kcmac82

Semana Santa

2008-04-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Semana Santa means Holy Week and pretty much everyone is off work for at least part of the week here in South America. Our school was closed for the entire week before Easter plus the Monday after Easter for another Catholic holiday. 10 of us decided to take advantage of the long week off to go visit a different part of the country. Alan, my fiance, and Whitney's brother, Dan, flew in from the US to visit and came along on the trip.

Day 1 and 2: We loaded up at 5am on Saturday morning to start our long drive towards the coast of Colombia. To get there and keep it cheap, we rented a van and driver for the entire trip. The first day we drove 12 hrs (it should have only been 8 but road construction caused us to go 3 hours out of the way...T.I.C) and so we arrived in Medellin about 12am. We had been warned about driving after dark because of FARC and the dangers of 9 Americans who look very white getting stopped. Fortunately that didnt happen. We stayed in the Seminary school dorms that night in Medellin and woke up at 7 the next morning to start the 2nd day of driving to the coast. This should have only taken us 9 hrs but again took 12 hrs and we arrived in Cartagena at 1am.
_________________________________________________________________

Day 3: Cartagena was incredible. We had arranged to rent an apartment of someone who has relatives at ECA (the school where we all work). She gave us a great deal and all 10 of us had this huge apartment with 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms to ourselves (and the live in housekeeper) for the next 2 days. We were only 2 blocks from the beach and the apartment was in the nicer part of town.

The first day we lounged around and recooperated from the long hours in the van. We relaxed on the beach for the first part of the day and tasted the shrimp (ceviche) with salsa that they walk around selling to the beach visitors. The beach is not as relaxing as it is in the U.S. because many people make their living off of selling their jewelery, food, massages, hair braids, etc. by hassling the tourists. You can't go a minute without someone walking up to you asking you to buy stuff.

That afternoon we all went back to the apartment to shower and then went to the "Old City" of Cartagena. Cartagena was once a spanish fort and the city was surrounded on all sides by a large wall. This is now the "old city". It was very beautiful and had a cool spanish/italian feel to it. A group of us walked around and took a tour of the Castillo de San Felipe (the castle) which is right outside of the city. Then we headed back inside the city walls and walked around. Alan and I split up from the group and had dinner in a courtyard. It was an nice unexpected romantic evening! We headed back to the apartment and others joined us after taking a carrage ride through the city.

____________________________________________________________________
Day 4 (Cartagena):
We left early in the A.M. for a boat tour to the Islas de Rosario (islands). Like most purchases in Colombia, we had to negotiate our ticket prices until we found the best deal. For lunch and a full day of the boat ride and island trips we spent about $25.00 per person which is so cheap compared to what something like that would cost in the US.

We had about a 1 1/2 hour boat ride to the first island. Many passangers got sick along the way...pretty gross. On the first island Alan and I walked through the outdoor aquarium. It wasnt anything too extravagant but it was nice and there wasnt much else to do on the tiny island. Katherine ran into our neighbor (in Bogota)'s cousin and she was staying with the owner of the island so she showed us around a bit.

Next stop was Playa Blanca where we were served our lunch of fish with its head attached. The beach was small but nice and not too crowded. We hung out there for an hour or so before heading back to Cartagena. We were pretty impressed with these beaches. The water was so clear and everything was so beautiful. We definitely got a great deal for what we paid.

On the way back, the waves were pretty large and since we were on the front of the boat we were getting soaked and again, people were getting sea sick.

That night we were exhausted but got up enough energy to go eat at Hard Rock Cafe in Cartagena's old city. I had forgotten how delicious american food is! I can't wait to go home and eat this stuff again!

____________________________________________________________________
Day 5: Driving again.

On Wednesday we began driving to our next destination. The trip took us 4 hrs but we didnt arrive in Santa Marta until 4pm because our van driver picked us up 2 hrs behind schedule. When we arrived, we went to the house of a previous principal of ECA who is now a missionary in Santa Marta. He had offered for us to stay at his church for free during our time in Santa Marta which was really nice and cut cost incredibly. We had a late lunch with his family, then settled down at the church. That evening we went to a part of the city called El Rodadero, which is the more touristy high class area.

