Our house - don't be fooled by it's deceptively attractive exterior appearance

Months ago, when Sean and I decided to do the CELTA course, we booked a respectable and classy AirBNB apartment in Medellín.  Two weeks before our course, the landlord sent us an email canceling our booking due to flooding.  We panicked and started to scramble to find other long-term rental options but everything was already taken.  We asked the landlord to help and he found us another option - one of his friends had a room for rent in an apartment with a "relaxed, bohemian atmosphere."  We jumped on it and that's how we've managed to spend the last three weeks in an all-male fraternity house.

Our room - we keep it clean

Though I've learned more than I've wanted to about getting friend-zoned, upper deckers and different ways/things to smoke, I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone.  From what I can tell, there are about 6-8 other testosterone-fueled residents; it's hard to know for sure because traffic of both sexes is always coming and going at all hours. Nobody does dishes and there are always remnants of food and garbage everywhere.  The floors are sticky. People eat our food.  There's a ping pong table that can be heard ping-ponging most nights until 2 a.m. I won't even begin to describe our shared bathroom lest I ruin your appetite for the next three days. There are raging parties until the wee hours and there's been quite a few mornings when Sean and I have gingerly stepped over comatose bodies while leaving the house for school at 6 a.m.

The male twenty-somethings that live here think we are the epitome of lameness.  When we try and explain that we have class all day and then hours of homework at night, their eyes glaze over and they stop listening.  They are nice enough, however, and frequently invite us to the parties they host.  I'm chalking this up to a sociological and anthropological "experience" but meanwhile I can't wait to sleep without earplugs and walk around without flip-flops.

The shared party/smoking balcony

Sean and I have one more week of CELTA class and thus one more week as fraternity "members".  The class has been one of the most academically rigorous and emotionally challenging experiences of my life and now I understand the nickname "Teaching Bootcamp".  Our cohort started with 18 students (three classes with six students each) and now we're down to 15.  I'm quite proud that I didn't actually break down and cry (at school, that is) until day 14 though.  I have one more 60 minute lesson to teach and one more paper to write.  Thank goodness there's a Dunkin' Donuts on campus and if I have any teeth left from grinding from nerves at night and if Sean's jaw doesn't cramp up from all of the clenching, donitos should be a nice treat on Friday morning when we're within reach of our certificates and one night away from a new sleeping arrangement.  Huzzah.

Our room again

1 Comment

1. Linde on December 1, 2014 at 10:37 PM

   Good luck this week! I'll be thinking of you counting down the days. Cheers to donut celebrations this Friday!