La Unión 🇬🇧

Week 7 – August 24, 2025

There are changes this week! After a quiet Monday, I give my last classes on Tuesday; we finished the emotion classes, and in English, we worked hard over the past month and a half. On Wednesday, to conclude my stay at Milagros’ school, I provided them with accounts to follow on social media, apps to download, and other methods to continue learning languages. All the children prepared a surprise for my departure. In the little ones’ class, I received a beautiful drawing from each of them that will go in my house when I have one (maybe one day), and I also received a verbal thank you from everyone; it warms my heart! I was then called into the older kids’ class for a similar surprise… Each student thanked me verbally and then in writing because they crafted a farewell card for me (or see you later). Hearts everywhere, colors, thanks for the moments spent with them, and spelling mistakes on my name… I’m laughing; it really touched me. I, in turn, thank them for being my Spanish teachers and more! And for the shared moments, a big thank you. It’s true that one quickly gets used to the children and life in the countryside. Swimming every day in the river, playing football and kems, taking care of the monkey, milking the cow… Before leaving, we take a nice group photo, then, loaded like a mule with memories and my big bag, I get on Miguel’s motorcycle. We are quite heavy on the broken-down motorcycle, but we move forward! On the way out of the village, we almost fell: Miguel had to brake suddenly because a huge snake was blocking our path. Without being from Marseille, it was about 2.5 meters long. It understood it was in our way and moved off the path, but it was quite a scare all the same! A little thought for the children who walk this path alone every day to get to school. Seriously, there have been fatalities with snakes around here.

Briefly, we continue on our way, and Miguel drops me off at the bottom of a hill that leads to my new accommodation. I climb this hill and meet Doña Hermelinda, with whom I will be staying from Friday to Wednesday starting next week. I will have three classes in La Union and then two days in Morcote (the village). Doña Hermelinda is a little grandma of about 60 or 70 years old (I’m not quite sure). She lives alone in her house that overlooks the valley. We have an amazing view of the mountains, the valley, and the plains of Casanaré in the distance. In fact, Hermelinda lives alone but with her two dogs, two cats, three turkeys, two pigs, chicks, and thousands of hens and roosters. All this beautiful company is free around the house. It makes a bit of noise (especially in the morning at 5 am), but it’s cool. As soon as I arrive, I feel like I’m going to enjoy my time here. It’s wonderfully quiet. I explore my room, the house, the surroundings! I love her house, well open to the outside, with a large table in the center, a closed kitchen, and the highlight of the show: hot water in the shower! It surprised me when I wanted to take a shower, but I must admit that even though I didn’t miss it, it feels good. Doña Hermelinda could be renamed « the queen of bananas » because she has bananas everywhere. Plantains, red ones, green ones, yellow ones; I eat about ten a day (no exaggeration). After a good night’s sleep, I gather my things and my breakfast, then I head to school. It’s about a 30-minute walk, but I confess that for the first two days, I made the trip by motorcycle since the teachers passed by at the same time.

The Union school seems a bit bigger to me, but it only has 6 children! The oldest must be around 11 years old and the youngest 6. I briefly discuss with the teacher so we can organize the classes. We will split into 2 groups (older/younger), I will take one group for the beginning of the morning and then we will switch. It might only be for the first 2 days, but I’m not connecting much with the teacher and the students. We’ll see how it goes over time. The first day is special because ABC, the association, is giving a presentation at the school for the people in the valley, and for the children, there is a « listening » activity proposed until lunch. We will finish the school day with a butterfly origami activity, which is a special one for Cécé in the middle. Friday was the actual first day of class. We start with workshops on emotions and then move to English. To put it plainly: They barely know anything. 2-3 words here and there for the oldest, but that’s about it. We will have to start from scratch. The classes are going well despite one particularly distracted student, which the teacher confirms. The atmosphere is a bit strange; meals are taken in silence, and it feels like the children are being punished. I learn that they are not allowed to play on the soccer field because they argue. The teacher gives them much less autonomy than Milagros. Time will tell.

At Doña Hermelinda’s, there’s corn! And not just a little. So, we take some time every day to sort and husk the corn. The weekend passes quickly; I read, meditate, indulge myself, write… In short, simple things in a simple life. We often sit down to look at the valley, doing nothing. Sunday is my birthday! 23 years old and all my teeth! We didn’t do anything special, no cake, no candles, just indulging ourselves. I forgot a small detail about this change: there is no internet at home and also none at school. In the whole valley, actually, so I don’t feel like walking 2 hours for internet, so messages will wait until next week, in the village. Here, we are disconnected from the internet.