_______________________________________________________________

Day 4:

Taganga- another section of beach around Santa Marta. This is a small bay where everyone parks there boats. From here we took a boat to another nearby bay. We layed around there most of the day and then headed back and had dinner. This day was a difficult one for me due to issues with the van driver and insults from the colombians against us americans. It was nice that it was a relaxing day but I was definitely longing to be back in my familiar culture.
_________________________________________________________________

Day 5: Parque Tayrona

In Santa Marta there is a national park surrounding the Sierra Nevada. Within that park you can hike to the beaches and to the Lost City. We did the easy- one day trip of walking the coastal part. The beaches were gorgeous, however, it was a bit crowded for a national park due to the holiday.

________________________________________________________________

Day 6: We left Santa Marta at 4am and drove the entire 18 hrs (this time we actually did it around our estimate) all the way back to Bogota, getting back at 1am. It was good to be back and we still had 2 full days left to rest and get ready for school to begin on Tuesday.

El Penon

2008-02-18T18:49:00.000-08:00

Our Principal's husband, Rafa, has connections with pretty much anyone in Colombia and so we often get offered really cool trips out of the city. (He is kind of like the Christian publicity guy of Bogota if you want to call it that- meaning, he brings people in from all over the world to speak, perform, and minister to people in the city, as well as having his hand in numerous ministries throughout the city in some way). My first weekend back after break, his family asked us if we wanted to go with them out of the city to a vacation house owned by one of these people he has some connection with, who had offered it to us, no charge.

The place we went was called El Penon. This is a gated (very gated and secure) community in Giradot, about three hours from Bogota, with a lake and fancy homes, all made of white stucco. It was definitely fancier than what anyone would expect out of a vacation for missionary teachers. These homes were ridiculous! No wonder the FARC took over this community and ran everyone out- yeah they did, but sometime in the past year or two they were run out of the territory. That's probably why they required us to stamp our fingers, take a photo, and do a small background check before we could go into the community.

The house we stayed in was probably one of the smaller ones, sleeping 11 people (we fit 16). Every house has it's own pool and mango trees in the backyard. We had incredible food, thanks to the maid who takes care of any visitors at the home, and fresh juices the sip by the pool. It was a fantastic weekend getaway filled with boat rides, games, a crazy photo scavenger hunt, bonding time for us teachers and the high school students who joined us, and large amounts of peaceful reading time. When we left to head back to the city, we brought with us sunburn and tons of mosquito bites!

PEACE MARCH

2008-02-14T18:36:00.000-08:00

Since last I wrote…

I’ve been back for a month now and this semester has seemed easier, more comfortable; more like a home than it did last semester. That is partly due to how little like home the states felt for the month I was there and my growing love for this county, its problems, and its people.

Many of you may have heard of the march against the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia). This march took place on February 4 all over the world. When announced at the school a few weeks before that we would be taking part in a peace march, we all assumed it was a small event that happened every year. Then we started seeing shirts being sold along the street sides saying “No mas secuestros, no mas mentiras, no mas muertes, no mas FARC”. This translated means “no more kidnappings, no more lies, no more deaths, no more FARC”. I was so disappointed that I hadn’t bought one after realizing what a big deal this event had become after being started as a Facebook group. I arrived at school on Feb. 4, wearing my white shirt for Peace as told by the school, along with all other students and staff. At 11:15 the march began and classes were cancelled for that hour so that the whole school could participate. However, right before the march, the US embassy emailed our principal asking anyone with a US passport to not participate so not to draw attention to areas with high US citizen populations. The FARC are really against Uribe, the president here, and Bush, who they say are working together, and therefore would target citizens because it would look like we were supporting the US government’s role in Colombia. Many students were calling home to ask for permission to march with their peers because many of them are ½ Colombian or have lived here their whole lives and feel Colombian. For us teachers it was very disappointing because our reason for being here is to support the missionaries and stand behind them in their efforts to reach this country, and also to support the students, in their personal lives, which would include marching with them against something that affects them everyday. So, many of us decided to march anyway since it was our choice whether or not to go against the warning from the embassy. It was a great choice and it created a unity between us and the Colombians more than before. The students really appreciated our willingness to take that risk to show our support for them and their country. We knew we were putting our lives in danger when we came here and part of the reason we came here was because we knew the country's circumstances and wanted to try to improve those circumstances. Missionaries typically don’t go to places where they think they can avoid having to fight for something they are passionate about. Anyway, so that was a pretty cool thing to take part in and after seeing it on the news and in the newspapers, I was thankful I didn’t miss out.

