First of all i came to colombia with a program called worldteach, so all things that i write on my blog will be my opinions and not the ones of worldteach. i came to bogota two days ago. right now we are staying in a hostal in bogota and we have orientation for two weeks before myself and the other 24 volunteers, so 25 volunteers all together go to out placements sights. my placement sight will be manizales in the mountains of the cofee growing region. although it sounds far away manizales is actually quite a developed city with a skyline, 6 universities, and all the advancements of today's society. i will be be co teaching english as a foreign language in an elementary school and i will be living with my roomate angela in a flat. in total i will be in colombia for 11 months plus the incial, middle of semester and final orientation, so almost a year.
During the first day when i arrived here i needed to get my visa processed in order to get a cedula which is my identity card here in colombia. i also had to get a blood type test and go the the colombian embassy that same day. when i went to the embassy to get my cedula i met an israeli couple whom has a hostal where they host israelis whom travel in south america after the army. the israeli couple was very friendly and invited me to the hostal to hang out with israelis in colombia, eat israeli food and learn about colombia from the other travelers. it's always something that surprises me in a good way, that whenever i meet other israelis or people that speak hebrew, it instantly feels like home, like family, and they always treat me like they have known me forever, which is nice when i am travelling in different countries.
Throughout the day the group of volunteers in colombia has lectures about learning spanish, how to teach english as a foreign language, learning how to use visual aids and games in the classroom, how to handle behavior problems, how to travel safely, etc. up to now the program has been really good about preparing interesting lectures that will be usefull in the future once i get to my placement site. i am so excited to be teaching english as a foreign language to children in elementary school in colombia! i got tons of books, cd's, and movies in english. i also got some stickers supplies for the classroom and lesson plans i have used in the past. this job description is perfect for me it combines my passions of spanish, teaching, and also working with younger children. i also feel that this job is different then any job i have ever taken upon myself in the past.
The other day one of the volunteers colombia/ world teach directors Luis gave the group of volunteers a really inspiring speech. The jist of the speech was that this is a volunteer program becuase it aims to bring native english teachers not to the richest people in colombia who can affort it and have probably had many such opprotunities in thier lives, but to the poor people in colombia who could probably not affort to have a native english teacher without the aid of the nonprofit organization. Also the main goal of the program is to bring EFL into the school systems of the impoverished areas in order to give the people of the next generation an upper-hand and competitiveness in world trade, in thier communities, and in thier life in general. For example one area of tourism here in colombia is cartagena. in cartagena there are many touristy areas, becuase it is known as the center of salsa in colombia, and probably the world. Due to the high number of tourist flowing in each year many hotels have been built recently. Most of the higher class in colombia learns english very well whereas the middle class and definatly the lower class don't learn english as well, or barely any at all. Now, take into consideration who is more likely to get a job in a hotel where english tourists visit, the upper class student who has excellent english, or the lower class student, who most likely dropped out of high school. In my mind worldteach tries to bring new opprotunities such as having a native english teacher to impoverished communities, families, and students, that would have otherwise not been as competetive in english in the scheme of things. All in all i am very happy that i am a part of such program which is devoted to helping the less fortunate and truly making a difference in the peoples' lives for years to come in the future.
Now for the adventure! This morning the group leader Pedro took about 18 people from the volunteer group including me on a hike at 5am! This was not some easy, breezy hike. About half the group ran up to the top of the mountain. we scaled up rocks, jumbed over branches, crossed rivers, saw the beautiful greenery, heard the birds, and saw the sunrise. i felt as if i was in the rainforest. Now normally a 5 mile hike would be no problem for me, but the elevation was absolutly ridiculous. Every time i stopped to take a break i heard my heart jumping out of my chest and i felt as if my legs were falling under me like jelly. All in all it was a great refreshing hike. although it was extremely difficult at the end i felt great! when we got to the top of the mountain i was so out of breath and it was just amazing to see the whole view of all the high building in bogota with the background of green mountains. it's always amazing to be riding in the bus be in the big city, and look out the window and see huge green mountains. Bogota is really a mix of the jungle and the big city.
This year worldteach has placement sites in manizales, cartagena, baranquilla, baru, kimbaya, and montenegro.
Today in spanish class we learned about the different things to see and do in colombia and what makes the country special. there are so many different regions, natural resources, and scenery. There is the andinian, carribian, amazonal, and much more. all together there are 32 provinces in colombia. it's a country of such variety, you can go to the beach, go to the tropical rainforest, go to the beautiful coffee growing region, go to the lost city of santa ana, learn about the centers of salsa cartagena and cali, or visit the capital of Bogota.