Week 8 – August 31, 2025

The week went by so quickly! On Monday, we had a visit from a teacher from the department who teaches teachers new teaching methods, new ways of teaching, tips for dealing with difficult children, etc. We teachers discuss the problems that students face here. As I had heard a little about last week, life isn’t all roses for children here. One of the main causes is alcohol. Adults drink heavily, and it often ends in fights. And fights here aren’t just a punch and it’s over; knives and machetes come out, insults fly, and since there are no bars, these scenes take place in the homes where the children live. They witness and live with alcohol every day. A small example that may seem trivial is that parents send their children to buy alcohol for them. And alcohol means irritability and violence, this time towards children. The mother hits the child, or sometimes the father or any other adult. In short, the children do not live in ideal conditions for studying. And this is reflected in school, with children not coming to class because there was a party at the weekend, parents not coming to parent-teacher meetings, and the children themselves reproducing the violence they are exposed to at home. This is just a small glimpse of life here.

So at school, I focus on emotion workshops, how to manage a conflict, asking for help, and telling them that what they see at home is not an example to follow. I do manual activities like origami, making Brazilian bracelets, drawing… The first three days of school go like this, and at home it’s always peaceful: reading, ukulele, nap… It’s hard to talk to Doña Hermelinda because either my accent and vocabulary are terrible or she has difficulty hearing, because when I ask her a question, she responds completely off topic. That somewhat dampens the desire for conversation. Anyway, on Wednesday Miguel takes me on his racing motorcycle to Morcote, where I will be teaching at the college on Thursday and Friday.

Upon my arrival at the village, I head to the college to discuss my accommodation, food, classes, etc. I will be staying in a room at the town hall, a bit further up in the village. It’s not five-star, but it will do just fine. A bed with a double mattress, a window, a bathroom on the landing. In terms of food, I will have breakfast and lunch at the college (the breakfast will actually be a small snack). For dinner, it’s yolo! The principal gives me what I need to cook a cheese omelet, and I’ll go to other teachers’ places to cook. It’s camping and squatting, but we’ve supposedly found a better option for next time. In terms of classes, I will participate in the English lessons as the teacher’s assistant. Well, on Thursdays there is only one English class, so we’ll see. I take advantage of my free time to respond to the many birthday messages; a big thank you to everyone!

Fewer curious kids than last time, but still some children come to ask me questions about France, football, and to say a few words in English. On Friday, there is a meeting with all the academy teachers at 11 a.m., so all the students finish at 10:30 a.m. I went to the nursery/primary school to introduce myself. Well, zero organization, but I do my little presentation, a short English and French lesson, and I answer the many questions. With the little ones, it gets a bit chaotic, so we start dancing to « Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, » « Firefighters, » and other songs. A quiet afternoon, and when I return to the room, I hear music.

At the primary school level, there is a music class. Quite a few college students are present and practice on the trumpet, drums, xylophone, saxophone, and flute. They play well, so I stay to listen to this marching band in formation. Following this, there is a dance class in front of the town hall, but since the teacher is absent, the students organize themselves to rehearse without him. In traditional Colombian dances, the children know how to dance and can recognize at least 5 different styles. It is truly part of their culture to dance, sing, and play music. On Saturday, I am told there will be a football tournament with nearby villages. It’s organized by Colombians, and I hear it starts at 10 or 11 am, but the first match actually begins at 1 pm. Or maybe I just don’t understand anything, that’s possible too.

I spend the morning helping out here and there with the organization of the tournament, then I settle in the stands to read on my e-reader while waiting for it to start. Several women’s and men’s teams are competing, and I have to say they’re playing very well! I should mention that it’s the only sport practiced around here (with a bit of basketball). I enjoy the matches, then around 3-4 PM I start on my way home because I have about 2.5 hours of walking ahead of me. Big clouds announce their arrival with a loud clap of thunder. Sure enough, shortly after I leave, it starts pouring rain. A car gives me a lift for a bit, and I’ll share part of the journey with a student from the college, but then I’ll end up walking alone in the pouring rain. Fortunately, I had prepared for this: all my belongings wrapped in plastic bags, protected by my towel and a rain cover for my bag. I arrive at Doña Hermelinda’s house, soaked to the bone at night, where she treats me to a big plate of food. Incidentally, her son has arrived and will stay for about a month.

Sunday was a chill day with lots of reading, resting, napping, and a pig slaughter. My son and three friends killed one of the two pigs and spent the day preparing and cooking it. I politely declined the invitation to stick the knife into the pig and watched them do it, not without a little disgust. It’s not my favorite pastime, but it’s part of life here and it’s still educational. At least it’s 100% local. The animal dies and is prepared and eaten on the spot.

Week 9 – September 7, 2025

On September 7, exactly one year ago, I left Treillières with my backpack to head to the south of France and board a boat heading to the Caribbean. One year is the longest journey I have ever taken. And many things have happened in a year! So many memories, so many encounters, and lessons learned. On this anniversary day, because we can say it’s an anniversary, I am sick! It had to happen in three months. I am actually quite surprised that I haven’t caught dengue yet, but oh well. Since Saturday morning, I’ve been battling a mild flu that is quite tiring but should go away as quickly as it came. This week in La Unión, we started learning a choreography for the school’s anniversary that will take place at the end of the month or early October, we’re not quite sure. Being the foreigner, and also the facilitator, it falls to me to teach the choreography to the children. We decided on « li tourner, » a classic if I may say, which is easy to dance. But here, it’s not the most popular style.

