Alejandro & Leidy
Venezuela & Colombia
Travel Diary #3 - Crossing the Atlantic ocean on sailing boats - From Porto to Tenerife« “Wait !? This is it: we are gone!" We are sitting on the deck, a glass of Port wine in our hand, the sun is setting, the colours in the sky are amazing, we cannot see the land anymore. A wave of happiness flows through me and I smile. There is nowhere else I want to be...» Here is the 3rd video of our «Travel Diary» serie: https://bit.ly/2UAbaAK and another blog article if you want to know a bit more about it 🙂 This sailing trip from Porto to Tenerife was full of colors and emotions. So we thought it would be nice to share the key moments of our first experience in the sailing world!
Posted by A sense of adventure on Monday, April 15, 2019
We met Leidy and Alejandro during our second volunteering in Guamal. 3 years ago, they created an english institute to meet a social need : the low english level among young Colombians in rural areas.
Leidy is originally from Guamal, she went to primary school and high school there. And because of her english level, she went trough a hard time while trying to find a job so she particularly cares about this project …
The school operates in a participatory and collective manner. The teachers are volunteers travelling from all over the world who come to share their travel stories, their cultures et their english knowledge with the local kids, in exchange for food and accommodation.
The prices of the courses are much lower than in cities because families in Guamal generally don’t have much ressources. There are also students who don’t pay nothing because they show a great motivation to learn the language but their families don’t have the necessary income.
We spent 3 amazing weeks there living the Colombian life in a non-touristic small pueblo far away from the city. We were living in a great house renamed « Gringolandia » with 5 other volunteers. Thanks to Lenis, who is coming every day to cook delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner, we finally had the chance to taste colombian typical food : arepas, arroz de coco, rosquetes, yuca, dulce de frijoles, chicha…
For our greatest pleasure, it was also mango season ! And in Guamal, there are mango trees in every garden, every streets, every park, every schools… So we could taste many different types : mango manzana, mango americana, mango pico de loro, mango azucar…
We were teaching 4 hours a day to small groups of children from 8 to 18 years old and also did skype classes with adults. It was our first teaching experience and it was not always easy but we learnt a lot and it will remain a great memory !