This month, while on the way out the door to a dance-a-thon with my Aerorumba class, Conor tried to critique my choice of accessories. I needed something to carry my phone and wallet in while poppin' and lockin' it, so naturally I had reached for my beautiful black and white speckled fanny pack and proudly strapped it around my waist. "You're not seriously wearing that thing are you?" he said. Burn.
Loyal blog readers, this may be a shock to some of you, but Conor is aggressively anti-fanny pack. In fact, he often has expressed extreme embarrassment when I elect to wear my glorious waist-purse on outings or dates. Lucky for me, I am a strong independent women with confidence, and do not head to his criticism, and so after his insulting question I proudly marched out the door, fanny pack on.
Later, while at the dance-a-thon, I was toting my phone, plus the phones and keys of my teammates gleefully in my fanny-pack (so useful!) when I realized that my noble accessory actually did a wonderful job punctuating my hip movements. I threw myself with extra zest into the routines, and after a few songs of shimming and shaking, a new Colombian friend asked how long I had been living in Cali. Slightly intimidated, I responded "Um, about 7 months?" Her eyebrows furrowed. Completely blank faced, she said, "You don't dance like it." I was crushed, and my stomach instantly dropped.
Seeing my reaction, she smiled. Huh? "No, no, you dance like you've been here longer, you're good!" she said. Ohhhhh! Coming from a native Colombian, this was the ultimate complement! Achievement unlocked! Since Cali is the Salsa capital of the world, Caleños take dancing very seriously. Confidence at an all time high, I hit the dance floor with even more fervor than before. Led by a rotation of 5 different local Rumba instructors, we danced rumba and salsa for a total of three hours to some amazing South American beats. My fellow teachers and I laughed through the more flashy moves and chugged water whenever we got the chance and by the end, we were completely covered in sweat and barely able to stand. After the last song, 24,000 steps deep (thanks fitbit!) we patiently waited while the judges recognized the top dancers. Jaami, an amazing dancer and fellow teacher at Bolivar was the first recognized. She took the stage as the crowd cheered and clapped. Several more dancers were called up, and then suddenly the host with the microphone said, "La niña con el canguro!"and pointed directly at me.
Thoughts flashed through my mind- was he really pointing at me? I love that the Spanish word for fanny pack is is canguro, like kangaroo. Am I being recognized for my fanny pack or my dancing? Does it matter? LOL. Happy and slightly embarrassed, I got up on the stage and gave the crowd a wave. I turned to Jaami and said, "I can't wait to tell Conor...he hates my fanny pack!" Cue tears of laughter.
Speaking of Conor, it would be remiss of me to let you assume I am the only recognized champion* of the Sullivan house (*disclaimer, I was a runner up at the aerorumba dance-a-thon..I did not actually win). This month, Conor's athletic prowess was also awarded as his teacher soccer team took first place in the famous Colegio Bolivar lunch time soccer tournament. Yes, the teachers are allowed to make a team, and yes said teachers have absolutely no mercy on the younger high school students they face off against. Students from 6th through 12th grade gathered around the perimeter of the outdoor gym to watch the competition. The energy was electric- excited cheers and shouts echoed from across the courtyard, and despite the fact the players and teachers must attend their next class essentially sweat soaked, (thank god for deodorant) these games are a bonding opportunity for the whole school. This season the match ups went on for a couple months, but in the end the teacher team took down the 11th grade team in a semi-final nail bitter and eked out a win against the 12th grade team in the final.
Favorites:
-Running the Colegio Bolivar Verde 5k...and Taylor almost killing Conor when he tried to get her to go faster
-Attending the Colegio Bolivar Forum, and educational conference for schools across Colombia, with keynote speaker Dr. Linda Henke
-Project Runway Party- yes, our friends actually hosted a competition where we had to create fashion statements out of recycled clothing and compete in a real runway show
-Getting our Ashes for Ash Wednesday right at school- a Priest did an optional mini mass during parent conferences!
-Going to the Bolivar Garden to help work on the school's student run farm
-Playing the Seafarers expansion of Settlers of Catan with our friends the Fischers
-"Stay-cation" in San Antonio at the Intercontinental Hotel
-Taylor going to a puppy bakery with our friend Hannah, and her dog, Mr. Wiggins
- Sports Day #2 (basically a giant field day of inter grade competition full of games and great food vendors)
-Escaping the city to breathe fresh air at our friend Wojciech's beautiful mountain farm
-A visit to Musichoral- an amazing organization that provides free music and art lessons to students living in the mountains of Dapa
Getting Schooled:
Runner Up: Colombian Speakers
At the aerorumba dance-a-thon, our group missed the memo when it was time to claim spots, and as a result we found ourselves dancing right next to the largest and loudest speaker I have ever seen. Maybe this isn´t technically a Colombia specific fail, but I have noticed Colombians like their music extra loud. My poor friend Jenny was right next to it and was flinching with every beat of the music! Luckily, song by song, we were able to shimmy away from the speaker and creep towards the front of the dance floor. Lesson learned- don't stand next to a Colombian speaker.
Winner: Run Away Jameson
Okay, so as mentioned above, a big highlight of March was being invited to our friend Wojciech's beautiful mountain farm. About 12 teachers and significant others made the trek upwards in search of cooler air and a change of scenery. After enjoying an amazing day of exploring all the nooks and crannies on the property, discovering ducks, chickens, bunnies, avocado and citrus trees, and listening to the rushing river, we gathered around a bonfire to chat and admire the stars. Conor brought down a bottle of Jameson, and after pouring his drink, he casually placed the bottle on the ground. Did I mention this farm is on a giant hill?
About an hour later, Conor went back for drink number two, but (shock) the bottle of Jameson no where to be found! After searching around for a few minutes, we found a clue- the bottle of soda water we were making the drinks with was about fifty feet away from the bonfire under a tree- it must have started to roll down the hill and had been stopped by the trunk! Flashing our phone flashlights around, we hoped the Jameson would be nearby. No luck. So, we gave up and walked back up the hill. SYKE. This was an emergency! We launched a full recon mission in which 6 people flanked into the pitch black, frantically flailing their arms and flashlights in search of the coveted whiskey. After twenty minutes of searching, just when we were about to give up for real, our friend Diego marched up the hill, the Jameson cradled triumphantly in his arms. Where did he find it you ask? Bobbing in the river of course. It might have been a little muddy on the outside, but at least the flowing water chilled the bottle! Cheers!