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Jons Journal 15

Sometimes inspiration comes in a flash. Its often fleeting, but in that moment you
know what your purpose is. Like a dark night momentarily illuminated by a thunderstorm,
I am reminded of why I am here. Not that I could actually put the purpose into words
except to say that there is a feeling of confidence in what I am doing. Or rather,
I know perfectly well what I'm doing here, its just that recently things haven't
gone my way. U. of Manizales and Autonoma both stewed on the requirements for providing
a work visa for a week and they both served up the same reluctance to take on a
foriegner, obstensibly because of the clause that must be included in the contract
saying that should I get into trouble they will be responsible for returning me
to the states. I don't see the big deal - I just want to teach English. Drug traffiking,
political insurrection and other illegal activities hold no interest for me. What
are the chances of me getting deported? Anyway, getting treated like a potential
criminal was like eating a bad meal, I got sick but I'm better now.

All the universities have said they want to hire me except for the visa issue. They
also would pay pretty well. Ah well, now theres just three possibilities employer
wise. I'll be hearing from them early next week, but I'm not counting on them. Plan
C is about to be launched. I'm going to stay in Manizales because I like it here,
with its mountains and cool climate. I'll just teach privately regardless of whether
someone sponsers a work visa. Until my tourist visa runs out then its on to Plan
D. So I'll invest a bit in setting this up. What little experience I've had has
been teaching groups, so I need to prepare a bit. Maybe make a trip to Bogota to
buy some materials, a little internet searching, some basic marketing.

My new decisiveness was inspired by a combination of J.D. Salinger and J.R.R. Tolkien.
I can always count on my literary friends to give me a good kick in the behind to
wake me up from slothfulness. I happened upon the idea of reading two books at the
same time, both the same title but one in Spanish and the other in English. I picked
Catcher in the Rye. I was hoping for The Little Prince, but he was no where to be
found. Funny thing, the bookstores here sell hardly any books in English. Fortunately,
the Centro Colombo here has a shelf full of English language novels, along with
many translations in Spanish. It was a close call, 1984 being a close second with
its bleak descriptions of dehumanization, but in the end, I've always fancied myself
a modern day Holden Caulfield, and I'd like to speak the language of yearning, and
ironic observation more than that of the oppression of the masses. So there I was,
reading at the rate of about 4 pages an hour, in the distracting environment of
the youth hostel when I decided to up and find myself a cafe, be amongst the citizens
of Manizales instead of the traveler types that are starting to all seem the same
to me. They all have backpacks, get drunk at the discotecs, watch tv all day and
then move on to another city for more of the same. Anyway, they were getting on
my nerves, so I took my two copies of Catcher in the Rye and installed my self in
a cafe down the street called the Silmirillion. This is the title of a very obscure
Tolkien book only a true hobbit lover would ever read, myself included. True to
the cafes name, the theme was pure nerd. They had The return of the King playing
on a TV, glass cases held armies of miniture figurines in various poses of battle.
Local geek artists had painted alluring Elf princesses in various stages of undress.
Those pointed ears...they're so...sexy! The backroom was devoted to one of those
fantasy games that require the use of several dice with more or less faces than
the usual six sided cube. There were more than the usual number of pearcings and
ponytails. My kind of place. Not the best for tortuously slow translating but it
had begun to rain pretty hard, so I stayed and divided my attention between Holdens
humiliating-pitying encounter with the decrepit and sinister history teacher Spencer
and the battle for Middle Earth playing on the TV. All in all it made me want to
fight for something, if only for my good spirits.

My other Spanish language learning idea was to watch a movie where they speak Spanish
with English subtitles. With this in mind, I bought a bootleg copy of Maria full
of Grace on DVD so that I can press pause at will. Unfortunately, international
backpacker types have been recovering from last nights drinking all day in front
of the TV. I really don't know about this place I'm staying in. I need more privacy.
I don't mind people having fun, just not in my backyard damnit. I'm a moody guy
and I usually am not in the mood to have an animated conversation with people I
just met, especially if they speak faulty english or spanish. Real Spanish speakers
I feel differently towards. I'm always up for talking to someone in Spanish. It
doesn't really make sense but thats how it is. And all the sexual tension in a 10
to 1 male to female ratio. I mean, I'm not interested in these women but it bugs
me when I watch someone on the make for them. I listen to one guy lie about not
having a girlfriend, another guy who wouldn't look or talk to me when the proprietess
of the establishment was in the room. What jerks. I'd rather not be around all the
drama. And then theres all the imaginary(or possibly real) insults that come my
way in a group environment. Not getting invited to the group dinner, being told
Americans aren't as smooth as Latin Americans, OK, I have pretty thin skin, but
I know it and thats why I'm better off somewhere else. People - you cant live with
em, and you cant live without them.

By Jon on May 1, 2005, 16:44 in Friendly Talkzone.

utopiacowboy says on May 1, 2005, 21:43:

You couldn't find The Little Prince? That's strange - they even have it at the bookstore in the Bogota airport. In fact you can buy it there in English, in Spanish, or in the original French.

Disclaimer: any comment I make is inane and is not to be taken seriously, and is so patently ridiculous that no one should take it seriously, even as an insult.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

lpdiver says on May 2, 2005, 04:29:

Jon Why in the world don't you find a local to rent a room from? You will be immersed in the culture and appreciated. You may even get free accomodations in exchange for lessons.

T

"cook some rice!"

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Jon says on May 2, 2005, 10:42:

This is Manizales and I have found very few English langusage books here, let alone a bookstore devoted to them like one I know in Bogota.

Living with a family seems like the obvious thing to do, logistics wise and if I find the right set up I may do it temporarily but I still would rather have my own apartment. Too many restrictions living with a family.

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