Faces of Repelón: The High School Graduate

A willingness to try new things. Upbeat. Positivity. All of these adjectives and more apply to Nayomis Carrillo Ruiz. She brings a curious mind and the ability to step outside of her comfort zone to not only English class, but life in general. Whether she's participating in the class warm-up or willing her team to victory in a heated review game, I know that I can always count on her when I need a volunteer to help keep class moving along.

Born in Sabanalarga (a town about 45 minutes to an hour north of Repelón), Nayomis comes from a close-knit family. Her parents, Alvaro and Solfanis, are dedicated to their family business as a way to provide for their family. Her older sister, Catalina, is currently working towards attaining her social work license at a university in Barranquilla. Danna, her younger sister, is still attending school here in Repelón and is in the ninth grade.

One of the many talents that Nayomis possess is that of a magnificent artist. Anytime that an artistic assignment is given to the students, I know that I am going to receive a mini-masterpiece from her talented hands. Actually, completing her first successful drawing is one of the things that she remembers most fondly about her childhood. Her abilities to translate her feeling and emotions onto paper is something that I'm definitely jealous of!

Outside of drawing, Nayomis also loves to ride her bike around town. Not only does this provide her with a healthy, safe form of entertainment, it also is relaxing and allows to clear her mind. When she was in school (Nayomis just graduated last December), she was able to create strong, long-lasting friendships that she hopes will continue into the future. Despite these pleasant memories, the absence of teachers on regular occasions was a bit of a hinderance as it caused classes to be canceled and mayhem to ensue.

Now that she has finally graduated, Nayomis is looking forward to her future. She plans on continuing her English studies at a university in either Sabanalarga or Barranquilla either this fall or next year. In the meantime, she is devoting her time to helping her mother maintaining the household for the rest of her family. A part of me wants her to wait until next January to start her university career, as that means that she will be able to finish out her current course with me. However, I will obviously fully support whatever decision she makes to better her future outlook.

When reflecting on the city of Repelón, Nayomis is proud of the fact that the local people are hard workers and are constantly striving to find ways to better their lives. This type of work ethic takes time to instill in people, let alone a whole community, so she sees this as a work in progress that also brings along a lot of insecurities that over time will hopefully work themselves out. Life in a pueblo also affords her the opportunity to be the person that she wants to be without a lot of trouble of strife from those around her. However, she also realizes that there are people that have the mentaility that they will always remain poor because they don't think they have the ability to overcome their difficulties. This is something that she aims to try and change in the future.

Down the road, Nayomis would love to be able to travel to the United States if the opportunity ever presented itself to her. The ability to use the things that she has learned regarding English and the chance to further improve her understanding of the language is one that she hopes she is able to take advantage of at some point. She sees the United States as a very powerful, developed country that is helping to better the world one day at a time.

Whether it is through her artistic drawings, bubbly personality, or sheer determination to succeed in everything that she tries, Nayomis has been one of the cornerstones of my classes here in Repelón. Despite her young age, I am fully confident that her future will be full of amazing opportunities and possibilities to both improve herself and the community of Repelón as a whole.

Finding a Sense of Home and Community

"Home is where your rump rests" - Pumbaa from "The Lion King"

When constantly traveling, it can be hard to feel a constant sense of "home". Whether I've stayed somewhere for six weeks or two years, it can still be a struggle to utter that phrase "I feel at home here." Luckily, I haven't really had too many issues with that here in Colombia. My time here has been marked by three very distinct moves:

1. End of August 2014 to mid-November 2014: For the first three months in country, while we were completing our initial training, I lived in Barranquilla in a simple, one floor apartment above a small tienda. My host parents were amazing people and I still visit them from time to time when I have time or need a place to crash in the city.

2. Mid-November 2014 - End of January 2015: After receiving my initial site placement, I moved in with another family, this time in southern Barranquilla. This two-story house was filled with my host parents, host grandmother, host brother, his girlfriend, their newborn, and my host sister and her son. It was a lot of people for a small space, but I quickly learned to enjoy the constant hustle and bustle of having people in and out of the house.

3. Februrary 2015 - Present:  I was moved a third time at the beginning of Februrary 2015 to Repelón, where I am currently living and serving the remainder of my Peace Corps service. Here I have been blessed with really not only one home, but two. The first home is my current place of residence. My host mom runs a restaurant from the back of the house and serves the best food in town (I may be a bit biased, but it's true). My host dad works on the local finca and is always bringing home fresh mangoes and papayas for us to enjoy.

The house itself is one of the nicer ones in town. Inside the actual house itself are 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room/dining room combo. Out back, behind the house, is where the real benefit lies. Another kitchen is accompanied by three more rooms (one of them being mine) and a beautiful cabana that doubles as a restaurant during the lunch hour. Due to the small size of Repelón, the extra rooms and space double as a type of hotel for those that are visiting family and friends and need a place to stay. Once again, my life here is definitely not devoid of activity and human contact.

