Vallenato is at least better than Reggaeton

A picture of the University of Caldas students on the final day.

And here are the pictures from the awesome trip going up the Volcano:
http://picasaweb.google.com/108723329678166020807/Volcan#

Today was a bit frustrating. It was my first day teaching in Neira, a small pueblo about half an hour bus ride from Manizales, and when I got there I was told the students did not have proper clothing and would not be able to do any exercises today, and only part of the group was there, so we should just do introductions of some sort. I thought that was silly, so I just went ahead and did a bunch of exercises that didn't require a huge amount of physical activity. Then Enestor Fabio, who runs the library at La Casa de Cultura where my workshops are in Neira, took me and Lorena for un tinto, and on a mini-tour of Neira, explaining its history, architecture, etc. In the afternoon I arrived at Teatro Fundadores, and there were only four people there for the workshop (in comparison to the almost thirty there Friday.) There may have been a schedule confusion, because originally the group didn't know that they had more classes this week. But also, they had invited me to a party Friday night, which I had said I might attend, but did not attend, because I went back to my hotel to sleep before the final workshop with U de Caldas in the morning, so it is possible the group, which did very intimate work on Friday, felt shirked. But who knows. Anyway, there was a back up plan, so I ended up doing a short workshop with young kids that was loads of fun, and another workshop with a young theatre group, in this house that has every type of art imaginable happening in it. Wilson, who teachs the theatre classes there, clearly is doing some excellent work with the young kids there, because they are open, energetic, fully engaged, as kids should be. They were better at Boal's "Complete the Image" exercise than any group I've worked with here. At the end they kept asking and asking when I was coming back, even though I told them I had to leave Sunday. They all said 'thank you' to me in English, but couldn't understand 'you're welcome.'

Saturday night I went out to a tango bar, where old men in fedoras sit around, walk up and tap girls are the knee signifying 'come on and dance,' they dance marvelously without eye contact or words, and when the dance is over they still don't even make eye contact or say a word, they just go their separate ways and the man taps another girl on the knee. We met up with some of the students at Juan Valdez, then we went to a bar where I received an intricate lesson on the varieties of music here: salsa, merengue, vallenato, tango, bolero, ranchera, reggaetone (my personal least favorite), and various fusions. One of my students is also a salsa instructor, so she gave me a quick lesson. It is quite clear that gringos like me don't have the dance instinct that they do here. Regardless, I enjoyed the dance party.

The pictures from Sierra Nevado should speak for themselves. The bus ride up and through the mountains was beautiful. Around every bend there was another magnificent view. Before ascending, they gave everyone coca tea to prevent headaches from the change in air pressure, and coca cookies were also available. Colombia. Once we got further up there it was like being on the moon or something. Amazing. The peak was as a peak should be: Chevere. Que chimba. Is it strange that I can't help but start thinking about Nietzsche when mountain climbing? A direct confrontation with my own will. Relishing my own relative strength in contrast to the weakness of the group of tourists. It was certainly difficult, but they really moved very slowly, and a couple of people had to turn around and go back. After descending, on the ride back I definitely had a head ache though; human, all too human. Then part of the little trip was a dip in a natural spring after the climb. Warm, sulfury, not too thrilling water. But the view from the pool was great.

Que mas? This blog needs a title better then 'Mitch in Medellin.' Really, very lame. Suggestions?