Health is Boring but at Least I can Paint
Good News everyone, I found the apostrophe key! It was hiding next to the upside down question mark the whole time. More good news, although my last post was a bit emotional and I highlighted a lot of what I would miss, Colombia has been really great so far and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. Now, let's catch up on what's been happening the past couple of weeks.
Monday through Friday I have seminary. I never thought I would take early morning, yet here I am waking up at 5 in the morning for seminary in Colombia of all places. The reason I never thought I'd take it is because I am the extreme polar opposite of a morning person. All the people who know this about me are shaking their heads right now, because it really is that bad. (Dear God, you know it ain't easy for me to be waking up this early to learn about You, so I'll be a little let down if I come back from this and I'm still not fluent. Just sayin) Unfortunately, it's the only time offered, so I drag myself out of bed and wake up before even the sun. I stay in my pajamas, throw on some tennis shoes, a jacket, my winter coat, a beanie, and my gloves, and I ride my bike the 10 minute trip with Carolina and Andrea. The teacher runs the class out of her home, and there are 7 other people besides the three of us who come to learn about Jesus in her living room. Class is 45 minutes long, so we ride our bikes back around 6 (by now it's light outside) come home to an empty house, and sleep for another hour... or three. Yeah it's usually three. Now that I think about it, I feel like it's even earlier than early morning. I'll let you all correct me, but I don't think it usually starts at 5:15 am.
Other than the torturously early wake up call, seminary is pretty okay. I can actually read pretty well because Spanish words (unlike their English counterparts) actually sound like how they're spelled. I've noticed myself progressively understanding more and more, but religious lingo is generally more difficult than conversational talk anyway, so I don't grasp a ton of what she says. It's so early and my brain still so alseep that even what I do understand I have a hard time piecing together fast enough to translate it to English. The teacher is really sweet, and she kind of looks like a rabbit, but that's really not important. My saving grace for this otherwise really boring hard-to-focus-on class is a girl named Valeria and her younger sister Fabiana. They lived in Orem for a year when they were in middle and elementary school, so they're both fluent in English. They help translate a lot for me when I have no idea what's going on, but mostly they help by just being people to talk to. They're both pretty cool and down-to-earth, and I see them frequently enough that I can consider them good friends. Yay look at me meeting new people!
Next on the daily agenda, I have my online classes. Sadly, my mom still wants me to graduate high school, so to stay on track I'm taking my core and a few other required classes online. My counselor figured out a way for me to stay enrolled at Provo High even though I don't live in the states so I could still get credit and stay on track for graduation. Basically the only important piece of information there is that I'm technically still a Provo High student, so I need to figure out a way to infiltrate the yearbook from another continent. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Besides that, my online classes suck and are extremely boring and they make me want to drop out of high school forever. I'm enrolled in Health, Fitness for Life, English 3, US History, and Precalc. (two semesters for the last 3) My counselor tried to convince me to take some AP and Honors classes, but there was no chance. My freshman year, I did math online (because I hated my class and teacher and there were no other available teachers that period) and so I can say from experience how hard it is to take a class without a teacher and basically have to teach yourself anything you don't understand. Yeah, no extra hard classes for me this year, thanks. I started my classes about a week in, and I've decided to knock out the semester-long classes and then I can focus on the other three. Basically, I went ham on Health this past week, and I'm a little over halfway done. Reminder, this class takes up a whole semester for most students so maybe taking this one online was not a bad idea. I can't say for sure how long my other classes will take, but I'm willing to spend a couple super boring hours a day for two weeks on Health if it means I never have to think about it again. In conclusion, I wish I could've taken off all of Junior year and still have graduated from high school, but sadly life doesn't work that way so I will do my online classes regardless of how much I hate them.
After I finish my online classes for the day, I have my other classes; aka the art classes I actually really enjoy and wish I could take all day long. The way it works is the city has a "school" that offers different art classes for the city residents for free. The school has a couple main buildings, but the classes are taught all around the city. The teachers are paid for with taxes, and anyone who lives in Cota can take whatever classes they want. It's really up to the teacher's discretion, but most classes can only be taken once a week because the demand is so high. Basically, you can show up for a class any time it is being taught, but only once a week to keep the class sizes down. This means I have a different schedule every day, sometimes with classes as late as 9 o'clock. We ride our bikes everywhere, and always come home around noon for lunch. The daily lineup goes as follows, with a description of each class and a rating out of 10 because I'm extra.
