week #2 and #3

Week #2 and #3

Hey everyone!  My second week here I went to school all five days. On Wednesday night I met my host Rotary Club for the first time!

 The weekend I spent with my Aunt and Uncle here, Sunday we went mountain biking, and I mean mountain biking. Which was a very new experience for me, and was amazing! Once again I promise pictures soon!

Later that afternoon I went to a festival that was taking place in my town.  Monday was a holiday so I spent it with my entire host family. And since we are in Colombia the day included an international basketball match between me and my cousin, music, and LOT’S of dancing! Week number three was a little different. Tuesday and Wednesday I had school but shortened days due to much of Colombia’s agriculture, mining, and transportation workers striking. They are protesting the amount of importing the Government is doing because it is driving the value of their products down. Thursday my host sister and I didn’t go to school, and Friday school was canceled for everyone. The strike continued through the weekend, and is still going on today (Monday) the president is finally talking with the people, but school for tomorrow is cancelled as well. Most of the protests have been peaceful, but all of the major roads have been blocked by protestors so no one and nothing has been going anywhere. Food the farmers are producing is going bad since it can’t be transported to be consumed so much of it is ending up in the streets. However I live in the country so the only affect it has had on my is the change in schedule. Since the President is involved now, hopefully it will be resolved soon and with a positive outcome for all.  Hasta luego mis amigos!

~La Gringa

Week #1 in Colombia!

Week #1 in Colombia

So it has been a little over a week since I left the U.S. for Colombia. It took me a grand total of thirteen hours to get to Colombia, because of all the layovers I had. Everything went smoothly in the airports except that my first plane got delayed so I had, and I am not exaggerating, sprint through O’haire to catch my connecting flight. I got in to Bogota around 11:30 by the time I went through customs, got my bags (both of them made it! EXITO!), and met my family it was midnight. What did we do then? We went out to eat, I love in Bogota I can get an arepa con pollo and a coca-cola at one in the morning!

We stayed the night in Bogota and the next day after meeting all the outbounds from the district we headed on to Paipa. There we went Quincenera crashing, well kind of, my extended family owns the place where it was taking place, so we went to watch the fireworks.

Sunday we relaxed, spent time with family, and went to Hotel Sochagota, to use the Thermal Pool. Which is kind of like a giant hot tub, filled with hot spring water from the mountains, it is amazing!

Tuesday I went to school with my host sister Dani, I am attending a private school here, and am a senior. (high school is only three years here.) School here starts at 7:30, and ends at 5 in the afternoon. However, unlike in the U.S. I get to leave for lunch, and have substantial breaks in between classes. Also unlike in the U.S. I stay with the same group of kids for all my classes, which makes it easier to find my way around, my host sister is a huge help too! Wednesday was Colombia’s independence day so I didn’t have school, so Tuesday night I went to a concert of a very famous Colombian singer named Silvestre Dangond. This weekend I went to Bogota for a culture fair of my state, Boyaca. It was awesome! I have great photos but my internet connection isn't great now so pictures will follow soon hopefully!So in a nutshell that was my first week! Hasta luego amigos!

~La Gringa