I’m now two months into my teaching post in Belén de Umbría and it’s been very interesting so far. I work at Colegio Nuestra Señora del Rosario every day except Thursday. It’s got over 800 students in grades 6 through 11. The school is just one block uphill from the plaza in Belén. It’s got an amazing view of the green mountains from the second floor.
Every year for one week, Belén de Umbría celebrates a week of fiestas to commemorate the founding of the town. The fiestas usually take place in November. This year, they were moved a month earlier to October.
Quinchía is a town in the Coffee Region of Colombia. It has been described as one of the more beautiful towns in the region and has a large indigenous population.
One morning, I was picked up at my school in Belén de Umbría and taken to a rural school in La Tribuna, a tiny rural village about 45 minutes away. The ride through the mountains was down a narrow one-lane muddy road. It was slippery and dangerous. The road had no guardrails and it was a straight drop down the mountain.
Lashae and I were invited to go on a hike through Santa Emilia Municipal Park (Parque Municipal Natural Santa Emilia) one Saturday with an adult English class from Belén de Umbría. The park is located about 20 minutes from Belén. It has a nature trail through a dense forest that leads to a few waterfalls.
La Virginia is a hot town in Colombia’s Coffee Region. There’s really no reason for anyone to stop there. It’s basically a town conveniently located on a crossroads to many major cities.
With a couple of other teachers (Natalia #1, Natalia #2, and Maryam), I went to a Marc Anthony concert in Pereira. It’s not normally I concert I would go see, but I was sure the atmosphere would be amazing in Colombia.
I arrived in Pereira, Colombia, on 1 August to start volunteering with the Nukanti Foundation. My job is to enhance the quality of English education in a public school in the Risaralda department of Colombia, the heart of Coffee Country. I will aid the English teachers in improving their own English to better serve their students, and provide a cultural exchange for the students in the school. I’m really looking forward to getting started!