Journal of Colombia 1, 2010

Phil Giesen, Colombia 8 (1963-65) and Colombia 1 (2010)

End of September, beginning of October, 2010. Excitement, anticipation, uncertainty: our job undefined. Location: Colombia’s north coast. As we arrived in Barranquilla, what a rush of emotions and memories! Friendly, happy people, but also in a rush and often aggressive (traffic seems to bring out the worst). Ambiente so different from Bogotá and Boyacá, where I was in my first PC go-around (1963-65), yet still friendly and interested. There was kind of an oppressive beginning to our orientation/training. Daily allowances were low, we weren’t to use buses (we were told: “We will get back to you about which ones are safe”) and no booze in the foster family we were being assigned to. Training Monday-Saturday and everything closed on Sunday. However, training was well done and our skills in ESL techniques and Colombian history and culture were fine-tuned. Safety issues were overdone, I thought, and some of the American Embassy-hired 007 types, though interesting, may be counter-productive to maintaining separation between the Peace Corps and the embassy.

The group is strong. All nine of us are returned volunteers with good skills in Spanish. Two of us are over 60, one nearer 40 and the rest in their upper 20’s. There’s a good ethnic and gender mix. I am the only Colombia RPCV, but one go-getter grew up in Bogotá, finished a year of H.S. in Florida, went to college in the U.S. and went on to PC in Cape Verde. I believe she is the youngest.

The stated goal of the project is to improve the level of bilingualism (Spanish-English), starting on the northern coast. This goal was passed by the Colombian Congress. The plan is that we will be working with English Instructors, helping them with their teaching techniques and their English language skills (primarily in spoken language). We will also be working on ancillary projects based on the needs of the particular school and the skills of the volunteer. However, the consensus of our group is that the unstated goal is also to show the rest of the world that Colombia is now a much safer place.

Two weeks ago we got our assignments; three volunteers are in each city. Mine turned out to be Barranquilla. And, as Shaquira said last week, “it’s a great place to live,” but maybe not as romantic as the others. We got to know our counterparts for two days and then went to take our pledge with the Ambassador. I got to address the dignitaries as the representative of our group and I have to admit that I started talking about Lenguazaque and Boyacá (my former site). All were proud and happy: ministerios, Alcalde, PC Staff (the area head of Peace Corps for North and South America was there), reporters, general supporters, as well as us volunteers! The Ambassador and I even got some positive ink in el Heraldo.

Two days later, however, the old spy theory was brought up directly by Piedad Cordoba. This was then countered by an editorial refuting the theory which mentioned former PCV’s Joan Mansfield and Fortune Zuckermann and the great work they had done, and asserted that it was untenable to believe that spies were being sent from the States to work with the Blind.

On Friday morning we were sent to our foster homes. We dropped off our things and hurriedly zoomed off to see our schools, but the dastardly (or delightful) thing called El Puente is still in effect, so introductions had to wait until the next Tuesday. I have spoken to all the teachers and all are still enthusiastic, but we do agree that co-working with other teachers in any situation is difficult and add to that the low language skill levels and you have a difficult task. One situation is a simple example: I was observing a teacher who said they were going to play Old Man Out. My first thought was, is this a Freudian slip? It was of course Odd Man Out. What would you have done?

As for me, I think I am in Paradise. Escuela Normal Superior, La Hacienda—17acres of space with huge native trees, overgrown areas (jungles), neglected classrooms and buildings, sports fields, and many happy and enthusiastic teachers and students.

P.S. It is an amazing school. The kids have fun and they are positive. It is huge and the buildings are old and most without air conditioning or fans. They never seem to complain, just talk too much. The students’ average height is comparable to American students. Sports, dancing, and music are a big part of their education. The love to see my pictures, especially of the family. I am getting a pretty good picture of what they need as far as English goes. The rector has been on vacation until Monday so I haven’t gotten his vision of my role in the English department or my extra-curricular activities.