Friday, August 3, 2012

Day trip to Rosario Island - Last day:-(

Bright and early we set sail to Rosario Island for a day of  much deserved rest and fun.  The Caribbean Sea was a spectacular blue, the sun was shining and the sea was calm..............  unlike the journey back!!!!!!


The beautiful Caribbean

 The journey back and I thought I would be dry at the back of the boat! The swell was so huge that the waves came over the top of us at the back.




Some people snorkeled, scuba dived, ate and slept in the sun.  What we all agree is this was a fine end to what was truly BEYOND THE HEADLINES IN COLOMBIA AND MEXICO.

THANK YOU FULBRIGHT!

Incredible Cartagena July 25th, 2012

The highlight of our trip was a visit to the University of Cartagena.  This is where we were able to talk to a young man who was taken by the paramilitary at the young age of 12.  He had previously been living with an aunt who treated him like a slave after suffering abuse by his father.  He had been befriended by a member of the paramilitary, an older man, whom I would think would be a father figure for him.  Although he had stated he did not want to enlist in his organization, eventually he was taken and trained to do things that no 11 year old boy should even know about. (The information given would be too graphic for me to add to my school blog) Needless to say, we listened intently to him about his life story.  Thankfully he took advantage of a government initiative in 2005 that allowed people like him to return to normal life with a pardon of what had been done.  You can imagine the distrust of the people in the village where he lived.  He said it had been very hard to integrate again into a "normal life."  The professor from the university had received a grant to help others just like him and he hopes to make a film out of his ordeal and current life.  I have a scripted document of his life story if you would like to request a copy.  It is translated in a rough format but the gist is very apparent.

Next we were uplifted with a wonderful display of Colombian dance by the students of the college.  It was bright, lively and gave us a wonderful insight into this culture.




Wednesday, July 25, 2012

July 24 - Taganga Beach Visit

 Taganga Beach
 All in a day's catch

This is the view from my hotel window.  It is beautiful Cartegana Beach, in the Caribbean.  We have 3 days here.  




After a much needed free morning and a wonderful walk along the beach in Santa Marta, we headed off to Cartagena and on the way visited Taganga Beach.  This was a typical fishing village frequented by tourists who want a quiet vacation.  We had lunch of fresh from the ocean fish and sea food then piled into the bus again and headed for Cartagena.  This is the last leg of our Colombian tour.

Santa Marta - Fulbright Special dinner

We traveled all day today as Bogota is the hub and we had a connection to make there to go onward to Santa Marta.  We changed quickly then went to Restaurant Cafe Gourmet for dinner.  We had a brief introduction by a lady who discussed the culture in this area and that was followed by a dinner of  fresh fish - snapper and sea bass.  Yummy. Then it was off to bed..............

                                                

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Parque Del Cafe (Coffee Park)

Today we got a late start to the coffee park which was about a 45 minute drive away.  We split into groups and explored the park.  It was like Knotsberry Farm with amusement rides, horse riding, small train and overhead tram ride.  They had a museum which had coffee artifacts and information and visitors could walk down a pathway which had information about growing coffee.  I learned that in order to get great coffee the beans should be red or at least yellow.  Also if the bean is lighter then the coffee will be weaker.  There is also two harvests per year but one is much less than the other. They cannot allow beans to drop off the plant on to the ground as it will attract bugs.  We saw some weird bugs in the museum.  We also tried (and bought) coffee butter which is like a caramel spread.  Yummy.

 Small bananas called
Plantains.
Coffee bean after losing its shell

Notice the red beans ready to be picked


On the evening we went to a small typical Colombian town named Salerna. We had the most delicious fresh river trout I have ever tasted.  We also enjoyed meandering up the small streets and meeting the locals as we shopped.

 Evening in Salerna
 A small restaurant
A beautiful sunset from the hills.
Salerna is surrounded by rolling hills and a freezing cold river.

Coffee Country we are on our way

Today was a travel day which resulted in half of our group losing their luggage.  All was well in the end as they found it in Medellin and put it on a later plane.  We had a pleasant dinner with Jody Geitz, a former Fulbrighter and a resident of Armenia.  She owns a small coffee plantation and works it in the summer when she is not working in her school in Chicago.

July 20th Independence Day in Colombia

Pueblito Paisa visit and we were joined by many cyclists who pedaled up the large hill and enjoyed the view and snacks in this quaint area.  Several parts were closed on being modernized so a brief look around then off to Parque Baerrio - Barefoot Park.  This is quite the treatment for ones feet.  You start in the bamboo forest then walk on sand.  Next is the foot spa pool then one with jets to massage your feet.  It was packed with people and we were quite the spectacle!  Our feet were as light as air and got us ready to enjoy Antioquia Museum visit and the exhibition of Botero - the fat people!  Or as he says - voluptuous.  We also saw his rendition of the death of Pablo Estoban. In the evening a small group of us joined a local Fulbrighter for dinner and a walk around her town.  It was very pleasant and intriguing to find out how much Fulbright scholarships change the lives of people.  I know it has certainly opened up my life.
Enjoy the photos.
 Free Foot Spa
Pablo Estobar







