Last day in Colombia!

This is is my last day in Colombia! I still can’t believe how fast time here has passed. I feel that there is so much that I still want to see and do but I have to back and say goodbye. I feel very sad to leave and also a bit nervous to start my senior year in college. I’ve been traveling basically nonstop since January and in these last eight months I have visited about seven different countries and quite a lot of cities. The countries I have been to are- Mexico, Spain, Portugal, France, Denmark, D.R., and Colombia. Being in Colombia though, has been unlike any other place I’ve traveled to. Here, I have had the opportunity to reconnect with family, spend time with Carlos, conduct research, and make new friends.I know that I am going to have trouble adjusting at first and getting into college mode. I feel so grateful that I had the opportunity to make this trip and also do the internship. This experience has allowed me to grow and learn so much more about myself and the place where I was born and lived the first 10 years of my life. I am leaving with a new perspective and appreciation for Colombia. 

I can now say that: I can get by in all of Bogota's public transportation systems, I have seen Botero paintings, visited the beautiful city of Santa Marta, have my cedula (national ID), understand in depth the strengths and challenges that organizations like Aulas en Paz and Dance4 Peace encounter, I know most of my family on both sides, I made and reconnected with friends, got to share a beautiful place with Carlos and made new memories together, improved my writing skills in Spanish even more, was able to try most of Colombia's fruits, know my neighborhood like the palm of my hand, ate at 10 different restaurants in la cuarta and most important of all I feel part of and love Colombia more than ever.

                                                                     THANK YOU!

Trip to Cali

The trip to Cali has been my favorite part of the internship thus far. Emily and I left for Cali last Sunday morning and my family picked us up at the airport. Believe it or not, it had been about fourteen years that I had not seen most of them. When we got to my great aunts house we had a typical Colombian soup called sancocho and then got back in the car to go visit other family members. All of my family was so excited to see me and learn about the project Aulas en Paz. In the afternoon we drove around and I got to see some beautiful sights of Cali. In the night time we went back to their house and my little cousin who is just ten years old started to dance salsa with a friend from the neighborhood. It was amazing to see her dance, I think she dances like a professional. Emily and I gave the dancing a try and learned some new moves and turns- it was so much fun. 

On Monday we met Andrea who is the director of Aulas en Paz there.We visited a school called INEM and there I got to interview Viviola a primary school teacher. I was a bit nervous to do the interview at first just because I wasn’t completely sure that the questions made sense and whether or on they captured what I wanted to find out about the classes. I was surprised to find out just how much Viviola was willing to share with us about her experience as a teacher and about the challenges that come about trying to create a healthy and proactive classroom atmosphere. In the afternoon, we visited another schools where a teacher was conducting an Aulas en Paz course. This was great because I got to see the materials they use and the curriculum that has been set up for young children. The topics the students covered included bullying, how to stop a fight as a group and various types of aggression. What impressed me the most about this observation was how engaged the students seemed and how the teacher used various interactive games and role-playing activities to capture their interest. 

Here is a video of an activity the students did with cut out dolls to discuss violence and aggression:

The next day we met up with Andrea for another observation. The students we observed were in 3^rd grade and had a lot of energy. During the class it was hard for the teacher to get them to stop talking and moving around. After the lesson all of the children came to greet us and ask us questions like “where do you come from”...“how do you say my name in English”...“ can you say something in English.” After the lesson I was able to interview the teacher. It was really inspiring to hear her discuss the students and all of the challenges she has encountered with the families and the kids backgrounds. During the interview the teacher told me that the meal that the students receive in school is for many the only one they get to eat per day. Most of the students have experienced violence and abuse- Going to school is a type of escape from all the struggles these students face.  When we where leaving the students all came to hug us and did not want to let us go. They followed us out of the school and hung to the taxi that came to pick us up. I was very moved by this experience and it made me feel so sure that I want to help improve education in high need schools like this one. 

The last school that we went to visit was probably the most difficult one. It was impossible to get the kids to stop talking, they threw spitballs at each other, intimidation between students was present and there was a lot of hitting and disrespecting among them. It seemed like the kids where disengaged from school and they where only in fifth grade. I think this is the school that needs Aulas en Paz the most and needs to be monitored closely.Something that I also started to wonder about, how a teachers teaching style is impacting Aulas en Paz. Even though the program might be great I am not sure that all the teachers are executing the lessons the way that they are meant and therefore some of the most valuable lessons about citizenship competencies and the need to stop bullying is getting lost because the students are not engaged. 

The last day I was there it was my great aunts birthday and I got to really see my entire family together. We ate tamales that they made from scratch and shared a very special night together. Around 9 pm Emily and I started to gather all of our stuff and said goodbye. It was really wonderful to get to know better my dads side of the family but at the same time it was difficult to say goodbye because I do not know when I will get the chance to see them again.  I am really grateful that I was able to make this trip because I was able to reconnect with my family, explore a new city and truly see how students and schools are being impacted by Aulas en Paz. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

 

INEM

The second school we visited

My family making tamales

Colombia vs. Costa Rica Soccer Game

Aulas en Paz

That smile

Fighting in class

Great aunts bird

Hernand! so kind

Mango tree

Valentina the Salsa dancer

LA FAMILIA

CALI

Fanny who took care of us!

One Month

Believe it or not it has been a month since I got to Bogotá. Time has gone by so fast and I am getting quite used to life here in the big city. I now feel pretty comfortable getting to places, taking buses and finding my way around the university. Over the last few days, I have realized that two months here is not nearly enough time to have an internship, conduct research and travel around. Life here just goes on at a much slower pace and running errands and work takes a lot longer to get done.

Last week I mainly focused on a proposal that Enrique wanted me to submit to him regarding a research project that I will be conducting in Cali. In order to get this proposal to him on time I had to read this book by Pianta on teacher-student relationships and prepare my research questions. After submitting the proposal to Enrique, he asked that I tweak some of my interview questions and focus particularly on how teachers in Aulas en Paz keep a balance between providing support and care for the child while at the same time maintaining respect and a sense of leadership in the classroom. I am really excited to go to Cali and I think it will be truly helpful to see first hand the way that Aulas en Paz works and how the students are being impacted by the program and the teachers. The only set back I have about this field study is that I have heard that Cali is a bit unsafe due to an increase in gang violence. Even though things should go fine while I am there, many people including Enrique have told me to be very cautious on this trip. I don’t think there should be any problems and I am glad that some of my dads family lives there so I will be able to stay with them. Regardless, that aspect of the trip has been on my mind lately.

On to another topic….futbol! The U-20 world cup is taking place right now in Colombia and everyone here is so excited. Most people in Colombia just love futbol and everywhere you go you see kids and adults playing, specially on Sundays. There is also a lot of futbol graffiti around the city that fans tag…while I appreciate their passion for the sport I wish they wouldn’t cover so many beautiful colonial houses with emblems. Personally, I have never been that interested in futbol but I have to say that being here has made me curious. What I like most about this sport the most is just how much it bonds people and gives them something to look forwards to.  

Aside from Futbol I have been really enjoying some art exhibits here in Bogotá- here are pictures:

 

Chocolo cartoon artist

House, Man, Moon

Chiva

Noche de Flamenco

Chao !