Colombia: Part II

2008-01-20T10:48:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I am back in Colombia for the second part of my time here. I arrived last night to my wonderful roommates and friends and new roommate (a puppy). It is good to be back and see everyone again although it was difficult to leave to U.S.; maybe even more difficult than the first time.

School started a week and a half ago for the teachers and students but I will start back tomorrow. If you didn’t already hear, I am getting married this summer and had asked for extra vacation time in the U.S. to get some of the wedding stuff done. That was pretty productive I guess and I am grateful that the school allowed me to have that time. Tomorrow will be the first of 4 ½ more months at El Camino Academy before the school year ends. I am excited about seeing staff and students at the school again and I am hoping it won’t be too difficult to get back on a work schedule after having a laid back vacation. I’m sure the transition will be a challenge for a week or so.

This morning while my roommates were at church, I stayed home to unpack and rest so that I would be ready for the early transition tomorrow. My first realization that I am no longer in the U.S. occurred when I went outside to take the puppy out and forgot that our door is permanently locked so it always requires the key to enter. So there I was in shorts and a t-shirt (clothing that Colombian women never wear even when at the gym) in the small park outside our door with no where to go because my roommates weren’t coming back until late afternoon. The neighbor came out and I asked if I could climb through her window onto the roof to get to my window that I had left open. I had a difficult time remembering the Spanish needed to explain this to her whole family who had come outside to see what was wrong. She explained that there are permanent bars on the windows but that I should go tell our guards. So I walked around with the puppy in my arms looking very American and asked the Portero (guard) for a ladder so that I could climb onto the roof. I felt like such an ditz by this point but eventually it all worked out after having to climb a ladder while the guard and neighbors watched me with shorts on and the puppy in my arms (I was afraid to put him down and lose him and I wasn’t sure how culturally inappropriate it is to ask someone to hold your pet) and walk on the small brick part of the roof so that I wouldn’t step through someone’s ceiling. This was actually pretty humorous but hopefully the adjusting wont get worse.

Another challenge I will have is raising my financial support again while 1,000s of miles away. My insurance company has repeatedly denied coverage of my diabetic supplies, which is a huge expense coming out of my account. I will continue to fulfill my commitment to the school and what God has called me here to do and I won’t let this frustration I have with insurance cause me to break my commitment. My missions account is empty now after living abroad last semester and I need the financial support to get through the remainder of my time.

I will try to update my blog more often than I did last semester for those of you who read it frequently. I would love to hear from you all and if you want to know more about Bogota, El Camino Academy, my crazy life, etc. let me know because life here isn’t as odd to me anymore and it’s hard to think of out of the ordinary things that would be interesting to people not living in South America.

Thanks for listening! Hope to hear from you soon!

Un Dia Especial

2007-11-11T08:17:00.000-08:00

I mentioned in my last blog that a certain event during Alan's visit deserved its own post and here it is.

On Monday, October 29, Alan's 3rd full day in Bogota, we set out to see some other parts of the city that I had heard were "chevere" (cool). We decided to go to a place on top of the mountains called Monseratte.

First we took the Transmilenio bus to Candelaria, which is a neat historical area with cafes and artesenias. We stopped for a small bite which turned into a large meal because the waiter thought we had ordered two of the same plates when we actually wanted to share. (I wasn't too happy about this because I wasn't very hungry and didn't want to pay for two large meals. In the U.S. you wouldn't be charged for something like this. Alan calmed me down and we decided to find a homeless person to give the extra food.)

