When I started this blog I promised myself that I would
update it more than my Kigali blog. So far that hasn’t really happened. I’ve
only been in Barranquilla for a little over a week but it really feels like
forever. In a little over a week I’ve: met the 32 people I’ll be spending the
next two years in, moved in with a host family, and grown accustomed to
sweating 24/7. A lot of other things have happened since I left Bradley airport
and landed in Miami. However I’ll just talk about the important/interesting
stuff.
North Carolina layover to Miami
-sat next to an old Cuban couple that kept speaking to me in
Spanish. I felt really bad because I couldn’t help them, which lead me to be
grateful for the extended Spanish class (PC Colombia) I was heading to.
Miami Staging
-unlike my fateful flights to Kigali, I got to Miami on time
without missing my connection. I got to eat amazingly delicious Cuban food with
a big group of fellow PCT (Peace Corps Trainees), which continued on to daiquiris
at Wet Willies on Miami Beach and a late night walk on the beach. The staging
itself was pretty cut and dry and made me slightly nervous of what I got myself
into.
First few days in Barranquilla
The climate: HEAT, SWEAT, MORE HEAT, MORE SWEAT, CONSTANT HEAT
AND SWEAT!!!! No joke. Never in my life have I had to experience these type of
conditions. The heat and added humidity is like a thick haze that stifles you
as soon as you walk outside (or into any room without air conditioning for that
matter). I feel disgusting because I’m always sweating while the costenos (what
Colombians from the Caribbean coast are called) stay dry and look at me like I’m
crazy. I hope that at some point I either get used to the heat, or stop caring
about how much sweat I produce in day. Other than the ever present heat, I’ve
enjoyed my time in Barranquilla.
The food: The food is very similar to most West Indian food
I’ve head except (ironically enough) for the lack of “heat”. Supposedly
Colombians (or maybe just costenos) don’t like spicy food too much. I guess I’ll
just have to have a bottle of pepper sauce sent to me (hint hint). The juice
here is amazing even though I’m sure it has a ton of sugar in it. It’s pretty
fresh and tastes like heaven. So far I’ve had tamarind, orange, pineapple, passion
fruit, guava, and tree tomato juice and they were all wonderful. I can definitely
get used to it. I also enjoyed sopa (soup) de mondongo, which I don’t really
know the translation for but tastes and looks quite similar to all the West
Indian soups I’m used to (minus the dumplings unfortunately). Some new things
that I’ve had are: Mazamorra (tasted like sweet cold cornmeal porridge), Bollo
de Mazorca (reminded me of the outer shell of pastels), and Aguardiente aka “fire
water” which is the licorice flavored alcohol native to Colombia.
Home Stay Family
After living with a home stay family in Kigali, I pretty
much had a good idea of what I should expect from these unique living
situations. Part of me wanted a big family with kids so that I could practice
my Spanish and meet a lot of new people. However I got placed in a home with a
mother and her son who actually just left, so now it’s just the two of us. It
feels a lot like my living situation in the states (not that anyone could ever
replace my mother). I have a lot of privacy and down time where no one is
bothering which is perfect for my personality. My host mom is wonderful but I
feel bad because I only understand about 60% of what she says to me. I just nod
my head a lot and say “si!” and hope that everything turns out ok lol. Now that
it’s just her and I, I hope that I can strengthen my Spanish because we will
have to communicate somehow.
On that note, language has been one of my challenges in
Barranquilla so far. I didn’t realize how much Spanish I forgot until I reached
here and was bombarded by it. Everyone here speaks so fast and I don’t have the
“luxury” of looking like enough of a foreigner that people automatically speak
to me in English. I’ve had to relearn all of the basic Spanish words and
phrases I need to survive because now it’s a necessity. The thought of being comfortable
enough with my Spanish to live and work in a barrio (neighborhood) for two
years is overwhelming. I’m getting more comfortable day by day though, and have
started to have weird Spanglish dreams (which I guess is a good sign). However,
my Spanish and English is beginning to mesh, and I’m starting to forget the
little Kinyarwanda I still have.
