Roaming South America

Two years in Colombia

May 31, 2015

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.

Coffee and salt don't mix

May 8, 2015

As mentioned in the title - coffee and salt don't mix. hehehehe. So, here's what happened - I was getting very low on sugar, so I went to the tienda to buy some. I'm at the store and I walk through the aisle, see the bags of white stuff, assume it's sugar, grab it and buy it. I never bothered to check the print on the package. After I got home I then poured the stuff into the sugar canister, which had some sugar left in it.

More students, and less students, but mostly more students

April 2, 2015

Things are going well here. My teaching schedule is filling up. And it looks like I will have even more students starting in the next week or two. So, for those of you who pray, pray about this: 3-5 new students possibly starting in the next week or two, all in the same business office, one other new student who operates a brand new panaderia just around the corner from me (I talked to him just last night), and the wife of my newest student.

Teaching English and El Día de Amor y Amistad

February 26, 2015

Thursday, 26 February 2015 Teaching English and El Día de Amor y Amistad

Have you ever stopped and given thought to the letter 'u'? Probably not. Why would you? It's just a vowel. Nothing special. But I discovered that the letter 'u' has many sounds, not just what we think of as the traditional "long" and "short" sounds.

Some words to consider:

Helping others help themselves

January 9, 2015

So how are things going for me? You ask? Well, actually, nobody asked. But I will write a little about it anyway.

In 2006, Tucson Arizona, my wife, Cheryl, and we thought we had a future. We had plans to build a house on a 1 acre lot, which we already owned, in the Sonoran desert. I designed the house and had an architect draw up the plans. Then my job went away, her job went away, and we both worked contract jobs. The architect committed fraud, not just against us but against several other clients as well. We never built the house.