Good morning!
Yesterday was Black Friday!! Yikes! I've been trying to control my urge to shop online and have it shipped to fairfax...it's been very difficult. This is definitely the least amount I have ever spent on a black friday in many years!
Thursday I went to another teacher's apartment for a thanksgiving dinner. All the teachers who were not traveling during this break each brought a dish for dinner. I was in charge of buying bread rolls. :) The dinner was delicious, for dessert there were pumpkin tarts that were vegan. They were so amazing. I need to start learning how to cook here.
Yesterday, Carmel and I took a day trip to Guatapé. It was absolutely amazing. The most incredible view I have ever seen. We had to walk up 740 steps to get to the top of la piedra. I´ll put pictures up later. Then we went on a boat tour followed by a little walking tour of the town. It was beautiful. We also stopped at a little chocolate shop in the square of the town. The chocolate it was incredible. The whole experience reminded me of the movie Chocolat :) So the day was awesome, the bus ride home in the dark was a little bit scary on the windy roads with big trucks and buses coming at you on the edge of a mountain, but we survived! The real interesting part comes in once I got home. I was emptying my bag and putting away my things and realized I left Carlos! What a typical ending to an otherwise perfect day.
Since my last experience with losing an iphone I now leave on location services, lock my phone, and have the Find Iphone app. I've been able to track Carlos the whole time from my ipad. I left him on the bus. We called the tour company right away and they contacted the bus driver who grabbed it and will give him back to the tour person today. However, this morning Carmel received a call from a tour guide who said she was waiting for us in parque poblado, where we caught the tour yesterday. She said we were supposed to be there 10 minutes ago. So Carmel quick calls me a cab and I hurry to the park to meet up with this woman to get my phone back. Turns out, she thought I wanted to be on the tour! She tried to get me on the bus so we could leave quickly, since I was so late, I tried to explain to her that I was on the tour yesterday and was just there to pick up my phone! She got all huffy and wanted to leave. So I'm sitting in the park, alone, no phone, completely frustrated with this language barrier, so the only option is I go buy a buñuelo, a latte and catch the bus home.
Moral of the story: Carlos will most likely be returned to me this afternoon, and buñuelos are delicious. Yay!
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Monday, November 18, 2013
the important things
Happy Monday!
This is the first monday in two weeks that I have had to go to school. I was getting nice and used to having a long weekend. The end of the year is coming around quickly. Next week we have Thurs/Fri off. The following week I am taking my personal day (hopefully!) on that Friday. Followed by a shortened week due to many festivities for Christmas! Our schedule is crazy, but I must admit my brain has been struggling to focus on work while so many things are happening back home.
Now to get a little sappy...
This past week of school has been incredibly overwhelming. School is important and always takes my energy, but what has been even more overwhelming is hearing about Grandma Soukup and all her issues in the hospital. As well as Grandpa Burke who will be undergoing a surgery of his own before Thanksgiving. Living abroad is a wonderful lifestyle, but it definitely calls into question what is really important in life. I love my family and friends more than anything in the whole world. I wish I could be home to give support to my family right now, but I am tied here for the moment. I have been forced to learn different ways of showing the people you care about them love. A "special intentions" section has been added to my white board at school. I tell my students many stories about my grandparents, parents, and friends. Positive energy and love is coming from Colombia all the way up to Iowa.
What I do know for sure...international teaching has been an incredible experience so far, and I know I am meant to be here right now. I also know that I will always have part of me in the midwest, whether I'm living there or not. Right now it's hard to be away, but I must keep remembering that Iowa is just a quick 6hr plane ride, or 12hr total travel day away. :)
Now I just ask my faithful readers, all 4 of you, to be sure to send prayers, good thoughts, positive energy (whichever method you believe in) to the Soukup and Burke families in the next few weeks. gracias :)
lots of love,
aimee
This is the first monday in two weeks that I have had to go to school. I was getting nice and used to having a long weekend. The end of the year is coming around quickly. Next week we have Thurs/Fri off. The following week I am taking my personal day (hopefully!) on that Friday. Followed by a shortened week due to many festivities for Christmas! Our schedule is crazy, but I must admit my brain has been struggling to focus on work while so many things are happening back home.
