Okay God likes me.

Or I am just super lucky--no baggage checks by US security--no x-ray, and then got a row to myself and Delta has free wifi for christmas!

So yeah I feel pretty good right about now. I should be home in five hours and am pretty dang stoked about it.

Hope to see you all very soon!

Video Post #1

Umm sorry...

So I recently was told I hadn't updated in awhile and I just looked at the page and realized its been over two weeks! Wow. Sorry. Lately things have just sort have been a steady routine So i hadn't realized how much time had really passed.

Work is work. As redundant as that sounds I feel it appropriately sums everything up. For instance the school is attempting to embrace a multicultural environment so this year they added a Thanksgiving Day Program--which meant a big program for the parents, students, and teachers. They split it into 2 nights b/c of the capacity of the school could not hold everyone at once. So Thursday was preschool-5th grade and Friday hosted 6th-11th grades. Unfortunately this put me at school for both nights. Requiring me to speak to the parents and students with the aid of a translator --on the origin and basic traditions involved around Thanksgiving. Unfortunately this speech was not planned until Thursday afternoon. I also had to assist in setting up for both nights. All this boils down that instead of having 2 days off for Thanksgiving instead I had 2 FOURTEEN HOUR DAYS of Work.

I am still exhausted and I have a ton to do for tomorrow. So back to work... :/

Eight days a week...

Or at least thats how its felt. Its exam week and I am absolutely buried in B.S. to put in frankly. And have spent about the last 5 twenty-four periods getting about on average--1 hour walking, 4 hours sleeping 3 hours a day grading exams, 3 hours a day writing exams, eight hours working each day. And I've had about 3 meetings varying from 2-4 hours this week as well. Along with fighting off a sore throat and some surprisingly helpful insomnia.

But it is a 3-day weekend no school Monday and I needed the break to be honest.

Still can't get used to waking up between 530-6 am every morning, if you know me--it feels as crazy as it sounds.

Remember, Remember the Fifth of November

So I woke up this morning thinking that today was gonna rough. Thinking here I am in a foreign country, only a few friends, and just thinking I was gonna feel like a ship lost at sea.

But I woke up and about 12 friends had already wished me Happy Birthday on facebook. Then I got to school and as word leaked to students they began making me a slew of cards and continuously wishing me "¡Feliz cumpleaños!" or "Happy Birthday" as well as two of my classes serenading me. I found out today that I am very glad my third graders love me as much as they do. Because I was pretty much attacked with hugs and was almost knocked to the ground--if they didn't like me... they could easily kill me.

But the Highlight of the day so far was that I was told that at one point Roberto NEEDED to speak with me. So I went to his office during the morning break... and he told me to just wait a moment, then he walked me right back to the Bilingual Office, where I opened to find my fellow English teachers waiting to surprise me. I can't believe how much everyone has gone out of their way for me today. As well as seeing that about forty or more friends had posted on my face book when I checked it on my prep period--its been a much day than I expected it to be. :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Welp today is Halloween, so I figured I'd share a few pics I took of the younger kids that came in costume to school on Friday. Also Friday ended up being a huge party day for the kids that ended up lasting almost all of the day so most of my time was spent chaperoning and then playing in the faculty ping-pong tournament (I went out my first round but watched most of it). Okay well enjoy the pics if the kids weren't so wild most of the time I'd want to take them home with me.

Hmmm... well what to tell...

Its been almost two weeks since my last post--and well quite a bit has happened-- I've made a few new friends thanks to one of my fellow teachers at the school. Which one of them gave me my first real salsa lesson. I'm actually not too terrible. Or at least thats what she told me to be nice... Then I went to a Karaoke Bar here in Cali and gave a pretty stirring rendition of Roxanne by The Police that my new friends were really impressed by, one of them kept asking me if I would sing it again.

I went to see my soccer team play again, once again another victory--maybe I really am the team's lucky charm. I may go to see them later this week if the invitation holds up and I'm not too busy.

I also had a chance to go to The Cumberland Presbyterian Church (the denomination I grew up going to) here in Cali, which was a really cool experience and felt a lot like being a kid, high ceilings and I had no idea what the preacher was talking about, though I did understand a few words here and there. Ha ha ha

Let's see the break I had went well. I had a normal weekend, followed by four days of meetings, 4 days off and then a four day school week.

Unfortunately this week is normal and it is the end of the first quarter which means after tomorrow almost all I will be doing is giving tests for the rest of the week. Two of which I need to write tonight. but one will be for first grade science which should be relatively easy, and so should the one I plan on making for third grade English. Though I did find out that this weekend is another three day weekend which I do not mind at all.

