delivering the tangibles.

and it all starts...

2010-02-08T15:44:00.001-08:00

so i guess i seem to have a tendency to put myself in some of the most difficult and challenging situations i can possibly think of. most of us in aiesec and on nomadlife are like that...masochists. this past week has been no exception. finally i started in the schools in marinilla, waking up at 430AM to catch the hour bus ride at 6AM to get us there by our 7AM class. i never really realized how hard the reality would be up there, seeing as i had never worked with kids before and never NOT worked with privileged teens and adults that have the resources to take english classes.

the reality hit at once, when i was put in a room with 48 1st graders alone because the teachers thought that because i was there they could just leave and go tend to the other 2 classes that were under their watch at that time, seeing as 2 teachers were absent and substitute teachers seem to not exist in this school (they usually just replace the teachers with an 11th grader). cry number 1 of the week. eventually we got our groups split into 15 students each, and one would think things would get easier, but no siree.

i would just like to say i give all the credit in the world to teachers. they are the ones who deal with the lives and futures of kids and are responsible for the well being of 20-30 some odd kids at a time, needing to balance the needs and challenges of each child simultaneously. this week in my 5 classes i have seen just how difficult that can be. in my 6th grade i have a blind girl named carolina. i never realized until the moment i met her in my class just how visual a teacher i was, and how everything i had ever done involving teaching now had no significance to this child. cry number 2 and a start from square one. in my kindergarden class i have a student name maria fernanda. maria fernanda is 5 years old, and she has been suffering from a brain tumor for 3 out of those 5 years. because she developed a tumor so young, cognitively she is no where near everyone else. she cant produce, can only mimic, and cant seem to control her urges to burst out when she gets excited about something. thus brought about cry number 3 right after a session of duck duck goose.

so that was week one. week 2 has started out a lot better, now that im in the rhythm of things and am able to handle the 430 wake up call.

last week also started my grad program. no cries thus far, but lets just say my head starts hurting about 15 minutes into each class. my mind is just not used to concentrating on such technical and academic spanish for 4 hours at a time that it literally wants to explode by the end of the night. also i feel completely lost with the architecture vocab in spanish, though slowly but surely im starting to get it.

on top of all this i have 2 private students. mas-o-chist.

though this past week has been one of the most challenging of my life, i must say i wouldnt change anything about it. i should take that as a good sign, right?

design-gasm medellin style

2010-01-31T09:22:00.001-08:00

as a designer im almost immediately attracted to other designers. like in aiesec you can always talk about aiesec-related topics, with designers you can always talk about design things no matter where you are or what youre doing. a few weeks ago i met the cousin of a friend of mine here who happens to be an architect...and not just any architect, but in fact the architect for the metro here in medellin. i was immediately fascinated and asked to see his sketches and renderings for the new upcoming stations in sabaneta and la estrella, which has led to a really awesome friendship. and that friendship totally comes with perks! yesterday i got the amazing opportunity to preview the new metrocable that goes from santo domingo to santa elena, an opportunity that wont be available to the public until the second week of february. this metrocable is an AMAZING experience, because you literally go through the forest and get to see places up in the hills that you would NEVER have the opportunity to see otherwise.

aside from that we also did a tour of medellin, complete with the other metrocable on the other side of the city and tours of 2 of the parque biblioteca pilot projects (i would have to save an entire post to explain that government project, which is one of the most successful social projects medellin has ever seen). ALSO, due to my small bladder and my new friends' vip metro status, i got to see the behind the scenes of the metro, including the offices, the awesome kitchenette for employees, and of course the bathroom.

all in all it was a day chock-full of design-gasms.

well...

2010-01-28T18:18:00.000-08:00

so its been a while, but thats just how things go. i havent been able to put words to my life over the past few months. it happens. i also have been trying to get a handle on myself seeing as every time i go back to the states i go through a crazy weird funky transition period that leaves me utterly existentially exhausted for about twice the amount of time i spend there. but here i am, ready and rarin to go.

