Our Efforts and Accomplishments at Uniminuto

Not only are we trying to be the best teachers as we can be, we are also trying to make changes in our department.  Over the second semester we have tried our best to lead our department into the changes that we believed that it needed.   Some things have turned out to be successful where others have failed.  

The programs that we have started included a common curriculum for all of the English professors to follow.  This was a big fete to accomplish. As new teachers we relied on our fellow teachers to help build a day-to-day curriculum for each level of English. We thought this was important because the department has a problem giving consistent education to their students.   Students were going from English one to English two and so on, learning present simple and pronouns over and over; never building upon their previous knowledge.  

Another way that we wanted to improve consistency was to assign a level to a set of teachers.  Last semester every teacher was assigned to all levels of English so all the teachers had to build lesson plans for each class and each level.  This put a large load of work on the teachers but also made it really inconsistent for the students.  We suggested to have a set of three teachers be assigned to only teaching one level and then these teachers could meet and discuss their classes.  In the end every teacher got assigned to about two levels and unfortunately no meetings have been held.  I still think of this as an accomplishment as everyone’s workload has been significantly lightened and hopefully the teachers can dedicate more time to making one or two brilliant lesson plans rather then 5 mediocre ones.

Another problem for our department is the accountability of the teachers.  Sure we had a curriculum built but nothing was encouraging the teachers to actually abide by this curriculum.  So we decided to implement a standardized test for final exams.  In general, I have never been an advocate for standardized testing, but in this case we felt like it was a good way to begin accountability of the teachers.  Again, in the end this attempt fell short and the exams have yet to be created.  We are coming up on final exam time so I doubt that this will come together.

Another disadvantage the students have is that they only have English class once a week.  If you have ever tried to learn a language you know that this is just not enough time.  Under the universities regulations we learned right away that this was a disadvantage that would not change.  So we had to be creative and work around the system.  Although we could not have more mandatory classes we could have voluntary ones; aka clubs.  We started having two types of clubs. One for the lower level students, the students that needed more time for English practice and another for more advanced students, those looking for more of a challenge.  We have clubs 10 times a week and every club is jam-packed.  The clubs proved to be the most successful of all our endeavors and they are very rewarding.  I just hope that these changes will be continued after we leave.  We do know that the university has asked for three WorldTeach volunteers next year so the university must also appreciate our efforts and want to continue with our advances.

Dale's Coffee Lesson

Learning about coffee is really learning about a culture. Through our class on coffee I really feel that we were able to better understand Colombia in general. It is so sad to live in one of the best coffee growing regions in the world for the Arabica bean and yet never be able to drink it in any restaurants or simple cafes. Colombia exports all of it’s premium beans to the world and keeps very little for itself.

There are two types of coffee beans in this world, Robusto and Arabica. Robusto is a bean that is typically used in flavored coffees and instant. Robusto has a very pungent flavor that doesn’t have many layers to it. This is why Robusto takes so well to flavorings. When someone buys a French Roast or something of that nature they are typically buying  Robusto beans, as mostly these flavorings are masking the strong flavor of the beans. In Colombia they grow Arabica beans, which come with over 32 different natural layers of flavors. Sometimes you get a hint of wood, sometimes chocolate, sometimes even almond.

It is because of these dense layers of flavor that the Arabica bean is typically served without artificial flavors; it needs no extra help being wonderful. The coffee derives its flavors from the land and the flavors depend on the climate and the weather for that year.

When we talk about the beans itself we find that the Arabica bean is typically much larger then the Robusto. They are both coming from a similar plant but the Robusto is a flatter smaller bean while the Arabica is a larger rounder bean. Coffee is actually a fruit and grows on a bush that is no taller then 6ft tall. A coffee bush can live for 20 years before it is retired and is pruned 5 times typically with the best growing time at year.  When they prune the plant, they cut it all the way down to about 5 inches from the soil and then let one branch grow out. You can typically see how old the plant is by looking near the base of it and seeing how many nubs it has from pruning.

The beans start off from a flower and then turn into a green ball. That grape looking thing will ripen to become red and will stay ripe for about 15 days. They will harvest these fruits and remove the outer red layer. If you eat the seed inside this red fruit you will find it to have a sweet nutty flavor. There are normally two seeds per fruit. These seeds are then left to dry. In other parts of the world they dry in the sun but Colombia is too damp so ovens have to be used to dry the beans.

