WHat have I been up to the last few weeks? Well, not too much. Back in classes of course. Working quite a few extra hours preparing stuff, but classes are good. I`ve been able able to introduce a lot more content about geography and history. Let`s say the students didn`t get much of that in high school, so a lot of catching up on the history of the British Empire, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, good stuff like that. Talking Fair Trade and such in the upper level business classes. Of course, always frustrated wishing the students`level was higher; it`s tough to talk about those things when a regular newspaper article is full of unfamiliar words for them, but paso a paso. . .
But besides that, my projects are starting to come together. The band is back in full swing, out first show last week for the new class of freshmen was great, I sang `Mais que Nada` and wqe have a lot more percussionists this year- a drummer, great conga player, etc. I`ve been playing a lot of Brasilian tunes with them, ironically, seeing as how one might think it would be stuff in English.
Then there`s hope on the horizon for compost. Turns out a friend got hired at a small bilingual private school that has a lot of land and money and they want me to come and give classes and I proposed building a compost pile anbd using that as a base for English classes- nice and hands-on. SO, the possibilities are wide open there. This week I plan the first visit to see what`s feasible. And there`s a student group at UniBoyaca related to environmental stuff and we plan to help a small recycling company get a foothold in my neighborhood- getting people to separate class, cardboard, etc.
Then, there`s the pure satisfaction of having been here a while and slowly discovering good things like the fact that there`s a huge farmers`market a few blocks from my house every weekend where I can get all sorts of fruits and veggies (though the organic-ness varies and isn`t always certain since the farmer isn`t always the one selling the goods). But I can get basil there, which means pesto!!! I`ve already made 3 batches and got Milena addicted. Smear it on bread, pasta, your finger, whatever. I can also get real eggs there- from chickens that ranged free- since most eggs in stores here, while a bit better than US hormone-antibiotic caged slop, do come from large industrial chicken houses whre that kind of stuff is starting to catch on, sigh!! And a new exciting discovery- a farm one block from the university with free ranging cows (in that case Colombia is wonderful- all cows range free, the feedlot hasn`t made it here for large animals), and they sell jugs of milk every morning right fresh from the udder. Milena and I got a gallon jug and made delicious cheese (just simmer and add vinegar) with rosemary, and promptly ate the whole huge block. But nice to know I can get more whenever I want. Yogurt is next on the list.
Oh boy!! Cus the yogurt you get in stores here is watery and too much sugar always.
And that`s pretty much what`s new here. Enjoying music, thinking about travel plans for Semana Santa (spring break, effectively). Also taking a Colombian culture class at UniBOyaca, which is really good so far- learning a lot about indigenous groups in Colombia these first weeks. The Muiscas, the main group that inhabited the area of Tunja and Bogotá has a lot of archeological sites, but no direct descendents. However, there are new communties of mestizo who are reclaiming Muisca identity and relearning the language and rituals, so looking forward to visiting them.
Oh, and my brother Josh is getting married in July, so i looks like it`ll be straight to San Francisco and back to como by mid´July, hopefully with Milena, for a precious month before it`s of to North Carolina (come on and raise up!!- take your shirt off . . . oh, nevermind).
So, happy February. Hope winter goes gently in the states, though not looking forward to April and May here when the rains return. But can`t complain about early October temperatures year round.
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