Are we landed?

I suppose we are just about "landed." This is the term that everyone uses to explain the process of the new people arriving and finding their way. It is August 30, 2009 and we have been in our new apartment for a month and working with the kids for about two weeks.

Our neighborhood, our house and our neighbors are amazing. Choosing to live in this part of town was a great decision and has led to many great experiences.

This is our house. It is on the roof top of an old colonial house that has been converted into "Aparta-studios." There are four studios below us but as of now only one is occupied by a Old Colombian Man from Bogota who loves to blare music from the Rat-Pack (including Jingle Bells) and entertain woman half his age.





Cali is a long skinny city. Our house is located in the middle in the West. The school is in the far South. And we have been told never go into the East. Our house is in a neighborhood called San Antonio and it is the oldest neighborhood in Cali. Our neighbors insist that it is haunted!





This is our view....Kite flying is quite popular with the kids and it is beautiful to look out in the afternoon and see all the kids flying kites from the roof tops.

This is our Patio....It is amazing and will soon have a gas barbaque installed and we are planning on having a big dance party!

Our house is very open, it is almost like you are living outside. All of the windows are original and swing open wide so it is very airy and our neighborhood is known for it's afternoon breeze (hence the kite flying.) All the furniture is on loan to us from the school.

Our streets our windy and steep. All the doors are grande and beautiful. It is like living in another era. So far in my neighborhood I have had the cobbler fix my sandals, my neighbors sister hem all my pants, have had keys made, bought fresh fruit, gone out to eat and have had coffee in hip coffee shops and of course Aaron has drank many beers with the neighbors on the stoop of the corner tienda.

Our School:

Is in the far south on the edge of the mountains. It is quiet and beautiful. Unfortunatly we can't live down there, for a few reasons, one it is very expensive and two, it is too remote and with out a car you would be too detached from everything. The school is lush and well manacured.

Here is the view from our classroom.

And this is what the classroom looks like.

The kids are all Colombian and come from a great deal of money. It has been quite an adjustment getting use to these students culture. The are extremly chatty, they do not mind well at all and some of them have a very dificult time looking you in the eye (especially the really wealthy ones.) They are use to dealing with their maids, nanny's and drivers which they are not expected to respect. I have to say that in just one week they have come a long way with getting use to the expectations and the routine but there is still a long way to go.

For those of you who are interested in hearing about the pedagogy and school practices...
The day starts at 7:15 and finishes at 2:30. The students have many specials like art, music, dance, science lab, religion, PE, computers, French and Spansih. Neeldless to say there are many transitions which is very difficult because these students do not walk in a line, refuse to be quiet on the way AND the school is so expansive that it can take up to 10 minutes to get somewhere (especially since they don't walk they swagger) and there is not transition time built into the schedule so we are late for EVERYTHING.
Our kids do speak English but since it is their second language they usually communicate to each other in Spanish and there are still many words they do not know, which makes them at a different level than their equivalant grade level in North America. They call us Meeeseees (misses) and Meeestir (Mister). So funny!

Our Free Time:
We are going through some serious culture shock. Not in the sense that we are in a foreign country, far from our friends and families, where we don't speak the language, depend on public transportation, where the food is different from our own and where safety is a concern but rather in the sense the we are now living an "urban lifetsyle" where past times include shopping (especially for shoes and purses), getting manicures, going out for lunch, drinks, postres or coffee, going out dancing, going to parties and looking really cute all the freaken time! This was the first weekend we I am really feeling "lost." Although there is biking and some hiking it is complicated and not an easy thing to make happen (much like everything else.) I had an awesome dream about surfing last night. So that leaves us to find something we like to do. I am thinking about getting into Yoga for exercise purposes, usually I find it kind of dull when it comes to exercise choices but that is whats here. There is also some organized leagues at school but I am not one for team sports. So I said all this to say that I know we love traveling and we are here in South America so we want to start planning some trips! Who wants to meet up? We have 5 days in the begining of October...anyone for a trip to the Colombian Coast? Then we have 3 1/2 weeks at Christmas we may go to Boston for a week and then vacation somewhere else...anyone want to meet in Panama or Argentina? A week at Easter....we are open for ideas. Surfing...Jen and Andy? Joe?...pleaaaaase......

There is so much more to tell but I am guessing this is enough for now.......We will post more later!

Oh check out our directors wife...she is over the top! She is so devina!, here she is making juice for us. And when I say making I mean just pushing the button on the blender becauser her four maids are cutting the fruit, pouring and serving. (she is like the "Nanny")