Category: Central and South America

Roll with it 

It’s been a little crazy the last 2 days because my host family just moved. Yes, I know! I got to their place on Monday night, stayed two nights and then was moved to another family’s house to stay while the first family moved. It sounds complicated.  Maybe it is. Either way I am trying to roll with it as it happens.

So Wednesday night I stayed with the volunteer coordinator, Libary, and her family. Then last night we were told the new place my family moved to still didn’t have air conditioning so could I stay another night? Roll with it Melinda!

Self Improvement

This is my new mantra to myself. Part of my reason for coming here was to hopefully change some things about myself, even a little. One of those is my lack of patience. Another is my need to be in control. So here we go! I tend to like having a plan and sticking to it. haha. Roll with it. This isn’t that bad.

So I am now in the new house but it doesn’t have wifi. So short post now via my phone and my local data plan. I also can’t take a shower because my towel is at Libary’s house with some of my other things since I stayed there for 2 nights. Trying to figure out the transportation from a new location is tricky too!

Continue reading “Roll with it “

Getting Around Cartagena

So I mentioned yesterday that the bus rides in Cartagena are an experience. They are certainly affordable. Every bus costs 2,000 pesos, which translates to approximately 65 US cents, or 84 Canadian cents. Pretty cheap. But, is it worth it? It depends. Here’s what I’ve experienced getting around Cartagena on public transit and taxi.

Getting Around Cartagena by Bus

I took three buses on different routes yesterday. Two of them I would take again in a heartbeat, the other, probably not.

The First Bus From Campestre

First bus – from my home to the foundation (work). My home is in the “Campestre” barrio or neighborhood. I love that they are called barrios, it makes me feel like I’m in the L.A. of Sanford & Son or something. So retro sounding. But really it’s just a Spanish word for neighborhood.

Campestre map getting around Cartagena Colombia
Campestre location in Cartagena Colombia

Anyway, the Campestre barrio is inland – it’s a middle class area kind of far from the tourist parts of town (on the map above, that’s the area along the ocean from Bocagrande – sort of like the South Beach – to Getsemani and beyond to Old Town).

My bus ride today (which I successfully completed on my own) was really easy. I catch the bus at the corner 2 blocks down the street and take it about 20 minutes and walk about 5 minutes from the stop. All for 84 cents. I will do that every morning. No problem.

getting around Cartagena Bus
The bus I take to work in the morning

Bus To Cartagena’s Tourist Area

The second bus took me from the stop near work to the old city. I will definitely take this bus again. It took about 15 minutes, had some great views along the way, and stopped right outside the old city, which is GORGEOUS! As you can see in the map below, the foundation is pretty close to the ocean.

Map of Foundation Granitos de Paz Cartagena
Where I work in Cartagena
Continue reading “Getting Around Cartagena”

First Day at Pre-School

Today was my first day volunteering. I am going to be spending my weekdays at “the institute” a division of an organization called Granitos De Paz, which is a free day care for parents who need it so they can work to support their families.  So today I got to spend the day playing with 2 year olds. 26 of them. In Spanish. Yea, I am tired after my first day at pre-school in Cartagena!

Getting There

First I had to take the bus. The buses here are not like back home. First off, no AC! Second, they are super cheap. Like 65 cents US.  And third, the ones I’ve been on (3 today) all play loud pop or dance music and have disco styling. I felt like royalty in the tassel curtained bus! I would have loved AC though, but I think that’s just going to be my lament for the month!

Check out my morning bus today:

First Day of Pre-school getting there on the bus
Fun bus ride to volunteer

I had a guide for the bus ride so it was uneventful, but tomorrow I ride alone, so wait for that! Fingers crossed.

At The School

The institute was great. I spent the day assisting one teacher. She has a class of 26 x 2 year olds so yea, I think I helped some.  These kids are adorable and full of life.

Colombian children
At the institute with the 2 year olds

The most interesting part of the day was lunch. Tables upon tables of kids (not just our classroom) trying to eat some kind of broth, pasta and meat, all in separate compartments on their plates. And then, the adults, trying to shovel the food into them so they got some nourishment instead of spilling everywhere.

I quickly pitched in to help feed the slow dawdlers. OMG The place was a MESS!! No food fight, but it looked like it! The kids had so much food on them, that we then had to take them to a huge sink to wash them. Not just their hands, their arms, faces, and necks. And then, when we brought them back to the classroom, all their shirts came off!

Then it was naptime. Isn’t napping the best?

Kids Napping First Day of Pre-school
Nap time

Not everyone slept, but there was a period of mostly silence so who can complain?

Busy First Day at Pre-School

My first day at pre-school was busy in itself but today I was ambitious and had tasks to complete. Here’s the other things I did today:

  1. Visited the Old Walled City and Bocagrande and will return many times. The bus there was easy. The bus back less so (see 2)
  2. Took two more buses one of which was driven by a crazy person racing another bus to pick up all the riders until everyone on the bus yelled at him. I need gravol from now on for bus rides
  3. Visited a scuba shop – may go diving this weekend. Will probably go diving this weekend
  4. Got a Sim card
  5. Had a Colombian cerveza
  6. Ate yummy plantains and soup

Yea, so way more to come!! Good night!