Once the beans are dried there is more shell on the bean that must be removed. Once this shell is removed we find a green unroasted coffee bean.

Beans are graded in quality based on three main factors; shape, color, density. Typically any deformation in the seed like a bug bite or a crack will cause the bean to become a “tinto” bean. Only the best beans make it through this selection process. Most of this quality control selection process is done by the use of water. The bad or damaged beans will stay afloat while the good beans sink to the bottom.

Beans are then dried in big furnaces and then put into bags to be shipped off to the export center. Beans remain unroasted until they enter the country that purchases them.  Each country prefers their own style of roast and also the beans can save longer if they have not been roasted. Once the bean has been roasted it can begin to oxidize and that can change the flavor of the bean. It is important that when a bean comes out of the roaster that it is consumed very quickly and not left to sit for more then 3 weeks with exposure to oxygen. When beans come out of a roaster they are nice and shiny which is the best time to grind and drink the coffee.

So the good beans get exported, but then what happens to the bad beans?  Well those beans stay in the country to be consumed by Colombia.  They call this coffee “tinto”.  “Tinto”, is roughly translated into the word “ink”. You will find that Colombia typically has two types of coffee for sale at most cafes, “tinto” and café. Tinto is normally cheaper because it is composed of all the coffee beans that failed to make it through the selection process. They don’t waste a single bean here in Colombia.  Tinto typically has a more sharp bitter flavor and when it is served here in Colombia it is normally watered down with hot water and a lot of milk and sugar. It is very hard to find artisanal coffee in Colombia but “tinto” is around every corner.

First Anniversary in Manizales

For our one year anniversary we decided to travel to the Coffee Region of Colombia to a small city, Manizales.  It was an interesting bus ride up the mountains.  We opted for a van to drive from Medellin; which was most likely a mistake.  The driver sped up the highway blaring his horn as we paced anyone that crossed our path.  I fit snugly between Dale and a larger then average Colombian man.  As we flew around the corners of the highway on two wheels I enjoyed a workout trying to not let gravity flop by body onto the lap of the other passenger.  I have never been so afraid for my life and so motion sick in my life.  By pure luck we made it to Manizales and an hour earlier then planned, lucky us! 

We enjoyed a ride around the city on our way to the fancy hotel that we booked for our first anniversary.  The city looked a lot like Medellin but a lot smaller and a little older.  The views of the mountains made up for any of the beauty lost on the older buildings.  We went to the center of the city, which was full of crowded bustling people.  Our hotel was not what we expected and although we thought that we booked a fancy hotel it was anything but that.  As we acquainted ourselves with our hotel room we just had to start laugh at all the inadequacies.  One of the funnier quirks was that the hotel’s old elevator shook our entire room every time it went up or down.  We made the most of it and enjoyed our stay despite the comical luxury hotel. 

We loved the coffee farm that we got to visit.  They picked us up from our hotel and drove into the mountains to a very cute farmhouse where we were greeted with delicious espressos.  We got a little lesson about the origins of coffee.  After our lesson we went into the coffee fields and through the factory, where we continued to learn more about coffee.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch at the farm (and a lot more coffee) before returning to the busy city streets. 

 

 Lucky for us we ended up visiting Manizales during their theater festival.

  The city was full of performers everywhere.  We strolled down the street stopping occasionally to see different performances.  They had circus clowns performing to children, traditional dancers in the park, and a big man dressed in a penguin suit singing his heart out to the crowd.

The colors and life that breathed throughout the city was incredible.  They had the friendliness and love for life that I have found in Medellin with a small college city scene.  We really enjoyed our weekend in Manizales.

