs (a few kids were busted for showing up drunk and/or high) so it definitely made me think about the teachers/parents who had to chaperone for our dances when we were in middle school and high school.  It's definitely NOT an easy thing!  It was also interesting to see the differences in ages at the dance--from the shy, little seventh graders, to the big, tough, confident 11th graders (the Colombian equivalent of Seniors) and the difference in clothes they wore (the seventh grade girls in their conservative frilly dresses and moderate heels to the upper grade girls in their short, skin tight skirts and dresses and six inch heels (looking very much like hookers!).  I was a little bit taken aback by the fact that parents would let their kids leave the house like that but then again, I know in my day us girls had equivalently scandolous garb.  But i feel in Latin America it's even worse.  I mean, the mothers here come to report card day or parent/teacher conferences looking like prostitutes...and they're in their 30s and 40s!!!  C'mon!  And not to mention that implants (boob and butts) are about as common as the flu, it's pretty much the norm for women here, starting at a young age, to be expected to show off their bodies. I've even heard that girls here when they turn 15 (particularly among the well-to-do families) that they receive an implant as a gift from their parents).  It's very interesting to say the least.  Talk about living in a plastic world...sheesh!  That is the Latina side of me that, thank god, I never tapped into.  I may not have a butt or boobs, but I am happy with my body and its imperfections the way it is (although I could stand to lose maybe 5 pounds, jaja).

Anywho, after the Homecoming dance, my colleagues and my boss and I all went out for a few drinks to celebrate the completion of our "Gringo Week."  It was nice to finally socialize a bit with them outside of our structured environment.  And today we are finishing up with entering the first round of grades of the first term, so its been a busy last 2 weeks. Three weeks from tomorrow I'll be heading to the coast--Cartagena and Santa Marta--to be exact with Jeni.  I can't wait to be warm again!!!!

Well, all in all the last month of my life has been exciting.  I'm finally starting to adjust to my new job, new coworkers and all and things are going well. I also celebrated the beginning of a new decade of life on February 14th (and maybe the 15th, according to my biological mom). Yep, I turned 30!!  It was a quiet, low-key birthday.  3 of my fifth grade groups sang happy birthday to me and several of my students gave me gifts, which was very sweet.  And Jeni and I went out to a nice dinner and hookah experience at a Middle Eastern restaurant in our favorite neighborhood, Usaquen.  And Friday the 15th I had some of my closest friends over for some drinks and catching up.  I still have yet to get a birthday massage at a local spa (just haven't had time) and maybe going to Salitre Magico, the theme park here in the city.  All in all it was a nice birthday!

Hope everyone out there is happy and healthy.  Happy Women's Day to all the incredible women out there.  I'll write again soon!