Earlier this week a couple of teachers were discussing the lengths they go to to keep ants out of their kitchen. Hmmm. My kitchen wasn't particularly messy but I also hadn't gone to any trouble to keep it especially clean. And yet I hadn't seen a single ant in my kitchen. Lucky? Absolutely not! I was about to find out why they hadn't meandered into my kitchen.
I went home that evening to get all my laundry together for my laundry appointment. One of the idiosyncrasies of my apartment building is the washer and dryer. They are locked up in a cage and you have to call the apartment manager a day in advance to set up an appointment to do your laundry. So in preparation for my laundry appointment, I sorted through my laundry and pulled the sheets off my bed. As I pulled the sheets off the bed I found the corner blanketed in tiny little ants. Literally blanketed. I lifted up the mattress to find thousands swarming underneath. Of course after I had disturbed them they proceeded to scatter all over the place.
Bugs don't usually freak me out. I don't like to squish them, but if they are just crawling around, no problem. But in that quantity? And I had been sleeping on them...Not ok! My principal said I could stay with her for the night. As I hung up the phone with her, the apartment manager called to let me know he was here and I could come down and do my laundry. Flustered, all I could manage to get out was, "I'm really sorry but I have to leave." Annoyed, he asked if I wanted him to come back the next day. I don't know! I have five bazillion ant scrambling around my apartment right now! I can't remember if I have anything going on tomorrow or not! So I told him no.
The next day, the school had my apartment "fumigated", which I'm fairly certain meant that they sent a cleaning lady to sweep the floor and clean out the cake crumbs that were under the mattress. Humph! And what about all the ants that ran all over my apartment and into all of my stuff? No worries, I'm told, they're all gone. They also called the apartment manager to explain the situation and got him to come back that afternoon, without the typical day's notice, so that I could do my mountain of laundry. That ended with my clothes being locked up in the dryer overnight but that's another story.
The next morning I woke up to find the ants had migrated to the kitchen.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
My Schedule
A couple of you have asked about when I have off so you can come and visit. Here's my school schedule. And if you're not coming to visit then you can just be jealous of all the three day weekends I have! :)
October
Mon 15
November
Mon 5
Mon 12
Fri 23
December
Wed 19 through the end of the month
25- 31 is Feria. If you are dancer come visit me during this time!
January
Mon 7
February
March
25-29
April
May
Wed 1
Mon 13
June
Mon 3
Mon 10
October
Mon 15
November
Mon 5
Mon 12
Fri 23
December
Wed 19 through the end of the month
25- 31 is Feria. If you are dancer come visit me during this time!
January
Mon 7
February
March
25-29
April
May
Wed 1
Mon 13
June
Mon 3
Mon 10
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Petronio Festival
Last week there was a festival here in Cali celebrating the music from the Pacific coast. Apparently there are a lot of different varieties but the night I went there were two different varieties that were played. One, that I don't remember the name of, had violins and reminded me a bit of folk music from the US. The other one, Marimba, I really really liked. It uses an instrument that looks like a xylophone and sounds like metal drums but is made out of palm wood. I haven't taken my point and shoot camera out yet, much less my DSLR. I want to get to know the city a bit first before I bring either of them anywhere. So unfortunately I don't have any pictures or videos from the night. However, I found the following video from the night I went on YouTube. Its incredibly long but just skip around a bit to see what marimba sounds like. Its fantastic!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Home Sweet Home
Here's my new home for the next year.
Overall its a very nice apartment. But it's small. No living room and no where to sit except at the kitchen table or on my bed so I can't really ever have anyone over.
While the apartment is nice, I'm not a fan of the neighborhood. The neighborhood is actually very nice too but it's crazy expensive! Colombia is divided up into six different estratas, or levels. Each neighborhood is classified as a particular level and the cost of housing and utilities go up according to the estrata that you are in. So while you might find an apartment in an estrata three that looks remarkably similar to one in estrata five, the one in estrata five will cost much more. The neighborhood I'm in is an estrata 5 or 6 - not exactly sure. This means that all the shops and restaurants around my house are expensive! The cost of living in this neighborhood is comparable to the cost of living in the US. Problem is I'm making a bit less than half of what I made in the US, so I'm likely going to have to travel to other parts of the city to do a lot of my shopping.
While some things like the fruit and vegetables are cheaper here, the things that are more expensive more than use up any savings you gained on those things. I went out to buy a bottle of contact solution yesterday - $18. Face wash - $8. Basically anything related to personal hygiene is absurdly expensive. When I come back home to visit this fall I will definitely be stocking up on all of that stuff and bringing it back with me!
