Giving Thanks

Today is the Canadian Thanksgiving (ie. the REAL Thanksgiving). While we should all be grateful and appreciative of what we have every single day of the year, this holiday really makes you stop and think about the important things in life.

Many of you who are reading this blog know that my mother passed away in March this year. That life changing experience made me appreciate the good things in life a lot more. I try not to take things for granted (but let's be honest, that's part of human nature), and I try to live life to its fullest. I try to appreciate the little things and find joy in what I do. I am more deliberate in my decisions, and I choose to try to surround myself with positive things (and people) that are worth my time. Life is too short to waste your time on things (and people) that make you unhappy. This is something that I am working on.

I had a really hard time yesterday after skyping with my dad and brother back home. I felt like I should have been home for Thanksgiving. I felt like I was missing out on a family holiday, the first one without my mom. I felt like I needed to be there on the nature walk in Spring Valley, where we took our last family photo. It really upset me.

Spring Valley- Thanksgiving 2009

But, I am so thankful for my wonderful friends and family. Of course I have such a great support system back home, but I've also founds some really great friends here too. Mandi and Rob helped to turn my day around yesterday. We hung out by the pool and Rob made us delicious BBQ chicken pizza. I am truly thankful for them :)

So here are some shout outs to the people who make me smile and those who I care deeply about. To the people who I could not live without and who have helped make me the person I am today. To the people I love and want to be surrounded by:

To my family- I love you and I miss you every day. I am happy to be here and I'm loving my job, but I am always thinking of you. Thank you for putting up with my quirkiness, my craziness, my stubbornness, and all the other weird things I do. And you know that I do a lot of weird things.

To my friends back home- I love you and miss you too! Thank you for all of your love and support, especially this year. I really want to keep in touch, so let's keep skyping! I love when your faces light up my screen! I would also be very thankful if you came to visit!!

To my new friends here- You are all amazing and I couldn't imagine a better group of people to be working and living with. Thank you for your friendship, support, and the fun times! I'm excited for all the adventures to come :)

To my mom- Thank you for being the best mom I could ever ask for, for the past 23 years. Thank you for loving and caring for me; for listening; for worrying; for supporting; for laughing; for smiling; for believing; and for everything else you did. The list of your virtuous qualities is much too long for one blog post. I love you and miss you every single minute of every single day. You are forever rooted in my heart.

Even if you are American or another nationality that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving in October, take our Thanksgiving as a reminder to appreciate life and what you have (I single out the Americans only because they're always the ones who poke fun at Canadian Thanksgiving).

Happy Thanksgiving! And to anyone who is reading this, thank you for being interested and taking time out of your busy lives to read about mine!

xo Sam

Green Green Green! Hello Hello Hello!

Wow, blogging on a regular basis is hard! It's not that I don't have things to say, if anything I have too many things to say! Life is just a lot of fun and very busy, but I need to start dedicating the time to document my experiences before I forget them! Also, it takes FOREVER to post an entry. This one took me about an hour and a half with all the pictures and formatting etc.

I can't believe that it's October already and I'll be starting week 8 of teaching! It's ridiculous how fast time flies! Teaching is going well, and my class is getting a little bit crazy! Of all five grade 3 classes, I think that I have the most dramatic bunch. I have some drama queens who pull each others hair, scream, and push each other. I have one girl who has anger management issues and like to throw things. I recently stopped her from hurling a chair across the room. Classroom management is definitely a challenge at times. The mornings are pretty good for the kids, but once they come back from lunch recess...it's an entirely different class! And it's not just my class that goes nuts in the afternoon, it's most of the school. Besides that, I love my students and I'm having a great time with them! I wrote a song about the 6 main nutrients for our nutrition unit and we are in the process of recording them singing! I will post the song when it's done :)

The beautiful 3rd Grade team at Open House and test taking time...it's hilarious how they're obsessed with using all possible notebooks to set up blockers so no one will see their paper.

Two weekends ago was the common curriculum days at my school, which means that we hosted other teachers from surrounding schools for workshops. Amanda Young, one of my fellow Queen's con-eddies, came to Cali from her school in Armenia and we had such a fun weekend together! It was so nice to catch up with her and it was the perfect weekend to visit!

Amanda & I; In one of my workshops for Destination Imagination!

That weekend was the end of the Festival Mundial de Salsa, and we went to watch some of the competition. The dancing, music and costumes were incredible and it was a lot of fun! We then went out to La Fuente (a hole in the wall salsa bar where people spill out into the streets) and had a "great" time. Let's just say that I talked a lot that night hahaha...

