Blogs from Medellin, Colombia, South America - page 26

I am sorry for the short entry last night, but I am ready to attempt summing up my last 9 days in this wonderful country... Last weekend was wonderful. On Saturday I woke up early and sacrificed paragliding on a beautiful day in order to take a day-trip by myself. I took a bus to Rionegro, a small yet bustling town about an hour from Medellin. The town was cute, the bus ride was pretty, and the people were nice; However, I have been to more interesting and beautiful places. Marie, if you read this, I went into a church in this town and said a very long prayer for you. I hope it reaches you. Outside the church, I bought you a little something so that the prayer can stay with you, because I believe ... read more

Wednesdays at the foundation are slower because the kids have clases de valores throughout the day. During some down-time, I had somewhat of an awakening. I have constantly been thinking about how these children need motivation to come to class, behave well, and learn some English. My state of my mind was on a grand scale, thinking that the kids need to see new places, understand that there are opportunities, and hear success stories about children who used to live at the foundation (not stories like Marisol gets murdered while back out on the streets). Suddenly, FINALLY, I thought about it on a much smaller scale- stickers! Positive reinforcement could just be they key, my friends. Just like any other younger, unmotivated child, they need something to work for, and they do not get grades, so ... read more

Picture time again! The pictures of the children are at that place I had mentioned in my last blog, the game box. The pictures of artwork, that I took until I got yelled at, are of some of my favorite paintings at the Museo de Antioquia. The museum was alright, nothing to go crazy about. The first floor was all really boring and old portraits. I have never seen so many portraits in one section of a museum and I quickly left. After that there was a lot of old, very religious works. The more modern stuff was more interesting to me. The most interesting, I suppose, was the entire upper floor, which was filled with works by Fernando Botero, the very famous artist from Medellin. They are really proud of him here. Everything he paints ... read more

I am in love with Antioquia. Ok, first I will begin with Friday. Friday was mine and Sascha's first day teaching by ourselves. We taught the older kids in the morning, organized and planned our behinds off, and then we each had really long one on one lessons in the afternoon. I worked with Luisa, who is a wonderfully kind and cooperative 13 year-old with striking green eyes that you cannot help but get drawn into. During this lesson, I would say that Luisa taught me as much Spanish as I taught her English, and we developed a trust and a relationship through laughing and being patient with each other. After our day was over, I hung out at the foundation for about an hour. During that hour, Leidy, a 7 year-old, came over and sat ... read more

Today was my first official day working at the foundation, and it was an interesting one. Most of the children are away on holiday, so less than half have been there for over a week. They will slowly trickle back in until Sunday, then it will be back to almost 60. It is so interesting how this foundation works. A lot of the children have parents who are dead, and a lot have parents who are addicted to drugs and on the streets. Some do have parents and/or family that they return to for holidays if they want to, but I am not quite sure how that works. It seems that some would literally be returning to the streets for days at a time. Today we only taught two lessons and spent most of the day ... read more