Day 260 - Culture and Birthdays!

Well, I didn't do too well on actually updating more regularly like I had planned.  But I do honestly think about this little blog often and try to come up with things to write that will actually be interesting.  So... here it goes.

I have been thinking a lot about culture lately.  Culture is something that I had honestly never thought about until... I would say my third year of university, Fall of 2008.  Up until then I was quite ignorant.  I really had no reason to not be... I had never traveled out of North America, even though I was going to University in Canada, Canada and the States are actually quite similar.  However, starting in my third year of University I became very close with two friends (specifically) who were VERY interested in International Development and third world studies and things of that nature.  I'm not sure if they realize just how much they have opened my eyes.  I have realized how much I really really love learning about new cultures and traveling and seeing new and wonderful places and experiencing new and incredible things.  Since then I have done a little bit of traveling.  I have been to Ecuador, Puerto Rico and Colombia.  My trips have steadily gotten longer and longer (15 days, 3 months, 2 years respectively) and the adventure has just started.

When you first enter into a new culture it is easy to spot the new and different aspects of life, habits, idiosyncrasies, and ideas of people in the new culture.  It is even easy to bash some of these new ideas because you obviously are right, because this is how you have done it all your life so why wouldn't other people do it like that?  However, when you actually spend some time in these communities and cultures you realize just how similar we all are, and also that these new-to-you ideas aren't all that bad.

One really obvious difference between Latin America and North America is the way that time is viewed.  Being here I, personally, am VERY conflicted.  For anyone who knew me from... 2009 and back, knows that I was NOTORIOUSLY 10 to 15 minutes late to absolutely everything.  While in my high school youth group my youth leaders would actually sometimes make me a special informational paper with an earlier time on it so that I would get there at the right time.  Shoot.  So, because of that I am very conscious of time.  I have learned more how to respect (in a North American aspect) other people's time and show up more or less exactly when I say I will.  Well, because this was something that I was constantly battling and thinking about after 2009 (more or less) I always made sure to be on time.  I was always looking at the clock and remembering how long it took to get from one place to another and counting down learning shortcuts and blah blah blah.  Needless to say when I got to Colombia I was no different.  When I would set up meetings or hang out dates I would say 2:30 and would get there at 2:30 and be upset when I was the first person there, sometimes by 30 minutes or more.  I would also call ahead in some cases to let people know that I was running 5 minutes late (a completely foreign concept to most people, which now has caused many laughs, haha).  Now I feel silly.

This was hard to adjust to, and honestly I am still in the process of adjusting.  At the beginning I would get upset because I felt disrespected.  I didn't realize that I was the one being disrespectful by showing up early, or on time.  In most Latin American cultures when someone tells you a certain time, they mean "come after 7:00."  Generally, it is safe to assume that you will want to get somewhere around 15 minutes after the stated time, unless it is work or school or something like that.  However, time here isn't viewed in the North American way.  In North America we are governed by time and schedules and late vs. early and things of this nature.  In Latin America it is more important to continue listening to a friend, rather than leaving "on time."  Or, to finish preparing the meal, or spending more time with your children, or what ever other activity.  I could really talk about the time issue more and more so I am going to stop it there.

Another of the big ones for me was shoes.  For lack of a better word... I hate shoes.  I love having my toes free and my feet on the ground and I love the feel of the floor or the grass or that whatever on my feet.  Shoes are constricting and hot and I am not a fan.  I would of course come to a place where it is considered rude to take off your shoes in someone's house.  In North America, in most houses, the first thing you do when you enter a house is take off your shoes (in my house we have a little area specifically for shoes when you walk in the door).  This is because most houses have either carpet or hardwood flooring.  So, you want to respect the home owner by not ruining, or dirtying, their flooring.  So, that has just become a part of our culture.  Here in Colombia, all floors are tiled.  Also, most people sweep and mop either everyday or at least every other day.  Also, why would you want to get your feet dirty?  It is easier to clean the floor.

Clothing.  This one has been the most difficult for me.  I am a comfortable dresser.  I could honestly care less about my appearance.  Give me shorts and a silly and punny Threadless T-shirt any day of the week!  That is not the case in Colombia.  I don't know how they do it, especially with the heat and humidity here!  However, everyone here (unless they are going to or leaving from the gym) are dressed to a T!  I have seen very very few adults wearing shorts.  I think that I could honestly count on one hand the amount of times I have seen an adult in shorts.  They are just simply a foreign idea.  One time, I went somewhere and met someone new and they asked me where I was from.  The person that I was with said (well can't you tell from how he is dress?  He is from the States!).  At first, I was offended but in reality... it's true.  We are notoriously bad dressers.  I was just recently helping to clean out the closet of the family who previously lived in the church building so that we could send them their things.  I made a comment to the pastor, "wow, they have a lot of really nice clothes," and she responded with "yeah, that's how it is here."  Shoot.  I have had to (through MUCH trial and error) learn that when going anywhere official that pants are required.  There are some places that actually wont let you enter if you are wearing shorts.  It has been a frustrating road, because I honestly just don't own/didn't bring many pants because I am in a tropical very humid climate.  I have become some what of a joke because of my clothes and on many occasions had people ask me "why are you dressed like that?"  I have started to just laugh it off, and or make fun of myself.  But frankly, unless I am at a school or church, I don't care that people look at me funny for wearing shorts.