Monday
Photography: 9:00 am-1:30 pm
So far I've only gone to this class once, but we messed around with Photoshop a bit and I loved that. I already know how to use Photoshop for most of the basics, so I'm not learning a ton but I think this class is going to be really enjoyable. The teacher is like an early-twenties hipster type with glasses, a septum piercing, a great taste in fashion, and really nice. So far it's an 8/10
Drawing: 3:30-6:00 pm
I LOVE this class. I haven't made a ton of progress yet on my drawing because I overthink too much and am a perfectionist, but I'll post a picture when it's done. The teacher is very experienced, has really helpful tips, and is really kind and patient. Drawing is one of my passions, so this class easily gets a 10/10
Ballet: 5:30-8:30 pm
Okay I haven't actually gone to this class yet because no one else takes it and I just found out about it, but I'll go next week and tell you how it goes. I'm pretty excited so hopefully I don't hate it.
Tuesday
Break Dance: 3:30-5 or 6:00 pm
First of all, it's not the same as hip hop, although I wish it were. Sadly the hip hop class just has really dirty music and choreography, so I'm settling for break dance. I'm not very good, I can't even hold a handstand, but being flexible has given me some cred. I really like the teacher, however, because he talks clearly so he's really easy to understand, and is really encouraging and supportive. We had a performance last Friday, so I learned all the choreography in about a week and was a part of that. It's pretty fun overall so it gets a 6/10
Salsa Dance: 6:00-7:00 pm
Even though I've never danced salsa before, it's right up my latin social dance alley. It's really fast, but because of my ballroom background I was one of the only people who could keep up. I brought my dance heels to Colombia with me, but I'm debating whether I should wear them or not because I'd be the only one. The teacher is this really tall black guy with dreadlocks and is always wearing headphones. He's a good teacher, and usually has me help demonstrate the girls part. I'm hoping I can learn a lot in this class to substitute for the absence of ballroom in my life. Even though I basically quit my team for good, I still really love the sport itself, and I'd like to continue pursuing it even though I know I'm not that good. That's what practice is for, right? Overall, I really enjoy the class and it gets a 10/10
Wednesday:
Tennis: 2:00-4:00 pm
Haven't done this one yet either, but from what I can remember from freshman PE, I like tennis but I'm not very good. We'll see what happens
Break Dance: 3:00-7:00 pm
This is one of those rare classes that I take multiple times a week. Each class brings a new crowd, depending on who's available. Most of the boys (16ish to 19ish) are really good, and they're decently nice. This one kid named Jason helps me with the tricks, and he has this ugly tattoo on his arm that says b.boy. Most of the guys have loads of tattoos, but it's not like they're bad people or dangerous or anything. It's just the culture of the break dance scene.
Thursday
Mutual: 8:00 am - ?
Not an art class, but notable. The reason we have mutual on a Thursday morning is because it was the only time that worked with everyone's schedules. Because all the young women take the art classes, they're all homeschooled which I found interesting. They just split up the ward last month, so now we're a branch with a new YW presidency and around 10 girls ages 12-17. We're doing a secret sister exchange for our first activity, and they get us food every time, so it's a good 7/10.