I will therefore repeat the choreography until the end of my stay, and we will see if I will still be there for the performance. Because on September 30, I have to leave Colombian territory. It will be 6 months since I’ve been in the country, and without a visa, I can’t stay any longer. I’m starting to gently but surely see the end of my stay approaching. I’m beginning to prepare and organize what comes next, but we still have time; let’s not rush things. The emotion and English classes are going well, despite the issues mentioned earlier. On Wednesday, I will depart for Morcote as usual. I am becoming well-known in the village, and I frequently have children or adults asking me about Europe and France. Questions I gladly answer. On Thursday, as there is only one English class at the college, I get dropped off at Altamira school, about a 20-minute motorcycle ride away. Again, we cross rivers on the motorcycle, which is no easy task. I am warmly welcomed at the school by the teacher and the children, then, once in class, I introduce myself with my little speech. About fifteen students, I’d say, aged 11 to 12 years. I show them Europe and France on a globe, which are completely unknown to them. Once my little introduction is over, we have a Q&A session, but the students are quite shy! Fortunately, the teacher takes over and asks me plenty of questions. I then continue with a small English lesson (which they don’t speak at all) and a few words of French.

We go out next for lunch, but here there is no dining room; we eat on the floor! No tables or chairs, so we eat on the steps of the school. The teacher tells me about the state of the school when she arrived and the changes she has made. Today, apart from the cafeteria, it is the most modern classroom in the area: new board, new desk, printer, paint that isn’t chipped. She tells me that, in fact, a large part of the new equipment was paid for out of her own pocket. And it was her who had to handle the paperwork and logistics to get the materials.

Then on Thursday and Friday I will listen to the marching band practice, and this week I brought the ukulele to show to the teacher and the kids who had never seen one before. We played Bella Ciao and Baby Shark, accompanied by the xylophone, it was really cool! On Friday, I will spend the day at school with Diego, the English teacher. He is cool, and we get along well. We correct the students’ pronunciation and help them prepare for the end-of-term assessment. On Saturday, I woke up a bit sick, and the journey home was long. Instead of walking for 2 to 2.5 hours, it took me 4 hours! My body was sore, and I had a runny nose. In short, it was not a good time. But in my misfortune, I encountered a solitary monkey, and a little later, a family of monkeys! Then once I was home, exhausted, goodbye.

Week 10 – September 14, 2025

The nasty flu hit me in the first days of the week and I will have remnants of it until the end of the week. At school, I teach the youngest in the class, Yerson, how to read. He doesn’t know how to read, so we spend quite a bit of time together practicing pronunciation and training to read. English will come later. He is a charming little boy but has absolutely no confidence in himself, and given his family situation, it’s understandable. With the others, we continue the lessons, and on Wednesday I gave an assessment as the third period was coming to an end. It wasn’t catastrophic, but it wasn’t incredible either. Thinking about it, I realized that I only have 3 days left with them. The teacher won’t be there for the first 3 days of next week, so for the last days, we will work on choreography and as an activity, we will do drawings that will be sent to Germany with the aim of raising funds for the school. At home, things are quiet; on Monday it rained heavily, and as a result, the next day, the road was in terrible condition. Landslides, rivers swollen with water, fallen trees… The electricity went out at the same time and didn’t come back until Friday night. For 5 days, the whole area was without electricity.

On Thursday, I went to see a new school: Niskota. The second largest school in the area after Morcote. One class of middle school students and two of kindergarten/elementary. There are about fifty of them in total for three teachers. I gave my usual little presentation. Then a question-and-answer session: what’s the salary in France? How much is 1€ in pesos? What do we eat? The time difference? Animals? Etc. A little French and English lesson for everyone, then I taught them the game « poule renard vipère. » A classic from recess in France but unknown here. They are curious, more so the middle schoolers than the little ones, but the teachers take over for the questions. The day goes by quickly, and after lunch, we hold an origami workshop with the little ones. Making an origami butterfly with a group of 30 children in Spanish is possible. They enjoyed it! On the way there, I came by motorcycle, but on the way back, I decided to walk to enjoy the scenery. It took me 1 hour and 20 minutes to reach the village. My legs are sore. Then I went to music class, and a few children came to try their hand at the ukulele, which resembles the Venezuelan cuatro: a four-string guitar that sounds different. We ended the evening chatting with some children under the stars, lying on the sidewalk. The advantage of the power outage is that there are no lights. It was a nice moment to admire the Milky Way.