Coffee Farm

Theater Festival

Tango Singer

Dancers

Looking like a Gringo in Colombia

Everyday from the moment I step out of my door to the moment that I step back inside I am very aware that I am a minority.  I hardly ever see someone else that looks like me.  I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin and that is just unusual for Medellin.  Dale has it even worse because he sticks out at least a foot taller then anyone else he has blondish hair (it’s really brown but in Colombia anyone who doesn’t have black hair is blonde) and blue eyes.  Needless to say when we walk down a street we are noticed. We stand out and no one has any problem pointing out just how much we don’t look like we belong.  Some people are very nice and in their typical Paisa way they muster up a few words in English for us “Welcome to Medellin.”  Although I understand that these people are only being friendly and nice after living here for almost a year and still being welcomed to the city is a little discouraging.  How much can a place feel like home if you are constantly reminded that you don’t belong there?  One thing that people do here that only seems to bother me more and more is all the staring.  As soon as I open my mouth to talk to Dale as we walk down the street heads turn in every direction to stare at the gringos.  Walking through my usual commute people just stare.  On the Metro people stare and in every normal routine I do people stare and stare and stare.  I think that I now know somewhat what it must feel like to be a famous actor or something.  To be noticed everywhere you go and to get unwanted attention in every aspect of your daily life; it can get to you.  People even go as far as to yell English taglines at us.  Any English words that they may know is just fine “hello-how-are-you-fine” “I love you” or just “hellllllllooooooooo”.  If only I had made as much money off of being the only person to ever say “hello-how-are-you-fine” as Tom Cruise did for “show me the money” maybe I could tolerate this a little better.

If I Were a Rich Man

Over our summer vacation Dale and I got the chance to share our adventure in Medellin with my mom.  We had a lot of fun and got to explore many aspects of the city that were unknown to us before.  Medellin is a city full of things to do, however, most of these things cost money and as penniless volunteers many things are out of our reach.  When my mom came to visit we got to see how the other half of the city lives and got to really enjoy everything that the city has to offer.  If you plan to visit Medellin here are some things that we enjoyed as tourist in Medellin.

Illeras Park

Illeras Park is an area of the city that has a cluster of high-end bars and restaurants all with their individual theme.  We drank beers at the Irish themed bar, had Margaritas at the Mexican restaurant, Long Islands in America, Colombian cocktails in hammocks at the Colombian restaurant and Hurricanes at Hard Rock Cafe. 

Santa Fe

We took a bus out of the city to Santa Fe, a nearby colonial town.  We had a lot of fun in the small town. We took a Moto taxi to the infamous Puente de Occidente bridge, ate an incredible Colombian lunch, and strolled around the plaza.  Although the town couldn’t be more relaxing the bus ride left something to be desired.  I am just happy we all made it back alive as the bus flew up the mountains taking turns so that we were only on 2 wheels half the time. 

At the bridge

Moto Taxi

Oviedo and Sante Fe Shopping Malls

I have been window shopping in these beautiful malls for 6 months but actually shopping in them exceeded my expectations.  The retailers were all so helpful and nice and despite our small knowledge of Spanish they really loved that we were trying to speak their language and that we were spending time in their city.  We shopped for unique clothes and quirky gifts these malls had just about everything.  Also spending a shopping day with my mom is something that I was really missing so it was so much fun to have this day with my mom. 

Ciclovia

Every Sunday morning Medellin shuts down its main street for the public to exercise.  People Jazzercise in the parking lots of the closed businesses, they walk their dogs, roller blade, run, bike and walk.  It is a great way to people watch and enjoy your Sunday mornings with the Medellin community.

Publito Paisa

Publito Paisa is a mock colonial town in the city.  It is very cinchy but is a nice place for scenic views of the whole city and you can easily find knick-knacks and souvenirs.

Restaurants

Medellin has all kinds of food to offer from traditional Colombian to southern comfort food.  Our favorite restaurants included Crepes and Waffles, a chain restaurant throughout Colombia that serves all types of foods with spices and sauces,  El Corral, a gourmet burger joint styled like a typical diner and Bonuar a American restaurant that served great short ribs and wonderful mixed drinks, which is hard to come by in Colombia.

3 Cordilleras

3 Cordilleras is Medellin’s microbrewery.  They brew 5 types of beers from a brown ale to a cider beer.  They open up their brewery on Thursdays and allow beer loving people in and for a flat rate you can drink about as much as you want and take a tour of the factory.  It was definitely a high light of Medellin and brings a taste of American beers to the masses. 

It was so much fun to share our city with my mom and getting to be tourist in this city was incredible.