My humble abode here in Repelón

The living room/dining room that's really just more for show that use

The outside kitchen where all of the food goodness happens

The cabana/restaurant in the back yard

My second "home" here in town came about as a bit of a surprise and rather unexpectedly. On my second day in town, I was at school when my coordinator came to find me. She told me that the local police were looking for me and wanted to talk. Naturally, I was a bit freaked out since no one really wants to have the cops actively looking for them, especially in a foreign country! Turns out, the police chief, who is definitely currently one of my best friends in town, wanted to introduce himself and inquire about English classes for himself and the other cops in town.

Gradually, over time, I have used the police station as my get away in town. One of the real benefits about the station is the air condition and free WiFi. When living in a town that constantly feels like it's on the sun, any escape from the heat is welcomed and sought out. Over time, what started out simply as English classes has turned into a "home away from home" while I've been here. Who thought when I moved to town that my best friend would be the police chief and I would actively choose to go to the police station!

The road leading to the police station

Where the motorcycles are kept when not in use

The soccer field where local kids play daily to keep active

The actual station itself 

Throughout all of my travels, I have stayed in various homes, apartments, and living situations. However, through all of those experiences, there is just one thing that I can always count on - the people. I am constantly being blessed with amazing people who come across my path, no matter where I am living or what I am doing. It is through this sense of community that I am able to overcome any feelings of homesickness or loneliness that I may have. It is through these unexpected experiences that the true joy of traveling and living abroad is born.

2 Month Rewind

So it seems that the attitude of coastal relaxation has affected me more than I thought! Here is a brief summary of the events of the last two months!

Camp HERO

In early October, the first installment of Camp HERO (a leadership camp designed for boys between the ages of 13 and 15) was held in Minca, a pueblo outside of Santa Marta, in the Sierra Nevadas. HERO is an acronym for Health, Equality, Respect, and Outreach. During this weekend camp, a total of 25 boys from the various sites where male Peace Corps volunteers serve gathered together to participate in workshops, activities, and community service projects that helped strengthen their capacity to lead in their own communities. For many of the boys, this was their first visit to the mountains or even outside of their pueblo. It was an amazing weekend filled with new friends, improved skill sets, and new experiences.

Read this article by one of the other counselors, Danny, to get an idea of what the boys did during the camp.

Showing off all of the garbage collected that was around Minca!

All the campers

The boys having fun at the waterfall

The greatest success of the camp - the campfire and s'mores

My 29th birthday

I celebrated another year of life on November 1. The members of my community class surprised me with a small party at one of the local clubs in town, where one of my students works. The even was complete with balloons, streamers, and lots of smiling faces. The celebration included drinks, food, cake, and of course, dancing! I was finally given lessons on how to actually dance champeta, cumbia and vallenato. Although I'm still not even close to being as good as my students, it was a great evening spent with some of the most important people to me here in the pueblo.

I am beyond blessed to be able to teach these amazing human beings!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a very American holiday. Trying to explain to my Colombian students, teachers and community members the meaning of this holiday was a bit of a challenge, since they really have no holiday with which they can relate to. Since this is also a holiday which is marked by family and a lot of food, we decided to have a CII-6 Thanksgiving on the beach. This get together also marked our one year anniversary since we swore we as official volunteers, so it was twice as special. We rented an apartment and some other rooms in a resort in St. Veronica, a small pueblo on the beach. Everyone pitched in with the making of the food and desserts and the spread was amazing! That night, we played some games as a group and really enjoyed everyone´s company. Although we could not be with our real families on holiday, we made due!

The view for our Thanksgiving feast

The spread - such good food!

The dessert table was also delicious!

The group!

Graduation

Graduation ceremonies was held in late November at my school. Not only did we celebrate the completion of classes for the 11th graders, but we also included the adult "11th" graders who have been taking classes at night. These students are students who did not graduate from high school during their first time through and returned to complete their education. In total, about 50 students received their diplomas and other certificates commenerating this important milestone in their lives. Tears were shed. Songs were sung. Photographs were taken. It was a nice ceremony and marked the official end of my first year of school in Colombia!

With some of the students in 11th grade in their last official day of school

11th grade students ready to graduate!

The adult students all settled in!

The proud owners of their new diplomas! Congratulations all!

That's a brief recap of some of the events here in the last couple of months. It is still hard for me to comprehend some days that I have successfully completed more than half of my service in the Peace Corps. With school not set to start again until late January, I have been spending time getting things ready for next year and doing some traveling. Look forward to a future post detailing my recent time with my parents!