Close to five impactful and busy months have flown by here in Colombia. It feels good to say I have found my niche within the local community, and look forward to the adventures the next half of my Fulbright scholarship will bring. 

The five courses that I have been teaching at Universidad Industrial de Santander came to an end last week. Each one allowed me bond with a unique group of professionals, and I can happily say that my students have taught me just as much as I have taught them. To end the year, several of our courses put on final projects, which in my opinion were major successes. 

Students from our Public Speaking course hosted TED-style talks last week for their final projects. Three students from the course gave 20-minute presentations in English over topics including Colombian research initiatives, physical therapy’s modern integration with technology and addiction’s relation to the field of neuroscience. The presentations went very smoothly, as the speakers were poised, well-prepared and confident. Giving a 20-minute speech is no simple or easy task, and it was extremely rewarding for me to see my students’ hard work pay off.

Participants from the Professional Networking course put on a well-attended event focused on the concepts of resume-building and connecting with others. A total of 36 attendees were present to learn about different ways to format a resume using the help of technology, and also spent an extended period of time participating in an interactive networking game. I was impressed by the detailed program that was put on by the planners, and hope the attendees will use the presented materials to propel their professional careers forward.

Aside from teaching, my work alongside the Colombian Red Cross has been going very smoothly. Interacting with our patients has given me a greater appreciation for the opportunities I have been afforded, and has also reaffirmed my desire to pursue a career in medicine. We recently added a dental team to our mobile medical unit, which has allowed us to provide more comprehensive care to the Venezuelans and uninsured Colombians that we serve on a regular basis. Over the past several months, I have also been able to bond with several of social workers at our clinics. They are involved in many admirable activities, and I have taken a particular interest in their quest to promote reproductive advocacy throughout the communities we serve.

I have volunteered with Planned Parenthood in the United States, which has likely led to my continued interest in the topic of reproductive health. At our clinics, it is very common to see mothers as young as 15 years old with one or more children. After conversing with healthcare professionals, social workers and some of our patients about this topic, I have become more informed about the lack of reproductive education often available, especially in rural and poor areas. In addition to this, last year Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that he would be offering approximately 700,000 bolivars (the equivalent of $3.83 on 1/15/18) extra per month to pregnant women, and 1 million bolivars (the equivalent of $5.48 on 1/15/18) to women after delivering.  (https://money.cnn.com/2018/01/15/news/economy/venezuela-maduro-pregnant-women/index.html?iid=hp-toplead-intl).

One of the most challenging aspects of working at the Red Cross is when we leave our clinics after concluding our work for the day. On our way home to our apartments and houses, we often see individuals begging for money with their children on the street, sometimes just minutes after they have finished receiving treatment in our clinic. I truly commend the Red Cross for the beneficial work it is doing in the local community.

On a happier note, as I mentioned in a previous post, part of my volunteer work with the Red Cross has allowed me to volunteer at Bucaramanga Atletico’s football games. During the last home game of the season, I was lucky to be able to greet some of the squad’s players after the match. I briefly spoke with Gabriel Enrique Gomez, who started international matches for his home country of Panama in the 2018 World Cup against Belgium, England and Tunisia. It was pretty surreal to shake hands with someone who has shared the pitch with some of the best footballers on the planet including Eden Hazard and Harry Kane (who won the World Cup’s Golden Boot).

November was probably my favorite month thus far in Colombia. To begin the month, I was extremely fortunate to travel to Tayrona National Park as well as Ciudad Perdida (Lost City). Although both are close to the city of Santa Marta, both locations are quite unique, and offered me an authentic taste of the northern Colombian coast. 

I have never seen a landscape quite like Tayrona in my life. The popular destination is situated east of the city of Santa Marta, and to arrive to the picturesque beaches it was necessary to trek through kilometers of dense jungle. To reach to our campsite of Cabo San Juan, we passed near several other well-known beaches including La Piscina, Arrecife and Cañaveral. I went snorkeling in La Piscina, but unfortunately did not see many underwater flora or fauna, likely due to the storms that had stirred up the water before our arrival. On the last night of our stay in Tayrona, a huge downpour allowed water to penetrate the tents of many visitors, including my own. I carry a 65-75 L Deuter backpack (ACT lite if you were wondering, HIGHLY recommend), which allows me to bring ample supplies on my adventures. Luckily for me, I brought an ENO hammock on the trip, and was able to pitch it under a hut that remained dry throughout the night.

