Our Efforts and Accomplishments at Uniminuto

Not only are we trying to be the best teachers as we can be, we are also trying to make changes in our department.  Over the second semester we have tried our best to lead our department into the changes that we believed that it needed.   Some things have turned out to be successful where others have failed.  

The programs that we have started included a common curriculum for all of the English professors to follow.  This was a big fete to accomplish. As new teachers we relied on our fellow teachers to help build a day-to-day curriculum for each level of English. We thought this was important because the department has a problem giving consistent education to their students.   Students were going from English one to English two and so on, learning present simple and pronouns over and over; never building upon their previous knowledge.  

Another way that we wanted to improve consistency was to assign a level to a set of teachers.  Last semester every teacher was assigned to all levels of English so all the teachers had to build lesson plans for each class and each level.  This put a large load of work on the teachers but also made it really inconsistent for the students.  We suggested to have a set of three teachers be assigned to only teaching one level and then these teachers could meet and discuss their classes.  In the end every teacher got assigned to about two levels and unfortunately no meetings have been held.  I still think of this as an accomplishment as everyone’s workload has been significantly lightened and hopefully the teachers can dedicate more time to making one or two brilliant lesson plans rather then 5 mediocre ones.

Another problem for our department is the accountability of the teachers.  Sure we had a curriculum built but nothing was encouraging the teachers to actually abide by this curriculum.  So we decided to implement a standardized test for final exams.  In general, I have never been an advocate for standardized testing, but in this case we felt like it was a good way to begin accountability of the teachers.  Again, in the end this attempt fell short and the exams have yet to be created.  We are coming up on final exam time so I doubt that this will come together.

Another disadvantage the students have is that they only have English class once a week.  If you have ever tried to learn a language you know that this is just not enough time.  Under the universities regulations we learned right away that this was a disadvantage that would not change.  So we had to be creative and work around the system.  Although we could not have more mandatory classes we could have voluntary ones; aka clubs.  We started having two types of clubs. One for the lower level students, the students that needed more time for English practice and another for more advanced students, those looking for more of a challenge.  We have clubs 10 times a week and every club is jam-packed.  The clubs proved to be the most successful of all our endeavors and they are very rewarding.  I just hope that these changes will be continued after we leave.  We do know that the university has asked for three WorldTeach volunteers next year so the university must also appreciate our efforts and want to continue with our advances.

Dale's Coffee Lesson

Learning about coffee is really learning about a culture. Through our class on coffee I really feel that we were able to better understand Colombia in general. It is so sad to live in one of the best coffee growing regions in the world for the Arabica bean and yet never be able to drink it in any restaurants or simple cafes. Colombia exports all of it’s premium beans to the world and keeps very little for itself.

There are two types of coffee beans in this world, Robusto and Arabica. Robusto is a bean that is typically used in flavored coffees and instant. Robusto has a very pungent flavor that doesn’t have many layers to it. This is why Robusto takes so well to flavorings. When someone buys a French Roast or something of that nature they are typically buying  Robusto beans, as mostly these flavorings are masking the strong flavor of the beans. In Colombia they grow Arabica beans, which come with over 32 different natural layers of flavors. Sometimes you get a hint of wood, sometimes chocolate, sometimes even almond.

It is because of these dense layers of flavor that the Arabica bean is typically served without artificial flavors; it needs no extra help being wonderful. The coffee derives its flavors from the land and the flavors depend on the climate and the weather for that year.

When we talk about the beans itself we find that the Arabica bean is typically much larger then the Robusto. They are both coming from a similar plant but the Robusto is a flatter smaller bean while the Arabica is a larger rounder bean. Coffee is actually a fruit and grows on a bush that is no taller then 6ft tall. A coffee bush can live for 20 years before it is retired and is pruned 5 times typically with the best growing time at year.  When they prune the plant, they cut it all the way down to about 5 inches from the soil and then let one branch grow out. You can typically see how old the plant is by looking near the base of it and seeing how many nubs it has from pruning.