Also I received three packages last week a big thank you to the friends and family that sent them--I also found out that packages over a certain claimed amount/weight are subject to a tariff that I have no idea what it would require to pay in advance. So check with me if you want to send me anything things that are excessive can cost me excessively too. Though I will be home December 21st til January 7th and despite a few dates that are blacked out for specific friends and family let me know when you want to hang out and I'll try and make it happen.

If you want to give me a late birthday present or go out to grab a beer let me know I'll have no problem in meeting up and hanging out. Move quick dates are going fast (not really). Ok well here are some pictures for you all.

My new freinds from the University Univalle, Pic from the soccer game, a drawing a student did of me on the marker board in the third grade class room, a pic of the students during a student recognition program, and me and my beard in case you forgot what we look like.

Suprise!

You are all in LUCK! I had almost forgot that one of the men sitting in the box with us had a camera. And he just emailed the pictures to Roberto--who forwarded them to me. So check it out! Also the man standing next to me in the one picture is Roberto Valderrama- So you can all see who he is--being I've mentioned him a few times.

From the Weirdest to the Easiest Week Yet!

So sorry i haven't updated for awhile. I have had a few things going on from fighting some flu like bug to issues with international finance. I've been continually bombarded with stuff for the last week or so. But... this week is pretty great. Firstly the students are on Fall Break (more or less) which is ten days long as I understand it. And Teachers have in-service meetings Mon-Thursday but they are only from 8:00-1:30 So short days and a short week. So I'm sorta relishing this week for all its worth. Trying to go ahead and get things prepared for the next few weeks as well as taking some time to breathe and do a bit of relaxing as well.

Though I can say I finally say that I got to experience a real Soccer match last Sunday. Soccer fans here are so intense--its kind of amazing. I can honestly say that I have never had so much fun at a sporting event in my entire life as watching the Local rivalry match between America de Cali and Deportivo de Cali -- I found my self surrounded by fans of (Depotivo de) Cali Fans and quickly fell in their midst. Cali ended up winning the Game 6-4. I really think I could get into futbol if I get to go to a few more matches while I'm down here. Yes, I know its weird I am slowly becoming a sports fan--but Cali played with so much heart and an intense passion that it was hard not to get swept up in the game and to find myself shouting "GOL!" with thousands of Colombians in the Stadium.

I only wish I'd taken a camera so I could show you all pictures...

Yikes!

Just realized it's been 9 days since I posted anything here. Sorry about that folks. Things are progressing here I feel that I am starting to get a better grip on my classes--though its definitely a slow and steady wins the race type of scenario there are no quick fixes involved here.

Today has been interesting so far. I have had to break up two fights today. One in my advanced English class, and on in First grade--though i can't say which fight was more justified from my perspective. Honestly when I compare the two side by side I see more similarities than differences except that I sort of expected more of my Adv. kids. Also there was randomly a band here today to play for a small assembly for the 10th & 11th Grades--they also played during the student's break and during lunch. I was surprised by how good they were--I actually really enjoyed hearing them.

Oh and I feel I am finally caught up on sleep. Yesterday I took a nap around 6 or so and slept til almost 10--when i watched two episodes of Scrubs and then fell back asleep 'til 5 this morning--when I promptly rolled over made sure my alarm was set for 6 and went back to sleep. I figured I got around 10-11 hours of sleep. This morning I felt great. Expect a post Friday or sometime this weekend.

Today is weird...

I feel so out of it today and am just feeling really homesick. I miss having friends I can call or places I can hop in my car and drive to. I miss having a car. Mostly I miss being able to talk to people in English--I almost know enough Spanish to survive--but I don't know enough to have an actual conversation of any depth with anyone. I just don't know what I'm doing here and it almost feels like I've made a terrible mistake--I know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and that I may never have another chance to do something like this--but the last couple days have just been sort of rough you know?

Pictures from break yesterday

Hope is on the horizon...

Okay we still don't have the high schoolers grouped into their respective levels of English abilities yet--but today we should be getting test results back so that hopefully tomorrow or at worst Friday we will have them into the right classes and can have them get books and I can actually start teaching.

Other than that its been an interesting week so far. On Monday I was sick I think it may have been a recurrence of my old migraine problem. Being I had a terrible headache Sunday night and ended up being physically ill around 4 am on Monday morning--so I stayed home. Unfortunately that means I missed the Principal quitting. I've heard a couple different things but I'm hoping it will be for the best. I really was not unbelievably impressed with her leadership abilities. But she was a very nice person to be around and i know she will be missed.

There are a few other interesting issues I'm trying to figure out exactly how to deal with but everything will come in time I'm sure. The pace of things is just really different here and I need to adjust to that--otherwise, I'll have a mental breakdown.