2009 ended beautifully. an amazingly beautiful and long overdue reunion in chitown and then madison, a very jewish christmas which is always my favorite, a refresher of family time that was amazingly honest and change-embracing, and a hilariously unpredictable new years that left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside and ended in a (not very well) renovated warehouse that now poses as a "pod" apartment.

i have started 2010 not really realizing its 2010 and liking it that way. im not good at new years resolutions and therefore dont make them, but since ive gotten back to colombia ive hit the ground running and indulging in every minute of it. ive started training in my new job that will bring me the pueblos of antioquia every morning, working with kindergarden to 6th graders under the support of an awesome team. i went to my first yoga class in medellin, and even though i wholeheartedly did not enjoy the yoga nor the attitude of the people who worked there, it was all but productive because it has now stimulated my yoga practice at home, leaving me feeling accomplished and self-reliant. i have added another person to my shit list (i dont ever really get offended by people commenting on my american-ness, but this kid got me to the point where when he talks to me i just stare him down and answer him kurtly), which isnt really an accomplishment but something that shows me that even a year in a half in south american cant get rid of my sydney-ness. i met the architect for the newest stations of the metro, who has taken to my persistence and has shown me all his plans for the latest metro stations and has promised me a pre-experience of the new metrocable in santa elena before it is a launched this monday (oh god i hope!).

and next week i start the grad program in interior architecture.

so my only resolution that has now been my resolution for a while is to savor the now. the now is all that really exists, because the past has gone and the future is unwritten, rendering them both irrelevant.

and so here i am.

fin.

2009-12-10T08:31:00.000-08:00

so today is my last day at the colombo. although i have become rather decepcionada with the institution, i must recognize the many great things it has also brought to me. i have made amazing friends, been able to become financially independent, and discovered a passion lying dormant in my subconcious. as much as i may be leaving on a less than sweet note, in the end one must give credit where credit is due.

and thus concludes the chapter of my life at the centro colombo americano in medellin. now onto the next...the next being my graduate program and my new job (yes i finally got a new job) working with appreciative youngin's in the pueblitos of antioquia :)

my first thanksgiving

2009-11-29T16:40:00.000-08:00

its official

2009-11-23T10:17:00.000-08:00

i have officially been accepted to the graduate program in projects in interior architecture. and i have officially moved to my new apartment in an awesome neighborhood. i still officially dont have a job for next year, and my best gringo friend here has officially left.

so officially im neutral. the good and bad have balanced themselves out today.

surviving frustration

2009-11-12T08:19:00.000-08:00

so ive just survived my first working-world-fuck-over. this past week has been one of the most frustrating and disenchanting of my life. i found out that at the beginning of my contract my employer had original put me in category 2 on the payscale, and i trusted them so i let it be. 9 months later i find out that when someone has a university degree they automatically start in category 4, and with my previous experience i should have been put in a category 5. that means that over the past year, my employer has neglected to pay me over 2000 bucks, which is almost 4 million colombian pesos, which could pay my rent for the next 2 years. i felt extremely disheartened and "engañada" (its a strong word for tricked) when i found out, but now im alright. i have learned an extremely valuable lesson through all of this: never EVER let anyone make you feel like youre not worth what you get paid. truth is you are worth more than what theyre paying you but theyre being stingy by trying to trick you into think youre not worth as much as you are.

im glad i learned this lesson now, in a job that i have already decided to leave because they wouldnt let me have a life outside of the institution because im a foreigner. (long story short, i had a meeting with the bosses to try and negotiate my contract so that i could work less hours and study my specialization, at the end of which they told me flat out no and that if i worked there they had to have the option to own me and have complete control of my schedule).

onto the next adventure...lets see what i learn this time :)

reunion

2009-10-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

just booked my first ever plane ticket to the midwest, where i will have a heartfelt reunion with abbey in chitown and then trip it to madtown to have a big cuddle-slash-inappropriate amounts of drinking fest with tank ass duke lonney and arthur.

