A day of rest and relaxation
July 26

Sunday in Barranquilla was slow and relatively quiet. The streets were less busy than Saturday night and the stores opened later in the morning. We had breakfast at the hotel, a long meeting and then set out for an afternoon at the museum and a stroll through a local market.

The Museum of the Caribbean is a cultural museum that examines the history and indigenous tribes that live along the Colombian coast. It is organized so that each floor focuses on a different aspect: Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the natural world, people, language or words, actions and creative expression. The description of the culture of Colombia as valuing "orality" was something I had described earlier in a reflection about our visit to Sabio Caldas. It was my impression at the school that written words are not as highly valued as oral language. The idea was also discussed with the Kogi teacher who said that there is resistance from the elders to allow the Kogi language to become a written language because they believe that the flexibility and complexity of meaning will be lost when defined only by one context.

The media displays included full walls of the natural environment of the Caribbean coast from the estuaries to the coastline to the tropical rain forest to the snow capped mountains all of which are home to a wide range of birds and animals. The more I understand of the vast diversity of the ecology of Colombia, the more I can appreciate Pedro's passion for talking about the inspirations from nature that filled his Peace Museum.

There was a whole room with viewing stations to learn about 10 of the indigenous tribes. I was glad to learn more about the Kogi and the Arhuacho though what I took in from the Spanish subtitles was insignificant. The visuals were enough to hold my attention.

We ended the afternoon at a market and browsed through local kitsch; leather goods, wooden goods, hand made woven bracelets, and musical instruments. Lots of bags and some furniture, but nothing of high value though all fun to look at. I bought a set of leather coaster in a holder that looks like a bus and a little purse made out of a gourd for Ruby.

July 27

Today was our visit with the Secretary of Education of Barranquilla and a visit to the school five of us will work with over the next three days, Colegio Madre Marcelina. The school has about 750 students, pre-k to 11th grade. The Department of Education is one of many in the district of Atlantica, the equivalent to a state in the US. The Secretary crowded us into his office that held only his desk, two small couches and a very larger color printer for making posters. The posters, all entitle "Barranquilla florace para todos!" (Barranquilla flourishes for everyone!) and showing pictures of students, were displayed on many large white walls throughout the district offices. He talked about the programs that are underway to make Barranquilla the leader in bi-lingual education, Spanish and English with a third option of French. The initiatives also involve bringing native speakers to Barranquilla primarily through Peace Corps and World Teach, a research program out of Harvard University.

I noticed that the student body had a different look than in Bogota; darker skinned girls and finer facial features. The proximity here to the indigenous tribes makes me wonder what presence they may have in these schools or what relationships may exist between indigenous people and white Colombians that could have led to students of mixed heritage.

The neighborhood in which the office was located was surprisingly commercial and packed with street vendors. The street was narrow and the sidewalk even narrower with vendors lining the curb; everything from internet access to tools to water and fruit. From the ground it was hard to detect the official office that spread across the second floor of one of the buildings.

Our day included a discussion with the English teachers who we will shadow tomorrow and a tour of the main building with the head of the school, Sister Luz Marina. The school was founded by an order of nuns who established themselves in Barranquilla over 100 years ago. They have a church and an elder care center where the students do service hours. We also saw a Sena class in clerical skills (they called it filing skills) that could open the door to office work in hospitals, libraries or businesses. We saw a computer room filled with laptops that were donated to the school and several classrooms. The Director said that only two classrooms lacked air conditioning, but the one classroom we stepped did not have the air conditioner on and it was very hot and stuffy
Dinner tonight was at yet another pizza, wings and Mexican food restaurant. The eating in Barranquilla has not been very satisfying and it seems we are surrounded by all sorts of versions of American pizza or Mexican food chains. I think the group will rebel if the next meal is similar. I managed to find a rice and shrimp dish on the menu and it was quite delicious with a beer. I was glad to avoid all the beef and chicken options for one meal. There is definitely an absence of green vegetables in the diet here. The fresh juices, however, are spectacular: mango, lulo, berry.