Then we left and began walking towards the bottom of the mountain where Monseratte is located. (We found a homeless guy on the way). From the bottom of the mountain, we took a cable car lift thing called the Teleferico to the top of the mountan. As the car ascended up the mountain we were able see a great view of Bogota. Once on the mountain we had an even more amazing view of the city and were eye level with the clouds. On top of the mountain there is a gorgeous famous Catholic Church, some artesenias, 2 restaraunts, and a walkpath with statues of the sequence of Jesus' death. It didn't take long to do everything up there but it is very peaceful (especially on a Monday when everyone is at work) and we spent a good amount of time looking at the view and watching the clouds. When we first arrived the sky was clear, then the storm clouds surrounded us and we were inside of them, seeing nothing but white all around, then later the sky cleared again.

Around 5pm we went to an early dinner at the nicer of the two restaraunts. It was a super cozy French restaraunt with amazing food and we sat in the glassed in sun room with a view of all of Bogota. There were only one or two couples in the whole restaraunt. We ate and talked for a few hours. Alan started asking me serious questions like "where do you see yourself next year", "how many kids do you want", "when did you first start falling in love with me", etc. I felt a bit strange answering those questions because I usually avoid talking about "married people stuff". Then he started telling me about what he wanted out of life and how he felt about me. (I don't remember exactly what he said because the whole time I was wondering what was going on and denying what I thought might have been happening.) Then he started messing with his pocket and leaned over the table to kiss me (or distract me) and then went back to talking about the future. Next thing I know he was telling me that he wants to be with me forever and will never leave me and then he asked me to be his wife. I think my response was "OF COURSE", but said with shock and a gasp of air and a kiss before I even looked at the ring that he had hidden under his hands while talking to me. (He pointed out that I didn't look at it yet as he was giving it to me and then told me about how he designed it himself, how he decided to not do a diamond from a past conversation we had about the movie "Blood Diamond", how he asked/told my dad that he wanted to marry me, and how he didn't want to wait until I came home for Christmas to propose even though he had no way of planning it out in Bogota, Colombia.)

I later told him that I had pointed him out to my friends at church sometime in February/March of 2006, before ever officially meeting him, as the guy I thought I was going to marry, even though I didn't believe it myself and new I was crazy for saying it outloud (but my friends new I was crazy so they didn't think anything of it). I think I am finally getting over the shock that this actually happened and that I am not dreaming (even though it is a dream).

So I am engaged and maybe by July or October of 2008 I will be Mrs. Alan Wilser or as the students at my school say, he will be Mr. Mclambcito.

So my request is that you be praying for us both as we are apart from each other while I finish up my year in Bogota and while he is who-knows-where, as we plan for marriage, as best possible without being together, and that God will bless this time apart to help bring us together as one.

Special Visitor

2007-11-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

Reason 2 for my lack of blogging...

Oct 26- Nov 8

ALAN came to visit! I imagine the anticipation was beginning to drive myself and everyone else around me crazy since I had started counting down a month before the arrival. On Friday I left early from school with Rafa and Rodrigo, the principal's husband and son to retrieve my wonderfully goodlooking boyfriend from the El Dorado Bogota Airport. Of course we were running behind schedule since I was depending on Colombians to get me there but that was ok becuase Alan was flying from Nicaragua which meant he was also on Latin American time and running late. Rafa stood at the exit with me and tried to calm down my jitters and remind me that it is better to go to the restroom than to pee on myself from excitement. We waited and watched the exit for 30 minutes hoping that Alan would be the next to walk around the corner and then finally he appeared, as goodlooking if not better than I had remembered, but he was walking to the other exit. So I shot across to the other exit as quickly as possible, dogging everyone else who was waiting for their (not quite as special as mine) visitors, and grabbed him from over the railing; An incredible memory that I will never forget. It felt unreal that he was finally here with me. That night we went to dinner, I showed him around the neighborhood a bit, and introduced him to my "family" here in Colombia.

Saturday the roomates had people over for a costume party to celebrate my birthday. Sunday, we went to church and explored a small porcion of the city (in the rain) and had a nice dinner. Monday (a special day that deserves its own special blog after this one is finished) I took the day off and we saw other parts of the city and went to Monserrate. Tues-Friday I worked and showed him what my life in Colombia is like as best I could. Friday- Monday we went out of town with some other teachers. Then on Thursday he left to go back to Nicaragua.

A great nearly 2 weeks that allowed me no time to update a blog because I spent every available moment with the guy I love!

Hacker

2007-11-07T07:39:00.000-08:00

So if you are wondering why I haven't posted a blog in a while, here is one explanation...

