Got tickets, will travel

No, not those tickets. But we do now have tickets to go to Chicago for our meeting at the consulate to get our work visas. Fly a red-eye the morning of June 28, go to the consulate, head down into Indiana to visit family, and then back to Seattle on July 2.

Now we just have to get all of that paperwork together...

Dismantling the language barrier: Step 2

In a fit of passion, we have aligned ourselves on a collision course for learning the Spanish language.

This is being accomplished in at least three different ways. First, we have both enrolled in Spanish classes at the local community college (Sean get Español I, while Heather gets Español II). Next, we have purchased a wonderful book, entitled Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish, that makes learning the language almost intuitive. And finally, we have managed to label practically everything in the house with little stickers that display the item's name in Spanish. This includes, among over things, the shirt drawer (la camiseta), the steering wheel (el volante), and the dog (el perro).

It's only a matter of time now.

-sean

Contact!

Yesterday was a great day, by 9am no less. I called the Chicago consulate and got the same results as always - voice mail. Then I call the embassy in D.C., hoping that they might be able to tell me if we can get our visas in Chicago. I actually got to talk to someone, but no, they can not tell me - I have to call the individual consulate. So, just because I was waiting for the shower to become available, I call Chicago again. And ... (drum roll please)... A REAL PERSON ANSWERED THE PHONE! And better, yet, she says that she thinks it will be OK to go through Chicago, and she will get back to us later that day!

Icing on the cake? An e-mail, received yesterday afternoon, giving us permission, in writing, to get our visas at any consulate!

A great day.

-sean

The Practice Pack

The way we understand it, we will only be taking 2 bags each for our 2-3 year stay in Colombia. That's one bag a year. Each bag can max out at 70 lbs. That's 35 lbs a year. That puts things in perspective.

Yesterday, we decided to see just how far 4 bags will get us. It turns out that Heather and I have different strategies for this. She neatly and concisely went through the closet, placing each article in a take or don't take pile. The don't take pile then went into a box that will disappear for the next few months, to find out if they truly are don't take items. The take items then went into a suitcase.

We have two suitcases each. Actually, they are duffel bags - El El Bean Adventure Bags. Mine are bright yellow, hers are bright red. We figured that this would be better for spotting on airport carosels. And monograms, just in case!

Anyway, all of the clothes in Heather's take pile filled about 2/3 of one bag. We then walked through the house and grabbed anything else that we planned to bring - electric teapot, jewelry box, way too many books, etc. We removed some clothes from the first bag and used them as padding to fill both bags up. No problem, room to spare. The best part: once packed, neither bag weighed over 40 lbs!

Oh yeah - I mentioned that Heather's strategy differed from mine. You could also read that as my strategy didn't exist. I gave up after about 10 minutes with the realization that I do not even own a full week's worth of work clothes. Arghhh!
-sean

Bureaucracy knows no borders

Argh!

We have to get work visas in order for all of this to happen. Apparently, to prove that we are real people, we are required to physically go to the consulate to get the visas. I suppose this is OK, and it gives us an excuse to get out of town for a mini-vacation. There are consulates in a select few cities, the nearest of which is San Francisco. But there is also one in Chicago, which is close to my family. The problem is, we aren't sure if Chicago will process our visas because we live out of their midwest jurisdiction.

This should be an easy enough problem to solve. I call up Chicago. Get an recorded message. "If you know your party's extension, please dial it now. Otherwise, please dial 0." I dial zero. "Exiting the system. Goodbye!"

OK, maybe San Francisco can tell me what I need to know. However, my Spanish is not all that great (¿Donde es el baño?). Unfortunately, the recorded message is only in Spanish. At the end, a recorded voice, in English: "The mailbox is full. Please try again later. Goodbye."

Maybe e-mail will work...

-sean

Dismantling the language barrier, one brick at a time

¿How do you type all those funny signs Spanish uses?
¡You go to this website!

Typing in Spanish

¡Esta bien!

-Juan

Illustrating an excursion

In order to get this off on the right foot: a letter...
(for all of you who didn't receive this yet: esta bien - we haven't mailed it yet).
_____________

Dear Family and Friends,

We are not fans of the form letter but with the following information we thought this was the best way to get our exciting news out there to all of you. To address your first thought: NO, we are not pregnant. But this announcement is just as life changing. At the end of July we will be moving to Medellin, Colombia. We will both be teaching at the Columbus School, an international school in the area. Sean will teach 8th grade World Cultures and Religions and Heather will either be teaching first or second grade. Even though the press gives a questionable view of the country we will be living in an area that is completely safe and used to an international community. Colombia is a beautiful country with amazing people and we are excited for our opportunity to participate in and learn about this culture.

Medellin is a modern city, skyscrapers and all, with a population of over 2,000,000. It is located in the Aburra Valley, at 1540m, in Northwest Colombia. The school however is located on the surrounding hillsides at 2500m. Even though the country is near the equator, with the elevation we will have mild temperatures around 70-80 degrees in the city and 60-70 degrees at the school year round. We will experience two different climates a day. We will most likely be living in a furnished apartment in the city provided by the school; another option is in a small house in the country. Our preference is in town so we can use the metro system, high-speed train and busses, to see the sights of the area without needing a car. The school has a teacher bus that provides transportation to and from the school.

Another appealing feature to Colombia is the easy travel throughout all of Central and South America. Many teachers also take the opportunity to take a trip to Antarctica on Christmas break (their summer vacation). Antarctica as well as the Galapagos Islands are on our “things to do” list. We would love to share all of our exciting adventures with you. Our plan is to buy a digital camera and set up a web page with pictures and notes of what we are up to. Once this is set up we will send out a mass e-mail letting you know where to find the web page. If you want to be included in this list please send us your e-mail address if you don’t think we have it already.

We aren’t sure what e-mail address and Colombian mailing address we will have once we move but at least until July you can get a hold of us at by e-mail and at our home address. We will still keep our house in Bellingham and return to it most summers and over holidays. A friend plans to live in it during the year and she can forward mail to us. We know that many of you may still have our old address, it still works because Sean’s parents live there but if you want to update now you have our new address.

Please excuse the impersonal nature of the form letter and please keep in touch. We will have at least a two-bedroom apartment and visitors are welcome!

All Our Love,

Sean and Heather