I'm very excited about this year in Colombia and i hope to be putting pictures up soon. Besos to all my family and friends, miss you lots, and i will see you soon, or you're welcome to come visit me here in Manizales, Colombia once i have an adress.
Lots of Love,
Neta
During the first day when i arrived here i needed to get my visa processed in order to get a cedula which is my identity card here in colombia. i also had to get a blood type test and go the the colombian embassy that same day. when i went to the embassy to get my cedula i met an israeli couple whom has a hostal where they host israelis whom travel in south america after the army. the israeli couple was very friendly and invited me to the hostal to hang out with israelis in colombia, eat israeli food and learn about colombia from the other travelers. it's always something that surprises me in a good way, that whenever i meet other israelis or people that speak hebrew, it instantly feels like home, like family, and they always treat me like they have known me forever, which is nice when i am travelling in different countries.
Throughout the day the group of volunteers in colombia has lectures about learning spanish, how to teach english as a foreign language, learning how to use visual aids and games in the classroom, how to handle behavior problems, how to travel safely, etc. up to now the program has been really good about preparing interesting lectures that will be usefull in the future once i get to my placement site. i am so excited to be teaching english as a foreign language to children in elementary school in colombia! i got tons of books, cd's, and movies in english. i also got some stickers supplies for the classroom and lesson plans i have used in the past. this job description is perfect for me it combines my passions of spanish, teaching, and also working with younger children. i also feel that this job is different then any job i have ever taken upon myself in the past.
The other day one of the volunteers colombia/ world teach directors Luis gave the group of volunteers a really inspiring speech. The jist of the speech was that this is a volunteer program becuase it aims to bring native english teachers not to the richest people in colombia who can affort it and have probably had many such opprotunities in thier lives, but to the poor people in colombia who could probably not affort to have a native english teacher without the aid of the nonprofit organization. Also the main goal of the program is to bring EFL into the school systems of the impoverished areas in order to give the people of the next generation an upper-hand and competitiveness in world trade, in thier communities, and in thier life in general. For example one area of tourism here in colombia is cartagena. in cartagena there are many touristy areas, becuase it is known as the center of salsa in colombia, and probably the world. Due to the high number of tourist flowing in each year many hotels have been built recently. Most of the higher class in colombia learns english very well whereas the middle class and definatly the lower class don't learn english as well, or barely any at all. Now, take into consideration who is more likely to get a job in a hotel where english tourists visit, the upper class student who has excellent english, or the lower class student, who most likely dropped out of high school. In my mind worldteach tries to bring new opprotunities such as having a native english teacher to impoverished communities, families, and students, that would have otherwise not been as competetive in english in the scheme of things. All in all i am very happy that i am a part of such program which is devoted to helping the less fortunate and truly making a difference in the peoples' lives for years to come in the future.
Now for the adventure! This morning the group leader Pedro took about 18 people from the volunteer group including me on a hike at 5am! This was not some easy, breezy hike. About half the group ran up to the top of the mountain. we scaled up rocks, jumbed over branches, crossed rivers, saw the beautiful greenery, heard the birds, and saw the sunrise. i felt as if i was in the rainforest. Now normally a 5 mile hike would be no problem for me, but the elevation was absolutly ridiculous. Every time i stopped to take a break i heard my heart jumping out of my chest and i felt as if my legs were falling under me like jelly. All in all it was a great refreshing hike. although it was extremely difficult at the end i felt great! when we got to the top of the mountain i was so out of breath and it was just amazing to see the whole view of all the high building in bogota with the background of green mountains. it's always amazing to be riding in the bus be in the big city, and look out the window and see huge green mountains. Bogota is really a mix of the jungle and the big city.
This year worldteach has placement sites in manizales, cartagena, baranquilla, baru, kimbaya, and montenegro.
Today in spanish class we learned about the different things to see and do in colombia and what makes the country special. there are so many different regions, natural resources, and scenery. There is the andinian, carribian, amazonal, and much more. all together there are 32 provinces in colombia. it's a country of such variety, you can go to the beach, go to the tropical rainforest, go to the beautiful coffee growing region, go to the lost city of santa ana, learn about the centers of salsa cartagena and cali, or visit the capital of Bogota.
I'm very excited about this year in Colombia and i hope to be putting pictures up soon. Besos to all my family and friends, miss you lots, and i will see you soon, or you're welcome to come visit me here in Manizales, Colombia once i have an adress.
Lots of Love,
Neta
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