maybe it's bad karma

I'm sick and I don't know why. Maybe it's some sort of monkey virus that has held on since Tyrona and is only now showing up. Maybe there was a bacteria in my morning juice. Maybe some jungle mud worked its way into my foot on the barefoot hike I took over the weekend and has just now made it up to my stomach. I'm beginning to suspect, however, that this is some type of terrible punishment for all of my past indiscretions. Maybe karma has stationed itself in my bowels to purge me of every sin I've ever committed... or maybe these are just the feverish ramblings of a weak-stomached gringa who ought not to be living in the tropics.

Update: I think I did have a fever when I wrote that. I'm feeling better now, just sick of being sick. It's frustrating not knowing why or how I got to be in such a condition in the first place. I suspect it's a virus. The locals say that when the breezes start to come into Barranquilla everyone gets ill, sort of like when the weather gets cold at home. The "breezes" are definitely here, they're rattling the windows at night. So I guess it's not a monkey virus after all, just a tropical breeze virus.

brad feeling bad and other news...

Brad and I made it back from Tyrona on Monday, but almost as soon as we walked in the door Brad started puking. He was throwing up and had diarrhea for four hours straight. After that he just threw up every hour until morning. I've never seen anyone so sick in my life. He's better now, but still recovering.

The trip was great before Brad got sick. We went to Tyrona with a big, fun group of people. We slept in hammocks instead of on the ground, had some good food and went to a new beach with enormous waves. I'll post pictures soon.

I went back to school on Monday tired from our trip and from staying up all night with Brad, but as usual, the day was full of hilariousness:

The eighth graders just started reading The Outsiders. Here's a snippet of our introductory discussion:
"What is an outsider?"
"Someone who lives outside."
"So literal. Anyone else?"
"A loner?"
"What if I told you I feel like an outsider in Colombia? Why would I feel that way?"
"Because you're an immigrant?"
And then it occurred to me...I'm an immigrant.

After school, Daniel, the most hyper-active 7th grader on the planet, came running into my room with a message about his friend who had just gotten out of the hospital:
"Missis, I talked to Fernando and he's doing just fine! Jesus is bigger than a coconut tree!"
"Who told you that, Daniel?"
"Nobody Missis, I just knew it! Jesus is bigger than a coconut tree!"
And then, with arms swaying in the air he began to sing:
"Jesus is bigger than a coconut tree!"
Encouraged by my uncontrollable laughter he hopped up on one of the classroom tables and began to dance and sing:
"Jesus is bigger than a coconut tree! Jesus is bigger than a coconut tree!"
A trip to Colombia would be worth it just to meet this kid.

But don't pack yet because Brad and I come home in 18 days! We can't wait to see everyone, eat good food, feel cold weather, drink safe water...go a few days without getting sick.

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Loyal Readers,
I will be on the beach and away from electricity over Thanksgiving. So, although this is a bit premature I wanted to give you my Thanksgiving blessings sooner, rather than later.

I am thankful for my family and friends at home.
I am equally thankful for my newly found friends here, who are certainly unique, some might even say strange.

I am thankful that Colombia beat Argentina in tonight's soccer match.
I am a little less thankful that the Hawkeyes lost to Western Michigan, but still thankful to be a Hawkeye.

I am thankful that Katie is coming home.
I am thankful that I am coming home (25 days! Get ready party people!)

I am thankful for the things that I was able to have because I was born in the United States, i.e. clean drinking water, city sewers, an emergency response system, free public education, libraries, the postal service...
I am also thankful that the US will soon be electing a new president!

I am thankful for the delicious fruits of the tropics.
I am anticipatorily thankful for my parents' good home cookin' come Christmas.

Enjoy your good home cookin' or catering or whatever it is that you feast on over Thanksgiving. We're going back to Tyrona so I'll be feasting on fish, or garlic shrimp, I can't decide.

Thank you,
Lots of love,
Happy Thanksgiving,
Sarah

student poll

Over the weekend we met a British traveler who had some strong stereotypes against Colombians. While in conversation with me, Brad and our three Colombian friends he said the following things:
"You teach Colombians? You better not make them angry or they'll bring a gun to school and shoot you!"
"This whole damn country is poor!"
"How do you teach the kids if they don't speak English?"

On Tuesday the students and I had a good laugh about this, "Oh, Ms. Sarah, we would never shoot you. NOT!"

I decided to do a poll to see if any of the stereotypes hold true and to satisfy some of my own curiosity. Here are the results:

Do you drink coffee?
14 yes
9 no

Have you ever held a gun?
8 yes
15 no
I think some of the boys fibbed on this one, it's probably more like 3 yes and 20 no. One student wrote, "Yes, but only for three seconds and it didn't have any bullets." Another indignantly responded, "NO!!! Of course not!!!!"

Have you ever seen violence?
12 yes
10 no
I didn't specify the type of violence, but this one is probably more accurate.

Have you ever left the country?
23 yes
0 no
This is true. They've all been to Miami, but some have been to every single continent, including Antarctica. They were offended that I even had to ask this question. "Pues, claro!"

What's your favorite food?
McDonald's was the big winner with 6
Sushi 3
Italian 3
Coconut rice 2
Sweets 2
Ajiaco (a Colombian stew) 2
Arab food 1
Rice and meat (standard, everyday Colombian meal, I'm sick of it!) 1
A juicy steak 1
Chinese 1
Molte de queso (I don't know what this is) 1

Do your parents speak English?
20 yes
3 no

How many servants does your family employ?
Four servants- 5
Three servants- 5
Five servants- 4
One servant- 3
Two servants- 2
Seven servants- 1
Six servants- 1
Ten servants- 1
Eight servants- 1
Servants can included maids, chauffeurs, body guards and gardeners

Do you like George W. Bush?
7 yes
16 no

Are you a good dancer?
23 yes
0 no
They are really good dancers even at the awkward, uncordinated age of 12.

