Happy Holidays!

Happy No Cars Day from Bogota!

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.

Things I Could Never Get Used To

• Cell phone use. All the time. Every day. No matter what you're talking about.
• Speakerphone. For whatever reason, everyone answers in speakerphone.

First Cup of Coffee (Among Other Things)

Today I had my first cup of coffee... ever. It only seemed appropriate to have Colombian coffee with breakfast this morning. Of course I filled it milk and sugar. It was actually pretty good (still bitter, but I liked it more than I thought I would).

Communicating over breakfast was fun. Pastor Edgardo and Magi speak English too, but figuring out the vocabulary is like a big puzzle. He'd describe the word and I'd have to fill in the blanks. They are very fun people to be around! I had a wonderful time at breakfast.

Since there's some construction in the building I'm staying in we don't have any water today. So I headed to Maru's apartment to shower and get ready for the day. Maru is so interesting to be around and talk with. She has an incredible life story and I am so blessed to have a fast friend in Colombia.

We spent the day together touring the city. I got to see the barrio (neighborhood/ghetto) where Visionet does most of its work. From the mountain, I was able to get a great view of the city:

Maru pointed out one house in particular - Claudia's house. Claudia has seven children from infant to teenager. She is on her second marriage. She's only 34. Claudia is involved in Visionet's ministry. She is one who wants to be trained in Entrepreneurship so that she and her husband can provide for their family and hopefully move out of the barrio someday.

The stories are amazing. I'm going to share my tour of the city via pictures!

This is the view from the truck (sorry it's shaky) of one of the
houses. They are using all kinds of building materials (but
mostly brick. The houses up the mountain are basically shanty
houses. This community started about 20 years ago, but they
are still very much developing.

This is one of the churches that Visionet works with in the
barrio. They hold conferences and workshops on the roof
of the building.

The mountains create an interesting dynamic. The valley
between the mountains is where the wealthier people live,
so tucked into the mountains are all these tiny houses made
of tarps and sheet metal.

They mined some of the land on the mountain, making it entirely
unusable for agriculture or anything else for that matter. Visionet
is planning on training the community to do vertical agriculture in
the areas that are still available and lush. There are a number of
aquifers that are in and around the mountainside. Other than the
mined areas, it is a good place for small self-sustaining gardens.

Our tour continued to the land that Visionet is planning on buying for their non-profit, school, and church. One of their prayer needs is that God brings creativity in land planning because there are a number of historically or environmentally protected areas of the land God has planned for them.

On we went from there to a HUGE mall for lunch and walking around. I just have to say one thing, crepes are amazing. We went to a place called Crepes and Waffles. Apparantly, it was started as a master's thesis. The franchise only employs single women who are the heads of their households. When everywhere else is bustling for Mother's Day, they are closed and holding a party for their employees. The story, the food, and the ice cream were all incredible!

We window shopped for a little while so I could get a taste of Colombia before returning to the house for a relaxing evening. I'm still adjusting to the altitude shift and have some prep left for the conference starting tomorrow.

On an exciting note - a really cool opportunity opened up. Maru spoke with one of her friends who teaches college students preparing to be teachers and set up a time for me to go meet the students and spend some time talking about teacher prep and expectations in America. I'm really excited. God is opening up new opportunities every day! But more on that tomorrow.

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!

What a Funny Way to Start

Headed out this morning early... too early if you ask me. But Kevin was good about making sure I made it to the airport on time. I cried most of the way there and even more when I arrived at Norfolk Airport. This is the longest we've been apart in a long time, especially since we've been married. Things seemed to go pretty easy for the most part. I found my gate no problem and sat down to spend some time texting my husband and doing some research before boarding the plane.

The plane was small so we had to walk onto the tarmac to board. I found my seat and arranged my things. It was only then I realized that I didn't have my phone anymore. I emptied my briefcase... twice! Nothing. Absolute panic washed over my face and I could tell the tears were coming again. I spoke with the flight attendant  who made a phone call back to the gate. 

A couple minutes later a gentleman comes out to the plane and says he looked everywhere but he couldn't find it. He said, "If we do find it, you can pick it up when you come back through Norfolk at the security desk." Two things went through my mind - 1) I will have to buy a new phone and we don't really have another $100 to spend on a new phone; and 2) That was my safety blanket for being able to talk with my husband and in case of any emergencies. Honestly, I was mostly thinking #2. In fact, #1 was really just to make myself feel better about seeming so desperate.

In the next 10 minutes, our plane started to roll away from the gate. I sat in my seat praying something like this, "I know your grace is sufficient and that you are faithful. I can't fool you into thinking this is an issue of finances. I know it's about my control and my comfort. You can provide for the finances and you can do a miracle. You made food appear when people needed it. If this is something I need, you can make it appear in my bag when I arrive. You can help the security guards find it at the airport. I know I still need to realize that you are the only one I need. Your grace is sufficient. Your grace is sufficient. Your grace is sufficient."

My mother-in-law texted me this morning that she was praying because she knew how tough it would be to be away from Kevin. While I was praying, I kept thinking of what she had said: "Some of the best (and most challenging) ministry things have happened when Scott wasn't available. Jesus is all we really need and that's especially evident when we're away."

So I cried, and prayed, and made friends with the lovely elderly couple sitting next to me. I stared out the window as the plane rolled away from the airport. 

In the middle of the safety demonstrations, the flight attendant's phone rings. He stopped the recording talking about the air masks dropping from the ceiling, opened a door, and came down the aisle to bring me my phone. I have never seen anything like it! The other passengers were flabbergasted and frankly so was I. Those around me commented on how surprising that was. 

The flight was uneventful. I got a nap and did some reading. Mostly I just began to feel a little more secure in God's faithfulness over this upcoming trip. I think I endeared the flight attendant to me. He owns a house in Colombia and shared with me some of the must-see places.

Just about everyone I passed as I got off the plane asked, "Are you sure you have everything?" but I'm alright taking a bit of pride hit to give God a chance to prove his faithfulness.When I boarded the flight in Norfolk, I felt very very alone. Now, sitting here in the Miami airport, I'm still alone, but not alone. Not really alone. God is with me. 

But really... what a funny way to start!

I walked to my gate here at Miami with one of the gentleman sitting behind me on the Norfolk flight. He said he never in all his years of flying has ever seen anything like that! He said it was "my lucky day". My response: "God just answered my prayer, that's all." All he could say was, "Yeah, I guess He did."

PS I'm hoping all of my blog posts will have pictures attached, but since I've been crying recently, there's no picture. We're just going to pretend I look better than I do. :-)