Colombian Beverages

Some thing I just could not wrap my hands around when I first got to Colombia was how they cannot do food without a beverage accompanying it. My host family had a shocked expression when they I heard I'd only be having water with my meal, before they poured me a glass full of Guava juice. For four months straight I do not remember having even one meal without either a pure fruit juice, a thick milk shake, ice tea, Aguapanela or soda. The only thing I am scared about is, switching back to plain water once I get back to India.

Cafe: 
The coffee capital of the world, Colombia is known to have some of the richest and yet the softest coffees in the world. I would wake up to the smell of freshly ground coffee every morning. If you haven't had Colombian coffee, you haven't had Coffee..

Agua panela: 
Panela is just refined whole sugar cane and Auga Panela is Panela dissolved in water.
It is perfect to warm your insides, when consumed hot and even cures cold. Its refreshing with a hint of lemon and ice. Its 100% natural Gatorade and gives you the right dose of energy before or during a game or just to start the day.

Aguardiante: 
If you are in colombia, you cannot leave without trying the most famous traditional Alcoholic beverage they have to offer. It is made of Star Anise and literally translates as fire-water. Indians use anise in a lot of food but this was my first time having it in a drink. With a minty after taste, it has got to be the tastiest alcoholic drink I've had in my life!

Salpicon: 
You'll notice a small cart almost at every street corner with a giant glass box with a colorful fruity mixture of all the fruits you can imagine.

Tampico: 
It is like a Popsicle in a package in different fruit flavors.

Pony Malta:
OH HOW I AM GONNA MISS PONY MALTA!! A favorite among kids, it is a non alcoholic gassy malt, perfect for instant energy. My host brother tells me that it is a part of the perfect afternoon snack, that when he was younger, his grand mother would hand him a Pony Malta with a ham and cheese sandwich whenever he was hungry.

Gaseosa, Colombiana: 
I always found it a unhealthy habit to have soda with your food but with all the tasty flavors that it came in, it was hard to resit. A pink bubbling soda, Colombiana should be the first soda you must try, followed by Golden (which is a venuzuelan brand) if you can get your hands on it. Postobon is also a very famous brand but I'd go with the local name. Colombiana! :D

 Juegos: 
The fruits in Colombia have a reputation of being the tastiest in the world, and frankly I am not going to argue with that.They are pretty sweet; in both senses and the variety will blow your mind away! My favorite fruit juice is Guayabana, which is like a giant custard apple. I'm told its even an anti carcinogenic. Well works for me because it tastes just divine!

Sun tea/nestea/fuzztea:

Sun tea or Nestea is a pack of crystallized tea that you mix with water and ice and comes in different flavors like apple, lemon, peach etc. I know I know, its basically Iced tea then why the fuss? I used to love iced tea back in India also, so I am not complaining one bit and can have Suntea EVERYDAY!

                                                    

Nestle should so thank me for all this free advertising! 

Aguila: 

Named after the most famous bird of the Andes; Aguila literally means an Eagle in Spanish. One of the biggest sponsors of all Football matches it is also the official team world cup sponsors and is definitely the most popular beer in Colombia.

Home away from home: Part 2

I always fancied the idea of back packing across Europe, living in youth hostels, couch surfing and oh traveling the world! But it was not really the easiest thing to do as a teenage Indian girl. My Euro-trip got cancelled twice. The first time because my older sister; my much trusted/responsible travel companion backed out last minute and the second time maybe because my mom saw the movie Euro-trip. :I So any way I finally took the plunge as a back packer this year and even though I am travelling with more than just the back pack, it is as exciting as I imagined it to be and more!

Day two in Ecuador and I moved into this cute little place called Hostel New Bask.(Guess who is gonna leave a lot of good reviews on lonely planet?) I came here prepared with a list of hostels from Trip advisor but I stumbled across this particular hostel while I was just walking the streets in the city center.When I rang the tremble and was greeted with a warm old lady who showed me around and I instantly fell in love with the colorful walls, the homely environment with a dog and two cats and the wide array of facilities they had to offer at a very reasonable price.

