Hope you are all doing well! So in Colombia they have these small restaurants called ejecutivos where they serve a limited menu but it is HELLA cheap! For three dollars, you can get a soup, rice, salad, some sort of meat, and juice. They are not small portions either! However, I am still not ready to tackle the beast - el Plato Paisa..this wonderful plate consists of rice, beans, fried eggs, steak, ground beef, avocado, arepa (kinda like a tortilla), pork rinds, sausage, tomatoes, blood sausage and fried plantains. Conclusion: Colombians can eat!!
We have finally arrived to La Ceja! It's a small town - peaceful and with a great view. I can not say this enough: Colombians are really nice and generous people. It's neat to walk around town and bump into people that we've met. It is going to be a great experience living here.
Upon arriving to La Ceja, we had the opportunity to meet the minister of education of La Ceja and the school directors. We had a short meeting with them about what we hoped to accomplish and to see if there is anyway we can support their schools. Two areas that we are going to be looking at is the bilingual education program and the vocational/technical training programs in schools in La Ceja and another municipality, Carmen de Viboral. We saw a technical school in Carmen de Viboral (See pictures below). Students who graduate from this school receive a technical degree such as metalwork, computer engineers, electricians..ect. The students are able to get training in a field that will provide them the skills to work in that field. However, students do have the opportunity to go to college if they meet the requirements. Thus, the vocational degree can help them get a job that will make college affordable. Also, if a student can not or does not want to go to college, they have a set of skills that can help them get better jobs.
Later on that night we went to see the night classes at Instituto La Paz. That night, students had performances that included dances and skits. There was this one guy in the dance group that was really good. We were introduced to the entire student body and were asked to say a few words. After the presentations, some of the students came up to us and asked us questions about the US and our lives. The neat thing about this night program is that adults from all ages can join. Some students have grandchildren but we were told that the older students are usually the ones with the higher grades. (It is never too late to get an education!)
The next day, we visited a school where we were asked to talk to the teachers about our experiences and the educational system in the US. Primarily, the school director wants us to work with the school to help them develop a stronger bilingual education program. The issue is that the Colombian government passed a law a few years ago that required for English to be taught in schools. However, many teachers do not speak English which makes it difficult to teach students the language. Thus, the director wants us to help them identify ways to improve the bilingual education program at the school. We also got to go to an English class later in the evening. That was super fun. We had the opportunity to speak to the class about life in the US and the class got to ask us questions in English.
Avi and I also had the chance to watch a soccer game with one of the school directors. It was Cali versus Club Atletico Nacional (the local favorite). It was an exciting game! Nacional scored a goal in the last minutes of the game and then it went to penalties. (Yep, they won!) We then proceeded to watch the Heat vs. Mavericks game --- Dallas lost then! :( But..they won their last game!
On Thursday, we went to another municipality, Las Caldas, where they hold an annual event: Los Juegos de La Calle. Kids from all around Colombia come to the town and compete in games such as hopscotch, marbles, jacks, jump rope, boxcar racing and many other games that do not require expensive equipment. Educators use the games to teach students math concepts, and moral values such as teamwork. It was an extremely fun day! Avi and I also met with this guy who does incredible moves with a spinning top! (Blogger is not letting me upload the video for some reason but I'll post it next time.) He's been in several competitions and holds several records. Two little girls taught me how to play jacks. I am not very good but it was nice to see these classic games being played. The coordinator of the games gave us some books that talk about how games can be used in the classroom to stimulate learning and creativity. I think the US should definitely do something like this. (Or maybe we can have these competitions at Peabody!)
Until next time! Sending everyone a giant hug!!! :)
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