On Saturday after the workshops were over, we went to Surella's husband's cute little restaurant in San Antonio for delicious quiche. It was in the perfect location for the Calle del Arte. The Calle del Arte is a one day art show that takes over some of the streets of San Antonio. Stands with handmade jewellry, instruments, art, mats, clothing, and hats line the streets; vendors sell ridiculously large cups of beer; live music and dancing at every corner. It was an absolutely lovely afternoon! I was so sad to see Amanda leave on Sunday!

Calle del Arte! I love the picture of the woman sleeping in the shade of her hats.

Last Friday was our Primary house integration day. We have houses (like in Harry Potter!!) and they are: Condors (that's me!), Eagles, Falcons, Owls, Woodpeckers, and Hawks. It was a day of chaos, but so much fun! There was so much school spirit! We all had matching shirts, there were balloons, noisemakers, pom poms, face paint- it was awesome! I even made a bird hat and wings. They called me "Mama Condor" haha!

Mama Condor and a rainbow of school spirit!

This past week was spirit week at school and the theme was Salad Dressings. It was pretty cool! Monday was Thousand Islands day (tropical, hawaiian etc). Tuesday was Ranch Day (cowboy/girl). Wednesday was Blue Cheese Day (dress in blue). Thursday was French Day. And friday was House Dressing Day (school, colombian, or house colours). It was a great idea and the kids loved it. Weirdly enough, Markham District is also doing this spirit week theme THIS week...Craaazzzyyyy MDHS!

Anyhoo, I will do my best to update more often (especially with the constant harassment from Stacy). Also, have I mentioned that I will be in the Amazon Rain Forest in 2 weeks? I'm SO EXCITED!

Sam, out.
xo

Tun Tun, Quien es?

Lo siento por la espera (Sorry for the wait!) Life has been a whirlwind of excitement these past few weeks! I am still loving every minute of being here, and I'm starting to know my way around a lot better (surprised?) These are a few things that are different here that have taken a bit of getting used to:

1. Transportation
Cali apparently has the best layout of their streets in the world. It makes understanding where things are much easier. All streets are numbered, and all of the main roads are either Calles (that run north south) or Carreras (that run east-west). Addresses are given by what street you are on, followed by 2 numbers. The second number is the closest intersecting street, and the third number is how many meters from the intersection you are. So for example if the address was Calle 5 #122-121, the location would be on Calle 5, 121 meters from Carrera 122.

BUT, while the street orders make a lot of sense, the streets themselves are CRAZY. There are many one way streets, and there are always medians the run down the middle, with space every so often to make U-turns. There is also the Mio (the main bus system) that runs down the middle of La Quinta (one of the main streets here) which has cut down the number of lanes on the street, so during rush hour it is jam packed.

Did I mention the crazy drivers? There is no way I could EVER drive down here. As my housemate Rita put it, the painted lines on the road are merely a suggestion. Two lane roads usually change to 3 lanes as cars and taxis squish their way in. Sometimes you could even consider it 4 or 5 lanes if you count all the motos that squeeze in. The motos here weave in and out of cars like it's no big deal. Driving here is very stop and go, in and out, there's lots of honking and driving on the shoulder of the road. Also, if you get in an accident, you are NOT ALLOWED to move your car at all. So you can imagine how that stops the traffic!

Another difference is the traffic lights. In North America it goes green, yellow, red. Here it goes green, yellow, red, yellow. So after a red light there is a yellow, which most drivers read as "GO". I feel like every light is like the start of a race. And a lot of times drivers will ignore the lights if no one is going in the other direction.

The super crowded Mio (and sometimes it's more crowded than this! Talk about lack of personal space!)

I have mostly been taking the Mio or taxis, both of which are great. The Mio is the main bus system and it only cost 1500 pesos per ride (less than $1 USD). It takes me straight from my house to my salsa classes, which is awesome! Taxis here are also very cheap- it costs about $6 USD for a 20-25 minute ride.

2. Maids
It is pretty much expected for you to have a maid if you can afford one. We have a maid named Emma who comes once a week. She is amazing! At first I had the mindset that we didn't need one, and that I didn't need someone to do my laundry or wash my dishes etc. And in theory I don't- I'm independent and I know how to do all of that myself. BUT it is so nice to have one! There is no AC here, so most afternoons and evenings all the windows are open. The house gets very dusty and the floors get extremely dirty. It is amazing to come home from work to a clean house, dinner on the stove, clean and ironed clothes, and a smiling Emma. I really appreciate everything she does for us! I never thought I would be someone to have a maid, but I am thoroughly enjoying it (and I'm NOT getting lazy!)

