Pico y placa

I usually spent my Saturdays in Los Patios doing nothing, which is of course what I’m doing today. So, I thought I’d get ahead and make a post a day earlier than I usually do. Thursday marked six weeks since I’d arrived in Colombia, which is the number of weeks everyone says is when you start to feel comfortable. I think I’ve already started to feel pretty comfortable, but this week felt especially normal.

Actually, that’s not at all true. Monday night might have been the craziest yet. Well, I got invited to a Rotary dinner at the Hotel Casino here in Cúcuta, which I had assumed was a casual meeting with the other exchange students and a few Rotarians. My mind was changed when, in preparation for the night, my host mother Diony gave me a long, elegant dress, did my nails, and did my hair fancier than I had it for prom. At the hotel, there were tables set up for about 100 people, with waitstaff and a violin player. It felt like we were at a gala, not a Rotary meeting.

The other two exchange students and I had gotten there before any of the attendees, in order to practice for the flag ceremony. We, along with three soldiers, were to carry flags across the floor and present them. There was an American flag, two Colombian flags, a Rotary one, and a Canadian flag. The reason why one of them was Canadian was because…

We were meeting the president of the Canadian Rotary! And the first woman to do so! The whole night was all about her arrival, because she was giving a grant to the Colombian/Venezuelan Rotary. Still not sure why there was an American flag, but I decided to carry that one. We practiced for the ceremony, and then waited by the entrance. A few people I had met before, but most were new to me. I actually met two different women from the US! My first time doing so in almost two months!

Then, the president, Jennifer, and her husband entered. She was incredibly nice, and her husband uttered a sentence I’d never thought I would hear this year: “Oh you’re from Maine? We were actually just in Maine!” I’m not sure how to explain it, but him saying this was surreal to me. I wanted to hug the two of them. Neither Jennifer or her husband spoke any Spanish, so it was also crazy to talk to someone whose accent sounded a lot like mine.

I got to talk a little to the soldiers who after the ceremony, escorted us to our seats. There was another surreal moment where Chloe, my exchange student friend from Belgium, stood forward with the Canadian flag and the Canadian national anthem played. It was crazy to me because here I was, thinking, “Wow, I’m in a room of Colombians and Venezuelans, and we’re all listening to the Canadian national anthem as a Belgium girl holds the flag”. Just goes to show how many cross-cultural things happen here. It’s really amazing to witness. Jennifer made her speech, with a translator by her side, there were a few more speeches, and finally we got to eat. After, everyone wanted to take a million pictures with everybody. There were ones of just us exchange students with Jennifer, with my whole Rotary Club, with just me and my Youth Exchange Officer, and about a thousand more.

The best part of the night was getting to speak to everybody. This was really the first Rotary meeting I’ve been to, since my host family isn’t involved with the Rotary. I got to meet so many amazing people, and it felt really amazing to be in a room full of people who have something in common.

Anyway, today is Día de Amor y Amistad, which means “Day of Love and Friendship”. It’s basically another Valentine’s day in Colombia, but it emphasizes friendship especially. We celebrated the day in school on Wednesday. The Friday before, my classmates and I all had to choose someone’s name out of a bag, our “secret friend”. And so, in the days leading up to Wednesday, we were to bring candy to school everyday with the person’s name on it. I think it must have been pretty obvious to my secret friend who had her, because most of my candy was from Maine.

On Wednesday, we brought an actual big gift and at the end of the day we had to get up and describe the person in opposites. It would be hard enough to describe someone I didn’t know too well in positives in Spanish! The gift I brought was a lobster stuffed animal, since we’re especially known for lobsters in Maine, and a bunch of candy. I got such a nice present from another girl in my class: balloons, a stuffed animal monkey, and soo much Colombian candy and chocolate.

Thursday was a normal day, and Friday we didn’t have school. I got to see the beautiful monument of Cristo Rey with my exchange student friend from Brazil and her host family. Oh, I almost forgot to explain the word this week!

Tuesday night, after getting pastries at a cafe with a bunch of family members, I was in the car with just my host mom Diony. It was about 6 PM, and we were hitting a lott of traffic. Side note, the driving in Cúcuta is absolutely insane. I mentioned how many cars there usually are at this time, and Diony was talking about how yes, the traffic gets really insane at about 6. She then asked me if in the US we have “Pico y Placa” and I had no idea what it meant.

Basically, Pico y Placa is a driving restriction policy that attempts to lessen the amount of cars on the road, depending on the license plate numbers. This really doesn’t seem significant, but I just thought it was an interesting concept that I would never have known about if I didn’t end up in Colombia.

And I am really grateful that I chose Colombia for my host country. If you didn’t know, when you apply for the Rotary Exchange program, you can pick 5 options for countries. My first five choices? All taken. After I learned this, I had to pick another five and Colombia was the number one on the second list. It seems crazy that I could have gone to any other country (Japan had been my number one choice! How crazy would that have been?) but I’m so, so grateful that I’m here with my friends and family.

So yes, school is getting really comfortable. I’m excited to go back on Monday and see all my friends, who I’ll miss after not seeing them for three days! I’m also really excited because I’ve been talking to my Spanish teacher back home, and the kids in the AP Spanish class have had a lot of questions about my life here. So, we came up with the idea for an interview for my classmates and teachers, which’ll happen this week. I think it’ll be a great opportunity for both cultures to learn from. It feels cool to be in between the two!

Also, I think I should probably learn how to put pictures onto here. Can’t wait to see what happens this week! Hasta luego!