Just call me Margarita

Before anyone spends too much time trying to decipher the title of this post, let me explain. A few weeks ago La Ensenanza participated in BAMUN, which stands for Barranquilla Model United Nations. It was their first time participating, and I was lucky enough to get to be the advisor. What a truly wonderful experience it was. The woman in charge of the event was named Margarita, and one day I had to call her to get some clarification on the event while the girls were within earshot. Although I was unaware of it (until all the girls started laughing), my pronunciation of Margarita was muy feo. I don't know what made it more ugly than most of the things I pronounce, but something about the "r"s and the "ita" at the end created something the girls have not been able to let go of. Since that moment, I have been Margarita to the girls of BAMUN. I have secretly been practicing saying Margarita so I can surprise the girls by saying it correctly, but so far I have had no success.

We began preparing for BAMUN about two months before the conference. There were 13 girls from La Ensenanza who participated, with 8 of them participating on English-only committees. Each of the girls was a delegate on a committee representing a country. The countries were Australia, Bolivia, and Finland. The committees were Legal, Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC), Economic and Social Council Committee (ECOSOC), Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee (SOCHUM), and Organization of the American States (OAS). Each of the delegates was given two topics to research and write about from the position of their country. In the paper, they also had to propose possible solutions to the problems presented. The girls spent hours and hours researching and learning about the topics and then understanding the position of the country in regard to the topics. Once they felt they had a good understanding of everything, they wrote their position papers. (And this was all before the actual conference.) I got to work closely with all of the girls who were English-speaking delegates and I have to say how impressed I was with them. Before this event, I knew their English was good, but I didn't realize how good. The papers they wrote were extremely well-written. I also worked with the Spanish-speaking delegates, but I really don't know how well their papers were written, although I assume the papers were well-written because the girls are so smart. The best part about working with all of the girls was getting to know them, and my favorite part of the entire experience was talking to the girls about things other than BAMUN.








The conference was a 4-day event, from October 29-November 1. Schools from all over the country (and even one from Mexico) participated. There were approximately 400 students who participated. One the first day, the participants registered and later took part in a very impressive opening ceremony. After the opening ceremony there was a reception. The first group of pictures is from the opening ceremony. I didn't realize I would be going to nice events here, so I did not bring anything fancy. The dress I am wearing is the only one I have in Colombia.

On days two and three, all of the delegates met in committee to attempt to create resolutions to the two issues in each committee. Every delegate had to begin by giving an opening speech about their country's position on the topics. Then the presidents of each committee opened a Speakers' List in which delegates could talk about their proposed solutions. The committees then engaged in informal debates to discuss the possible solutions proposed or propose other solutions. Once the informal debating finished, the committees separated and worked on writing up (in a working paper) their proposed solutions and lobbied to garner support for their solutions. Each group then shared their working paper and allowed other delegates to comment and state concerns, etc. Once all the working papers were presented and discussed, the delegates voted on the working paper their committee would accept to become a resolution.


While the delegates were in committee, I was an observer along with three other girls: Julieth Davila, Paola Beltran, and Yanan Khbeis. We enjoyed spending time in each committee listening to the students discuss and debate the issues. At the point in each committee when the delegates were writing working papers for resolutions and lobbying, observing became very boring. We, therefore, decided to create our own committees. It was hilarious and super fun! One day we created the Commite de Tenis in which Yanan and I explained the game of tennis to Julieth and Paola. The picture of the four of us at the table by the pool is our Hanging Out Committee. One day, we played STOP, which is kind of like Scattergories. As much as I learned by listening in the committees, I really enjoyed getting to know the observers outside the committees.



On a couple of the days after committee work, I headed across the street with the girls to Buenavista Mall. It was nice to spend some time outside the event socializing. One of the days, Paola's dad happened to be at Buenavista with her baby brother, Wilson. He is so cute that I had to have my picture taken with him (and her).


