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Charles Wiegand

Roaming South America

My Books on Amazon

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There are 466 blog posts for you to enjoy.

Dia del la Raza/Columbus Day in Colombia

October 12, 2015

The statue of Cristobal Colon, or as we call him in English, Christopher Co

Hi, I hope everyone is doing well. I am.

Today is Dia de la Raza (known as Columbus Day in the USA). Dia de la Raza is literally translated as 'day of the races'; that doesn't mean auto-racing or anything like that, it means people, ethnicities. It is a day to celebrate the heritage, colonization and cultural diversity of Latin America. But to the indigenous people of Colombia it is much different. They see it as a day to remember the painful and brutal conquest of their land by the Spaniards in the 15th and 16th centuries. So, now for a little history lesson:

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September, 2015 I'm in a new apartment, and more students

September 4, 2015

This statue of Christ is in a park here in Barranquilla.

I'm in a new apartment, yay! I was living in an old 1-bedroom apartment for the last 2 years, and it wasn't bad, just old. It was in a decent middle-class neighborhood. But now I am in a new apartment, just build 2 years ago, in a northern neighborhood I suppose would be considered upper middle-class or upper-class. It's a large studio apartment with very nice tiled floor, built-in closet and bookshelfs, the counter around the sink and 2-burner gas stove burners is coriander.

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Google data, new students, learning spanish

July 23, 2015

Your friendly neighborhood iguana in Barranquilla.

Do you have a Google account? Most likely. Are you logged into right now? Most likely, again. Even if you are not using google, even if you are not using your computer and browsing the web, are you still logged into that account? Google tracks everything you do that is internet related - from your computer, your phone, your tablet, whatever device you are using.

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This is a long one

June 21, 2015

La Catedral in Barranquilla.

Let go of the past and live for today.

Today I spent a couple hours writing this blog. And shed a few tears while doing so. This is more for myself than for anyone else. But it is necessary, for me, to do this.

I have a couple new students, a father and son, and the father says he will be asking me to add another hour per week to work with his twin sons. And a student that will be with me for 3 months only, but in that time she will be doing 10 hours per week of lessons.

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Two years in Colombia

May 31, 2015

One of the parks often has whimsical displays, often based on children

Today, May 31, marks 2 years in Colombia, 2 years in Barranquilla. What has this experience been like so far? Is this new life what I expected? If not, how is it different from what I expected?

Before I came here, when I was just going through the TEFL courses to get certified as an EFL teacher, I had no expectations. I had no idea what to expect from a life in a different country, doing a job I had no experience doing.

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Chip Wiegand

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Contact me:

chip at wiegand dot org

I used to teach English as a foreign language in Barranquilla, Colombia. Now I'm retired and traveling throughout South America.

I'm from Kennewick, Washington, USA. In my previous life, as I call it, I was an IT guy, systems administrator, computer tech, as well as a shipping/receiving guy and also worked as a merchandising guy in a RV/Camping store.

©2002 - 2026 Charles Wiegand