The downside to maids? All of the kids at school have them as well, and some of these maids do EVERYTHING for them. From packing their bags, to picking up after them, to doing the most menial tasks. Some of these kids are so dependent on their maids and other workers, and they will grow up not knowing how to do anything for themselves. I can appreciate what they do because I've done it for myself. This is just a way of life for some of these kids. They will not know how to shop for groceries, or how to cook, or clean, or do laundry.

Other things!
I'm still just as in love with salsa, and I'm still taking classes 3 times a week! We're moving up to level 3 tomorrow, no big deal. Partnering here I come! I'm also so excited that the world salsa festival is here in Cali this week! You can bet that I will be there as often as possible!

I also finally started Spanish lessons last week, and I was surprised at how much I knew! I've been told that I'm learning quickly (or muy rapido as they say)!

I will try to update my blog more often! But now it's bed time!

Sam xo

Salsa-ing My Way Through Cali

I'm still alive! Apologies for my lack of posting, but things have been busy and we finally just got REAL internet (we've been stealing someone else's wireless for the past few weeks...shhhh).

The ladies on our city tour of Cali- (top left going clockwise: Lenee, Jennifer,

 Me, Mandi)

So after browsing through my blog, I realized that I talk about dancing A LOT.  Well that's not going to change, because I'm going to talk about dance some more!  I started salsa classes this past Monday, and I am loving it!  We are going to a place called El Manicero which is just a 20 minute Mio ride away (the Mio is the awesome, but overcrowded, transit system here).  It's totally like the movies- a one room dance studio above some stores, large windows open to the streets, lots of locals, people of all ages and all levels.  There are probably about 60 or 70 people in there at a time.  We all do a warm up together, then split off into different levels.  I haven't done partnering yet, but we'll be moving up to the next level soon according to our really cute instructor, Luis Angel (who Mandi got to dance with- JEALOUS).

Anyways, it's a rigorous 2 hour workout.  But the music is intoxicating and the dancing is awesome!  We are doing an intense package- 70 hours in just over 2 months (and it's only $50 USD!!!  What a deal!).  The classes are Monday- Thursday for 2 hours right after school, and I'm going to try to make most of them!  I'M SO EXCITED.  This past week has been great and I'm loving every minute!

But besides dancing...

SCHOOL.

I have now been an official teacher with my own classroom and real kids for a week and a half now!  I have 17 students who are full of energy, curiosity, and smiles.  I love them already.  Their English is pretty good, and when they don't know words, they describe it to me in English or the class helps us figure it out.  By doing this they are helping me learn some Spanish too!  This first stretch has been tiring, but good!  And I have such great support from my other Grade team coworkers.

My little reading nook and my outside bulletin board!  I am class D of 3rd grade..ie 3D!

NIRVANA.

Last Saturday we went to a nature reserve a few hours north of here called Nirvana.  It was absolutely beautiful and I saw so many plants and flowers that I had never seen or even

 dreamed of before.  The colours were captivating, the hike was exhiliarating, 

the view was breathtaking (even through the fog from the mountains).  A great experience!

Pretty flower, me in a tree, my housemate Rita and I in front of a waterfall, COOl butterfly!

Petronio Alvarez!

On Friday some of the teachers went to the XIV Festival de Musica del Pacifico "Petronio Alvarez", and what an experience! This festival celebrates the afro-colombian music from the Pacific coast of the country. It is very percussion based music- lots of different drums, shakers, and xylophones with people singing over top. The rhythm is contagious, it was hard for anyone to stay sitting in their seats!

Angie, Mandi, and I with the big head guy outside the stadium!

The festival was free, and the stands were packed. It took place in the Plaza del Toro (where the bull fights happen) and the energy in the stadium was unreal! As it is a competition that lasts for 5 days, we got to watch quite a few different groups perform. It was a concert-type experience like I've never seen before! Everyone was there for the love of the music, there were no fights breaking out like at North American concerts- everyone was so friendly!

So many people out to celebrate the Pacifico!

The absolute best part of the festival (besides the music) was the dancing!! People were up dancing, waving their bandanas (of which I bought a neon green one, of course), swinging their hips, feeling the beat the drums. When a song really had the crowd going, the entire stadium would simultaneously erupt in, "Hey! Hey! Hey!", throwing their hands and bandanas up in the air.