The place has WiFi, which is every back packer's necessity, amazing hot water baths in freezing Quito, a kitchen so you can make your own meals for cheap, a drinking water dispenser because tap water here is not potable(like seriously you'll be surprised how such a small detail can make a huge difference on the pocket of a budget traveler) and warm blankets(coz you're gonna need a lot of those here). There are also a lot of interesting books laying around all the time, that other travelers leave behind or you can exchange yours for the existing ones. Bang in the town center, sharing the street with the best bars, it is heaven for the party animals. The best part is, they also have room service. I was surprised to see my bed made when I returned to my room. The best Hostel in town or what?

There is no need to really search for a Hostel before you arrive. There are about a thirty within a 1 km radius in the city center.You meet the most interesting people from all over the world who are doing super interesting things in their lives and it provides an amazing platform for networking in case you are looking to work in any certain field. Barely a day here and I found some excellent job/volunteer opportunities here in Ecuador.

God bless Ecuador for being one of the 52 countries where Indians do not require Visas to enter.

My cozy little Bunk bed: 

The cute fire place beside my bed:

The colorful walls with some beautiful graffiti: 

Travelers maps and trail guides:

Cute outdoor sit out WiFi zone: 

The common room:

The kitchen:

More graffiti:

The cutest strain case ever:

The plant reminds me of mom! 

More private dorms if you are not in the mood of sharing too much: 

The cat actually cuddled up against me while I was writing this post:

Home Away From Home: Part 1

I never studied or lived away from home really(for the past 22 years of my life!!). Being the younger one of two sisters in an INDIAN family, my mom found it hard to let go of me. Always jealous of my older sister for having been to college and even having worked in a different city(4+2; that's 6 years of being away from home!!) I was longing to break free. Now don't get me wrong...I LOVE my family and my mom is probably the coolest ever! They did every thing for me, from buying cheap military liquor for my 21st birthday till hosting dinner parties for 40 friends which went on till 4 in the morning. But often I longed to experience the independence of using your time as yours and it not revolving around walking the dog/s three times a day or with difficult questions like where to leave the spare keys of the house. But then of course, I didn't know the meaning of the word DIFFICULT back then.

Stereotypes are true!! A Software engineer by profession (and a good one at it too; with the best grades in class) I chose to take a less beaten path of going the non-corporate, non-profit/for-profit, Social enterprise, Education, Community Development way; rather than taking the usual route of working in the corporate and quitting your job that you absolutely hated in the first place after working for two years. I've seen enough creative people doing so; my sister being the best example and also the biggest inspiration in my life.

After a year of experiencing the Indian Social Enterprise and Education space, I decided to test the foreign waters to understand the education scenario outside of India and man did it add perspective!

People always warned me about the big mean world out there full of dangers, people who cheat and kept telling me I was too gullible for the real world! When finally I took on this journey, I felt exactly like Rapunzel or Ariel just waiting to discover the world and till now the story has been pretty much happy(hopefully not close to the end because I am loving this too much).

I came across a series of people on my trip who made me believe the opposite, who showered me with warmth, love and acts of unselfish kindness. Not just once but every time! Would you believe me if i told you that there was absolutely no person I met who had not showed such an attitude towards me?

The Villamizar Family:

I have heard some bad host family experiences and some Good ones. It would be safe to say that mine falls in the 'excellent' category. So much so that I can't imagine my Big Fat Indian wedding(5 years from now) without shipping my host family from Colombia to India. 

My host mother was like my mother in a parallel universe who drank and swore like a sailor. A strong independent working women full of life, bringing up two boys; she had a very liberal attitude towards everything from gay marriage to well, everything. I never had in-times or any sort of restrictions. I could come back at 5 in the morning and she wouldn't say a word. At the same time she had all the qualities my mother has; which now I have come to realize are Universal mother like qualities. She always seemed to be doing never ending cleaning when ever I saw her, was religious(I spent all 9 days of nuvena going to church with her) and her hug when I cried was the most comforting thing in the world; Just like my mom's!

                                    

My older host brother was my best friend. We matched at so many different wave lengths; from playing X-box together to talking about all lame pervert things. I could go to him with any problem of mine. We shared special daily wrap up dinner sessions almost every night. He made the biggest sacrifice a boy his age could make for me, that is, he let an Indian girl take over his room for 4 months and slept with his mother for that duration. 