Drums: 11:00-12:00
Dang, I never realized how hard it is to play a drum set. The coordination it takes to make a different beat with each hand and foot is proving to be really hard, but I'm up for the challenge. The teacher is really different than all my others because he grew up in Michigan/Florida and speaks perfect English. He basically says something for me in English, and then repeats it in Spanish for everyone else. My dad would probably say this is counterproductive, but I find it helpful to know the context of what he's saying before listening to it in Spanish so I can figure out words I don't already know without having to guess. It's hard but fun. 7/10
Percussion: 5:00-7:00 pm
This class is taught by the same teacher as the drum class, but instead of a drum set we play cultural drums from Latin America. It's taught the same way as the other in Spanish and English, but I don't think it's quite as hard. I like that it only uses my hands, no drum sticks or pedals. The teacher says I have a knack for tempo and rythm, and I have to agree the coordination comes easier to me. I just close my eyes and my hands play. You would be surprised how much technique goes into it though. Certain things are played on different parts of the drum, some with the palm, others with the fingers, and sometimes both. This is one of my callings in life. 9/10
Friday (we're almost done)
Voice Technique: 11:30-1:30 pm
The teacher knows what she's talking about, and the instruction is good, but it feels really easy. After taking choir last year, and singing my whole life, I want something harder. The teacher is really doing her best, but it doesn't help that two people in that class are totally tone deaf, and all these old ladies don't have the voices they used to. The teacher ends up spending a lot of time helping them, so I just sit there and memorize the song we're learning in my head. It's called "Un Beso Y Una Flor" from the 70s. It's not bad, I would go give it a listen. It's nice to have something familiar, because reading music and voice technique is the same in both English and Spanish. Even though I'm not learning a whole lot, I still love to sing so I'll give it a 9/10
Painting: 4:00-7:00 pm
Love this one. I've mostly only painted with watercolors before, but I really love how acrylics "behave" on canvas. I'm painting a picture of a necklace a friend gave me, and I'll post a picture of that when I'm done too. The class is taught by the same teacher as the drawing class, and once again, she knows what she's talking about. Honestly, her advice made my painting into an 8 when it otherwise would've been a 5. I also like that the class is three hours long, because it gives me enough time to get into my creative mode and just run with it. I'm really an artist at heart so this gets a 10/10.
I also took a Flamenco class yesterday which was really hard. There's not a ton of motion involved but there's so much technique you have to remember. I was really tired by the end of it. Right now it's taught at the same time as the ballet class I want to take, but the teacher is thinking of changing the time so it's a little up in the air still. I don't know if I'll be able to take it, but for now I'll give Flamenco a 7/10.
As you can see, I take a lot of classes but I still have quite a bit of time on my hands which I spend, you guessed it, on my online classes. I'm also taking Zumba and a mixed class of Ballet/Jazz but we haven't yet solidified what days I'm taking those. I've also heard there's a ceramics class which I would love to take, but I haven't yet verified if it actually exists. The twins also take Violin and Fencing, but I tried both and wasn't a huge fan. I'll talk about why in my next post, which will also consist of all the notable stories and things that have happened so far. Once again, I apologize for the super duper long and detailed blog, but I promise I'm getting all the descriptive stuff out of the way first so I can spend the next 10 months telling more interesting stories. Also, I'll try to be better at taking pictures, but I tend to to forget. Sorry. This was a good glimpse of my day-to-day life, and what I spend a lot of my time doing. I hope you enjoyed reading it, because I enjoyed sharing. Stay chevere!
Monday through Friday I have seminary. I never thought I would take early morning, yet here I am waking up at 5 in the morning for seminary in Colombia of all places. The reason I never thought I'd take it is because I am the extreme polar opposite of a morning person. All the people who know this about me are shaking their heads right now, because it really is that bad. (Dear God, you know it ain't easy for me to be waking up this early to learn about You, so I'll be a little let down if I come back from this and I'm still not fluent. Just sayin) Unfortunately, it's the only time offered, so I drag myself out of bed and wake up before even the sun. I stay in my pajamas, throw on some tennis shoes, a jacket, my winter coat, a beanie, and my gloves, and I ride my bike the 10 minute trip with Carolina and Andrea. The teacher runs the class out of her home, and there are 7 other people besides the three of us who come to learn about Jesus in her living room. Class is 45 minutes long, so we ride our bikes back around 6 (by now it's light outside) come home to an empty house, and sleep for another hour... or three. Yeah it's usually three. Now that I think about it, I feel like it's even earlier than early morning. I'll let you all correct me, but I don't think it usually starts at 5:15 am.
 |
| Taken this morning around 6 o'clock after seminary |
Other than the torturously early wake up call, seminary is pretty okay. I can actually read pretty well because Spanish words (unlike their English counterparts) actually sound like how they're spelled. I've noticed myself progressively understanding more and more, but religious lingo is generally more difficult than conversational talk anyway, so I don't grasp a ton of what she says. It's so early and my brain still so alseep that even what I do understand I have a hard time piecing together fast enough to translate it to English. The teacher is really sweet, and she kind of looks like a rabbit, but that's really not important. My saving grace for this otherwise really boring hard-to-focus-on class is a girl named Valeria and her younger sister Fabiana. They lived in Orem for a year when they were in middle and elementary school, so they're both fluent in English. They help translate a lot for me when I have no idea what's going on, but mostly they help by just being people to talk to. They're both pretty cool and down-to-earth, and I see them frequently enough that I can consider them good friends. Yay look at me meeting new people!
