My skin knows two states: damp and dripping. I’ve stopped using lotion altogether because moisture is not a problem and moreover it adds to the sweat. Sweating and pounding my Nalgene bottle, I sit next to Colombians who comfortably eat hot soup while wearing long sleeves and pants. If someone’s dress or skin color isn’t an instant give-away on if they’re Colombian or foreign, just a simple glance at the size of their pit stains is the next best indicator. The heat isn’t the problem, it’s the humidity. Conditions are supposed to get slightly cooler until January, at which point they will increase, leaving death by April conceivable.
On Thursday, five other PC trainees and I visited our first Colombian school. In exchange for teaching them a song in English about the US, students from the school reciprocated with quite the performance. As we ate empanadas and drank coconut milk, it started out with a blast from my middle-school-dance past as a student serenaded us with Backstreet Boys and Train songs. Next came the seven year old ballerina, dressed in what I can only describe as a borderline stripper outfit, doing a dance to a Lady Gaga/Katie Perry remix (take Turkey’s conservative dress and reverse it here, but that’s for another blog post). Finally, for the finale, about thirty 10-14 year old girls danced to several traditional Colombian songs. They were amazing! Everyone seems to be born into humidity and salsa here, and therefore are naturals in terms of perspiration control and dancing. The visit made me SO excited to start in working at a Colombian school! The staff and students were exceedingly friendly and enthusiastic that we were there.
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