TeeTee and LaLa do BOLIVIA

Itinerary

Friday 17 July 2009 08:35 Bogota (BOG) 11:35 Lima (LIM)

Friday 17 July 2009 12:40 Lima (LIM) 15:35 La Paz (LPB)

To
Monday 27 July 2009 21:45 La Paz (LPB) 22:45 Lima (LIM)

Tuesday 28 July 2009 00:35 Lima (LIM) 03:35 Bogota (BOG)

T -- 2 weeks....

....til I leave Bucaramanga.

WHAT.

La UIS cerrada

New courses started last week(my final session...how did that happen?!!) and I did one of my favorite activities with my Conversation I class. I split the class up and have them create their own episode of a soap opera. These are always entertaining, as countless Latin telenovelas have given them ample inspiration for dramatic story lines and plot twists. For the first time, my class today decided to come up with their own characters rather than having me give them out.

One group came up with the usual love scandal/betrayal/drama at the altar that usually results when I dish out the role assignments, but the other came up with something entirely different. They acted out a drama surrounding the current situation at Bucaramanga's (and Santander's) best public university, Universidad Industrial de Santander.

UIS, because it is a public school, is frequently ground for student protests. The last semester, which should have ended in November (here first semester is February to June and second is usually September to November, depending on the school), finished up in March because protests had caused the university to close it's doors so frequently that they couldn't finish classes before Christmas and the 2 month long descanso between semesters. Because of this, this year's first semester started late to begin with.

Then, sometime last month, a copy of a phone call made from UIS' director was released. This call had him speaking with paramilitaries (right-wingers in the Colombian conflict) about murdering a student that had ties with the FARC (leftist rebels). This supposedly took place about three years ago, and nothing has come of it. The student is still alive and the director has been connected with no other paramilitary activities.

This incident, however, has caused outrage amongst students. They started protesting when the call was first released, causing classes to be intermittently canceled. Then there was a vote (which I'm told is really more like a voicing of opinion--the result doesn't actually influence anything) to see if the director should be replaced. Many students voted to replace him, but of course that was not actually done.

Since the vote, there have been several protests and the university has been open for class on and off. Of the four quarters that we were supposed to be completed by June, only one was actually finished. One of my roommates is a student at UIS and relied on a friend who lives right by the campus (we live pretty close too-maybe like 7 long blocks) and has a 6am class to call her each to day let her know if the gates were open or closed.

Then finally last week, the director decided that there was no way they could make up lost time so he canceled the semester (only been done once before in UIS' history, about 30 years ago.) This means there will be no classes until second semester starts in August and everyone must repeat the classes they were taking this semester. The worst part is students also loose the money they paid for this semester.

Again, because UIS is public, students pay according to their means. The university evaluates how much you deserve to pay based on how much money you have and if you came from a public or private high school. So the amount lost depends on who you are, but is still a large problem for quite a few people (imagine paying a full semester's tuition at a US university and then being told you weren't getting any education for it.)

And also since UIS is the best public school in Santander, people travel from all over the department and from others to go there. This means they also have rent/food expenses (unlike in the US, most university students go to a school in their hometown and still live with their families) attached with being at school. Many students have to decide whether to stay in Bucaramanga or go back to their hometowns until classes start again. My roommate is going home tomorrow (that will leave only 2 of us--there were 6 when I moved in!!) and probably won't return until August.

Currently about 20 students are engaged in a hunger strike protesting the closing of the university in a church downtown. I think they have been there for about four days and don't know how long they will last. I doubt it will cause the director to reopen the university, as students have left the city and abandoned the idea of continuing the classes they were taking this semester. And none of the protests thus far have gotten the protesting students anything they want...

Fotos from Carly's visit

BestFriendsFromLife together again!!!!!


My friend's finca


Canyon de Chicamocha--second largest in the world after the Grand Caynon


Canyon de Chicamocha from the teleferico


Teleferico car


Sunset over part of the canyon


Bonfire at the finca--made me feel pretty American to be roasting marshmallows


Crepes and Waffles...home of the most delicious ice cream ever


Bucaramanga from Ritoque, a mountain that overlooks the city


Patriotism


BestFriendsFromLife after Carly paraglides!!!

License and Registration, Please

The other night I had my second experience with Colombian Transit Police, and I did not like it any better than the first one.

I was riding with a friend when the street we turned onto was full of cops wearing neon green vests (couldn't tell if it was 3M reflective material, Daddy). The transit police set up checkpoints at random places in the city, usually where you can't see them until you're already on the street. Here, they don't have to have a reason to pull you over and can have you stop the vehicle even if you've done nothing wrong. The cops on this street were stopping every car passing in either direction to check for the driver's license, proof of insurance and sobriety. My friend present his license, passed the breathalizer and gave the cop his insurance card.

Turns out the insurance was not the most recent one and was several years old. The only way to prove the car is insured is with the card, and it has to be dated 2009. If you can't present that, the cops seize the vehicle.

So clearly we began tearing the car apart, looking for the most recent insurance card. The car is actually my friend's aunt's, so he wasn't sure if she would have taken it out for some reason. This also presented us with more of a reason to panic, as clearly she would not be pleased if her nephew got her car impounded. Our search yeilded insurance cards from 2006 and 2007, several assorted business cards, candy wrappers, a spoon, cassette tapes and a bookmark.

No 2009 insurance card.

He finally decided he'd have to call his mom, to have her try and wake up his aunt (they live in the same building and it was probably about 1 in the morning). His aunt didn't answer, so there was no way to figure out if she would have done something with the card. You have to pay to renew it and the only proof you've done that is the card itself, so if you lose it you're pretty much screwed. We decided that the cop who pulled him over the last time (during my first run in with Colombian Transit Police) must have taken it to check and forgotten to give it back. [My friend had gotten pulled over this time for turning through a red light since there were no other cars on the road, only to find the police waiting further down the street after he'd turned. He was able to avoid getting a ticket by paying the cop all he had in his wallet (11,000 pesos, which is about $5) and doing some sweet talking.]

