脕ngela Mar铆a, Colombian expat in Canada

脕ngela Mar铆a

@anmaoueslati

Active member

Colombian expat in Canada

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Colombian

Lives in Montreal

Speaks English, fran莽ais, espa帽ol,聽 ena nahki chwaya arbi italiano

Registration: 02 March 2012

About Activity

Born, raised, and partially educated in Colombia. Lived in the USA for about nine years, also in Tunisia for about a year and a half. I'm a foreign language teacher.

Interests: traveling, , languages, reading, learning, drawing, teaching, foreign films

I am Employed.

Since Jun 2015

Montreal, Canada

I want to live the rest of my life in this country,
Spanish teacher and university student.
I love how cultivated most people are. Bilingualism or multilingualism is common here. Beautiful places to visit, I like the weather...I hate the heat. People are mostly kind. J'adoreMontr茅al!
Traffic! People here don't respect the speed limit and follow too closely. If you come from the USA, you'll see the difference.

Aug 2012 - Jun 2015

Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Teaching Spanish at a local school.
Spanish teacher.
There are so many things to do, places to go, more diversity than rural areas.
Traffic is a nightmare sometimes, and crime has increased quite a bit. Gas prices, rent and taxes are more expensive in Charlotte than in Martinsville, VA...so I need to get used to that.

Feb 2011 - Jul 2012

Tunis, Tunisia

I came here with the idea of having some teaching experience in this country and to learn Arabic.
Unemployed Spanish/English teacher... The law doesn't let any school hire me if there aren't Tunisians qualified for the job. There are many teachers here so...is not a good place for foreign teachers from countries without diplomatic relationships.
It has beautiful places, kind people, history, culture, languages, how the Islam is practiced on a free country is fantastic! I love the fact that women don't need to show everything to look nice, and I admire the respect for family values and for women here.
Trash in many places, the smoking on public places including taxis, the employment of foreign people is very complicated and even impossible for some people. I DEFINITIVELY HATE THE SHOOTING OF STRAY DOGS!!! I can't stand it! It's overwhelming and sad. There should be a better way (refuges, sterilization, penalties to people for abandoning their pets, the injection instead of GUN SHOTS)

2005 - 2011

Salisbury, North Carolina, USA

I went to teach, learn, travel, and save $ Also: Collinsville, VA Martinsville, VA
I taught ESL and Spanish in Elementary and High Schools of North Carolina and Virginia.
I love the organization, the discipline and consciousness of most people, the salary and the cost of living are coherent. In the United States, you can work, buy a car, travel anywhere, and you'll still have enough money to save. I like how the system works, it's organized! The driving is great compared to Colombia and Tunisia. The streets are clean and you can see people respecting lines, and your personal space. You can find food from many countries and talk to people from everywhere. I love the diversity!
Health care plans and premiums are extremely expensive, there are lots of racial issues and tensions in some areas. In the places I lived, racism and discrimination scenes take place everyday. I hated the way students treated each other for their color of the skin, their origins, accents, income, etc,. There is little tolerance and respect towards teachers in some high schools. But the worst for me was the racial tension, students questioning your education and credentials for belonging to the ethnic group "Hispanic".

Oct 1980 - Jul 2005

Cali, Colombia

I studied at a catholic school "San Jos茅" where my brain couldn't be washed but inspired to discover more about the world. I studied Modern Languages at the Universidad del Valle.
English, Spanish, and French Teacher. But I haven't teach French yet; I love it but I prefer to teach English and Spanish.
It's a beautiful country! It has all seasons 365 days of the year in different regions. We have different scenarios in the same country: the Caribbean, the Andean Mountains, Amazons, the Pacific Ocean. cosmopolitan cities, and little towns. A wide variety of fruits and vegetables, restaurants, dancing, cultural events all year...!!! Colombia is beautiful! It has fruits, vegetables, incomparable landscapes. The weather is fantastic; You can be cold all year round, hot all year round...not having seasons is very interesting. What I like most is my family :)
You must be careful with your belongings at all times, the government is very corrupted, education is very expensive, many people don't do their best at their jobs, lots of indiscipline, there is no punctuality. Many Colombians are superficial, the physical appearance is very important...being skinny or slim is a must in some cities to fit the "beauty" standards. The insecurity, the corruption of the rulers, the stubbornness of some people to not work or do things 100%, there is a lot of laziness, irresponsibility, non-compliance on the part of some... I don't like that undisciplined life. What I like least is that in Colombia a lot of importance is given to people's physical appearance, others are criticized a lot for "how they look."