First reactions to Colombia

First reactions to Colombia

The CNG new faculty 2013

• Our group of new hires is a very diverse group with people from all over the world - Viet Nam, Myanmar, Belgium, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Rwanda, UAE, New York City, and Panama among others. Let me rephrase that - they are all Americans (except for one Irishman) who have been teaching all around the world. Several (about four others) are married but we are the only ones where both spouses are working for CNG. There is a wide mix of subject areas and grade levels but everyone is having fun getting to know each other. Besides being the only married working couple, we are among the oldest in our group. Let me rephrase that - we are the most experienced in our group and among the coolest if I do say so myself. Anyway, it is a very big faculty with a strong cameraderie but it will be great to know at least a few people once everyone arrives.

  

  Walking UP to the school

  

  CNG

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• It's a little colder than we expected.This might be because we are coming from North Carolina where it is 30+ degrees (90+ F) and it just seems colder. However the nights do get down into the upper single digits (upper 40s F). Karen was wearing hoodies and wrapping up in blankets so we bought a couple of space heaters just to take the edge off. It is now much more comfortable! Who would have thought that in July, near the equator, we would need space heaters.

Fast food abounds

• The food is great. I haven't found anything I don't like. There are plenty of American fast food places (Papa John's, Dunkin Donuts, Burger King, Baskin Robbins) though we don't expect to go there too often. Oddly, there are no Starbucks, however this isn't quite so odd when you think about it. Colombia is home to some of the best coffee in the world so Starbucks would be a step down.

• The people are incredibly friendly. Granted, we have only met people associated with the school. But to a person, they will drop whatever they are working on to help us. After just a few days they already feel like old friends. Over the upcoming days we have appointments to go to a concert, the movies and several hikes around town.

• Some things here are pretty cheap - like a huge head of lettuce is only 25 cents. However, most things aren't that much cheaper than the US prices we are used to.

• Technology is pretty good here. We have high speed internet, Direct TV and even though I am loathe to admit it - I got an I-Phone! Now to figure out how to make the darn thing work!

One of the many little welcome notes at CNG

• We haven't spent much time at school - and no time working. So far it has been all about us getting settled in and adjusting to a new country. Next week, more about Colombia, including the story about how they shut down the roads to all car traffic, opening things up for bicycles, roller blades strollers and casual walkers

I don't really know how many details anyone wants to hear so please feel free to skip the rest unless you want a blow by blow description of what we have done. I will try to be brief yet cover all of the fun.

Wednesday: A pretty uneventful flight to Colombia ended with CNG staff meeting us and about 20 other new staff right outside of customs. We were taken to a hotel where we spent the night.

Our new bedroom

Our new kitchen

Thursday: Went to the school to start our orientation. After a couple of presentations we were sent through an assembly line. We got our health insurance, internet, cable or direct TV, cell phones (we now have an I-phone), opened a bank account, arranged for daily transportation and signed up for two tours of the city and a trip to the "Walmart" of South America - Exito. They have orientation down to a science. After all that it was time for lunch, where we had traditional potato soup in the school cafeteria. Then off to our new apartment. It is not so far from school but school is uphill the entire way. By uphill I mean school is up a mountain! Our aprtment is a beautiful place with two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a gorgeous kitchen, a living/dining room and a laundry room. The rest of the day was ours to settle in, unpack and take a nap! :)

Our new dining room

Our new living room

Friday: We were picked up early (6:40) to go stand in line at immigration so we can get our alien cards. By the time it opened at 8:00 there was a pretty long line but we were at the front :) It was a pretty painless process though I have to say they are big on fingerprints. It actually went pretty smoothly and much more quickly than they planned on so they took us around to some local parks, some cool shops and pointed out some favorite restaurants and by then it was lunch time. They took us to Crepes and Waffles for lunch. Delicious and not exactly what I was expecting. I had a turkey crepe with a salad. Yum! After that it was an optional trip to Exito - the "Walmart" of South America." In many ways it was great. We got a lot of stuff we needed. A TV, space heaters, kitchen stuff, trash cans, a dryer, etc. so that much was great. But with 20 people all trying to get what they need it was a slow, slow process! FIVE HOURS later we were all done. So we got home around 8:00, too tired to go out to eat. We had toast and eggs for supper, set up all our new toys and went to bed.

One of the many churches and parks

Orchids are the national flower

Good luck cat in front of Foto Japon

Saturday: we could finally have a leisurely morning, not getting picked up until 8:40. Went up to school, finalized our phone plan (I have unlimited data so text me :)  ). Then we left on a walking tour of the city. We walked to our apartment first of all and it was much closer than I thought. The buses seem to go much further with a much crazier route. Walking to school is not so bad except for the fact that it is straight up a mountain. Walking home won't be too terrible except it hurts my knees. We then walked through the city, stopping at a shopping mall. We continued on, getting to everyone's apartment, and pointing out shops and businesses along the way giving us a great feel for what is around. We ended up for lunch at Los Corrales, with many different foods but reportedly the best hamburgers in Bogota. I ended up with a guacamole burger while Karen had barbeque chicken wings. Lunch took about three hours with many conversations and good times. While we were there, the phone guy found us and brought my new I-Phone. After lunch Karen went to a home depot type of store while I came back to work on our blog. After that a quiet evening at home. Salad for dinner and Castle on TV.

We'll have to try this place out!

It has only been three full days here, but we are starting to learn our way around. We are getting familiar with the money and we are filling up our house with things we need. Pretty soon it will start feeling like home!

Next week, as I mentioned above, we will have more about the settling in process, more about Bogota and I think we will finally get to the school and figure out more about jobs. So until next week, hasta la vista.