livin’ la vida loca
by: Tara
Over two months ago, we packed up our life together and moved to Barranquilla. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind of planning and prepping for school, and settling into our life here. Monday through Friday have a similar pattern: alarm goes off at 4:45 am, catch a taxi at 6am, get to school at 6:20, school starts at 7:30 and ends at 2:30, work until 4:30-5pm or so, maybe get some groceries, and come home. We’re putting in really long days at this point, but hopefully things will settle down eventually.
Brennan has been the primary cook in the family, and I’ve been the primary dish-washer. He’s already learned to make a traditional “costena” (coast) meal with a Van Loo twist: Creamy Avocado Shrimp with Coconut Rice and Patacones (fried plantains). YUM! I am a lucky girl. By the time we finish dinner and clean up, and maybe correct some papers, it’s 7:30 or so. Often we’ll watch an episode of CBC’s “Little Mosque on the Prarie” or stream an episode of The Daily Show or Colbert Report (if the internet gods are smiling on us…) It’s become an unofficial tradition that Brennan slices up a fresh mango after dinner and that’s our dessert. And by about 9pm, it’s time for bed.
Weekends have been fun! Usually we spend a good part of one weekend day at school prepping for the next week/unit/ect. Then we might meet up with friends for dinner, B might go fishing on the Rio Magdelena, or we just explore Barranquilla a bit more. We’ve been to three beaches, and took a day trip to the lovely Cartagena, whose ‘old city’ brought me back to Sevilla in a heartbeat. We also visited a small pueblo called Usiacuri, where we purchased some traditional weavings and watched local artisans make them. Needless to say, I was in heaven.
If our weekend doesn’t involve an “excursion,” we enjoy exploring Barranquilla. Sometimes the slower pace of these weekends is just what we’ve needed. Awhile back, some friends invited us to the Junior game, Barranquilla's team, and after the game we got some great street food. The next day we hung out at the pool, I finished knitting my “gingko shawl” (yes!) and we went out for more street food, this time shrimp cocktail. It was relaxing, and good to become more familiar with our city. We also went to the Colombia v. Uruguay futbol game here in Barranquilla on September 7, which was a world-cup qualifying match! Colombia won 4-0, and the game was amazing! We bought Colombia jerseys, so we fit right in. (Yeah right…I’ve grown accustomed to being one of probably five freckled blondes in this city! On the other hand, since Barranquilla isn’t a tourist town, people pretty much assume that any gringos who are here know their way around, and we aren’t treated like tourists.)
Today is Sunday again. We went in to school yesterday and spent a few hours prepping for the week ahead, and spent the afternoon exploring the city. This morning we have been streaming “Choral Concert” on our beloved CBC Radio 2, and now we’re thinking about walking to “La Baguette” for brunch. This evening Junior is playing, so some friends are coming over to watch the game and make pizza. This week we have two days of classes followed by three days of professional development. I will be headed to Cartagena for the Tri-American Educator’s conference with a few other teachers from the school. B will stay here in Barranquilla and have some PD plus work time at school. It will be a nice change of pace. October 5, first quarter ends. Hard to believe! But when I think about all of the time and energy we’ve put into the year already, it makes sense that we are looking at Week 8 of classes. Yikes!
So, little by little, we are finding our “new normal” here. Sometimes it’s two steps forward, one step back. Just as I think my Spanish is getting clearer, our waiter will return with a dish that is completely different than what I thought I’d ordered. You know it’s a rough day when this happens twice in one night- Friday we ended up with different fish than we thought we’d ordered, and later at a pastry shop, ended up with two pieces of chocolate cake when we thought we’d ordered one. At that point, you pull a Doris Day, say “que sera sera,” and eat chocolate cake for breakfast the next day.
-tvl
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| Puerto Valero |
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| Cartagena- Fortress of San Felipe |
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| Cartagena- The Old City |
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| Colombia 4- Uruguay 0! |
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