Colegio Claustro Moderno Exchange - Tobias Houghton

First Weekend

As I arrived in Bogotá, I had little idea of what the next three weeks would have in store for me. I was warmly greeted by my host family and Magdalena, the director of the English program at the Colegio Claustro Moderno, with hugs, handshakes, and cheek kisses. During my stay, I would observe the care and passion with which my host family interacted and be accepted warmly into their home. We had no school for our first three days giving me an opportunity to see the city with Santiago, my host brother; Simon, Santiago’s twelve-year old brother; and Gladys, their mother. I was woken up very early on my first day so that we could go eat a large breakfast followed up by an equally large lunch several hours later. As someone who rarely eats breakfast and often fails to sum up the willpower to make lunch during the summer, my new diet left me thoroughly stuffed during my first few days. However, each new food I ate including the empanada, my personal favorite, was so delicious that I continued stuffing myself until I was able to adjust to the large portions. During the remainder of the first weekend, I visited the Usaquen, an open air market; one of Bogotá's many parks; and a shopping mall where we went bowling with Omar, Santiago’s father.

El Colegio

The Claustro had an incredibly beautiful campus as well as extremely welcoming students and faculty. Our stay took place during exam time, and, as I was not required to take the exams, my schedule consisted of basketball, talking with friends, and helping out in some of the classes for younger students. The school’s Expociencias or science fair and Olimpiadas in which each grade performed dances after weeks of rehearsing took place during our visit. Although I initially attempted to learn our grade's dances, I soon gave up in frustration and watched the Olimpiadas from the sideline. I was impressed with the work as well as the enthusiasm that the students put into these projects and performances and enjoyed them thoroughly. Many family and old students also attended these events giving me an idea of the sense of community that existed around the school.

Second Weekend

On my second weekend in Colombia, I was told that we would be having a couple of my host mother's sisters siblings over for dinner. As we drove around the city collecting ingredients and a couple extra pans from my host mother's brother that would be needed to prepare the paella feast, I began to wonder exactly how many people would be coming over. The gathering turned out to be much larger than initially described with about twenty people attending including Gladys' siblings, parents, cousins, nieces, and nephews. I enjoyed an evening of basketball and video games with Santiago, Simon, and their cousins followed by a delicious meal of paella. After dinner, we danced for almost an hour, and Santiago ended the night with a very heartfelt speech. I enjoyed the evening very much and, as someone who only sees my grandparents and cousins once a year, was impressed with how close the family was.

Excursions

The school planned a couple of excursions for us to take in order to learn about important sites in and around Bogotá. During our first excursion, we visited the Catedral de Sal about an hour outside of the city. The Catedral de Sal is a cathedral built in a salt mine by the miners themselves and succeeded in impressing me through both its size and beauty. The next week, we visited Monserrate, a church located atop one of the mountains overlooking the city of Bogotá. While our view was unfortunately partially obscured by a rainstorm, we were able to see many buildings and appreciate the sheer size of the city. In addition to our planned excursions, Señora Victoria and her husband generously offered to take us to the center of the city where we visited the Museo Botero and ate a filling lunch in an upscale restaurant.

Last Weekend

In my third weekend in Colombia, I traveled to the department/state of Boyacá with my host family and stayed in the small town of Sachica with Santiago’s grandparents. While in Boyacá, I also visited Villa Leyva, a village with cobblestone streets in which no buildings had been built nor torn down since colonial times and a major tourist attraction; Tunja, a city of about 100,000 and the place where my host mother had grown up; and several small villages produced copious amounts of pottery to be sold or shipped to larger cities. During this trip, I was able to observe the great contrast between rural and urban Colombia and see the beautiful mountainous landscape that made up much of the countryside.

Thanks

The three weeks I spent in Colombia were an incredible experience, and I have many people to thank. Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to my host family. I would like to thank Santiago for being a great friend and host-brother and taking time out of his very busy schedule to make sure my stay was enjoyable. I would like to thank Gladys for making me feel at home and for welcoming me into her family. I would like to thank Simon for spending countless hours hanging out with me each of which I enjoyed greatly. Finally I would like to thank Omar for making many of my weekends enjoyable and for taking me along on my enjoyable outings. In addition to my host family I would like to thank Mr. Paolicchi, the Spanish department, and my teachers, Senora Victoria and Senorita Hackney, for preparing me for such an experience. I would also like to thank Senora Victoria for accompanying us to Colombia and making sure our first two weeks went smoothly. I would like to thank the students, faculty, and staff of the Colegio Claustro Moderno for their kind hospitality. Lastly, I would like to thank the Wilson family for their generosity. Without you this life changing experience would have been impossible.