Tag: travel

Colette Shoptaugh Stein is in Bogotá

~ Athenian Exchange Program ~ Leave a comment

I have been having an amazing time at Los Nogales these past several weeks. One of my favorite things about the school is how there are always little kids everywhere as the school is a Colombian version of what a K-12 school is for us. The grade system is a little different, only going up to 11th grade. (Their 11th graders are our seniors.) The campus is gorgeous with multiple several story buildings and beautiful landscaping. One large difference from Athenian is how there are no “passing periods” here. The time one class ends is the time another one starts. You are allotted three minutes to get to the next class and if you arrive after that then you are marked tardy. 

All of the teachers here have been wonderful. I basically got to pick from all the classes offered and chose what I wanted. I ended up with multiple classes with other grades which has been wonderful for making friends. As well, I have a mix of classes in Spanish and English. I have not had to wear the uniform as the policy is that you wear the one from your home school and Athenian does not have a uniform. I joined the dance elective and gymnastic P.E. I am having a blast in the dance class. 

Transportation to and from school (and to other places) does take much longer than I am used to, especially being a boarding student at Athenian (as I am a two minute walk from all of my classes). It takes about 30-70 minutes each way to and from school depending on the traffic, even though where I am staying is decently close to the school. If you think California traffic is bad just wait until you see what it is like in Colombia. The roads are structured differently and so many people drive that it creates immense traffic. There is even a policy here restricting the days you can drive based on the last number of your licence plate. Currently it is odd versus even on alternating days, but it is changing soon because so many people get around it by having multiple cars. As well, their version of FastTrack is ColPass. I have been loving looking out the windows of the car during drives and admiring the mountains here which are stunning. As well, the time going from place to place has also been a great opportunity to look at the different parts of the cities, other cars, public transit vehicles, and street art. 

My goal for coming on Exchange was to improve my Spanish. Everyone here has been super patient as I try to speak as much Spanish as I can. All of the people here are super welcoming, and happy to help me practice my Spanish in conversation even though it is far from perfect. I found out upon arrival that most Exchange students who come to Los Nogales do not know any Spanish, which I found surprising. A challenge for me has definitely been trying to speak in as much Spanish as possible because I often cannot express what I would like to. This and doing some work from Athenian which require thinking/writing in English have been my main obstacles in improving my Spanish. In addition it does get tiring not speaking in my native language even though I absolutely love speaking in Spanish. That said, I am thoroughly enjoying conversing in another language and developing my speaking abilities. Over my time being here my comprehension has massively improved. I am feeling more comfortable speaking Spanish the longer I am here.

On to food, I love trying new foods so I have been trying as many as I can while I am here. I have fallen in love with this sauce called Aji. It is a spicy paste which is mixed with onion, cilantro, and some other ingredients. As well, I have tried multiple new fruits including mini mangos (which are incredible), granadilla, and mangostino. My favorite sweet treats have been Obleas which are these wafers and inbetween two of them there is Arequipe (we do not have Arequipe but it is like a mix between caramel and dulce de leche), these coffee candies, and Jet (a major chocolate brand here) chocolates with Arequipe. The school has a store where you can buy food and drinks during recess and lunch. It is a ton of fun to try the different foods and drinks the store offers. So far my favorites have been a drink called Hatsu (it is a sweet flavored white tea) and a cheese empanada.  

I have loved making new friends in Colombia. Everyone has welcomed me with open arms. My Exchange partner’s friend group is so sweet and always works to make me feel included even with the partial language barrier. And while people have friends of all genders, the friend groups at Nogales are more divided by gender, so there are not many mixed friend circles. As well I was able to make a couple of friends outside of Nogales. Getting to know people here is a highlight of my Exchange. 

There are some cultural differences. For example, I have been asked multiple times my opinion as a non-Black person from the U.S. on the n-word. While it is not a regular part of peoples’ vocabulary here, it seems to be more acceptable for people who do not identify as Black to say the word. The people who asked me knew that it was less acceptable in the US (or at least that it was something I would probably feel a little uncomfortable with–and I must note that it is unacceptable at Athenian and Colegio Los Nogales to say the n-word) but I never felt any pressure to say it. It is very intriguing, and I like learning about the cultural norms here. I have also been asked my opinion on Trump. I ended up having a very interesting conversation with a peer here on politics which I immensely enjoyed. Catholicism is the dominant religion here and is decently present in goings on.. 

Back to friendship, I have tried multiple times to translate sayings and other things in English into Spanish (literally) which did not turn out so well, but everyone has been so kind and has helped me learn a lot. One of my favorite activities I did with my friends was go to an event called Batuta where the bands from multiple schools perform together and tons of people come to watch. The bands here are incredibly talented and the people who are in them are typically the popular kids. 

