As it turns out, I'm here for their version of Earth Day. No one in the entire city drives their cars on the first Thursday of every February. Only buses, taxis, motorcycles, and bicycles. It gave the city an entirely different feel! (And let's be honest, I just love holidays!)
Today's morning consisted of a planned shopping excursion with Magi. I'm staying with her and her husband, Pastor Edgardo, at their beautiful home. Magi is wonderful and incredibly sweet. She doesn't speak much English, so when I found out that Maru wasn't coming with us, I was a little nervous for a very quiet morning. Since we couldn't take a car, we rode a taxi to the bus stop (Trans-Millenial).
The bus was packed! I wanted to take a picture, but it would have been weird. After a few stops, Magi and I were able to get some seats. As we rode through parts of the city I hadn't seen yet, she pointed out a district known for witches, prostitution, and abortion clinics. She told me that abortion is illegal in Colombia, but this district tends to look the other way. Unfortunately a lot of university students live in that district. It was very sad.
When we got to the shopping district, we got off the bus and I followed Magi very closely down the crowded streets (without cars). She warned me to clutch my purse rather tightly and eventually just put it in her bag instead. She took me upstairs in this store that probably had 50 little booths that all sold jewelry. I didn't end up with anything for Kevin (not even a briefcase for Matt). But I did find myself an adorable souvenir!
At times it was very difficult communicating, but we
definitely used the universal language indicators – laughter, smiles, and the
crinkled nose to say “I don’t really like that”. Her English was stretched and
my Spanish was stretched. We only called Maru a couple of times in order to
communicate! She was wonderful and put up with my incredible pickiness about
jewelry.
Right now, the fashion in Bogota is enormous rings. I have
funny hands, and so when I put these rings on, my fingers looked ridiculous!
The ring took up the entire distance between my knuckles. It took a long time
for me to figure out how to communicate that I didn’t need to have what was “in”.
When we came back, we took one of those little carts pulled
by a bicycle. Here’s a picture of me and Magi and then just me:
When we came home, I found out that the translation (all of
it) was lost with Maru’s friend’s fried hard drive. Maru stayed up most of the
night re-translating the workbooks and powerpoint so that we’d have the
materials for the first day of the conference.
Not only that, but Tato’s dog died. Tato was supposed to be
my translator. Tato has had 5 pit bulls. The first four died within 3 months of
his owning them. This one lasted 10 months. Maru let him off tonight so that he
could bury his dog. Since they couldn’t drive their car, however, he took his
family and the dog in a taxi to the burial site.
And, none of my English materials are printed either. So, we’re
going to just make it work tonight!
I’m almost ready, I think, for the conference tonight. I’m
incredibly nervous, but growing more confident by the moment. It’s really
amazing, because feeling so out of my element, has really grown my prayer life.
I would say this is what is meant by “pray ceaselessly”. The last three days, I have been getting to know
people who work with Visionet who are much more qualified than I am. I ask “why
me?” but the answer God always gives is, “Because I chose you.” He wanted me.
My prayer is that He gives me strength, makes me bold, and gives me peace. I’m
excited knowing that He is in control of the conference, my reputation, the
interactions, and the curriculum.
To share the most up to date plans (things are always
changing): talking with the education students got cancelled or maybe
postponed. Also, they added back in the part of my trip where I fly to Cali,
Colombia on Monday morning to meet with the first ever Christian university in
Colombia to talk about starting a Center for Entrepreneurship. So that’ll be interesting! Pray!!!
PS. I am starting a list of things I love about Colombia and
things I could never get used to. I'll add more as they come to me.
Things I Love About Colombia
- The women wear scrunchies. I think it should still be socially acceptable.
- Fast food. Yummy arrepas with chicken or beef.
- The mountain view from EVERYWHERE.
- Cell phone use. All the time. Every day. No matter what you're talking about.
- Speakerphone. For whatever reason, everyone answers in speakerphone.
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