Adventures on the Coast: Part 2 Santa Marta and Cartagena

Checking back into our hostel still sticky with sweat and layers of dirt built up over the sunscreen and bug spray our only thoughts were of a clean shower and dry clothes. Only moments after the best shower ever we decided to delay our trip to Cartagena due to our inability to move around with any ease. We booked the hostel for an additional 2 nights and it was the best decision.  We spent the entire next day just laying around at the hostel. We enjoyed watching movies, swimming in the pool, drinking, eating and meeting great people.  Two San Francisco guys run the hostel and being there made me miss the USA a little.  They made it a point to bring some things from the states to Colombia; like they had real Heinz ketchup, English television, and the bar was decked out in traditional USA gear.  However, I think that the most familiar aspect of the La Brisa Loca was that everyone spoke English; in fact some of the staff didn’t even speak Spanish at all.  It was so nice to be surrounded by people that you can understand not only their language but their culture as well.  I did not realize how isolating it can be to live in a culture that you weren’t raised in and how even the small things can be very uncomfortable and unfamiliar. 

Other then just being incredibly lazy we also made it to Tayrona Park, which is the beach about 40 minutes outside of the city.   We only had a couple hours to enjoy the beach but it was wonderful.  We had the entire strip of beach to ourselves and we had a great time.  It was the first beach that we have seen in 6 months and as we both have not lived far from a coast in our entire lives it was so comforting to listen to the waves crashing against the shore and to feel the sand between our toes. 

The next morning we took a bus to Cartagena to spend the reminder of our trip.

When we arrived to Cartagena the beauty of every detail of the streets overwhelmed me.  Colorful balconies hung over finely decorated doors as horse drawn carriages galloped through the streets.  The first thing we did was just soak up this fairytale city.  Later that night we met up with a few of the volunteers that work in the nearby island of Baru.  We enjoyed swapping stories and catching up. We had not seen each other since orientation so we had a lot to talk about and their experiences are far different from my own.   

                

 The next day we took a short 10 minute boat ride to Tierra Bomba Island where we planned to spend the night.  The beach was nothing to speak about and although we tried to spend time in the sand it was impossible with all the bugs.  We made the most of the pool and sunbathed all day.  After 4pm we were the only guests at the hotel as the other people spent the day there and then returned back to Cartagena.  It was very weird to be at a large hotel all alone but again we made the most of it and the owner was very nice and friendly.  We had a private dinner on the beach and it was very romantic (private because we were the only ones eating but private just the same).  We were on the boat back to the city after a morning of collecting seashells on the beach. 

 

We were very excited to return to Cartagena but noticed immediately that we did not return to the same city that we had left.  In the afternoon it seems like the streets closed down and none of the stores and restaurants were open.  It was smoldering hot so I don’t blame them for shutting their doors during the hottest hours of the day but it left of with not much to do.  During the evenings the city was jammed packed full of venders selling everything and anything.  Tourist swarmed the streets weaving through peddlers and traffic.  You could not move 2 inches without being bombarded with people shoving their products into your face.  Even sitting at the nicest restaurant venders had no problem interrupting your dinner to jingle their trinkets at you. 

Even the police were troublesome in Cartagena.  We were walking along a main street in the early evening when we were stopped by two young police officers. We were the only gringos on the street we were definitely the most sober and least suspicious.  However the cops drove by everyone else and stopped us.  They spoke to us very abrasively and did not even try to help us understand what was going on.  Feeling helpless we tried to go with their requests as they began to pat down every inch of Dale’s body.  They pulled my purse apart unzipping each and every compartment.  The more intensely they searched the more uncomfortable I became until they pulled out Dale’s wallet and started taking out his money. At this point I was certain that we were being robbed and this is when I started to talk back, in retrospect probably not the best idea.  Fortunately, perhaps at my protests or perhaps for other reasons, they just gave us everything back and left.  Later we found out that they were trying to get a bribe from us; common practice in Colombia is for the police to try to find something to pin on tourists and then to ask for a bribe to let them off the hook.  Either way it was incredibly disheartening to be treated so poorly particularly since we have only had good experiences with police in Medellin.

