Brief Update

Note this was written on April 26th and posted on May 4th. As of now the paro continues.

I admit that I gave been very bad about keeping up with this blog. Before arriving in Colombia I promised myself to try and update my blog as much as I could. I want it to be like a window into my life as a volunteer, and life in Colombia in general. In more recent news, there is currently a nationwide teachers paro (strike) going on. Since last week there were rumors that the teachers union was organizing a strike. From what I understand, many believe that their positions as teachers are not respected enough by the government. There is dissatisfaction with the salaries received by teachers, as well as the level of support they receive in the classroom. Remember how I said that it was a nationwide strike? Well for some reason the teachers in my school decided not to strike. Actually, all but five teachers decided not to strike, which I was told was due to a “difference in ideologies”. In theory this would mean that at my school it would be business as usual. Of course not. Since many families heard there was a strike going on, they didn't send their children to school. This means that, while almost all the teachers arrived on Wednesday, only about a fourth of the students showed up. When students did show up, but their teacher was on strike, they used it as an opportunity to run wild. On Thursday, even fewer students showed up and the teachers had a meeting about whether or not to join the strike. They chose not to, and went along with class like normal. When I say “class” I mean sitting in a room with four out of forty students trying to pretend that you don’t want to leave as much as they do.

On Thursday I took advantage of the lax schedule and decided to play volleyball with some of my sixth graders. Anyone who knows me knows how competitive I am. It doesn't matter what kind of game it is, once it’s a competition, I play to win. I've found this particular aspect of my personality to be quite hard to control. That means that, even when playing a calm game with students (who have little experience with volleyball), I want to win. My natural volleyball instincts from being on my high school team came out. So when the ball was tossed just out of my reach, I didn't let it fall like a normal person. It’s like I could hear my high school coach’s voice in my head screaming “SPRAWL!!” So that’s what I did. As I went to bend down and reach for the ball, my ankle twisted and I fell to the ground. It felt like I was falling in slow motion, as I heard and felt the tendons in my foot shake. Then I felt the pain shoot up my leg as I tried to keep a straight face and refrain from yelling obscenities. The gym teacher got me ice and looked at my foot worriedly as I tried to play it off like I wasn't in pain. After hobbling home early and taking a look at the damage I was ashamed. My competitiveness really backfired this time. The whole top of my foot and ankle was swollen, and I could barely move it. It hurt to walk because every time my foot flexed there was pain. Luckily there was an ace bandage in my PC medical kit. So using my fading first aid knowledge, I wrapped my foot tightly and hoped for the best.

When the rest of my host family came home everyone was very concerned for me. Being the independent person that I am, I refused to rest and attempted to walk on my foot like nothing had happened. That night my host mom insisted on rubbing my foot with Colombian icyhot as she lovingly told me that, if I didn't ask for help, I would offend her. As luck would have it, my school decided to join the strike so I didn't have class Friday. I chilled at home for the weekend trying not to move, and being inventive when I had to. As of now I've used a broomstick as a cane, a chair as a walker, and just opted to hop around the house. My foot has been getting better slowly, but its Sunday and I still can’t walk normally. Just today I heard that the paro is indefinido so no more classes for the week. Not sure yet if that’s a good or bad thing.

Until next time.