Oh, and one other thing I adjusted the comments so you do not have to be a user or sign up to leave them. I've been told it works fairly easily so feel free to say hi or leave any advice you may have.

Week in review

Okay so there was still no schedule--though we had two teachers out for illnesses during the week--which meant i had to fill in for a few teachers here in there as well as attempting to teach young children English--who still don't have books. But things are slowly starting to take a more solid shape and we have an actual schedule for next week though my kids still don't have books. I also have the task of creating a lesson plan for the week to get done this week. Which how to teach children material so as not to conflict with the books that they have yet to get and with a curriculum that is heavily reliant on having audio and visual stimulants to help the children acquire the knowledge of the language is not going to be an easy task.

Other than that things are pretty good. Though I am unbelievably tired. I've been up since 6:30 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. And have spent most of the last few hours helping my friend Melissa with a Physics project where she and a team are to build a bridge using only spaghetti, string, flour, and water. Its been interesting.

Hoping for a Better Tomorrow.

Because Last week was crap. Everything was un-organized there was no solid class schedule and I was so worn out by Friday I wanted to crawl into a rum bottle and never come out. Unfortunately that just lead to a bad night's sleep and a crappy Saturday Morning--but I think Roberto has the schedule all figured out now--he's been working on it all weekend. Plus Tomorrow & Tuesday--the kids will be tested and grouped into English classes--so I should be able to actually start teaching soon. YAY! Pray everything works out like it should.

Other Random Pics

Top to bottom:

1. A group of (I believe) 2nd graders in class at Coligeo Bilingue Lancaster

2. View from the Valderrama's apartment window

3. View from the mountaintop restaurant

4. My room it's not much but I feel really at home here.

5. My new friend Alessandro. He's 4 and probably cooler than you

Here's the photos I took at the Church in Bugalagrande

Okay update time.

First of all. The after school make up class was decided to be a bust. My co-worker Ada helped me with the students on Thursday morning and it was decided that there was simply too much to attempt to catch the students up on. They were probably 2 years behind what they needed to know to pass the test to advance to the next level. It was deemed a waste of time money and effort for all--So I was let off the hook for Thursday and Friday afternoon and was able to go home and take a nap instead. Yay!

Secondly, I'm moving. Not very far just to a different building in the same complex. I'm moving in with my friends the Valderrama's It spend 95% of my time there anyway. But today there was a big project of transforming their laundry room/junk room into the newly cleaned and painted Laundry/ Mitch's room. It already looks about 150% better.

(If you hadn't talked to me about it the lady the originally had be living with ended up being sorta strange. She lied to the school about being able to speak English--she knows maybe 11 words. She said I was not allowed to cook--she freaked out about me having a bag on the floor and insisted that it had to be in the closet because she had to sweep everyday. She would also remake my bed--close the windows to my room while I was away--causing the room to be unbearably hot when I returned and would unplug my laptop if I left it plugged up to charge.)

Other than that, school starts Wednesday or Miercoles, and I'm a little freaked out but I have high hopes. Though I'm not completely sure if the school is quite ready for the students--the facility or the faculty truth be told. But I have a feeling everything will work itself out. It has so far at least.

Solid advice

Colossians 3:22-25 (English Standard Version)

²²Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. ²³ Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, ²⁴knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. ²⁵For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

This was really comforting and sobering to read--Thanks Mom.

This week is gonna be rough

So today I was informed that for the rest of the week I will be helping five students to attempt to learn everything that they didn't learn last year so that they can pass a final. Some of these kids barely know five words in English. And I have to prepare them pass a test on adjectives, possessive pronouns, and proper sentence structure in four days. The best part was I was given no real warning for this I was told at twelve o'clock that they would be here at 2:30--and was stuck in a meeting til about 1:45--left for lunch and the kids were fifteen minutes early. I gave them the final today--to try and evaluate/estimate what they need to know. Looking through them and explaining the processes today were not easy--I was struggling to quickly translate and give them proper directions--which indicates that I have no small challenge. I am going to be up half the night if I attempt to figure out what all I need to teach them tomorrow--I am ready for this week to be over. Which is really bad to say on a Tuesday. My patience was so tested today by both the administration and the students--as well as whoever taught them English last year and as school policy dictates--should be the person to be helping bring them up in these sessions--where the hell he is I have no idea--but he better be glad I don't know.

Please wish me luck, lend me your prayers to whatever God/Deity/Mythical Being/Flying Spaghetti Monster you may believe in--I need them.

On the upside for you all, More Frustration=More Updates. :)

If the rest of this week goes half as bad as today I may sell the movie rights to pay for the legal fees-- I can see it now, THERE WILL BE BLOOD II: Mitch can't teach Colombian kids.

Roadtrip, sort of...

