Monday, September 8, 2014

One Week Down!!

Holy cow! It's hard to believe that I've been in Colombia for over a week now. It's been such a whirlwind of activities and events that it's been a bit overwhelming at times. I don't think that it has truly sunk in yet that I'm here. This past week has been filled with tons of training, Spanish classes, and an attempt at familiarizing myself with my neighborhood and the city of Barranquilla as a whole.

PST (Pre-Service Training) 

Every member of the Peace Corps, no matter what country they are assigned to, has to go through some mandatory training to get them ready to serve in their respective field of service. This training, known as PST, lasts for a pre-determined amount of time, depending on the country and the nature of the project. Here in Colombia, PST is 11 weeks long. During this training, the following topics are covered:

- Language: Every morning (except for Thursdays), we have 4 hours of Spanish language classes with certified instructors. These classes are meant to help us gain the necessary language skills to survive here in country. During our first day of training, we each took an LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) to determine what level we should begin with. I was placed in the Basic group, which was a bit disheartening at first, since I was hoping for an Intermediate placing. But with plenty of time to practice and improve, I'm positive that I'll be able to move up in the upcoming weeks.

- Safety and Security: One of the biggest concerns that the Peace Corps stresses is the safety and security of its' volunteers. This is hammered home to us through countless presentations about how "no dar papaya" (don't give any opportunity), as the locals say here in Colombia. These trainings are meant to help us be more hyper-aware of our surroundings at all times.

- Cultural Awareness/Preparedness: These trainings so far have proven to be the most helpful and useful at the moment. All 33 of us stepped into an unknown world when we landed here in Barranquilla 10 days ago. Since then, we've been subjected to a brand new way of living that we've had to adjust to on the fly. Learning more in depth information regarding certain customs and traditions are going to definitely benefit us down the road.

- TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Training: These trainings have been a bit harder to sit through. For me, it's a lot of the same stuff that I went to college for, in regards to teaching methodology and basic practices. I totally understand that there are non-teachers in our group that have not yet been exposed to this material, but even they seem to be confused by the manner in which many of these sessions are presented. I'm hoping that this aspect of the training will improve as this is a bulk of what we will be doing for the next two years.

- Current Volunteer Presentations: One of the nice aspects of PST is that some of the trainings are led by current volunteers out in the field. It's a nice breath of fresh air to hear some real-life experiences of people that are currently doing what we will be embarking on in 2 1/2 months. Along with these presentations, we will be having various site visits with current volunteers. Our first one actually starts this weekend. We are all going to be assigned to a volunteer in either Cartagena or Santa Marta. It'll be nice to be out of Barranquilla for a couple of days to see the other cities and get a taste for one of them.

- Teaching Practicum: One thing that is key to a successful service experience is success in the classroom. To help prepare us for the types of challenges and difficulties that we will be faced with/have to overcome, we are being placed in a school every Wednesday, starting this week, for the next 6 weeks (I believe) to help us get acclimated to this new culture. I am one of nine other volunteers who have been assigned to Normal Superior Distrital. Myself, along with Erica, Elizabeth, Drew, MC, Jessi, Sammy, Nina, and Mike S., will spend our Wednesday mornings at this school. What we'll be doing, we're not quite sure yet. Stay tuned for future updates!

All of this training has definitely taken its toll on all us. The majority are in bed by 9:30/10:00 pm, just so we can muster enough energy to do it all over again 5 days a week. Hopefully it'll get a bit easier as we all start to get into routines and figure things out for ourselves. Once we're able to successfully navigate the city on our own, things will definitely improve. Until then, we'll just keep plugging away, taking it all one day at a time.

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