I am going to miss all of the friends I have here and am so grateful for the experience.

Nico Vargas in Colombia

~ Athenian Exchange Program ~ Leave a comment

My time in Colombia so far has revolved around meeting new people, going to new places, and trying new things (specifically food). I arrived in Bogota on a redeye flight without a wink of sleep. From when I arrived at my host family’s apartment to when I slept, I was on my feet: going to eat, visiting the local country club, and shopping for groceries. Thankfully, my host family made it all enjoyable and entertaining. I arrived on the day of my mom’s birthday and it was very difficult and emotional as I called my family in the afternoon. In Colombia I would be missing my mom’s birthday, Mothers Day, my 16th birthday, and my brother’s birthday. Knowing this made the start of my exchange a little harder to cope with, but I did my best not to let that stop me from enjoying the time I had in Colombia. 

The next day started at 5:00 in the morning because of the traffic in Bogota and the 7:10 start time for Los Nogales (the school I’m going to) but getting enough sleep hasn’t been a problem during my exchange. My exchange partner, Emilio, is not in the same grade as me so I was assigned a mentor, Mateo, to introduce me to teachers and accompany me in classes. The way Colombian school works is that high school consists of 10th-12th grade while middle school is 6th-9th and in turn means I hardly get to see Emilio. My mentor made up for this by introducing me to his friends, making jokes, and providing a positive atmosphere that kept me included. My first day wasn’t perfect but very enjoyable, consisting  of random people introducing themselves to me, meeting my teachers, and everyone telling me the same thing, “Wow your Spanish is so good!” and  “Where’d you learn Spanish?” I was lucky enough to have learned Spanish from my parents, but it soon became evident that even my level of comprehension wasn’t enough to get through the students’ slang and conversations riddled with inside jokes. Strangely, I wasn’t nervous or scared for my first day. I guess some part of me had understood that I would be in a lot of uncomfortable situations during my exchange so I might as well embrace it and not worry. 

I’ve only been here for two weeks but I’ve already made so many memories. I didn’t know how to list them all without being boring so here it is. I’ve made a bunch of new friends and met lots of new people. Mateo and I are more like good friends now instead of mentor and padawan. I’ve tried so many kinds of arepas, a Colombian flatbread bread made out of ground maize dough, such as arepas choclo, arepas de queso, and arepas de huevos. I tried a dish of ground beef, chicharon, beans, rice, and arepas called bandeja paisa. Emilio took me to an unlimited taco restaurant where I ate 20 tacos. I went to a chiva, essentially a party bus, a soccer game where the Millionarios, a local team, played and won. I gave a presentation about Athenian to the entire school, and ate at the restaurant Crepes and Waffles with the other exchange students here. I visited a Finca (country house) in the outskirts of Bogota with an incredible view where I had burgers, rode and almost crashed an ATV, and played on a very dangerous swing. I’ve gotten invested in basketball, watching Emilio’s matches and playing during class. And all of this was in the first two weeks. Next week I’ll go to Santa Marta on the coast of Colombia to enjoy the beaches and relax with my host family. In the coming weeks I have two quinceañeras along with multiple dance lessons to prepare myself and a lot more memories to be made. 

Colegio Los Nogales is not too different from Athenian except for their 50-minute classes, 7:00 am start time, and extremely efficient bus system that drops me off at my host family’s apartment after school. The campus is similar to Athenian, large but not difficult to navigate. There are buildings that have more than one floor, a lot of the architecture is really beautiful, and all my classes occur in one building. The atmosphere is very welcoming. Everyone here was eager to meet me and learn a little bit about California. There is a uniform, but it makes choosing an outfit each morning so much easier–and pajama days here have real meaning. In the end it’s a normal school like any other where students strive for good grades and enjoyment, but their life outside of school is much more lively with weekly parties and events. After two weeks I was almost fully accustomed to life in Colombia, waking up, going to school, doing something fun, and sleeping. (It’s more interesting than it sounds.) 

My host family has been one of the biggest highlights of my time in Bogota. Since the first day I arrived, they treated me like one of their own and our conversations at dinner are always lively. Both of my host parents work in education (the dad is the director of Colegio Los Nogales) and have interesting perspectives and questions about my life in California. They’ve taken me to eat and watch movies, always making sure I’m comfortable. Emilio has also been like a brother to me, chatting and laughing about whatever comes to our minds. 

I don’t think I could ever regret coming here. It wasn’t easy to assimilate into a culture so different from mine and it can’t be made easier. That’s the beauty of exchange. The amount of times I’ve had to go out of my comfort zone has only ever made my experience better and everyone has been happy to help me out. In the end, if anyone has any doubts about going on exchange I’d tell them one thing. Just give it two weeks.