Cartagena: Land of the Pirates

Welcome back! I've not written for a couple of weeks, because I've been Just. So. Busy! However, this weekend I've got a bit of downtime, and I intend to capitalise on it to tell you lovely people all about what I've been up to these past few days. Apart from the time I spent sitting at home, planning lessons, and running around Barranquilla, being sociable (I know, it's a hard life), I managed to get a bit further afield and visit the beautiful city of Cartagena de Indias!

The atmospheric Cartagenero seafront

¿Dónde está la biblioteca?

The season of freshly-ironed shirts, oversized jumpers and those oh-so-cute photos on the doorstep are upon us - it's back to school time! And I am no exception. Having spent my first month here doing what could kindly be described as hanging around, my classes have finally begun and I am finally a bona fide English teacher! Well, that's what I like to think, anyway...

One of the teaching blocks at Uni Atlántico

When it rains, it pours.

I've been waiting for a good moment to introduce this little graph to you all. It's a diagram that the British Council (my UK link to Colombia) gave to us at our training in Bogotá, that tracks the ups and downs of living abroad. I think it's pretty accurate (although the middle bit should definitely be higher) so I thought I'd share it with you lot, so you can have some idea of the roller-coaster ride that is life on the road!

British Council year abroad graph - click image to enlarge