And it gets better.

For those who know me, you know that I love choreographed dancing. And you know that it would be a dream come true for people to just break out into spontaneous dance routines. IT HAPPENED. In the pit of the stadium in front of the stage, groups of people would just break out into dance! It wasn't completely choreographed, but everyone seemed to know what the moves were. Someone at the front would start it, and more and more people would join in! Sometimes there were groups of up to 50 people all dancing the same thing! Sometimes there were up to 4 different groups doing different dances at the same time. IT MADE MY NIGHT!! I wanted to go down there so bad, but you had to be VIP, and I didn't feel like trying to seduce the guards to let me in :)

Check out the people dancing in the pit!

The other interesting part of the night? Crema de viche. Colombians like to make their own type of "moonshine" by fermenting sugarcane. There are a few different types, but we got the one that was creamy and had some sort of other peanut extract. This stuff is absolutely repulsive. You're supposed to just take shots of it, and every time I did I almost gagged. Why did I continue to take shots you ask? Because 1. I felt like I wouldn't have a 'true' Colombian experience if I didn't, and 2. Everyone else was doing it...haha. But seriously, it's crazy because there were so many different people selling this stuff. They make it from home, you don't know who these people are, and they're just allowed to sell it publicly at the venue.

Holding the (disgusting) crema de viche and a sweet fan they gave out to the ladies. It had a "mirror" on one side just in case you wanted to check yourself out- too bad it was like looking at foggy aluminum foil.

The Patronio was such a fun experience, and I'm so happy I was able to go! Good music, good company, AMAZING dancing!

Dirty Dancing: Colombian Nights

As the bouncers open the wooden doors to the club, you cross the threshold into an entirely different world. Walking up the stairs, the salsa music grows louder and your heart can't help but synchronize with the captivating Latino beats. You walk through the crowd of hot, sweaty couples getting their salsa on across the dance floor and make your way to a table. In the dimly lit room you watch the dancers move- hips swinging, twirling, spinning, hitting every beat with such passion and making it look so easy. This is when you realize that you are in love with Salsa.

This is going to be ME soon!!

Last night was our first real night out on the town in Cali, and it was phenomenal. Rita and I made our way up to San Fernando to have a few beers at Mandi and Mike's place. We then met up with Kristin and Kelsi across the parque de perro (I only got us lost once) and headed out to Tin Tin Deo, a wicked Salsa dancing club! http://www.tintindeo.com/ It was just like I had imagined it, possibly even better- people dancing for the love of dancing and giving themselves up to the music. I couldn't sit still and was dancing in my seat all night! The way it works is that if you're a girl you wait until a boy asks you to dance. Unfortunately I don't know how to salsa. Fortunately Kristen and Kelsi's friend Jefferson brought me out to dance and showed me some of the basic steps! He says I'm a natural :p So I had my first real Salsa experience last night and now I'm hooked!! I'm hoping to start lessons early next week and I'm determined to be a Salsa star haha!

In other news, I am officially moved in to my new apartment! It's beautiful and it's been fun decorating and putting things in place. My room isn't fully done yet- I still need to hang my curtains and put some stuff up on the walls, but here's a sneak peek!!

Colour theme inspired by my garbage can! There is sure to be more cow themed decor coming!

I also got a new phone. It's a touch screen that cost me 10 000 pesos (about $5). I'm not sure how I like touch screens, but it's kind of cool and I have a sweet ring tone called "Zoo".

School starts tomorrow for the teachers, and I'm excited to get things started and meet everyone. So far this has been a great start to my new Cali life, and I can't wait to see what other adventures come my way! But right now, I just can't wait to learn how to SALSA!

Sam xo

Being a gringa

A "gringa" is a foreigner, usually referring to an American, but I still consider myself quite alien to this country. I do not speak Spanish yet, but I'm learning! (Todavia no hablo espanol, pero estoy apprendiendo!) Learning to speak the language is something that I'm very excited for. I took a semester of Spanish in my undergrad and I'm using Rosetta Stone right now as well. Lucky for me, some of the other new teachers are pretty fluent in the language and are very patient and wonderful teachers! I've learned so much already!

So today we went shopping for house stuff, and I thought it would be a good idea and a challenge to go off by myself and find a tool kit for the house. Keep in mind that I had no idea how to say "tool" in Spanish...and I didn't ask any of my English speaking friends first. I found the tool section of the store and couldn't find one on my own, they were only drills, drills, and more drills! So I said to myself, "Self, the best way to learn spanish is to get in there, try, and hit the ground running." I approached a sales associate and said, "Permiso, donde es..." At that point, I think my face kind of froze in a deer in the headlights kind of way. I then continued on to say, "...tool kit?"

