School's Out for the Summer!

July 25, 2013 Note **WOAH. I wrote this 2 years ago and forgot to publish it.  THAT is how good I am at blogging...

As I sit here in Pearson Airport, I can’t help but think that my life rocks. I love my job, I love the traveling, and I am so lucky to have met such amazing friends and be able to go home to more amazing friends!

The last days of school were a whirlwind of assemblies, meetings, parties, and crazy kids! Some of the highlights of the end of the school year:

Teacher Talent Show- At the end of the year the teachers put on a talent show for the students. This year I took part in 2 acts. The third grade team recreated our classes’ Motown dances in a fun mash-up. But the show stopper? Our dance to Justin Bieber’s “Somebody to Love”. You may have heard that I have Bieber Fever. And that I’m a Belieber. Well it’s true. Kelsi, Amanda, Martha and I sported matching purple hoodies and rocked out to the Bieb. Choreographed by yours truly out of love.

Rita and I threw a wicked end of the year party on our apartment's patio on the last weekend. We hired a DJ, decorated, hosted over 60 people, made jello shots, vodka infused fruit, and other delicious snacks, and yes- we even had a piñata! There was drinking, dancing, laughing, and good company. The police may have cut our power to the DJ at 2am, but we kept going until 4- in true Cali style.

The last day of school was a half day. When the kids leave it's like...well...a loud, honking parade of busses. The busses circle the parking lot 2 or 3 times honking their horns with kids cheering and crying out the window. The teachers line the fence waving goodbye. It's cute and chaotic.

I had an amazing class this year. There were some characters and BOY did they talk a lot, but they had beautiful hearts and I loved them all! They decided to throw me a despedida (a goodbye party...even though I wasn't leaving!) 2 of my students organized the whole thing (with some parental help) and they had it at a country club! We swam, ate dinner, had cake, played soccer, had cholado (shaved ice with syrup, fruit, and condensed milk. YUM) and they made me cry! Before they cut the cake they each said one reason why they loved me. I will never forget these kids. They were my very first class and they were awesome :)

After school with the kids ended last Wednesday, teachers had to stay until Friday. I had a lot of cleaning and packing to do since I'm moving rooms next year (I get to move to room with a Mimio Board w00t w00t!). But I also had to pack up my apartment to move as well. Let's just say that I am sick of packing and lifting heavy things.

Friday night Mandi, Natalia and I left for Bogotá for an end of the year trip. Bogotá is the capital of Colombia and Natalia knows it well since she went to university there. Saturday we walked around Centro. We celebrated a futbol team's birthday in the plaza, rode llamas, rode the cable car and explored. At night we went to possibly the coolest restaurant/bar I've ever been to, Andrés Carne de Res, and had a hilarious time! Natalia and I met our soulmate, German (pronounced "Herman"), lots of aguardiente was devoured, there was dancing, pictures, and more!

Sunday had a slow start after a long night and getting in at 3 something in the morning. We got ready slowly and had the breakfast of champions (pedialyte and buñuelos?). We took off for a cute little colonial town about 3 1/2 hours from Bogotá called Villa de Leyva. There we relaxed, walked around, went shopping, ate good food, shopped some more, and went on a biking tour around the outskirts of town.

Yesterday we bussed back to Bogotá and went out for sushi in La T (a popular bar/restaurant spot). Our friend Juri (who I call Houdini) took us on a small late night driving tour of the city. It was a great way to spend our last night in Colombia before summer vacation at home!

Hopefully my flight will be on time back to Toronto as I am sick of this airport! Only about 1 1/2 hours left...On the bright side, I am SO excited to be home for a bit! It will be a busy summer, but a little taste of home is exactly what I want right now.

Adventures: January-May

Alright! It's time for another big catch up post! This time about my adventures from January-May!

JANUARY

In January I got to experience my first Chiva party. A chiva is a big bus that has been renovated so that people can dance and party on it. Seats line the edges clearing space in the middle for people to dance, it is equipped with a loud sound system so that you can hear the music from over a block away, and it is lit up with dazzling lights! It picks you up and drives you around the city until you reach your end destination (usually a bar). We took a chiva to celebrate Beatriz' birthday and ended at a bar called Kukaramakara.

Chiva fun!

FEBRUARY

We had spent all January preparing for the 3rd grade performance for the primary section. Each grade puts on an assembly and we decided to go for a Motown theme! Each class performed a dance by artists such as Ray Charles, James Brown, The Contours, Stevie Wonder, and my class danced to the Jackson 5! We did a group number with all 5 classes to Ain't No Mountain High Enough at the end.

Mandi and I took a weekend trip to Medellin, a beautiful city north of Colombia. The weather was perfect, the sun was out, the city was clean. We took the cable car, went to the Botero museum, and went for dinner at a restaurant with a live tango show. Unfortunately Mandi sprained her ankle, but we took that as an opportunity to get full body massages and relax!

Mandi and I riding the cable car up the mountain; I found PAD THAI! Sooo excited!!

MARCH

March was a busy month leading up to our school musical The Little Mermaid. I was the assistant acting director and ended up doing quite a bit of props and other little things too!

On March 11th the earthquakes and tsunami hit Japan. One of my colleagues is half Japanese and has family there. She sent us all a link where people took videos showing 3 words for Japan. A few of our classes decided to do this project as well to send messages of hope and love to the people who were suffering. This is the video that my class made.

Another exciting thing that happened in March was the Shakira concert!! We traveled to Bogotá for a phenomenal concert featuring 5 great artists! The highlights of the concert? Reggeton artist J Balvin, Rita and I getting interviewed for TV, TRAIN opening for Shakira, and Shakira herself! The downside to the concert? It was outdoors and we were outside for almost 12 hours in the sun...we all go BURNT. But it was an amazing concert and a tonne of fun!

We're going to see Shakira! ; Showing off our waka waka skills

APRIL

At the beginning of April Colegio Bolívar put on 7 shows of The Little Mermaid. It was an amazing performance and we have such talented students! I am so proud of the hard work that everyone put in!

The end of Under the Sea; The production team!

We don't have March break here, but we have a week off in April for Semana Santa (holy week) leading up to Easter. For vacation I traveled up to La Guajira with Mandi and Stetson. La Guajira is a beautiful place where the desert meets the Caribbean Sea. It was a week full of fun, sun, beach, cows, and relaxation!

Beach jump shots (a must); Chillin' with the cacti

MAY

May wasn't too eventful. It was very busy as we were wrapping up the school year and report cards were due June 2. We had a Cinco de Mayo dinner at Mandi's, threw Martha a bachelorette party, and celebrated teacher's day!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo; Congratulations Martha! ; Enjoying the afternoon off for Teacher's Day

AND now that report cards are in I can relax a little and enjoy the 6 more days of school that are left! Our last day with the kids is June 15, and the last day for teachers is June 17. Mandi, Naty and I are flying out to Bogotá and Villa de Leyva for 5 days, then I fly home for the summer on June 22! This year has gone by so fast!!

She's in Love

As some of you may know, I helped out with our school musical this year- The Little Mermaid. We worked with a cast of over 100 students from grade 3-grade 12 and performed 7 shows. It was a tiring but AMAZING experience and I loved it!

I had 4 girls in my class who took part. 1 was in the choir and 3 were dancers. One of these girls had a HUGE crush on the Grade 11 boy who was playing Prince Eric. He was cute, had a great voice and definitely put the charming in prince charming. My girl still has this blooming love for him (reminds me of my love for Justin Bieber) and decided to write him a love letter today. She asked me to deliver it to him so it would be anonymous.

Please enjoy.