im excited. real excited.

the third world my ass

2009-10-26T16:08:00.000-07:00

i just went to my first doctors appointment ever in colombia. i was in and out in 15 minutes and i felt like i received really friendly and thorough service. when he said it was over and he hadnt done a blood or urine test, i asked "what about the blood and urine tests?" his answer: "we dont do those tests unless we feel they are necessary (for example if the person is overweight or has a history of diabetes or other diseases) because otherwise its a waste of resources and money." then i go to pay my copay..."7,700 pesos please"...the equivalent to less than 4 bucks.

i just got the same if not better healthcare service in a third world country that cost me less than 4 bucks. so far i gots one nothing colombia versus the land of the free.

note to self:

2009-10-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

facebook stalking always gets me in a strange mood and unnecessarily overwhelmed about moving back to the states, which is something that is not going to happen for a long while.

ok so update: im actually doing great, getting a few job offers for next year, and just being instead of planning. its nice not being constantly upset or stressed out, im not going to lie.

starting over

2009-09-13T19:21:00.000-07:00

today i feel like im sort of starting over. mariana left, and she took julian, my other closest friend with her. see i have this tendency to connect people, and it may turn out to be a deep profound friendship or a whirlwind romance (in this case the latter). now that seems awesome, and in a way it is, but the downside in this case specifically is that they turned out to have such a strong connection to each other that now im left in the dust, alone and family-less. im extremely happy and excited to see what comes from their lives (whether they stay together or decide to go their separate ways), but my ego who wants company and doesnt like being abandoned is screaming at me telling me im stupid and now im left alone, with the responsibility to start over.

but guess what? the ego isnt taking over this time. im an extremely blessed person for having the opportunity to create a family here in medellin, a family consisting of a brazilian, a paisa and a street cat. i will always and forever love these people for who they helped me to become, and for continuously teaching me how to love with my entirety, not just seek ego satisfaction.

mari, juli y gus: los llevo en mi corazon para siempre.

amen.

2009-09-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

"You listen to your parents because they have known this world longer than you. But do you think that just by being here a long time anybody knows anything? Do you think time gives understanding? Understanding is not temporal, it is not more experience. It is not the quantity of experience that makes you wise, it is the quality. A single experience can give you more wisdom if you bring the quality of awareness to it. A man may have made love to many women, thousands of women, thousands of time. Do you think he knows what love is? There is quantity, but has he known love? One single love can give you wisdom if you bring quality to it. That quality is awareness. If you make love to a single woman for a single time, with your total being, fully alert, you have come to know what love is. Wisdom is something that happens when you bring awareness to any experience. The meeting of awareness and experience is wisdom." (osho)

and that folks is what i am continuously striving for here in colombia, here in what is viewed as my "year off" by many on the outside, here in life.

woops

2009-09-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

so yea ive been neglecting the blog for a while. heres a small update on life for a. those who still read my blog and b. for future sydney who would like to remember what was going on in life in sept 09...

1. so im staying in medallo next year. this comes as no surprise seeing as life rules here.
2. im in the process of applying to a one year specialization (like a minimasters) in "Proyects of Interior Architecture" that would start in february of next year. its getting me all tingly inside.
3. my 2 best friends are moving to brazil come the 13th, so ive been going through an emo-rollercoaster (ps they should TOTALLY make a themepark ride based on the "emotional rollercoaster"...maybe ill design it in one of my projects) but im handling myself and being honest with them, myself and my emotions, and though im going to miss them terribly, they will be in my life no matter what because they have no idea how much they both have changed me and allowed me to become the person i am today
4. still liking the job, but am needing to negotiate my contract for next year due to the specialization and all, so ill keep you updated on how that goes
5. contemplating moving to an awesome sector called carlos e restrepo or somewhere near there, but its turning out to be extremely expensive so lets see how that works out

all in all, livin the good (and oh so real) life.

thats what ive been saying...

