Scenes from Santa Ana

Santa Ana. It's hot, dusty, trashy and loud.... and I absolutely love it. One of my favorite pastimes is to walk around the pueblo. Every time is an adventure. I have to say hello to everyone. I pass one of my students just about every minute or two... I am always bombarded with hugs, followed by a mob of children,  or serenaded by a group of my students singing the songs I teach them in class... such as this one (they're favorite):

(sing to the tune of "London Bridge"):

Hello, hello, how are you?

how are you?

how are you? 

Hello, hello how are you?

I'm fine, thank you!

It makes me laugh every time... they also love to scream out English words at me that they are learning in class.

Sometimes I go a couple of days without making it outside of my school. I live at my school and I rarely ever need to go out to buy anything, so I often find myself making up excuses to leave campus. I try to get out of our community bubble whenever I find the time, weather it be to get some ice cream, buy school supplies or just take a walk. It helps me take a break from thinking about school and lesson planning and just relax....

Here are some of my favorite scenes from the most amazing town in the world:

The soccer field... this is where I often see a lot of my students... this is a town with very little, so the kids get very creative when playing. One thing they love to play with is tires... little kids roll tires around the street non-stop. One of my favorite ways of using tires I have seen, was on this field. The children would run as fast as they could onto a large tire, jump on it, flip in the air and gracefully land on their feet... very impressive.

This is the street where the other school in town is located....

Pigs are everywhere... big ones, fat ones, little ones, medium sized ones, baby ones.... they run around everywhere. I often wonder how people know what pig belongs to who.

The store around the corner... I come here to get my favorite snack... "cheese tris"... which is just the Colombian version of Cheetos except it has fake bacon in it (I have to say.... it's an acquired taste).

The main road in Santa Ana... the hut in the corner is "Baru Grande", the one restaurant in town.

The church in the plaza

One of my favorite places in Santa Ana... the mercado, which we like to call the miscellaneous store... it has clothes, shoes, pots, pans, school supplies, jewelry, toys, trash cans, toiletries, towels, mirrors, etc.... except its probably smaller than my parents' living room.... its like a Target, Santa Ana style.

A road in town.... 

The Plaza, probably the nicest part of town aside from Barbacoas.

A common scene on the main road of Santa Ana...

My favorite, favorite, favorite absolute favorite part of town! The Panaderia, where you can buy fresh bread, ice cream and drinks... I love to sit here, eat my rapidly melting ice cream, drink a gatorade and watch the world go round. This is definitely a happy place for me.

Some local Santanero hoodlums... 

A Santanero going about his busy (or not so busy) day.

Outside my beloved school...

The colorful houses of town...

A main road in Santa Ana.

One of the locals who rudely leaves his poop all over the street.....

Some more pigs wondering around.....

And the moto-driver hang out... guaranteed place to find a ride to the beach or ferry

I've been loving it here. Its extremely different from what I have ever experienced but I am learning so much. My students are amazing, but of course... can also be very demonic at times... I am learning how to be a better teacher every day. I have faced a lot of challenges in the classroom and I will continue to face more, but I learn more every day and I continue to work hard to improve my class one day at a time. Teaching is hard, but it is so, incredibly worth the rewards. I love, love, love seeing those students when they have finally learned that new vocabulary word or know the answer to that question that we have been working on for a week. It makes my heart melt :)

This town needs help. One of the most beautiful beaches is only 15 minutes away from their home. The people that live here make a living by selling jewelry, massages, food, and snorkeling sessions on the beach, giving rides on motos and providing other services for tourists. They work for themselves... But plans have come to take over their beach. Huge hotels and resorts are going to be built where they now have their huts and small businesses set up. My students will now need to know English to help them find work after these hotels are built. Instead of working for themselves, they will have to be hired for a job, and knowing English will help them tremendously. Change is coming and they are not prepared. In a few years they will have paved roads, more transportation methods and heaven-forbid.... a bridge will probably be built over the canal. This will also put the moto-drivers out of their jobs, the canoe paddlers will no longer have work and they will need to find other ways of making a living. I know I am not the solution to their problem, but at least I can be part of it. I hope to make just the tiniest bit of a difference in my students' lives... even if its just one student who I help to fall in love with English, I will feel like I have done my job.

Comida de Santa Ana

I am proud to say that I have not even come close to being sick of the food here, yet! One of my biggest fears about moving here was getting sick of eating the same foods over and over and over and over. Getting overloaded by carbs, carbs and more carbs as well as fried food, fried food and more fried food. Our lunches are provided by the school everyday and always consist of rice and then usually either beans, lentils, beef or chicken, along with some kind of side like french fries, fried plantains, beets or salad. One of the most ridiculous meals they served was rice, pasta, french fries and a piece of bread.... that was a bit out of control. I have to say, I am pretty overloaded with carbs and fried food, but I am surprisingly thoroughly enjoying it. 

For dinners we make our own food. I have learned how to make some amazing colombian dishes! 

our tiny kitchen that we love and adore (even when covered in ants and feels like 100 degrees)

We make lentils a lot... and we love to put yummy fresh vegetables inside.