The associate had no idea what I was saying, and replied back to me in Spanish- to which I didn't understand! I recited my well rehearsed lines, "Lo siento, no hablo espanol. Estoy apprendiendo." He laughed, but looked like he was thinking really hard on how to communicate with me. I ended up pointing at a drill kit, making the shape of it with my fingers and saying "kit". Then pointing at the screwdrivers, then running to a different aisle and pointing at the wrenches, miming a hammer etc and trying to gesture that I wanted a kit with many different tools in it. Finally, as I was surrounded by 5 different employees who had all been involved in the process at some point, we (kind of) found what I was looking for. It was a decent kit that would do. It would put my desk together.

As I walked away, I repeated, "mucho gracias" over and over, as well as "Que tenga un buen dia!" (Have a good day). A minute later, one of the employees runs up behind me and says, "Is this better?" He had found a better tool kit, exactly what I had been looking for! What a sweet man! It was an extremely stressful experience, but I'm glad I did it!

I now know how it feels to truly be at a loss for words, and how frustrating it is not to be able to express yourself. For all of those ESL students out there, I give them MAD props for overcoming the language barriers! And I know if they can do it, then I most certainly can!

We don't get to move into our apartment until Friday now. I was really excited to get out of the hotel and really LIVE in Cali, but while I'm in this 4 star hotel with a pool, hot tub, and free delicious breakfast, I will take advantage and enjoy it!

<--Shopping for house supplies
Fueling up between shopping trips with a calzone bigger than my head! Everyone was impressed that I ate the whole thing, no big deal-->





xo Sam

P.S. Today a local asked if I was latina! How sweet is that? Mandi then told her I was Chinese and Jamaican and the lady said that now she saw that I had Chinese eyes and dark skin. Yay for being tanned!

Que tenga un buen dia!

Hola amigos!

Today we took a tour of Colegio Bolivar. It is the most GORGEOUS campus I have ever seen! Everything is so green, there are so many types of plants and trees everywhere, it's like paradise! All of the staff is extremely friendly and the atmosphere of the school is so welcoming.

The sunflowers of Colegio Bolivar and one of the outdoor gyms

My classroom is adorable! There are only 3 walls, with the fourth side open to the outside. It has a white board, lots of storage, and a bathroom! As soon as I saw it I started imagining how I was going to decorate it...I can't wait!

Yup! That's my name on the door sign already! This is my empty classroom...for now!

This afternoon we had some time off to rest and lounge by the pool at the hotel. I skyped with dad and had a 3-way skype with Stacy and Katie! (Does anyone know how to have a skype conference call with video??) A few of us then went back to the poolside for a drink and some food, followed by another trip to the hot tub.

Overall, a great day! I'm looking forward to Wednesday when Rita and I get to move in to our new apartment!

xo Sam

Hola Cali!

After spending a blissful two days in Miami for orientation with the new staff of Colegio Bolivar, being wined and dined by the school administration, and lying out on the beach, I am now in Cali, Colombia!

Our view from the hotel room of the beach we spent many hours on in Miami.  The water was so clear and warm!

I am happy to say that I had no trouble at the airport, the flights were smooth, and I was in good company.  I got to fly to Miami with Tim Clutton which definitely helped to calm my nerves!

Tim and I arrive in Miami!

Right now we are staying at the Radisson in Cali and we spent all day house hunting!  The great thing about Bolivar is that they are letting us pick our own places and housemates!  Most schools have housing pre-arranged for you, but this way we got to tour the city and choose a place that we really liked!  I'll be living in the south part of Cali closer to the school in a beautiful apartment with another teacher named Rita (who is awesome!)

This is the new staff attempting a jumping picture when we finally arrive in Cali!  We failed...haha

The city is beautiful, and in the north end there is a district called San Antonio that is gorgeous!  The hilly roads remind me of San Francisco, but the houses and buildings are so cute!  I love that the city is surrounded by mountains, the view is breathtaking.  The weather was perfect this afternoon, sunny and warm with hardly any humidity.  It gets dark here early though, right now it is 6:30 and it's dark! 

The hilly streets of San Antonio

We finally get to see the school tomorrow morning which I'm very excited about!  I've heard so many great things and seen all the pictures, but I hear that they don't do justice to its beauty.  Can't wait!

xo Sam