Who's Got Two Thumbs and Not Getting Sick? This Girl!
Time Travel Back to Monday, June 3rd- As a part of our Colombia Pre-Departure Orientation webinar, we learned the basics of the Colombian education system, received advice from a TGC fellow from last year's cohort, talked about vaccinations, and looked at sample itineraries. We also talked about how we would be paying for different things. We learned that most of our experience in Bogota would be arranged and payed for through our TGC/IREX liaison. They would take care of our entire itinerary including all transportation, hotel arrangements, school visits, visit to the US Embassy, and cultural excursions. Later in our host cities, our host teacher would help us develop our itineraries, travel, and hotel which we would cover with a Fellowship Award. TGC/IREX created the Fellowship Award based on local hotel, transportation, and meal costs.
Wednesday, June 12- I found out that my host teacher is Sandra Moreno, who is an English teacher at Aspaen Gimnasio Cantillana in Piedecuesta, Colombia! I was beyond excited and started to google ALL THE THINGS! The weather, the school, hotel options, city history! Everything! I also started to realize that, according to the Centers for Disease Control, I really needed to step up my vaccination game. Besides my yearly flu shots (which I sometimes didn't even get), I really wasn't sure where I stood with my vaccinations. I moved around a lot growing up, so tracking down my "blue card" didn't happen. I did contact several health departments where my records COULD have been, but I either didn't get through, or they couldn't help me without seeing me in person. Needless to say, I wasn't about to traipse across the US tracking down records. The most helpful place was actually my OBGYN office. When you have babies, apparently they test you for all kinds of things to make sure you are good to go for delivery. Anyway, armed with the knowledge of my immunities and the CDC recommendations, I decided on the following vaccinations/medications: yellow fever, Hep A booster (I'd already had Hep A and B shots), malaria pills, typhoid, and tetanus.
Thursday, June 20- I drive ALL THE WAY TO MEMPHIS (about 4 hours from my house) to get my yellow fever shot ($235). My insurance didn't cover it...bummer. However, it lasts basically forever and is an easy shot of "young people" (am I still young?!?!). Also, you can't get into National Parks in Colombia without the shot. I now have a fancy yellow card to prove that I'm not scared of mosquito bites! Also, I need to give a huge shout out to my amazing brother who watched my kids while I did all this. He lives about 1/2 way between my house and Memphis, and happily added my crew to his crew for the day. Uncle Chris for the win! :)
Tara, another member of my Colombia cohort, lives in Memphis. She happened to also get her yellow fever shot the same day! We met at Starbucks to say "Hi!" and compare our "battle scars." We also talked about how we were preparing for the our field experiences. We both decided that Bogota looks COLD and we might travel around with our huge winter coats. In Alabama and Tennessee, it's normal for us to experience really, really warm summers. 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit isn't abnormal. Because of it's higher altitude, Bogota is usually between 40-60 degrees Fahrenheit. I normally like to pack super light when I travel, but it doesn't look like that will happen this time around! Winter wear- here we come! Tara's school happened to be around the corner from the Starbucks so I got a cool, quick tour. She teaches at an all girls private school, which was very interesting to see. It was so different than where I teach. She is the lower school librarian and I loved seeing her library. So cozy and colorful! I should have snapped a picture.
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| Tara and I showing off our band-aides at Starbucks! |
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