2009-08-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

After all, napping is an entirely normal part of normal human sleep patterns. And studies have shown that short naps enhance alertness and productivity. (nytimes)

naps = everyone content, alert and productive at work. so the question the author puts out is, "why is it easier to find a coffee machine in the office than a spot for a doze? "

and his answer makes sense. napping is personal...work is professional. i have never fully agreed with that philosophy and heres why;
fact: humans are personal beings
fact: humans spend a HUGE chunk of their lives at work
fact: humans form personal relationships at work and form professional relationships just shooting the shit with los de mas
fact: your job pays not only your salary based on professional results but also your personal maintenance such as health insurance and pension
conclusion: no matter how much you try and completely separate the 2, they will never be fully separate because each individual is one being and everything in their life is fluid and seeps into one another.

now im not saying completely mix the two, but what i am saying is lets try and respect the personal side of our personnel by replacing some coffee machines with dormers. everyone will be happy in the end.

awkwardness of being a gringa

2009-07-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

so i had the most awkward encounter a week ago with a taxi driver. honestly if youre white and have blonde hair and light eyes you will get stared at in the rearview mirror by the taxistas and get a couple of weird comments and if you speak spanish well youll get the whole "pero hablas muy bien el español", but very rarely do you get a legit legal marriage proposal for money...

let me explain...

so i get in the taxi and instead of doing the rearview mirror lookdown the taxista turns his body all the way around and begins to study my face, and i mean STUDY it, not in the creepy "i want to do you" way but in a scientific, analytical way. then he finally turns around, proceeds to drive and asks me where im from. common question with common answer.

"im from the united states." next statement is usually a follow up question as to where im from or why i speak spanish well or how long ive been in colombia, but this was not a normal follow up:

taxista: "i have a proposal for you."
me: "im sorry what?"
t: "i have a proposal for you. will you be willing to marry me?"
m: "ummm im sorry what?"
t: "its not for love dont worry. its for business"
m: "im sorry what?"
t: "no im willing to pay you and everything! its not for love or sex i promise!"
m: "im sorry sir i have a boyfriend and i want to get married to him."
t: "oh you have a boyfriend? can you give me his number and ill call him and work out a deal with him."

now this is the point where i go completely silent and pray to god hes not going to take me up to the mountains and do away with me. he notices my silence and then goes on to apologize and say that his parents are in the states and that he was denied the visa so he was thinking about marrying a gringa to get the visa so that he could go with his parents. i felt a bit better, but i still kept one finger on the send button of my cellphone and my keys between my fingers in the other hand. i got home safely, he gave me a discount and apologized again profusely, and i left and took my first breath in 2 minutes.

lets just say im going to have someone accompany me in the taxi from now on even if i have to pay them an extra 10 bucks.

on tv

2009-07-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

my dad's famous...well not really but at least people who watch silly shows in the bronx will be able to recognize him :)

2009-06-15T00:35:00.000-07:00

"You gotta stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone oughtta be"

(richard the texas yogi)

words sometimes can slap you harder than mr. t and his knuckle rings. i just had one of those moments.

the hilarities of being an efl teacher.

2009-06-03T08:13:00.000-07:00

so this post was inspired by a fellow teacher's experience. so the first thing i tell all my students is to drop spanish at the door when they come into the class and treat english as its own separate entity. i believe this is the only real way to understand and learn a language, because otherwise during your entire english practice you will be translating from your native language to the other one, which can pose many problems, some of which i will now begin to explain.