I counted...

and I have 44 bug bites, that's not counting the ones I couldn't see on my back.

Tayrona

The day before we left for Tyrona we were having breakfast at Amber’s apartment when people began asking us about our preparations for the trip:
“Do you have a flashlight?”
“Oh, no. I guess we don’t.”
“Insect repellent?”
“Um, not yet.”
“A tent?”
“Do we need a tent?”
“Yeah, you’re going to want a tent.”
“Crap.”
At this point Chris, a seasoned Barranquillero, offered us his tent. Chris, we would later find out, was our adventure’s salvador.

That night we went shopping for supplies with the other people going on our trip, Susana, a friend from school, Beberto, her boyfriend, and their friend Gustavo. Our supply shopping was centered mostly on what liquids were necessary for the trip and although we left the grocery store with plenty of chips, rum and aguardiente, we had completely neglected to buy a flashlight and insect repellent.

As we were packing the next morning the enormous glass bottle of aguardiente that we had purchased somehow fell off the table and crashed onto our tile floor. I leapt to rescue the remaining contents of the bottle and got a pretty long slice across my palm. We were about to head off into the jungle and I had an open wound. But we smeared some Neosporin on the cut and decided to risk it.

We all met at Beberto’s house, who in Colombian tradition lives with his grandmother. As we were making final preparations Grandma wheeled her wheel chair out to the living room to bless our trip. She said, “May all go well for you. I hope and pray that your trip will be harmonious and tranquil. Enjoy the company of one another and the natural beauty of this great country. May God bless you and watch over you.” That’s at least what I heard, my translation could be way off, but we left with Grandma’s blessing and headed to the bus station.

About two blocks into the trip the taxi broke down. We hopped out to look for another taxi when, with all of our things in the trunk, the driver put the car into neutral and started coasting down the road. We chased him until we were in front of police station and he finally came to a stop. With my cut still throbbing, we yanked our things at of the truck and hailed another cab. I was beginning to think that Grandma’s blessing had come a little too late.

When we arrived at the bus station our luck began to turn. Although the bus was dirty and shabby, we had it all to ourselves, at least for a little while. We had to stop at every semblance of a town to pick up more passengers along the way, but we eventually made it to the entrance of Tyrona around one.

We were told that the hike into Tyrona would take 45 minutes, but that obviously wasn’t accounting for the knee deep mud that covered the trail. About two minutes into the hike we realized that if we were going to do it, we would have to hike without shoes. So we all made our way barefoot through the jungle. There was some concern about infection, especially because the trail was littered with horse and donkey poop, which are available to less adventurous travelers, but we managed to avoid the majority of it by keeping our heads down and shouting out, “POOP!” to warn the people behind us whenever we came across a steaming pile.

After about two hours we got to the beach, but after an orange juice and a quick snack we moved on to Cabo, a more picturesque beach an hour down the road. We got to Cabo just as the sun was setting and the sky was beginning to pour down rain. We quickly set up our tent and only then realized that we hadn’t brought a blanket or pillows. Thinking that we could rent a hammock, we were unconcerned, but we soon found out that all hammocks had been rented and set ourselves to the task of drinking enough rum to pass out for the night.

We slept soundly, but woke up the next morning with aching backs, shoulders and hips. Sleeping on the wet, hard ground can make a young body feel quite old. Fortunately all that we had to do that day was lie on the beach.

Around noon that day we heard a solid thud, and when we looked for the source saw that a coconut had fallen from the tree beside us. The coconut was the size of a bowling ball and only slightly less hard. Had it hit us on the head our brains would have been all over the sand. When we asked our Colombian friends if anyone ever dies from being hit by a coconut they said, “Oh, yes. That happens all the time.”

Thinking we should have packed a coconut helmet and a couple of pillows we put our heads back down and enjoyed the rest of the day. That night it poured, but we were safe under the shelter of the restaurant and there was a makeshift band, fresh fish and some remaining rum, so we had a pleasant evening.

After spending another night sleeping on the hard and even more drenched ground we packed up our things and hiked toward home. On the way we found a little house that had just finished baking biscuits filled with chocolate. One of those along with a cup of coffee made for the best breakfast I’ve ever had and gave us sustenance for the long and muddy hike home.









There was a monkey in the trees that was squaking at us and throwing sticks.
















These were our pillows




This is the restaurant where we could get salads, pasta, grilled meats, shrimp and fish.


I went for the fish.


The muddy hike home


The best breakfast I've ever had

lazy blogger

Yes, that's me, I have been a lazy blogger. But, we've been more or less on vacation for the past two weeks and I've been lazy all around. We just got back from Parque Tayrona, a gorgeous national park about two hours east of Barranquilla, and I have great pictures and stories, but I forgot to bring the memory card to school (again, laziness) so I'll post them tonight or tomorrow morning. Just so you know what you can look forward to here are some titles I'm considering: hiking barefoot through the jungle; I can't believe we forgot our coconut helmet; a tent isn't much good without a sleeping bag; or thank God for Granny's blessing or this trip would have been a total disaster.

I found this on my whiteboard today

Either they really do love me or they're trying to butter me up for parent-teacher conferences tomorrow. Sadly, I suspect it's the latter.