Now to get a little sappy...
This past week of school has been incredibly overwhelming. School is important and always takes my energy, but what has been even more overwhelming is hearing about Grandma Soukup and all her issues in the hospital. As well as Grandpa Burke who will be undergoing a surgery of his own before Thanksgiving. Living abroad is a wonderful lifestyle, but it definitely calls into question what is really important in life. I love my family and friends more than anything in the whole world. I wish I could be home to give support to my family right now, but I am tied here for the moment. I have been forced to learn different ways of showing the people you care about them love. A "special intentions" section has been added to my white board at school. I tell my students many stories about my grandparents, parents, and friends. Positive energy and love is coming from Colombia all the way up to Iowa.
What I do know for sure...international teaching has been an incredible experience so far, and I know I am meant to be here right now. I also know that I will always have part of me in the midwest, whether I'm living there or not. Right now it's hard to be away, but I must keep remembering that Iowa is just a quick 6hr plane ride, or 12hr total travel day away. :)
Now I just ask my faithful readers, all 4 of you, to be sure to send prayers, good thoughts, positive energy (whichever method you believe in) to the Soukup and Burke families in the next few weeks. gracias :)
lots of love,
aimee
Monday, November 11, 2013
happy thanksgiving!
It was a quick week, filled with hard work at school and hard work at home. Carmel and I got our butts kicked at crossfit on Thursday and then we went to cycling on Saturday morning. I think my legs were still sore today. This weekend was our 2nd long one in a row. :) Saturday night the school held a Thanksgiving dinner for all the staff. They had traditional food, and complimentary beer/wine. Our school is soo big, there was a lot of people I had never met before. Colombia doesn't celebrate American Thanksgiving (obviously) so I consider myself very lucky to be working at an American school, double the holidays!
Besides dinner, not much else is new on this side of the border. Medellin did just open a Forever 21 in the mall closest to me, this is where I bought my dress for Saturday. They have really good prices, this might have a serious gamechanger for my clothes shopping in the city...I was doing so well.
It's been overall a dreary weekend. I discovered the website I used in Spain to keep up on my TV shows again, so I spent some time catching up. Downton Abbey is SUCH a great show. Today it was sunny so I went for a run/walk, cleaned a bit, and then headed down to the pool to read my book and snooze (I bet most of you are jealous since I saw so many pics on facebook of snow!) However, karma comes around because my consequence for being so smug was my butt got burnt. Who honestly thinks to sunscreen your butt. It's just not fair. I'll be sure and wear loose pants to work tomorrow.
Enjoy your snow!
Stay happy and healthy!
aimee
Besides dinner, not much else is new on this side of the border. Medellin did just open a Forever 21 in the mall closest to me, this is where I bought my dress for Saturday. They have really good prices, this might have a serious gamechanger for my clothes shopping in the city...I was doing so well.
It's been overall a dreary weekend. I discovered the website I used in Spain to keep up on my TV shows again, so I spent some time catching up. Downton Abbey is SUCH a great show. Today it was sunny so I went for a run/walk, cleaned a bit, and then headed down to the pool to read my book and snooze (I bet most of you are jealous since I saw so many pics on facebook of snow!) However, karma comes around because my consequence for being so smug was my butt got burnt. Who honestly thinks to sunscreen your butt. It's just not fair. I'll be sure and wear loose pants to work tomorrow.
Enjoy your snow!
Stay happy and healthy!
aimee
Monday, November 4, 2013
picture post!
Halloween Celebration
the seniors enter the grounds and the whole school goes out to watch
they hired military guys and trucks to escort them in...
and then sprayed all the kids
some great costumes out there :)
more madness
kids running away from the scary seniors
just crazy
Miss Zarves and Mrs Gorf from Wayside School
Students from 5E and Mrs Gorf
puentes
In November, we have one full week of school. The first two weeks we have a holiday on each Monday, followed by a full week, then a 3 day week for American Thanksgiving. It's going to be a quick November!