So we pretty much were resigned to the fact that the card was not going to appear. His mom tried calling a policeman friend of hers, to see if he could help us, but no answer. She then got on the phone with the cop, to try and bribe him not to take the car. This was successful, so we were allowed to leave with the car to go to his house to get the money. He had to get an ATM card from his mom, go to the bank for the money, and then we went back to find the cop. We had to pretend we had found the insurance card, so that none of the other cops noticed. He put the money (100,000 pesos, a little under $50) in the case the insurance card should have been in and presented it to him, as if we had found it. He counted the money and then we were allowed to drive away.

While I do not enjoy the fact that we were openly endorsing corruption in the Colombian police force, I was extremely relieved the car didn't get taken. In the US, there's no way you could ever pull something like that to convince the cops not to impound your car or give you a ticket. (My one traffic ticket was in high school for running a red light in Uptown, and a Venezuelan exchange student was with me at the time. She asked why I couldn't just pay him not to give me the ticket and I said unfortunately it doesn't work like that here.)

Apparently I'm bad karma when it comes to traffic cops (or good karma if you consider he avoided getting a ticket and having the car impounded with me there) so I don't think I'll want to be driving with him anytime in the near future.

But Snoop Dogg says it....

A student asked me today what "ain't" meant. I explained it was slang for am not, is not, are not, etc., and that it is extremely informal language and often sounds uneducated.

He then proceeded to ask me what "fa shizzle" meant. I was momentarily speechless and then explained that it was slang for "for sure." And if he ever said it someone would laugh in his face.

He looked quite confounded that I had told him not to use either of these precious phrases and said, "But I heard them in a Snoop Dogg song....."

Sorry to crush your dreams?

12 years later

It's been quite awhile since I've posted and a lot has happened since I've last written. A few short general updates:

--Pei left, back to Canada. She was generally not very happy here and had decided she was ready to go. A situation at work (not enough students, too many teachers) presented itself as a perfect out for her to leave early without screwing over Colombo, so she took it. I pretty much had 2 days notice that she was leaving, which was extremely difficult. If you know me I'm not at all good at good-byes and having virtually no time to mentally prep for this one did not work out so great. My entire time here, I think I went maybe 4 days without seeing her, so it was a very drastic change that she is suddenly gone. She sounds happy back in Canada, but we miss her here!! I am trying to look at her departure as a way for me to get closer to people here and try out different things. I think sometimes I let her desires limit what I wanted to do; I usually wouldn't do something if we didn't do it together. Now I'm spending time with a lot of different people and talking in Spanish way more!!

--Since there is such low enrollment this month (universities just started vacation so many students don't take classes at Colombo during this time either) there are no conversation classes. This means I'm (unfortunately) teaching two grammar classes, which means lots more work. I have to teach myself the grammar lessons before I teach them to the class, write quizzes, correct quizzes, and make sure we finish all the material before the final exams. Those are next Monday and Tuesday, and then I start my last month of classes! I'm hoping I'll get conversation classes again not only because it's easier but it's more fun for me too!

--On Saturdays I have Conversation III, and they're actually a great group. Usually it is quite apparent that Saturday students DO NOT want to be there, but most of these kids are actually engaged. It makes for some good discussions and a more pleasant eaaaaarly Saturday morning to come to work for (and one of my students is really cute--sorry I'm a creeper.)

--I've been giving a man in my neighborhood private lessons 3 mornings a week. He used to study with my neighbor (don't know if I ever mentioned the strange Texan who rented a room next door) before he went back to the US. I took over and am actually really enjoying it. One on one lessons are so much more personalized and allow me to actually make sure he is understanding, instead of just talking at a room full of 15 students. I can also use Spanish with him, which makes things a hell of a lot easier. It also allows me to practice my Spanish, since we frequently get off on tangents about Colombian vs. US culture.

--CARLY CAME TO VISIT!!!! We had an absolutely AMAZING time and it was so great to see someone who knows me perhaps better than anyone. We've been friends literally my entire life and haven't gone this long apart ever, so let's just say Palo Negro Airport in Bucaramanga saw a few tears when she arrived. I had a blast showing her around town, eating at my favorite places, educating her in the best Colombian beers, taking her paragliding, getting fabulous $6 mani/pedis, and visiting my friend's finca up in the mountains for a night. She also came to work with me every day (not horribly exciting) to see me teach. This is ironic, because she actually studies education and I know nothing about it and had absolutely no qualifications for the job I was hired for. It also meant a lot to me to be able to show someone closest to me how Colombia really is, that there are not drug dealers nor FARC soldiers lurking on every street corner, waiting to get you.

--Now that Carly's gone, my despedida seems a whoooole lot closer. I can't believe it's June already!!! Only a month and a week left of work and time in Bucaramanga! Then I hope to attend the AIESEC Colombia National Conference in Medellin, visit a friend in Venezuela, travel a few other places, and then return to Bogota to spend a bit of time with Liz before heading back to the US on July 31. It feels like the first 2 months here was full of wishing July would just get here already, but now that it's June I suddenly have a fear I will have to leave here before I'm ready to. My Spanish has gotten a ton better, but it's still not totally where I want it. I also feel like there are lots of people here I want to get to know better before I leave.

--My lovely parents got me a new camera for my birthday (yes that was nearly 3 months ago) and sent it with Carly, so I can again commence excessive documentation of my life. Pictures from Carly's visit to come soon!!