Aside from the cost of my neighborhood, there is not really much here besides a lot of expensive clothing stores and restaurants. There are no little restaurants where you can get a typical Colombian meal for about $3. No cheap markets or grocery stores. The vast majority of the dance studios and places to go out dancing are in the center of the city or just north of the city. Basically, I will be taking about a half hour or more bus ride to get to most of the places I'm going to be spending a lot of time at outside of school. And the buses stop running at 11 so when I go out dancing I have to take a cab home. Cab prices are also comparable to in the US.
I asked the school if it was possible to move but they've got a year long lease on my apartment. I was told that if they hire another teacher they could possibly take my apartment and I could move elsewhere. I'd rather be close to where I'm going to be spending my free time. I know how to get to school on the bus and I know the bus will always be running when I need to get to and from school. Much easier than finding bus routes all over the city to any other place I want to go to besides school. Their bus system is not simple!!! So cross your fingers for me that they will hire a new teacher!
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| My front door |
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| Kitchen to the left of the door. No oven though :( I'm going to need to gather a collection of good stove top recipes. If you have any good ones send them to me! |
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| When you walk in the door the desk and closet are straight ahead. |
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| Bedroom |
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| Bathroom to the left of the bed. |
While the apartment is nice, I'm not a fan of the neighborhood. The neighborhood is actually very nice too but it's crazy expensive! Colombia is divided up into six different estratas, or levels. Each neighborhood is classified as a particular level and the cost of housing and utilities go up according to the estrata that you are in. So while you might find an apartment in an estrata three that looks remarkably similar to one in estrata five, the one in estrata five will cost much more. The neighborhood I'm in is an estrata 5 or 6 - not exactly sure. This means that all the shops and restaurants around my house are expensive! The cost of living in this neighborhood is comparable to the cost of living in the US. Problem is I'm making a bit less than half of what I made in the US, so I'm likely going to have to travel to other parts of the city to do a lot of my shopping.
While some things like the fruit and vegetables are cheaper here, the things that are more expensive more than use up any savings you gained on those things. I went out to buy a bottle of contact solution yesterday - $18. Face wash - $8. Basically anything related to personal hygiene is absurdly expensive. When I come back home to visit this fall I will definitely be stocking up on all of that stuff and bringing it back with me!
Aside from the cost of my neighborhood, there is not really much here besides a lot of expensive clothing stores and restaurants. There are no little restaurants where you can get a typical Colombian meal for about $3. No cheap markets or grocery stores. The vast majority of the dance studios and places to go out dancing are in the center of the city or just north of the city. Basically, I will be taking about a half hour or more bus ride to get to most of the places I'm going to be spending a lot of time at outside of school. And the buses stop running at 11 so when I go out dancing I have to take a cab home. Cab prices are also comparable to in the US.
I asked the school if it was possible to move but they've got a year long lease on my apartment. I was told that if they hire another teacher they could possibly take my apartment and I could move elsewhere. I'd rather be close to where I'm going to be spending my free time. I know how to get to school on the bus and I know the bus will always be running when I need to get to and from school. Much easier than finding bus routes all over the city to any other place I want to go to besides school. Their bus system is not simple!!! So cross your fingers for me that they will hire a new teacher!
Monday, August 13, 2012
No Eskimos in Colombia
Sometimes I swear the midwest is populated by Eskimos. Temperatures hit 70 degrees and people start thinking they are going to melt. So everyone - homes, schools, stores, restaurants, banks - EVERYONE - cranks on the air conditioning to return the environment to near freezing.
I ended up having to spend the night in Bogota on my way here to Cali. I woke up at three in the morning to head to the airport and it was probably about 50 degrees outside. With a cardigan, long pants and sandals I was woefully underdressed! Now mind you, this is the temperature that midwesterners start pulling out their shorts and wondering how soon they can fill up pools and start jumping in the lake. In Bogota, everyone was wearing jackets. Some were wearing mittens and scarves. There was not a sandal in sight.
Here in Cali the temps have been in the 80s everyday and I am out of place in my shorts. Pretty much all the women wear long pants, a few dresses, and I think I've seen about two pairs of shorts here. And no where, yet, have I encountered air conditioning. No one here mistakes themselves for an Eskimo. Home sweet home! :)
I ended up having to spend the night in Bogota on my way here to Cali. I woke up at three in the morning to head to the airport and it was probably about 50 degrees outside. With a cardigan, long pants and sandals I was woefully underdressed! Now mind you, this is the temperature that midwesterners start pulling out their shorts and wondering how soon they can fill up pools and start jumping in the lake. In Bogota, everyone was wearing jackets. Some were wearing mittens and scarves. There was not a sandal in sight.
Here in Cali the temps have been in the 80s everyday and I am out of place in my shorts. Pretty much all the women wear long pants, a few dresses, and I think I've seen about two pairs of shorts here. And no where, yet, have I encountered air conditioning. No one here mistakes themselves for an Eskimo. Home sweet home! :)
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