Next on the daily agenda, I have my online classes. Sadly, my mom still wants me to graduate high school, so to stay on track I'm taking my core and a few other required classes online. My counselor figured out a way for me to stay enrolled at Provo High even though I don't live in the states so I could still get credit and stay on track for graduation. Basically the only important piece of information there is that I'm technically still a Provo High student, so I need to figure out a way to infiltrate the yearbook from another continent. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Besides that, my online classes suck and are extremely boring and they make me want to drop out of high school forever. I'm enrolled in Health, Fitness for Life, English 3, US History, and Precalc. (two semesters for the last 3) My counselor tried to convince me to take some AP and Honors classes, but there was no chance. My freshman year, I did math online (because I hated my class and teacher and there were no other available teachers that period) and so I can say from experience how hard it is to take a class without a teacher and basically have to teach yourself anything you don't understand. Yeah, no extra hard classes for me this year, thanks. I started my classes about a week in, and I've decided to knock out the semester-long classes and then I can focus on the other three. Basically, I went ham on Health this past week, and I'm a little over halfway done. Reminder, this class takes up a whole semester for most students so maybe taking this one online was not a bad idea. I can't say for sure how long my other classes will take, but I'm willing to spend a couple super boring hours a day for two weeks on Health if it means I never have to think about it again. In conclusion, I wish I could've taken off all of Junior year and still have graduated from high school, but sadly life doesn't work that way so I will do my online classes regardless of how much I hate them.
 |
| The Plaza outside the main building of the art school |
Monday
Photography: 9:00 am-1:30 pm
So far I've only gone to this class once, but we messed around with Photoshop a bit and I loved that. I already know how to use Photoshop for most of the basics, so I'm not learning a ton but I think this class is going to be really enjoyable. The teacher is like an early-twenties hipster type with glasses, a septum piercing, a great taste in fashion, and really nice. So far it's an 8/10
Drawing: 3:30-6:00 pm
I LOVE this class. I haven't made a ton of progress yet on my drawing because I overthink too much and am a perfectionist, but I'll post a picture when it's done. The teacher is very experienced, has really helpful tips, and is really kind and patient. Drawing is one of my passions, so this class easily gets a 10/10
Ballet: 5:30-8:30 pm
Okay I haven't actually gone to this class yet because no one else takes it and I just found out about it, but I'll go next week and tell you how it goes. I'm pretty excited so hopefully I don't hate it.
Tuesday
Break Dance: 3:30-5 or 6:00 pm
First of all, it's not the same as hip hop, although I wish it were. Sadly the hip hop class just has really dirty music and choreography, so I'm settling for break dance. I'm not very good, I can't even hold a handstand, but being flexible has given me some cred. I really like the teacher, however, because he talks clearly so he's really easy to understand, and is really encouraging and supportive. We had a performance last Friday, so I learned all the choreography in about a week and was a part of that. It's pretty fun overall so it gets a 6/10
Salsa Dance: 6:00-7:00 pm
Even though I've never danced salsa before, it's right up my latin social dance alley. It's really fast, but because of my ballroom background I was one of the only people who could keep up. I brought my dance heels to Colombia with me, but I'm debating whether I should wear them or not because I'd be the only one. The teacher is this really tall black guy with dreadlocks and is always wearing headphones. He's a good teacher, and usually has me help demonstrate the girls part. I'm hoping I can learn a lot in this class to substitute for the absence of ballroom in my life. Even though I basically quit my team for good, I still really love the sport itself, and I'd like to continue pursuing it even though I know I'm not that good. That's what practice is for, right? Overall, I really enjoy the class and it gets a 10/10
Wednesday:
Tennis: 2:00-4:00 pm
Haven't done this one yet either, but from what I can remember from freshman PE, I like tennis but I'm not very good. We'll see what happens
Break Dance: 3:00-7:00 pm
This is one of those rare classes that I take multiple times a week. Each class brings a new crowd, depending on who's available. Most of the boys (16ish to 19ish) are really good, and they're decently nice. This one kid named Jason helps me with the tricks, and he has this ugly tattoo on his arm that says b.boy. Most of the guys have loads of tattoos, but it's not like they're bad people or dangerous or anything. It's just the culture of the break dance scene.