Today has been a long an interesting day. It started very early with a meeting for the English teachers at a local distributor for school curriculum called "Books & Books"--which unfortunately was at about 7 a.m.--fortunately we were introduced to the curriculum by a young woman from Cambridge Press named Alejandra--She spoke perfect English with almost no accent meaning I was able to understand her perfectly.

After the meeting we returned to the school where Ada and I began to start cracking down on developing an introductory curriculum before we begin the materials we had just been introduced to--that is until we were both interupted. She was asked to translate something, while the owner of the school asked me to go with him to Bugalagrande--b/c he needed to sign something for his father.

First we picked up two of his friends--a Frenchman and a Canadian--so we had a veritable international convention in the car. We met (my Boss) Luis's family--then went to a local restaurant where I enjoyed what you would think of as a smoothie made from strawberries, milk, ice, and sugar--followed with a Colombian beer (Poker) and then what I could only desribe as the best fried pork tenderloin I've ever had--though it wasn't on a bun or bread it was just served on a plate with fries, sliced onion, lime wedges, green tomatoes, and rice.

After leaving Bugalagrande (which was about an hour drive each way) we went to a local shopping center to meet up w/ Luis's freind Jaime and a few others. Where we sat in the middle of the mall ate, and drank whiskey for about an hour.

In other words by boss asked me to leave work early to hang out, bought my lunch, and asked me to go out w/ him and his and drink. Is it any wonder I love Colombia?

So i meant to post two of these photos the other day--but I misinterpreted the full capabilities of blogger--So here they are now. My own foggy view from Cristo Rey--Oh, and the last picture is a view from the Valderrama's apartment I took a few minutes ago. It's sunny and about 83 degrees Fahrenheit. And there is a wonderful breeze coming off the mountains. It's hard not to love this city.

First Real Day of Work

Well, it happen eventually, I knew I wouldn't be able to slack off forever. Today Ada--who is the bilingual coordinator for the school--arrived. we spent the day discussing w/ Roberto and the Principal of the school the plan for improving and advancing the English Program at Lancaster Bilingue Colegia. By the way if anyone wants to check it out the school has a really nice website and is in Spanish and in English! The page is www.lancaster.edu.co please feel free to check it out. Then Roberto dragged by but to a big cultural festival tonight. It was alot of fun but was really different. I ate a couple awesome empanadas with some really good hot sauce I have no idea what was in it though Roberto kept warning me it was "muy caliente" he was wrong it was perfect. Though now I am dead tired probably going to head home and sample one of the Colombian beers I picked up yeaterday.

Fútbol con nuevos amigos

My first day of work went well, there was almost nothing for me to do so I made a few calls and tried to deal with getting my bank card and ATM situation sorted out. I'm not sure whether or not it is fixed being I've yet to try it at another ATM since the bank said it was fixed. I spent a couple hours last night with my Boss Roberto's son Esteban and a bunch of his friends. It was a lot of fun and I had a couple note-worthy saves as goalie though I may have let 3 or 4 get past me. It was a ton of fun though I was absolutely beat after playing for about 2 hours. I probably wouldn't have lasted that long if not for the fact that the ball kept getting kicked over the fence and whoever did it had to go get it. This allowed some time to stop and breathe being it happen close to ten times thankfully I never kicked it over. I must have fallen asleep around like 10 o'clock last night.

I miss everyone in estados unidos, though so far I am really loving Colombia.

And if you wanna talk to me feel free to call this number 317-493-8576, it's an Indianapolis number and it counts as a call to there. MagicJack is a beautiful thing--though it only works when I have a phone hooked up to my computer and a working internet connection--so you're better off if you warn me in advance if you wanna call and chat. I also have a skype account search my my name, my email, or mitchislegend--and you should find me.

Vaya con Dios mis amigos,

Mitch

Jesus watches over my new home

Hey Everyone, Well i´m in Cali. Had some small issues at the airport due to a delayed flight and missing a connection which meant I didn´t get here until today instead of getting here last night. Though Delta did put me up in a great hotel and i got a pretty good 4 hour nap before my flight this morning. Which puts be around 5 hours of sleep for the last two days--but I´m enjoying myself and really don´t even care. Today I got to see the view that is posted as the background of this blog with my own eyes it´s taken from the Cristo Rey which is a giant statue of Christ arms stretched on a mountaintop looking of the city of Cali. Sorry if the quality isn´t great on the pics it was alittle foggy this morning.

Flight Date!

I will be flying out of Evansville regional Airport on Aug. 7th. So close to my adventure beginning!

Chicago--Check!

Alright, welp friends, I just recieved my work Visa from the Colombian Consulate in Chicago. As soon as the school books my flight I'm outta Here!