Despite the obvious problems we had with the city we still had a good time.  We rented a two-person bike to ride around the city.  We loved peddling around the beautiful old city swerving around people and cars.  We enjoyed a romantic horse drawn carriage ride around the city at night.  Cartagena also had some great restaurants, coffee shops and ice cream parlors.  I am so glad that we took a trip to the coast, as it was so very different from everything in Medellin.  However seeing the Medellin city lights as we returned home almost made me tear up because Medellin is truly the best city and I was so happy to return to paradise.    

The Cevicheria, the restaurant made famous by Anthony Bourdain.   

Hot dogs from the street vendors. 

Peruvian fusion restaurant

Adventures on the Coast: Part 1

Ciudad Perdida

This month Dale and I took 2 weeks to visit Colombia’s Caribbean coast.  Our plane touched down in Santa Marta and immediately after getting off the plane it was very apparent that we were not in Medellin anymore.  Our very rural and rundown tour of the scorching suburbs of Santa Marta left us wondering what this trip would have in store for us.  Although our Spanish has improved ten fold since we arrived it was impossible to understand anything that spilled out of the taxi driver’s slurred speech.  As proved common throughout our trip I really think they speak a completely different language on the coast.  But we pulled up to a nice city street and parked at La Brisa Loca, the hostel that we had planed to stay at.  We didn’t have much time to enjoy the hostel and the city as we were scheduled to climb the Sierra Nevada mountain to Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City) bright and early the next morning.

DAY ONE:

The morning of our adventure we awoke in a panic to see our door wide open with the lock broken.  We frantically searched for our wallet and were at a loss to find it.  Certain that we had been robbed we went into panic mode rearranging our plans, canceling our trip and after we had thoroughly worked ourselves into a great panic attack we ran across an employee who had found the wallet.  We came to realize that we had not been robbed but instead the break in was conducted by a dog who decided to curl up under our bed for the night.  With only 20 minutes left of the morning we quickly prepared for our trek and ran out the door to catch the jeep that was to take us to the highest point of vehicle travel.  With such a close call of cancelation we were relieved and ready to take on whatever the hike could throw at us; little did we know what that actually meant.  After about one hour on the jeep we pulled into a little restaurant and were joined by the other crazy hikers that signed up for the journey.  We began to get to know our fellow travelers over lunch excitedly awaiting the beginning of our adventure together.  The first day’s trek was to be 4 hours and supposedly the most difficult; after completely the entire trek I can confidently say that everyday was the most difficult.  The beginning was very lovely and it was nice to see many other hikers passing by us on their return from their own adventures.  But the joy and excitement quickly melted away by the brutal midday sun.  Just when I thought I could not make it another step in the heat the sun vanished and was replaced by rain clouds.  Immediately ecstatic for the cooling weather I did not think of the repercussions until it began pouring on us.  We all found shelter under a tin roofed tienda to wait out the thunderstorm; no not the safest idea but options were limited.  Happy to be cooled off and rested I was ready to continue ignorant to what the rain had actually done to our trail.  For the remainder of the trek it was like walking up clay.  You would take one step forward then slide two steps back all the way up, that is if you were lucky enough to not fall.  Everyone was slipping and sliding the whole way then our guide was nice enough to make us aware of the 5 people that died on the tour due to mudslides, gee thanks.  Luckily everyone slipped into our first campsite before sundown exhausted, soaked, and covered in mud.

The beginning of our hike up the mountain. 

The jeep ride to our drop off point

Our first campsite

Happy right before the rain comes down.

DAY TWO:

Half of our group woke up at 4:30am to leave for their 4 day hike whereas the rest of us got to sleep in until 8am.  We awoke disappointed that none of our clothes had dried throughout the night and reluctantly slid into our soaked clothes and squishy shoes. Two parrots decided that our fruit looked tasty enough to interrupt our breakfast.  They swooped in and landed on the table sitting next to us like he belonged there. We had a 3 hour hike planned for the day and we arrived at the next camp after a hearty but short day’s hike.  It was fairly easy and every time it seemed like it was getting to be too much we would find the group sitting, resting and getting a snack of oranges or watermelon.  We had a lot of time at the camp to relax and enjoy the scenery.  The little site was run by a Kogi family, Kogi is the indigenous tribe that lives in the Sierra Nevada as well as throughout the coast. We also had plenty of time to swim in the nearby stream, to play with some of the Kogi children and to lie around reading and napping. 