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Ciudad Perdida proved to be one of the more challenging hikes I have completed, as my guide Jesus and I walked approximately 58 kilometers (roughly 36 miles) in just around two and a half days. On the first day, we battled intense humidity, thick mud, strong rain, swarms of mosquitoes and intense sun to reach our campsite. During the dawn of our second morning, we woke up early and ascended roughly 1,200 slippery stone steps to arrive at one of the most breathtaking archaeological sites that I have ever seen. Jesus’ expert knowledge ensured that we were the first visitors to enter the park, and for close to an hour we enjoyed exploring the terraces, stone plazas and various sectors of the archaeological site with the minimal presence of other visitors. Jesus informed me that the site was constructed around 650 years before the creation of Machu Picchu, and that it served as a sacred location for the indigenous people before being abandoned around the time of the Spanish conquest of Colombia. The site allegedly was relatively dormant for around 350 years before being discovered by treasure looters in 1970s. I was also informed that the area was fairly inaccessible to tourism prior to about 15 years ago, as narcotrafficking activity was present within the region before this time. On the trail to reach Ciudad Perdida, we actually passed a sleeping refuge that were allegedly created from an abandoned cocaine lab. I am happy to report that I felt extremely safe during my trek, and made friends from countries including Canada, Germany, England, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Colombia and Spain.

To continue, I celebrated my 23rd birthday in mid-November by playing tejo with some local friends. Tejo, or Colombia’s national sport, is a throwing sport where tejos, or metal disks, are thrown across a court. The goal of the game is to hit exploding, gunpowder-filled targets imbedded in a clay. My tejo-themed birthday party is definitely one I will not forget soon.

Finally, to celebrate Thanksgiving, several Fulbrighters in Bucaramanga organized a potluck. There were individuals from Colombia, South Korea, Germany, Chile, Barbados and the United States at the event, which was a very neat aspect.

As the year has progressed, my students have graciously invited me to activities with them outside of the classroom. I have enjoyed getting to know them, their hobbies and their families outside of the university environment, and have been able to learn more about Bucaramanga and Colombia in general because of these invites. Several weeks ago I was invited to go birdwatching at a local finca (farm), and accompanied my student (an expert on nursing), her husband (a geneticist) and two professional photographers. We explored around a finca that houses many species of birds, and also allegedly produces coffee for the Queen of England. We were lucky to see tanagers, hummingbirds, various water birds, predatory birds and vibrant flora as we spent our morning trekking around the property.

One of my other good friends named Mario is an expert and professor in the field of biochemistry, and he has generously invited me to play on his soccer team on Monday nights. Although I am no Messi, I have been improving my skills, and have notched two goals over my last three matches. Mario’s birthday was last weekend, and at his birthday party I met one of his friends, a local veterinarian who conducts field research on opossums and Chagas disease. Chagas disease is parasitic disease that affects individuals in the tropics, and is  spread by kissing bugs. The veterinarian invited me to accompany him and a student on a research outing last Sunday, and we were able to take blood samples and measure two opossums that had been caught in traps. I was told that ketamine is sometimes used in the case of aggressive opossums, and that they the animals also very fond of dog food.

Last week the Fulbright English Teaching Assistants gathered in Bogota, where we were fortunate to attend an enhancement seminar. The event was very successful in my opinion, as we were able to hear about each other’s experiences, share our own teaching methodologies and listen to engaging presentations. Topics such as gamification and project-based learning were covered, and I am excited to implement some of the things I learned into my pedagogy style in 2020. I am thrilled to be traveling to Ecuador and throughout Colombia over my winter vacations, and look forward to the many adventures to come.

My Spanish phrase of the post is: “Hacer una vaca“

The phrase literally means to make a cow… It translates roughly to chip in for something.

It is hard to believe that I have been in Colombia for just about three months. I have very much enjoyed the country’s rich culture, delicious food, welcoming citizens and impressive flora and fauna. Each day here has provided an opportunity to meet new people, explore different places, improve my Spanish and learn more about myself and the unique history of the country. I am happy to report that I have been quite busy since posting my last update, and will try to articulate some of my most meaningful experiences and adventures in this post.

