Safely Arrived

After a very long day of flights, I arrived safely in Colombia. The airport was nothing like I expected! I had been warned that I would be searched many times for drugs before I got out of the airport, but no one stopped me once. I didn't even see any guards with guns.

I went through customs and got my bag in about 10 minutes, way faster than I figured it would be. When I was leaving, the guard took my customs form and let me know that the address it was asking for was the one I'd be at in Colombia. Well I didn't know that information! The guard, who didn't speak any English, was very nice to me and just let me go through.

Walking out the door to the sea of waiting faces was a bit overwhelming. I walked up and down the crowd a couple of times looking for a sign with my name. Nothing. No one so much as looked like they were waiting for an American girl.

After my moment of panic, and about 5 minutes, I met Ana Maria and Sarah. They were wonderful. Ana Maria's English was great! We talked about all kinds of things. It turns out that Thursday is the Colombia version of Earth Day. No cars are allowed to be on the road, only public transportation. She told me all about Bogota and her mom drove us back to the house where I'll be staying with Pastor Edgardo and his wife Magi.

Driving through the city was really interesting. Parts of the city are as developed as the United States, and parts look like a third world country. It's such a diverse environment. Truly in the midst of developing. (As an aside, the best restaurant I saw was side by side - Pollo Pollo next to Pizza Pizza.)

When we arrived at the house, I was blown away by how beautiful it is. Here are some pics:

The view of the sea of apartment complexes in Bogota. Apparently, they
categorize people's social class on a number scale from 0-7. This area is a 4.

The house I'm staying is is more beautiful than a hotel would have been.

There's even a balcony garden across the street from my room.

It was a very very very long day, so I went to bed pretty soon. God blessed Kevin and I with the ability to talk before bed. It was wonderful to be able to say goodnight. What a great night's sleep! I slept like a rock. Praise God!