Thursday, July 19, 2012

Benedikta Zur Nieden School

Today was an outstanding day!  We started off by visiting the Department of Education in Medellin  and meeting with the Education Secretary.  He explained honestly about the trouble Colombian education was experiencing.  Education is the main focus of the government at present as they know that is the only way out of the poverty that many of the municipalities are in.  The problem is attributed to corruption, violence and the quality of the education that students are receiving.  Some things they are considering to relieve this pressure are firstly to renovate all schools including teacher quality to bring them up to private school standards. Only 32 teachers out of 18,000 have a Masters Degree. There is no incentive for them to study at this level.  Secondly, to organize an academic Olympics for each grade and have the winning students appear on TV to bring publicity to education.  They also win prizes like computers or scholarships. Thirdly, they get grants from the private sector and forge bonds to improve schools.

This brings us to Benedikta School where such an alliance has been made with a private Montessori School and a private University. They have been working together for five years now to train teachers and share ideas to improve this school. They also focus on nutrition, training single moms, and hygene The school ranges from preschool to high school with each grade sharing times they are in school.  We all found the students very warm and friendly to us and with all of the teachers.  The principal knew the students and they loved him.  Everyone was excited for our visit and we certainly were! Students attending this school live locally and many have homes without electric or water.  We got to visit this area with two of the students as tour guides.  They have actually built an escalator up part of the hill to the homes to make them more accessible.  Stage three is in progress and that is to build a road up to the escalator where a bus can link from the cable cars that take people to other districts at a cheap rate to the bus then up to their home in the hillside.  I hope you enjoy the video I have supplied on our experience.

 The wee ones.

One of the classrooms with about 40 students.  They were learning English.


Here are some of the photos and the link to my video when we walked up to the escalator that connects the local people to their homes in the hills.

 The orange is the housed escalator
 One of the many locally painted murals to brighten their lives and tell a story.
I am at the top of the escalator with a view of numerous hillside houses behind me.  Many are virtual slums. These homes are where the students live from the school above.


Here is the video link from the top of the hill.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Los Andes University Kindergarten



The children at this school belong to the staff and students of the university. It runs a great program from small babies up to Kindergarten. We had such a great visit and I realized that I missed seeing children. Tomorrow we visit another school in Medellin. YEAH!






Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Salt Cathedral

Enjoy the pictures of these underground caves which now house the 15 stages of the cross.  It was a beautiful and serene experience.









This link will introduce you to the message of our presentation this afternoon on AFRO-LATINOS by TV Producer Renzo Devia.  It is certainly food for thought.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQYi4iSD1p0

Monday, July 16, 2012

Monserrate


High up on the verdant hillside lies the beautiful church of Monserrate which is adjacent to a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe. We took a gondola up to around 8500 feet to see this church which was designed and built by Don Pedro with the help of the people of Bogota. It was built in 1657.


Enjoy the views of downtown Bogota.

This evening we just enjoyed a delicious Colombian dinner with the staff of Fulbright. It was really great to share stories and har about all of the supportive work that Fulbright is doing around the world. It crtainly got my attention when they discussed a fellowship to teach ESL as I could really use my National Board mastry of this subject.


First stop Bogota Gold Museum.


Gold. Gold And more gold! This area is definitely into heavy metal. (Excuse the pun!)
We saw everything from ceremonial masks, to beautiful jewelry and even crowns. The whole process of making gold was explained and it is not a simple process or even just one process. I hope you like a sample of what I saw.

Next we walked around beautiful downtown Bogota in an area called La Candelaria. It had such quaint streets but oh so much graffiti. This is the view from the roof top of a restaurant we stopped at.


The last two photos show the changing of the guard at the palace and the square where all of the activities of this vibrant town take shape.

Finally it was hotel bound then hot soup and bread and a well earned sleep......






Friday, July 13, 2012

A Busy Last Day in Mexico City


Off we left bright and early to visit the National Palace and see Diego Rivera's depiction in mural format of the history of the Spanish invasion.



Next we visited the Templo Mayor Museum which is still being excavated to show Aztecs ruins.Parts of the altar that saw many ritualistic ceremonies to the gods is being worked on right now so it shows more of the blue and red colored details.












Finally we had our farewell lunch and where joined by two representatives from Fulbright. We are so grateful to Fulbright for showing us a different side to the culture of Mexico. Of course, having Jacques and Alex to support our learning made it much more informative. Tomorrow we fly to Colombia and have Leo show us his unique country. Tonight it is raining cats and dogs and so I am relaxing and working on my photos ready for my project.

Thursday, July 12, 2012



Our day started with a leisurely “trajinera” (traditional boat) ride on the last existing lake in Mexico. The lake was agog with the energy of mucho salespeople touting their wares - corn, mariachi, flowers and much more. It was a busy scene but not as busy as it would be on a weekend. As you know, Mexico was built on seven lakes and that is why today the city has a problem with flooding.




Next stop is the Casa de Frida Kahlo.








This evening we enjoyed




the Ballet Folklore de Amalia Hernandez.