We began our new semester at Universidad Industrial de Santander, or UIS, in September. I have enjoyed my role immensely as an English Teaching Assistant, and currently have the pleasure of co-instructing five courses per week. These classes are particularly aimed at strengthening communication and networking skills for participation in local and international academic and scientific events. The backgrounds and fields of expertise of the participants in each class vary greatly, but the majority of enrollees are university professors who are experts at their respective crafts. This melting pot aspect of course composition has allowed me to gain insight into niche topics and learn more about local fields of expertise. 

Here is a brief summary of the courses in which I have the privilege of being involved:            

Mondays: We begin the day with a two-hour conversation club geared towards professors who have an intermediate to advanced level of English. So far, we have discussed an array of subjects including stereotypes, gender roles, gun reform, artificial intelligence and epidemiology. I try to promote a discussion-based environment and encourage respectful debates and dialogues within the class. One participant told me how unique of a medium she felt the class is, referencing the fact that participating in this type of activity would not have been possible only several decades ago.

Tuesdays: We begin the day with a two-hour public speaking course. The class is comprised of participants from many different fields, and it has been fascinating to hear about their research projects, businesses and personal lives. On the first day, I surprised the participants by requiring them to give a brief impromptu speech on a topic of their choosing. This allowed me to assess baselines and learn more about their individual talents. Over the subsequent weeks, I have given lectures about and promoted the importance of confidence, non-verbal speaking cues, presentation structure, group presentations, audience interactions and how to handle disruptions. The class has responded extremely well to this information in my opinion, and we have incorporated ample opportunities for practice. We also have a participant that is traveling to Uruguay next month to present a poster at an international artificial intelligence conference, so I am trying my best to provide as much support to him as possible. On Tuesday afternoons, I head over to CASA, where I volunteer with the Colombian Red Cross. See my last post for more info about CASA.

Wednesdays: We begin the day with a two-hour professional networking course. Just as in the public speaking course, there is quite a variety of participants on the class roster. We started the class by considering what makes each individual unique, and what type of value different people can bring to situations and teams. To illustrate this in an entertaining way, I pulled out a crisp 50,000 Colombian Peso bill and asked who wanted it as a gift. Several hands shot up, but I ignored them and subsequently crumpled up the bill in my hands. I again asked who wanted the now-wrinkled money, and to nobody’s surprise about the same amount of hands requested the purple-colored bill. The reason that I did this activity was to stress the importance of value. Just as money can get worn down, so can humans. I wanted my class to remember that people have value regardless if they have been met with failure or success. I also gave a tutorial on how to make an effective LinkedIn profile, which in today’s digital age is very important for professional networking. Finally, this past week I talked about international negotiations, and specifically compared and contrasted American and Colombian negotiation tactics. A clip from the hit TV show Shark Tank was incorporated into the lesson, and next week the class will present pitches using the American tactics that I covered last week. I will be the shark and am still deciding if I want to be more like Mark Cuban or Mr. Wonderful (Kevin O´Leary).   

I also instruct another two-hour conversation club later in the day. This club is aimed at participants who have a more basic level of English, and I have enjoyed our classes together very much. So far, we have talked about and reviewed present, preterite and present perfect tenses, and have also practiced directional terminology and differentiating between similar sounding words. I have told my classes “no tengan vergüenza”, which basically means that they should not be embarrassed to make mistakes. I have been able to vastly improve my own Spanish-speaking ability by making thousands (probably tens of thousands if I’m being honest) of mistakes throughout my time speaking Spanish, and like to use my own improvement as an example.

Thursdays: I do not instruct classes at UIS on Thursdays, as I volunteer exclusively with the Colombian Red Cross. Each week we put on a mobile medical clinic in different suburbs of Bucaramanga, and typically serve around 30-50 patients per day. I will be explaining more of my Red Cross experiences below.

Fridays: We begin the day with a class focused on scientific article writing in English. This course is actually hosted at UIS Facultad de Salud (Health Sciences Faculty), so it is located in a different location than the main campus, and has a gigantic statue of DNA out front (my first thought when I saw it was determining whether or not it was right or left handed…) Similar to the other courses, this class is composed of participants from many specialties. Although writing a paper on philosophy is somewhat different from writing a paper on viruses, they both have somewhat similar core structures. I have tried to take advantage of the structural similarity between articles of different fields, and have thus far given presentations on general structure (IMRAD) and common grammatical mistakes made by Spanish-speaking authors. Participants are also at different stages of their writing efforts, so I have devoted time for them to work alongside others who are experiencing similar timeframes. Finally, I have advocated for the use of peer-editing, which in my opinion has gone over well.

