Santiago de Chile

Before I left on my trip everyone told me I was crazy to go to Colombia, why go to a foreign country to volunteer when you can stay in the United States and get a good job. I admit I was a little nervous, I had done little research before going to Colombia and I decided only 2 months before the start date. My parents were not exactly thrilled with the idea but they couldn't do anything to stop me. So I left the United States in the beginning of March to embark on my adventure.

On my first day in Villiavicencio I went to my school and was immediately introduced to teachers and students. In class the students had many questions for me like do you have a girlfriend and do you think Colombian women or American women are more beautiful, at first these questions seemed a little strange to me but now they make a lot of sense.

Although the students can be a little lazy and they like to cheat at times, they have all respected me and treated me as their own. I feel that I have made a difference at the school. Before I came to the school students were bored of English and thought it was annoying because it was challenging. Now many students have a different attitude, by exposing them to American culture I think they are more ambitious to learn English because they want to travel to the United States.

Not only have I taught the students, the students have taught me about their rich culture. On Independence Day of Colombia we had a festivo at the school, the students sold traditional Colombian food like Lechona, and the younger students danced to different Colombian dances like Salsa and Joropo. At the end of the day I was amazed and in awe, months ago I was living in New Jersey and life was monotonous, and now I was living in Colombia teaching English and experiencing a different culture.