This past week...
Mon-normal day
Tues-meetings all day
Wed-conferences all day
Thurs-kids stayed at home due to road construction-conferences in the afternoon
Fri- 1/2 day Halloween celebration
Quick summary of the crazy school week we had. This past weekend was full of Halloween celebrations. Friday night, costume party at a house for the teachers. Saturday Kelsey and I stepped out of our comfort zone a bit. We went to a family birthday party/reunion of a Colombian/American family we met at the Halloween store on Wednesday afternoon. It was wild, every male in their family is named Jorge. Everyone was so nice, we were able to practice our Spanish and help them practice their English. It was nice being around kids, parents, and grandparents. Kels and I have vowed to start exploring the city more and stop being so lame!
We started our exploration on Sunday morning. We went for a quick run on ciclovia then took the metro (my first time) down to el jardin botanico. It was a great little day trip. We ran into other teachers we knew, and a mutual friend that I was connected to via facebook. It is so crazy how small this city can feel at times. The botanical gardens was full of butterflies, flowers, desert plants, people, yoga, and a health food style market! I tried some awesome food and bought an organic soap. Overall a productive day. We also went out to Envigado for the first time to try out a restaurant for dinner. It was an awesome mexican place that I will definitely be going back to.
Today (a holiday) I went for a run on ciclovia-they hold ciclovia on puentes too! Then did some cleaning and cooking, Gladys broke her hand at another teacher's apartment so we will be cleaning and cooking all by ourselves for the next couple of weeks. I don't know how I will survive! :) Then once I was done I headed out to the pool for some sun and a nap--of course it started to rain shortly after I got there and proceeded to storm while I skyped with the future Mrs Castle.
It's been a crazy weekend and can't wait for a short week followed by another 3 day weekend!! This is a schedule I can definitely get used to. I'm so glad Colombians love to celebrate their holidays.
Hope everyone is safe, happy, and warm back in the States!
much love
aimee
This past week...
Mon-normal day
Tues-meetings all day
Wed-conferences all day
Thurs-kids stayed at home due to road construction-conferences in the afternoon
Fri- 1/2 day Halloween celebration
Quick summary of the crazy school week we had. This past weekend was full of Halloween celebrations. Friday night, costume party at a house for the teachers. Saturday Kelsey and I stepped out of our comfort zone a bit. We went to a family birthday party/reunion of a Colombian/American family we met at the Halloween store on Wednesday afternoon. It was wild, every male in their family is named Jorge. Everyone was so nice, we were able to practice our Spanish and help them practice their English. It was nice being around kids, parents, and grandparents. Kels and I have vowed to start exploring the city more and stop being so lame!
We started our exploration on Sunday morning. We went for a quick run on ciclovia then took the metro (my first time) down to el jardin botanico. It was a great little day trip. We ran into other teachers we knew, and a mutual friend that I was connected to via facebook. It is so crazy how small this city can feel at times. The botanical gardens was full of butterflies, flowers, desert plants, people, yoga, and a health food style market! I tried some awesome food and bought an organic soap. Overall a productive day. We also went out to Envigado for the first time to try out a restaurant for dinner. It was an awesome mexican place that I will definitely be going back to.
Today (a holiday) I went for a run on ciclovia-they hold ciclovia on puentes too! Then did some cleaning and cooking, Gladys broke her hand at another teacher's apartment so we will be cleaning and cooking all by ourselves for the next couple of weeks. I don't know how I will survive! :) Then once I was done I headed out to the pool for some sun and a nap--of course it started to rain shortly after I got there and proceeded to storm while I skyped with the future Mrs Castle.
It's been a crazy weekend and can't wait for a short week followed by another 3 day weekend!! This is a schedule I can definitely get used to. I'm so glad Colombians love to celebrate their holidays.
Hope everyone is safe, happy, and warm back in the States!
much love
aimee
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