i was going over going out to eat in the US and we began to talk about the internation cuisine available in the states. we got onto mexican cuisine (one of my personal favorites and a favorite of paisas as well), and they began listing foods: quesadilla, tacos, little donkeys...
"Wait...what? Andrés, what are little donkeys?"
"Teacher, you know, little donkeys. They eat them much with Mexican food."
"Andrés are you sure? Have you had little donkey before?"
"Yes teacher. It is my favorite food Mexican."
"Ok, I have never seen little donkey in a Mexican restaurant before."
"Really teacher? Little donkey...como burrito?"
::Busting laughter from said teacher::

in my course 12 we were talking about indirect requests, such as would you mind..., could you..., and so on. we were talking about asking for favors using indirect requests and the following conversation actually happened:
"Ok Diana. Santi has a car and you want him to drive you to class in the morning. How would you ask him?"
"Santi, would you mind riding me all the way to class?"
"Um...Diana. You can't say that in the English."
"Why, teacher? I want him to ride me."
::Busting laughter from said teacher who has the mind of a 13 year old boy::

i was talking to a coworker named rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrafa (you need to say the r like that otherwise it just isnt right) about hilarious instances in class where translations have gone horribly horribly wrong. the following is my favorite:
"Ok, you all have 25 minutes to complete the quiz. Raise your hand if you need help."
::Student raises hand::
"Yes Mauricio."
"Teacher, what verb do you need to use here?"
"I can't tell you that Mauricio. Just do the best you can."
"Ay come on teacher...blow me!" (at which point in the story said teacher from before who is listening to this story busts out laughing to the point where she starts crying)
"What, right here?" (said teacher from before starts laughing even harder)
::Puzzled look on student's face::
"Sopleme in Spanish does not mean the same in English, Mauricio. I'll explain later..."
(for the record, sopleme is like saying "give me a hint", though the literal translation is "blow me")

there are oh so many more, but i like doing things in 3s, so lets keep it at that.

the key to happiness

2009-05-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

some say the key to happiness is love. others sex. others chocolate. others model cars. ive always said the key to happiness is your surroundings, both social and physical. when im in a certain place it can affect whether im happy or not...

and guess who agrees with me this time?!?! fastcompany just did blog post about how buildings can make you happy. guess im not the only one, am i?!?!

swine flu aint got nothin on paisa fever

2009-05-26T22:01:00.000-07:00

the next 2 weeks shall bring 2 cornellians to colombia, with the arrival of alina ahorita and wes the first week of june. then comes the bro. that officially brings the "syd's paisa persuasion" count to 6, with a pending 7th in october.

the colombian tourism agency should be giving me commission.

antioquia, te quiero.

2009-05-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

after another successful and funfilled trainee weekend, i once again realize how much i love antioquia and medellin. i LOVE trainee weekends because i get to see medellin and its neighboring towns through a first-timer's eyes, and this weekend was no exception. we once again made our way up to la piedra de peñol, complete with the most breathtaking view of the country's most treasured reservoir (that also happens to supply 70% of the country's power) after a grueling hike up over 700 steps. we once again made a promise to buy a casa finca in guatapé if and when we all have money from our successful lives. and we once again ended the day with a fabulous rumba in la ruana de juana (i dont care how mañe you think it is, we ALWAYS have a good time there). and i once again woke up with a sore butt, a guayabo, and a huge love and appreciation for this country and especially this department.

and now i await the 30 days until the arrival of the bro, which shall commense the weeklong tour de antioquia. im beyond excited.

done.

2009-05-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

finally i finished my damn tefl certificate. and with one day left to spare before it expires.

i guess it just goes to show i really cant get anything done unless theres a fire lit under my ass. this is probably a bad thing, but ce la vie.

im kind of a nerd...

2009-05-14T21:08:00.001-07:00

i like reading and talking about technology and the environment and existential shit. i barely drink. i enjoy doing academic type projects for fun. im really into the news. i take a 3 hour nap every saturday afternoon. one of my favorite activities is food shopping. gchatting is like a hobby of mine. sometimes when im out partying with my friends i become jealous of my 85 year old roommate who is at home, snuggled up in bed with a book...

and im happier than ive ever been. so heres to finding out my true calling in life is to be ñoña.

i had to...

2009-05-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

i don't know if colombia is ready...

2009-05-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

but here comes sir david lucas malawer! i guess we'll just have to wait and see how colombia reacts to him, though this is very likely to happen seeing as even to whiteys he looks so much like him.

and now i await june 24th to july 7th.