The beans start off from a flower and then turn into a green ball. That grape looking thing will ripen to become red and will stay ripe for about 15 days. They will harvest these fruits and remove the outer red layer. If you eat the seed inside this red fruit you will find it to have a sweet nutty flavor. There are normally two seeds per fruit. These seeds are then left to dry. In other parts of the world they dry in the sun but Colombia is too damp so ovens have to be used to dry the beans.

Once the beans are dried there is more shell on the bean that must be removed. Once this shell is removed we find a green unroasted coffee bean.

Beans are graded in quality based on three main factors; shape, color, density. Typically any deformation in the seed like a bug bite or a crack will cause the bean to become a “tinto” bean. Only the best beans make it through this selection process. Most of this quality control selection process is done by the use of water. The bad or damaged beans will stay afloat while the good beans sink to the bottom.

Beans are then dried in big furnaces and then put into bags to be shipped off to the export center. Beans remain unroasted until they enter the country that purchases them.  Each country prefers their own style of roast and also the beans can save longer if they have not been roasted. Once the bean has been roasted it can begin to oxidize and that can change the flavor of the bean. It is important that when a bean comes out of the roaster that it is consumed very quickly and not left to sit for more then 3 weeks with exposure to oxygen. When beans come out of a roaster they are nice and shiny which is the best time to grind and drink the coffee.

So the good beans get exported, but then what happens to the bad beans?  Well those beans stay in the country to be consumed by Colombia.  They call this coffee “tinto”.  “Tinto”, is roughly translated into the word “ink”. You will find that Colombia typically has two types of coffee for sale at most cafes, “tinto” and café. Tinto is normally cheaper because it is composed of all the coffee beans that failed to make it through the selection process. They don’t waste a single bean here in Colombia.  Tinto typically has a more sharp bitter flavor and when it is served here in Colombia it is normally watered down with hot water and a lot of milk and sugar. It is very hard to find artisanal coffee in Colombia but “tinto” is around every corner.

First Anniversary in Manizales

For our one year anniversary we decided to travel to the Coffee Region of Colombia to a small city, Manizales.  It was an interesting bus ride up the mountains.  We opted for a van to drive from Medellin; which was most likely a mistake.  The driver sped up the highway blaring his horn as we paced anyone that crossed our path.  I fit snugly between Dale and a larger then average Colombian man.  As we flew around the corners of the highway on two wheels I enjoyed a workout trying to not let gravity flop by body onto the lap of the other passenger.  I have never been so afraid for my life and so motion sick in my life.  By pure luck we made it to Manizales and an hour earlier then planned, lucky us! 

We enjoyed a ride around the city on our way to the fancy hotel that we booked for our first anniversary.  The city looked a lot like Medellin but a lot smaller and a little older.  The views of the mountains made up for any of the beauty lost on the older buildings.  We went to the center of the city, which was full of crowded bustling people.  Our hotel was not what we expected and although we thought that we booked a fancy hotel it was anything but that.  As we acquainted ourselves with our hotel room we just had to start laugh at all the inadequacies.  One of the funnier quirks was that the hotel’s old elevator shook our entire room every time it went up or down.  We made the most of it and enjoyed our stay despite the comical luxury hotel. 

We loved the coffee farm that we got to visit.  They picked us up from our hotel and drove into the mountains to a very cute farmhouse where we were greeted with delicious espressos.  We got a little lesson about the origins of coffee.  After our lesson we went into the coffee fields and through the factory, where we continued to learn more about coffee.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch at the farm (and a lot more coffee) before returning to the busy city streets. 

 

 Lucky for us we ended up visiting Manizales during their theater festival.

  The city was full of performers everywhere.  We strolled down the street stopping occasionally to see different performances.  They had circus clowns performing to children, traditional dancers in the park, and a big man dressed in a penguin suit singing his heart out to the crowd.

The colors and life that breathed throughout the city was incredible.  They had the friendliness and love for life that I have found in Medellin with a small college city scene.  We really enjoyed our weekend in Manizales.

Coffee Farm

Theater Festival

Tango Singer

Dancers