black coffee, white linen

It has been a minute, I know. A few things have changed since I last posted. And yes, I’ll get better about posting.

After my trip to Peru, I came back to Medellín for a day to watch the Denver Broncos win the Super Bowl. Then I decid – wait let me say that again, the DENVER BRONCOS WON THE SUPER BOWL. Manning rode off into the sunset, Von Miller got some job security for the next few years and I got to see John Elway lift the Lombardi and say, “This one’s for Pat.”

Oh dear, what a day.

Okay, I’ll chill on the Broncos talk.

After that I decided to go back home to Denver for two weeks. I needed to regroup for the months ahead and visit my family and see as many friends as I could. I also got to go to the Broncos Super Bowl Parade with my sister and my dad, which made my ‘homecoming’ all the more special.

Pat Bowlen Day, 9th of February

But why go home?

Oh yeah, I got a job in Colombia. I like the darn place so much that I decided to take a teaching contract until November. I went through a NGO which works directly with the Ministry of Education of Colombia.

Strange how life works. One minute you’re “just passing through” and next minute you’re apartment hunting.

Wait backtrack a minute. About the programme: it is a part of the Colombia Bilingüe or Bilingual Colombia initiative by the Ministry of Education of Colombia. We went to training in Bogotá, where we were able to meet the Minister of Education, Gina Parody. People from over 40 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Portugal, Ireland, and Ghana all have come to be a part of the programme. 140+ volunteers will be placed in cities all over Colombia, adding to the few hundred that have already arrived in January.

Meeting Gina Parody

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCyrAodDf7o/?taken-by=conorlmc

I know, trust me, I KNOW it’s a cliché to be an English teacher abroad, but that’s not stopping me. It’s good to be a cliché sometimes, like when you are from Denver and have to travel to three different Whole Foods because you can’t find the right kind of almond butter (you know who you are). No harm no foul.

Now about the school. I was fortunate enough to be assigned to Medellín, the city I love so much. I’ll be in the north of the city, and living further south of town. Luckily the place I found is close to the metro station. It is an all girls Catholic school, which is not at ALL what I expected. The school has welcomed me well. I get to eat breakfast at the school everyday, coffee breaks are plentiful, and four of my co-workers are named Claudia so learning names just got a whole lot easier.

I have wanted to live abroad for sometime, just as my father did at this age, especially after my time in Argentina. I spent six months there, but I wish I could have stayed more. My time in Medellín will total over a year after this, more than I could have ever asked for.

Here we go.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BC8JVS4jf3e/?taken-by=conorlmc