On Saturday night of the conference, there was a party for the participants and observers. Since Saturday was Halloween, the party had a Halloween theme. Unfortunately, it started raining really hard at about 8:00 (when the party was supposed to begin), so many of the girls were unable to attend the party. I jumped in a taxi between downpours and made it safely. The party was super fun because most of the girls like to dance. I danced with them them almost the entire time I was there. I, of course, don't know any dances, but the girls were nice enough to help me try to learn. I know I looked super funny when I tried to dance like them, but I figure it didn't matter as long as I was having fun - and boy was I having fun.

On day four, the committee met in a general assembly with the intent to present their accepted resolutions. I was so proud that most of the girls were in groups in their committees whose working papers and solutions were accepted. That morning, though, instead of the presentations, the general assembly was faced with a crisis, and the delegates spent the entire morning discussing and debating how to handle the crisis. I was very impressive to listen to the many, many students who were able to intelligently discuss an issue they had not previously researched. Our own Claudia Guerrero stood in front of the general assembly and presented a very interesting and intelligent argument.










After the general assembly, all of the participants and delegates came together for the closing ceremony. Unbeknownst to all of us, the ceremony began with an awards portion. Each committee presented awards for the best position paper, the best opening speech, and the two best delegates. I expected the girls to win nothing because this was their first year participating, but they went home with two awards. Camila Otero won for the best position paper for the SOCHUM committee and Laura Armenta won for the best position paper for the ECOSOC committee. Considering both of their papers were in English, I was more than a little proud of them. I think they won because they both had extremely intelligent and well-thought-out proposed solutions in their papers. I think their committee presidents were so impressed with that portion of their papers they had to give them the award. Unfortunately for the girls, the award was more of a symbolic gestures than a nice tangible award. They both received a towel with the BAMUN X logo. The third to last picture is of Camila holding her "prize." By the way, I got my own towel, too, for being the advisor.


Because I sometimes lose focus, I did not take enough pictures of BAMUN. The biggest reason, though, was because one day I accidentally turned on my camera while it was in its cover and the batteries ran out. I, therefore, have only one picture of the group. Fortunately, it has everyone in the group. Going from left to right, the group picture has Henny Navarro, Claudia Guerrero, Tatiana Cantillo, Ana Maria Gonzalez, Julieth Davila, Maria Jose Rhenals, Paola Beltran, Carolina Escobar, Camila Otero, Laura Torregrosa, Maria Alejandra Mora, Mayra Mendoza, Maria Alejandra Gutierrez, Laura Armenta, Olga Torres, and Yanan Khbeis.

After the closing ceremony, we decided we needed to decompress so we went to a place across the street at Buenavista called Crepes and Waffles where we all ate dessert. It was fun to celebrate the success of the event and spend a little more time with the girls. When I suggested to the girls that we decompress, they were a little confused by the word. Yanan said they couldn't afford it, which then confused me. I asked why not and she said they didn't bring enough money. She then explained to the other girls that I was saying "de compras," which means shopping. In the midst of my laughing, I explained that decompress and de compras mean two different things. The girls and I laughed at that for a long time. Now, every time I see Yanan I think of de compras.



A few days after BAMUN ended, the girls thanked me by taking me an extremely nice Peruvian sushi restaurant. We ate yummy sushi, followed by a delicious meal of beef, fish, rice, and vegetables. If that wasn't enough, we also had dessert. It was one of my tastiest meals here, but the best part about it was the girls I was with. I only have the one picture from that night of Laura Armenta and me, but it's obvious how nice the restaurant is. I also got a very beautiful bracelet from Maria Alejandra Gutierrez; I wear it every day.

If this weren't already the longest entry I have posted, I would go on and on about what makes every BAMUN girl special to me. Suffice it to say that I fell in love with each and every girl, and each one now holds a special place in my heart. Because of them, my BAMUN experience was one of the greatest I have had since I arrived in Colombia.