Two Month Update: You Know You're in Santa Ana When...

I can't believe that I have been in Colombia for two months. It truly has been an adventure and a challenging experience with many highs and lows. There is so much that I need to update on this blog about my time here in Santa Ana. The truth is teaching is keeping me very busy.

My day starts at 5.30AM when my alarm goes off and I get up to start the day. The only good thing about getting up so early is the beautiful sunrise that I get to see everyday. 

My classes start at 7.45AM everyday but I usually have to be at school for a 7AM meeting. I usually teach classes until 12.15 or 1PM when I have lunch at the school restaurant and then head back to my room to have a siesta and plan classes for the next day. There are often meetings in the afternoon too, by which time it is time for dinner and more preparations for classes for the following day. As there are limited resources at the school and I teach young children, I have to make a lot of resources for class. The school does have a photocopier, but paying for each copy adds up and I usually draw or write what I need by hand, or have the kids copy from the board, but that takes FOREVER. Anyway my point is that time seems to escape me and since I haven't had much time to write my blog I thought I'd write a post on all things Santa Ana. So here goes.

You Know You're In Santa Ana When:

• You hear champeta music blaring from picos day and night. Seriously sometimes ALL day and ALL night.
• The only thing you can hear over the champeta is donkeys braying. Seriously, they sound miserable.
• You walk through the town and all you hear is students (and adults) yell, 'Tiiiiiiicccchhhheeeeerrrr.'
• You quite often have chickens, dogs, bugs, spiders, snakes, 'insert animal here' in your classroom. Another distraction for the students!
• You have frogs, mosquitoes, geckos and scorpions in your room.
• You often don't have running water or power, usually at the most inappropriate times.
• Everything you eat is sugar-filled, fried and/or a carbohydrate.
• You go to the local store at night and fall in the mud pit that is the main road of Santa Ana
• It's so hot that the only time you are fully clothed is at school. At home it's 'undies only'.
• To get to Cartagena you take a moto-taxi, a canoe and a hot, sweaty bus and look like the wreck of the Hesperus by the time you arrive.
• Air conditioning is a rare and strange thing. 
• Hissing is a form of communication.
• No-one pronounces 's'. Ever.
• It's rude not to greet the locals. It makes you look weird when you go to the city and start talking to strangers.
• You use whatever you can to teach a class and make do with limited resources.
• Every class your students ask you, 'Prestame un lapiz!' ('Lend me a pencil').
• Your students release snakes in class, pee on the floor, want to fight you, hit other kids with machetes and give you attitude. They push you to the limits at times.
• Your students hug you, kiss you, give you notes and lollies, draw you pictures, ask you funny questions and adore you.
• The highlight of your day is seeing the beautiful pre escolar kids in the restaurant eating lunch or when one of your students learns something new. They bring joy to you and you look forward to seeing them each day.
• You are part of a community that doesn't have much but is so incredibly special.

It was a tough transition coming here and adjusting to a life so different from anything I have ever experienced. There are challenges and frustrations every day but Santa Ana is a truly special place and my fellow volunteers are incredible. With them, I am embracing this experience and taking every day as it comes. Right now I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.