                                           

My younger host bother though younger than me in age was far more mature than I was. He was like my conscience, so much so that I was scared of him. An amazing cook, we shared a lot of moments exchanging cultural delicacies and how to make them.

                                    

Not just the family it self but even my extended host family has shown more acts of kindness towards me than I can count. 

The coolest grandma ever, was 94 and drank like a fish(its like a family theme) accepted me as a part of the family for every family function. 

                                               

The relatives; not only received me when I went  to Bogota but also accompanied me to all the offices I had work at, invited me to scrumptious home made dinners, lent me their daughter's warm clothes(to keep forever!), translated more official documents from English to Spanish for me and finally even took on the responsibility to leave me safely in another country by making me cross the border by land in a 36 hour journey only to take a flight back the next day. Who in the world would do that for someone else in this day and age? All this just made me realize how lucky I have been in life and sure am grateful to god.

                                           

                                           

My Ultimate Frisbee Family:

It was more than just a Frisbee team to me. It was indeed my family. Training with the team every single day for 3 hours for a month just made connect with them like a team. I wish I could have spent more time with them than my work permitted me to. 

                                               

My other friends:

There was a point in time when I faced a lot of problems. That's when everyone I knew just did every thing in their ability to help me out. Everyone went till great extents often out of their way to help me out. Made me wonder if its just a Colombian thing or was I just lucky to have all amazing people as my friends. 

Here is to reestablishing my belief in humanity and selfless acts of kindness.  

Learning Management Systems

I recently embarked upon a journey of digitizing and making our curriculum available online. In the process I  researched, reviewed and tested a wide range of products in order to find the perfect platform for our final simulation. (You can't even imagine the flood of promotional message I get now from every website.) It is so exciting to see all these amazing products out there, some of which are open source and free.

Rapid E-learning is the new age phenomenon of converting courses from text books into power point slides, with narrations, videos or animations, and integrating evaluation for the learning out comes at the end of each modules in the form of quizzes, tests, match the columns or fill in the blanks.  It has been around since the 90's but with the accent of computers in our daily lives and the user friendly drag and drop interface today, it has become easier for teachers to incorporate this in everyday classrooms.

E-learning authorization tools are soft-wares that help you do this. It is one place where you can manage, administer, track student progress and give feedback and remedial sessions too. They are used at schools, colleges, educational organisations and even at big software companies for training.

Here is a list of some I personally like and are free:
(Please note the sites on this list are the best among the free softwares and thus have some limitations which can be over come if you have a budget for it, but you can do a decent job in a classroom without it, as well)

1. http://www.articulate.com/
Articulate Storyline is the final product that i ended up choosing for my Project and my reason for choosing it apart from the fact that it is free was(at least the basic version is), its extremely user friendly interface, fun graphics and the ability to integrate basic programing logic into the courses flawlessly.It has similar features to other programming languages like C++ and java, but compared to them is is much easier to use concepts like triggers, method overridding and overloading with a basic logic aprehendable to even a non programer. The best part about this product is the amazing group who call themselves E-learning heroes(they sure even are! http://community.articulate.com) who provide great support with a community of ready to help with fun free templates and graphics and a team staff that provides troubleshooting.

2. http://www.blackboard.com/Platforms/Learn/Overview.aspx
This product is more student oriented than teacher oriented and is perfect for group studies and for teachers to keep track of student progress. Although it is not suited for low budget schools, it is perfectly suited for urban classrooms with students who have access to computers  and internet even at home.

3. https://www.edmodo.com/
Edmodo is similar to blackboard.com but its more like facebook with a purpose, where the smart kids are more popular than the pretty ones!


4. http://www.udutu.com
Udutu is easy to get your way around but the interface is a little gawky. It provides all basic features like video/online link addition, Quizz, audio and video addition options and basic gif and bit upload options. The only problem is the limited formats it supports in each category. More suited for basic short and simple course work.

With these available free tools it would be amazing to see teachers make use of these resources and make their classes more organised, interactive and fun while making the results more measurable.

Snack time!

One of the best parts about visiting a new country is the plethora of indigenous junk food and snacks you learn about while there. Here is a list of my favorite foods here which is more or less the reason for the 8 Kilos I have put on while here. 