Thursday
Mutual: 8:00 am - ?
Not an art class, but notable. The reason we have mutual on a Thursday morning is because it was the only time that worked with everyone's schedules. Because all the young women take the art classes, they're all homeschooled which I found interesting. They just split up the ward last month, so now we're a branch with a new YW presidency and around 10 girls ages 12-17. We're doing a secret sister exchange for our first activity, and they get us food every time, so it's a good 7/10.
Drums: 11:00-12:00
Dang, I never realized how hard it is to play a drum set. The coordination it takes to make a different beat with each hand and foot is proving to be really hard, but I'm up for the challenge. The teacher is really different than all my others because he grew up in Michigan/Florida and speaks perfect English. He basically says something for me in English, and then repeats it in Spanish for everyone else. My dad would probably say this is counterproductive, but I find it helpful to know the context of what he's saying before listening to it in Spanish so I can figure out words I don't already know without having to guess. It's hard but fun. 7/10
Percussion: 5:00-7:00 pm
This class is taught by the same teacher as the drum class, but instead of a drum set we play cultural drums from Latin America. It's taught the same way as the other in Spanish and English, but I don't think it's quite as hard. I like that it only uses my hands, no drum sticks or pedals. The teacher says I have a knack for tempo and rythm, and I have to agree the coordination comes easier to me. I just close my eyes and my hands play. You would be surprised how much technique goes into it though. Certain things are played on different parts of the drum, some with the palm, others with the fingers, and sometimes both. This is one of my callings in life. 9/10
Friday (we're almost done)
Voice Technique: 11:30-1:30 pm
The teacher knows what she's talking about, and the instruction is good, but it feels really easy. After taking choir last year, and singing my whole life, I want something harder. The teacher is really doing her best, but it doesn't help that two people in that class are totally tone deaf, and all these old ladies don't have the voices they used to. The teacher ends up spending a lot of time helping them, so I just sit there and memorize the song we're learning in my head. It's called "Un Beso Y Una Flor" from the 70s. It's not bad, I would go give it a listen. It's nice to have something familiar, because reading music and voice technique is the same in both English and Spanish. Even though I'm not learning a whole lot, I still love to sing so I'll give it a 9/10
Painting: 4:00-7:00 pm
Love this one. I've mostly only painted with watercolors before, but I really love how acrylics "behave" on canvas. I'm painting a picture of a necklace a friend gave me, and I'll post a picture of that when I'm done too. The class is taught by the same teacher as the drawing class, and once again, she knows what she's talking about. Honestly, her advice made my painting into an 8 when it otherwise would've been a 5. I also like that the class is three hours long, because it gives me enough time to get into my creative mode and just run with it. I'm really an artist at heart so this gets a 10/10.
I also took a Flamenco class yesterday which was really hard. There's not a ton of motion involved but there's so much technique you have to remember. I was really tired by the end of it. Right now it's taught at the same time as the ballet class I want to take, but the teacher is thinking of changing the time so it's a little up in the air still. I don't know if I'll be able to take it, but for now I'll give Flamenco a 7/10.
As you can see, I take a lot of classes but I still have quite a bit of time on my hands which I spend, you guessed it, on my online classes. I'm also taking Zumba and a mixed class of Ballet/Jazz but we haven't yet solidified what days I'm taking those. I've also heard there's a ceramics class which I would love to take, but I haven't yet verified if it actually exists. The twins also take Violin and Fencing, but I tried both and wasn't a huge fan. I'll talk about why in my next post, which will also consist of all the notable stories and things that have happened so far. Once again, I apologize for the super duper long and detailed blog, but I promise I'm getting all the descriptive stuff out of the way first so I can spend the next 10 months telling more interesting stories. Also, I'll try to be better at taking pictures, but I tend to to forget. Sorry. This was a good glimpse of my day-to-day life, and what I spend a lot of my time doing. I hope you enjoyed reading it, because I enjoyed sharing. Stay chevere!
Comments
Post a Comment