Our breakfast companions.

A fruit break

Dale's friend at the campsite.

Day two's campsite

DAY THREE:    

We were well rested and ready to begin our day at 6am. Everyone was under the assumption that we would reach Ciudad Perdida that day however after another 4 hour trek we stopped at another campsite.  This was, by far, the most beautiful and wonderful of all the hikes; hearing the clicking of toucans and parrots, passing by magnificent waterfalls, walking along a cliffs edge, running over streams of ants and hearing the bugs harmonizing with the birds.  There were even stretches of times when I could not see anyone ahead of me or behind me and being completely alone surrounded by the beauty of the life that grows in the jungle was aweing.  We again arrived at camp with plenty of time to rest although we did not need it as much as the previous day.  We swam in the stream and sunbathed on the rocks until the sun went down.  We passed the time in the evening by playing cards and swapping travel stories with the other hikers.  That night I went to the bunks for the night and as I passed through the door frame a giant spider, at least 6 inches with long spindly legs, jumps down and lands on to the top of my head.  I manically brush it off in a panic as Dale and I start yelling for the help of our comrades to kill it!  Needless to say neither of us slept well that night and after crawling into my chosen bunk I found a few smaller spiders in the mattress along with all sorts of awful smells and creepy crawlies.

A Kogi village that we passed by. 

DAY FOUR:

Although it was a rough nights sleep we were excited to finally reach our final destination, Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City).  It was only an hour hike up to the city and we did not have to carry our packs, as we would return to the camp for lunch.  We crossed a waist high river and walked over an American made bridge; I suppose our government decided to contribute a safe crossing over a river that we would have otherwise had to swing across in a rusty shaft (God bless America). We quickly reached the steps that would lead us to the ancient city.  We were so close but the steps were endless and they were not made for any average American foot but finally we did make it to the top of the 1,200 steps.  The city was spectacular it was founded in 800AD and was only discovered in 1972.  It was a huge site, which was thought to have housed 2,000-8,000 people.  After spending 3hours walking around the city we began our descent.  I thought walking up the steps was hard but walking down them took more grace and coordination then I obtain.  I held onto Dale for dear life as I slid down the moss-covered rocks posing as stairs only thinking about the possibility of adding another death to the tour guides tally.  Only pure luck allowed for a safe return back to stable ground.  On our return to the camp we found our lunch already ready and prepared for us.  Immediately after eating we set off again for another 6 hours of hiking.  Already exhausted and stressed from the day’s activities the hike was anything but the relaxing journey that I enjoyed the day before.  Going down at a straight vertical proved to be much more challenging then going up.  Without any of our enjoyable little fruit breaks my knees quickly began to feel like jelly and I struggled with much of the walk. With the tough terrain I slipped on some wet rocks a couple times leaving me with a notable bruise as well as many scrapes and cuts.  There were many times where I mentally did not think I could continue but your body goes into some sort of shock where it stops listening to what you think you can do and it just works the way you want it to.  It was quite a challenge and it felt like such a relief to make it to camp.  After a day like that everything taste and feels better and it was the best dinner that I have ever eaten and the sleep was the best that I have ever had.

The American made bridge.

Waist high river crossing

Endless stairs

Our tour guide

Ciudad Perdida

DAY FIVE

We awoke early for another long 7 hour hike.  It was our last day and knowing that a cold beer and a bed with an air conditioner was at the bottom of the mountain waiting for us was just the kind of encouragement needed to slide into our soaking clothes and squishy shoes one last time.  The heat of the day boar down onto us as soon as we left the tree covered campsite.  Soaked with new sweat as well as all the sweat that had built up over the past 5 days we trudged down the mountain.  Again we did not enjoy any much-needed breaks we just continued down moving on the hopes and dreams of what would lie at the bottom of the mountain.   After endless slopping mountains we passed through the small and familiar town in which we started our journey.  We sat with our comrades and enjoyed an ice-cold beer.  It was quite an adventure with all kinds of highs and lows but as I sit comfortably back home reminiscing on the trip I am very happy that I took that journey.  I am also very happy to be home. 

We made it!