One other major difference of course is food.  A HUGE staple in Colombia is meat.  This has been a tough one for me.  I have honestly never been a big meat eater.  When I was younger and found out that meat was actually animals and that we killed them to eat them... I was devastated.  There were times where I would actually get myself physically and emotionally wrecked thinking about the fact that I was eating a cow, or a pig, or a fish, that was just days or hour before playing with it's friends.  Today that same distaste for meat has carried over to my adulthood.  I still don't like the idea of killing animals, but for me the environmental and nutritional factors are larger in my mind.  The idea amount of energy and resources that goes into many meat producing farms makes me weary, the same as the often horrible conditions that the animals are in for their entire lives causes me to not want to support their production.  The same goes for the thought of hormones and preservatives and additives in meat.  Through finding other alternatives throughout my life I never really learned to like meat.  I do eat meat, don't get me wrong.  I love a good hamburger and I can never get enough buffalo wings.  But, if there are vegetarian options I will usually take them.  Colombians are generally carnivores and they love, and are very proud of their meat dishes.  I have been in many awkward situations in restaurants when I ask if there are any vegetarian options.  It is such an odd concept for many of the people down here, and one they have never experienced.  Why would you with all the tasty meat products?  But, I don't consider myself a vegetarian.  I rarely cook with meat in my apartment, but I am more than happy to eat meat that has been prepared for me or in a restaurant.

These are just some of the larger examples that I am sure I will go farther into at some point in this blog.  In all honesty, I sometimes forget where I am.  Especially in Barranquilla, a large port city, the city and much of the culture (aside from some of the more obvious aspects) is very similar to that of large cities in North America.  However, I have learned to really appreciate life from a different set of eyes now that I have been living in, and learning about this new culture.

Also, today is my baby sister's 18th birthday today.  I really and truly can't believe she is 18 years old.  When did this happen?!  I am so excited for her!  Happy Birthday Allie!!!

238 - QUE PENA!!! (and blue moons!) (I thought that this updated on Saturday - Whoopsies)

Que pena is a phrase in Spanish that I use quite often!  Literally translated it mean "what a shame!"  They use it to mean things like, "I'm SO sorry" or "Oh shoot!" (if you forgot something).  So me... being the forgetful person that I am, have forgotten to update my blog.  Que pena.  I am so sorry friends!  I have had a couple of people in my family tell me that I need to get my act together!  So, here goes nothing!  I am going to shoot for updating at least twice a week for September!  Hopefully exciting things will happen and I will want to update you all more often but we shall see!

Where to even start?!

Firstly, can I just say that I can not believe that August is already over!  When did that even happen?!  I suppose it happened tonight...

Where last we left off, I had just recently gotten back from Riohacha and I had taken my short little trek to Santa Marta and Taganga.  Then, I was getting settled back into the swing of things.

Since getting back I have been getting more and more involved with the school where I have been volunteering!  I absolutely love it there.  I still feel like a rock star because the kids get super excited, so that is always an added bonus to my weeks!  It is definitely a self esteem booster.  I help out in 8 classrooms for about 30-45 minutes at a time, over three days.  It is SO nice having something in my week that is definite and set in my schedule.  It also fulfills my need to "do" something.  I love reading books, I love teaching/singing songs.  It is just great.

I have really gotten to know some of the teachers that are there and that is wonderful!  I keep bumping into more and more people who speak English here!  Who knew there were so many?!

Very recently a friends' church was having a sale/festival to raise money for their church.  They had hot dogs and other food, they were also having a book sale!  Oh and I love book sales!  So, I got some really really cheap books so that was awesome.  I am looking forward to reading them and improving on my Spanish.  I bought one Goosebumps (or should I say Escalofríos) book.  I used to really enjoy those when I was younger.

I have also recently been able to meet up with some fellow ex-pats (ex-patriots, or people who are not living in their country of birth) and it was great!  We found each other on an ex-pat website and is used for networking and research for ex-pats, and it was really great timing.  I have really been craving some North American contact and now I know of a couple people who are also living in Barranquilla!  So great.  I also found out from this website that there are hardly ANY ex-pats that are now, or were living in Barranquilla.  From what it seems like, most people go to Bogota or Cali and steer clear of Barranquilla.  That is too bad because this is a great city!

I could say more but I am going to have to make sure that I have other things to say for the next post!