Travel Day:
My bag was 51 pounds. 51! That’s
insane! By far the heaviest bag I ever traveled with! What was in there!?!
Well, a bunch of clothes since I am traveling to two different climate zones.
The average temperatures in Bogotá are between 40-60 degrees Fahrenheit and
Bucaramanga’s temps are about 70-80 degrees. So, I packed
all. the. things. (I’ll post more about what I wore when I get back. Future
Fulbright fellows may want details; the rest of you dear readers could probably
care less as long as I was clothed.) Those who have traveled with me know I
usually pack very light (like “just a backpack” light) but that is not the case
on this trip! Future Fulbrighters, just give up the idea of light packing-
sorry Rick Steves!
I also packed gifts for my host
teacher and for the students with whom I will be working. After the 4th of July
holiday I found lots of patriotic pens, buttons, and bracelets on sale. I have
every sticker pack that the Dollar General sells too. I also have exactly $3.00
worth of pennies. The lovely lady at the bank yesterday thought I
needed 30,000 pennies. That would have been very heavy. Thankfully we cleared
everything up before she had to go in the vault, or wherever 30,000 pennies
would be stored. Lastly, I have 3 pounds of dum dum suckers. I do not plan on explaining the
meaning of dum dum to my new students. Why are they named that anyway?!? I
should have bought 3 pounds of Smarties. (insert smacking head emoji) Hopefully
these goodies will be enough!
I’ve also packed some teaching
supplies including Mr. Sketch markers because my students said I HAD to bring
them. If they exploded in my bag, I’d be okay with that. My bad would smell
like 18 different fruits and assorted slushie flavors. I have cute motivational
posters in English too- very girly since the school where I will work is an all
girls school. Let’s hope those don’t get crushed in transit; update to follow.
I brought supplies to teach a lesson about controlled experiments using
parachute supplies from my EiE kit A Long Way Down. I love that the
Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative provides those kits for all
AMSTI schools the state. (Thanks, politicians who vote for AMSTI funding!) The
parachutes lessons are always my students favorites and I thought that the
Colombian students would like them as well. I have observation and
co-teaching time scheduled with math and science classes in my host school and
hope to be able to work in some STEM activities. Y’all know I like me some
STEM!
I also have BOOKS! Because traveling
with hardcover books is a great way to lighten the load, right!?! I Ha ha ha.
(Or as I say in Spanish Mode- ja ja ja). I am bringing my FAVORITE read alouds
for math and science- Ada Twist, Scientist and Iggy Peck, Architect. I also
have a few books with retellings of Native American legends. (Shout out to the
Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama!) I have a few more but honestly, as I sit in
this plane, I cannot for the life of me remember what they are. Ja ja ja.
And that, my friends, is what my 51
pounds are made of.
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