Arroz con coco (coconut rice) is absolutely to die for.... sweet rice on the side of any dish makes it 10x more delicious.

We have even managed to make our own delicious desserts..... such as homemade ice cream and an entire birthday cake! We were extra proud that day....

For the superbowl we tried to be as American as possible... we bought a grill (and took it all the way from Cartegena to Baru) and grilled hotdogs, vegetables and made some delicious homemade guacamole! It felt just like home...

I have become an expert at frying foods... I can cook plantains any way you want.... sweet, salty, carbonized.... deeeelish! 

We make lots of potatoes... mainly in chip form or french fries.

 Empanadas we made with the help of some of our Colombian friends (not quite an expert, yet). But I am becoming very advanced in making arepas! Thanks to my loyal Colombian friend who told me my first attempt at arepas was "muy muy mal" and proceeded to teach me the correct way to make them...  so yummyy!

We also make lots of eggs, beans and pasta... and eat pretty much anything in a tortilla... 

For breakfast or midmorning snack, one of our favorite places to go is the "derdito place"... A family next to our school sells this wonderful fried bread filled with either cheese or jelly for a whopping 25 cents... it is the most satisfying snack in the world.

And of course if we are out of food or don't feel like cooking we can go to the only restaurant in town, called "Baru Grande", which is the most delicious food ever. If you show up without warning, you have to be prepared to wait at least a good 2 hours for your food to come out, but it is definitely worth the wait.... and it only costs $2.50 for a huge plate of delicious food. Now that is what I call a deal.

Creatures who decide our home is their home...

I cannot even describe the amount of creatures that invade our home on a daily basis... I wanted to share some of the glorious visits we have received from various creatures....

ANTS..... ants are the number one invader of our home.... Giant ants live in the walls... They came pouring out of my friends' wall when they sprayed RAID on a couple roaming around the floor... then hundreds emerged. They're room was reeking of the smell of RAID, when we were done conquering them. They also live in our kitchen... no matter how much we clean, there is always that one crumb, or that one miniscule drop of juice or that one smell that they can sense from miles away. I have gotten used to cutting my vegetables amongst ants scurrying around and having to brush off ants from my hands and arms when making cereal. I'm certain that I kill hundreds a day... They also emerge when any kind of animal or bug dies... they swarm the animal and carry it away faster than I have ever seen.

FROGS.... frogs are EVERYWHERE. I have found frogs on the toilet, in the shower, in my sink, on my bed, on my roommate's bed, in my closet, on my wall, on the couch, in my classroom, etc, etc, etc.... All I can say is thank goodness I have a mosquito net now... I feel so safe and secure not having to worry about waking up with a frog on my face. However, I don't mind the frogs so much because they eat all the bugs. I'd rather have frogs in my room than get eaten alive. I have become quite the expert at catching these sneaky little guys.

GECKOS.... these are everywhere, too. They come in all different sizes... I've seen some the size of my big toe and some the size of my foot... I have seen some with tails and some without. I have to say these are probably my favorite of the creatures. I think of them as friends coming to say hi. I never mind a visit from a friendly little gecko :)

IGUANAS.... I have only seen a couple.... here is one we found in the sink. I hear that they are everywhere and can grow to three feet long... I think my heart might jump if I saw one that big. These iguanas are not so friendly and they kind of freak me out a bit.

WASPS.... my oh my they want to take over our home and will not give up... they make nests everywhere... in one day they took over the entire entrance to our home.... the whole side of the door was black (as you can see in the picture)... it really still gives me chills to think about. Although I have gotten used to the wasps flying around me often and it does not bother me as much as it used to... this was just out of control. I couldn't believe it... really.... out. of. control.

A couple of other creatures not pictured.....

RATS... rats have rummaged through our bread... I have not seen it but there is definite evidence of them in our home. They manage to tear open the bread bag and nibble nibble nibble... one was found two nights ago in one of the teacher's rooms.... they killed it with a broom. UGH, so gross.

SNAKES.... a snake was also found three nights ago in one of the teacher's rooms... Snakes are all over the place and I get nervous whenever I walk in an area with long grass.... snakes are one of my least favorite animals of all time... they terrify me.

and of course...

MOSQUITOS.... there is really no getting around it, they are just everywhere.

So far, those are the creatures who live with us in our home, and I hope that this will be it, but somehow...... I seriously doubt it.

Cartagena

 Cartagena is one of the most amazing cities I have ever been to. It is beautiful. The architecture is historic and unique, it sits directly on the ocean and contains an incredibly rich culture. Everyone in Colombia is extremely friendly and welcoming. I come to Cartagena when I need to embrace my urban-loving side... cities are where I feel most at home. One of my biggest worries of living in Santa Ana is feeling trapped or stir-crazy because I have only ever lived in cities, but I'm glad to know that I have Cartagena nearby to turn to when I start to feel as though I may lose my mind here. It has not happened yet, and I don't think it will happen anytime soon (I am still most definitely in the "honeymoon phase")... However, if it does, Cartagena is absolutely the most perfect city to be a "happy place" for me.