In addition to my five classes, I hold office hours, revise scientific articles and spend a substantial amount of time preparing for classes when I am not teaching. I was notified that an article that I helped revise was accepted for publication in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy several weeks ago, which was great news for everyone involved. Although very busy, I enjoy my weekly schedule, and look forward to bonding with my students and getting to know them each on a personal level as the semester continues.

As I have previously mentioned, I take great pride in volunteering with the Colombian Red Cross. Aside from taking patients’ vital signs at clinics, I have been able to chat with patients, play games with local children and gain deeper insight into how their lives have been affected by the ongoing situation in Venezuela.

The stories that the immigrants tell me are often quite sad. Through these interactions, I have learned that they have often been forced to sell personal property such as cars, houses and jewelry to pay for medical bills of loved ones or finance their migration to Colombia. A microbiologist that I was chatting with felt that the combination of skyrocketing prices for basic amenities and medications combined with meager salaries has led to a humanitarian crisis within the country. Even as a professional with an advanced degree, he has been working as a worker for a furniture moving company. This seems to be a common theme, as many skilled professionals have been forced to take blue-collar jobs in order to support their families. 

Women and children seem to be particularly vulnerable migrants, as I have also been informed of the ongoing dangers surrounding kidnapping, sexual exploitation and human trafficking activities. I typically ask the migrants if they want to return to their country one day in the future, and have been met with a mixture of answers. Some patients have told me how much they miss their Venezuelan families and the natural beauty of the state, while others have informed me they would be content never returning and seeking a better life elsewhere. Spain seems to be a popular destination for Venezuelans with the means to arrive there, but for those without the available resources Colombia, Brazil and Peru seem to be attractive destinations.

Aside from working at triage stations and chatting with adults, I have enjoyed playing games with many Venezuelan children who are waiting for their appointments. They are generally very enthusiastic, and often love to play outdoor sports. We have played a variety of games thus far, but so far my favorite memory comes from a clinic located near the Bucaramanga-Floridablanca border. Some children at the clinic found several bottlecaps and a stick, and we managed to play an impromptu baseball game. Although they don’t have much, they make what they do have count, and many have aspirations to study at the university level. Some are also very interested in the medical equipment we use at the triage stations, so I have enjoyed explaining the importance and functionality of the circulatory system, pulse oximeters and sphygmomanometer.

Additionally, I have gone with the Red Cross to volunteer at several Bucaramanga Atletico soccer games. During a game against the Rionegro Aguilas Doradas, a Rionegro player was down on the pitch with a lower extremity injury, and we were tasked with extracting him for evaluation so that the game could keep moving. It was pretty surreal to run out on the official field and stand next to all of the players. Compared to NBA players, the footballers were much shorter, but definitely were very strong. We removed the injured player and watched the Rionegro doctors perform some basic tests (which to me looked something like a Lachman test). Luckily he was not seriously injured, and was able to return to the field several minutes later.

Outside of the university and classroom, I have enjoyed exploring and adventuring. In response to the large fires present in the Amazon, a large group of university students organized a volunteer event in a local forested area. I was able to accompany them, and we had a fantastic time picking up trash, planting trees and exploring. I also went on a hike with a local group several weeks ago, and we trekked to a local area of Bucaramanga famous for their delicious jugo de durazno (peach juice). The juice was excellent, and on the way back we stumbled across a dead coral snake (or a species that mocks it). Two weeks ago, I went to Chicamocha Canyon, which is one of the world’s most notable canyons. We hiked down and slept in hammocks, and spent the next day exploring the nearby river and appreciating the outstanding views we came across. Finally, over the last “puente” or long weekend. I went to Caño Cristales, which was absolutely stunning. The river is known by some as a “liquid rainbow”, and is home to endemic aquatic plants which turn vibrant colors from approximately May to December. When these colors are paired with the crystal clear water found within the aquatic zone, the result is a once in a lifetime experience.

The presence of the endemic aquatic plant Macarenia clavígera is responsible for the river’s vibrant color.

Thanks for tuning in! My Spanish word of the post is: bacano. Similar to chévere, it means that something is neat or cool.

Ejemplo: Mi tía es muy bacana.

My aunt is very cool.