Carnaval

We just celebrated Carnaval. In my school we celebrated it the 28th of February. All the grades had their own dance, and I was in the dance for my grade. It was a ton of fun, I got to meet more people in my grade that I didn't know or wasn't close to before. Here the grades have three classes and the students stay with the same people all day and the teachers switch rooms. So, outside my classroom I don't know that many people. March 1-4 were Carnaval in Barranquilla (a city 2 hours from where I live.) I went there for the long weekend. I went to two parades where people wear costumes and dance in the streets. With my dancing background it was even more amazing to watch.

My school's Carnaval

The white powder is maizena, or cornstarch.

My dance partner

My host Sister

My friend from my new class

My host sister and the other exchange student from Germany

Carnaval de Barranquilla

Colombian Police

Colombian Police

Colombian Flag

As much as you may think this is a girl, it really is a guy in a ballgown.... 

The Queen of Carnaval

It's hard to see but the girls have bottles of alcohol on their heads

They through Maizena, Cornstarch, during Carnaval

I started school the 24th of January. I got put in a different class this year (here the teachers switch classrooms and the students are with the same people all day). I am still in the same grade but a different class. A first I was upset because I had friends in my old class and I only knew a few people in my new one, but after the first day I made a lot of new friends. It is a lot easier to make friends now that I know and understand a lot more Spanish than when I arrived. I really like my new class and I am glad I got switched because now I have more friends. The easiest classes for me to understand are math and English. I have a lot of different classes and they all change depending on the day of the week. I have gym, math, statistics, history, philosophy, spanish, physics, biology, religion, chemistry, and ethics. I have four classes a day with two 25 minute breaks. I have school from 6 am- 12:50 pm and I eat lunch with my family afterward. It is sometimes tough to wake up for school but I'm getting used to it. Right now everyone is getting ready for carnavals (carnival). My school is having a carnaval too and I am dancing in it with my friends. I am having a blast and I don't want to go home. I love Colombia, my family, and friends.

La Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino

Simon Bolivar

Simon Bolivar

Santa Marta Country Club

The apartment of a Rotarian (with a view of the Ocean)

Buenavista mall decorated for Carnaval (Carnival)