My favorite Colombian food: 

Helado 2 X 1 Martes: The city that I live in has this cool promotional deal every Tuesdays or Martes called 2X1 where you pay for one Ice creams and get two!! This is a ritual I have been having almost every week without a miss. There are also places where we have a different kind of sundae on every day of a week. Por ejemplo: a banana split on a Friday or a chocolate brownie on a Wednesday. :D I think this offer just rocks and I fail to understand why anyone would ever eat icecream on any other day of the week. I guess that explains the huge queue for the ice-cream where we wait for 20 mins every Tuesday. 

My favorite: Ensalada de frutas con Helado. Its huge and has often been my lunch or dinner by itself. I try to convince myself saying it is healthy because it has so many fruits. hehe. 

Arequepe: It is the traditional Colombian version of jam but with soft caramel instead. Not only as a bread spread but Arequipa is popularly seen as cake toppings, eaten with cookies or toast.

                                         

To know how to make it, follow this You Tube link. I had no idea this is how it was made until this video! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18glAyLJS2I

Arepas mixtos @ Calienticos: While I was at this amazing Ultimate Frisbee tournament in the scenic town of Pampalona, I discovered my new found love for Arepas Rellenas Mixtos at this cute restaurant called Calienticos. We loved it so much that we went there every night for all three days of the tournament. Arepas come in different forms, often flat when made at home but Arepa Rellena comes with many fillings and Mixtos is my favorite which has every kind of meat and egg.The best part for me, with all kinds of Colombian food, is the spread of salsa sauces that it comes with. Calienticos had an amazingly delicious variety of salsas from Tarta, Pina, Mayonisa to Guacamoly, Rosado etc; and was so affordable that we didn't mind the 2 and a half kilometer walk  every night to get there for dinner. I have also become the biggest fan of Avacado ever since I have come here!   

                                      

Las salsas con comida

                                          

                                          

Oblea: It is sweet wafer street snack with a spread of jams to choose from. Almost every street has a cart and every cart has a different variety of colorful fruit flavored jams, condensed milk, Arequipe and fillers like rainbow colored tiny balls. Basically its like powerpuff girls; it hard not to like them since it has everything nice!  

                                           

Bocadillo de guayaba: Now Bocadillo in spain means a sandwich but here in Colombia the Bocadillo is a quick energy snack made of the pulp of the fruit Guava. It comes in many different forms but traditionally warped in a dried leaf and is an excellent source for instant energy while playing sports due to its high sugar content. That explains why it made it to my list of favorite foods, now doesn't it. :D 

                                         

Ayacas: The first thing I ate in colombia on my first day here as soon as I landed was this stuffed dish that looked like meat stuffed Upma wraped with a banana leaf.  (For those who don't know, Upma is a

vegetarian south Indian dish)

                                                  

Platano frito: For someone who hates bananas, it came as a pleasant surprise to me that I actually liked Platano the first time I ever had it. Platano is from the same family as bananas but has a sweeter hint to its flavor. Basically it is like caramelized banana but instead of using sugar they just let it rot and then fry it and like I said it is surprisingly tasty for a rotten fruit and for someone who doesn't like bananas! 

                                        

Sun tea/nestea/fuzztea: One of the things that I've grown to like is how meals here are had with any form of liquid other than water. There is Juice, Soda, milkshake, you name it; but two of my favorites here are Augamiel and Sun tea. While Agua miel is organic sweetened water, sometimes consumed with lemon; Sun tea or Nestea is a pack of crystallized tea that you mix with water and ice and comes in different flavors like apple, lemon, peach etc. I know I know, its basically Iced tea then why the fuss?  Well its funny for me that you don’t just eat food with plain water and need to have a beverage with your food EVERYDAY and I used to love iced tea back in India also, so I am not complaining one bit and can have Suntea EVERYDAY!

                                                    

Nestle should so thank me for all this free advertising! 

Nucita:  If you like Nutella then you can bet your bottom dollar that you will switch your loyalties after having Nucita. Its just like Nutella but along with the rich hazelnut brown chocolate, the jar also has white chocolate in a swirl. All I need now is a spoon and a jar of this at room temperature and aummm... Need I say more?