Oct 20- Oct 25: HACKER

On Saturday, October 20th I was talking online to Alan, my boyfriend, and getting ready for an all day concert "Raza de Campeones" of 5 Spanish Christian artists that I was super excited about. Alan mentioned to me that he had just received an email from me saying that I am was Africa. I told him that Bethany, a friend of mine here, had used my computer the day before and was probably playing a joke on him since he was going to be flying here next week. Then he copied and pasted the email into our chat and immediately it was no longer a joke. Someone had stolen my password and sent an email to everyone on my contact list. Alan noticed that I was signed in on my email chat so he sent a message and the "kcmacHacker" responded. He continued to email people on my contact list for a few days and ask for money from anyone who responded to the initial email. A few of my friends here created a fake email and went along with kcmachacker's scam for a few days. It was quite entertaining at times and lightened up the situation a bit, especially when "Dave Gonzalez" reminded "kcmachacker" of their love affair and the poetry and love songs and memories they had shared. To make it even more hilarious, Kcmachacker went along with it and said things like "I am crying", "I'm so sorry I did that to you", "Don't leave your wife for me, I don't deserve you", etc. However, the laughter did not completely dissolve how violated I felt and the feelings of losing part of my identity since so much of my life depends on internet and email while I am in Colombia. I had no way of contacting everyone that received the email because I did not have a list of my contacts. Fortunately kcmachacker does not speak very good English so it wasn't a very believable email. I also had stored many important things inside my email over the past year such as bank info, credit card numbers, passwords, plane tickets, and very special emails from very special people that I had saved as memories. AND since my Blog is through Google and connected with my Gmail account, I was unable to access it as well which explains me not updating everyone on the situation.

But good news! By the end of the week Gmail had responded and I was able to reclaim my email identity. I guess the positives are that I learned not to trust and depend on the internet so much and to not store important private info out in www land. I also saw how many people stand up for me and help out in tough situations. When my email was returned to me I read many emails that were sent to the hacker defending me. Many of the responses were witnessing to him and sharing our faith with him and it was such a blessing to read the message that those people were trying to share with him even if he blew them off. So, thanks to everyone who helped contact people and who helped me through that tough week!

Colombia law says no school this week...

2007-10-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we were informed that we were not allowed to have school the week of Oct.8-12. Since High Schoolers and Middle Schoolers needs a certain number of hours to graduate, we had to find some way around the system.

When we learned this a few weeks ago, I was informed in a meeting that they wanted me to help with an English Tutoring workshop for the students. Later that week I became the organizer of the entire day. I had to get the bus route organized, set up a lunch fundraiser, send home permission forms and info, and find 5-6 volunteers to teach sessions. The purpose of the day was to train the students by providing them with strategies, knowledge, and resources to use to help tutor students in the school with low English and also to consider careers or side jobs teaching English. All of the preparation work was stressful but turned out well on Monday. However, the day was super stressful for many reasons. First of all, 3 teachers over 90 students is not fun especially when they are dealing with so many changes at one time. They didnt have to wear their uniforms, they are on vacation from normal school days, they are learning stuff they will not be tested on and most likely will not use in the near future, etc. The morning was difficult trying to get them all quiet, then any transition time between sessions was crazy and I was constantly worrying if students were where they should be. Other staff was at school while this was going on, just doing other stuff so they couldn't be available to monitor students. All of the teachers were saying "just make it through the day and it will be a success" because we wouldn't be able to get much more out of the students this week. I did make it through the day and it did get easier as the day went on but I do not want to do it again, at least not without some other staff helping out.

Tuesday's event was service projects around the city to help students complete their required service hours for graduation. The staff was assigned to groups as chaperones. All groups traveled south to the poor part of the city were most of the service projects would take place. Our group went to a homeless and rehabiliation center called Hogar Nuevo Nacimiento (house of new birth). This shelter, which is funded by the government, was very nicely put together and seems to be sucessful in its efforts. The families live their for 6 months while they try to get their life stable for being on their own. Some of the families are their because of economic struggles, others because of drug and alcohol problems, and some because their husbands left them on the street pregnant with 5 kids. Each family has a room with a bathroom and a bed for every family member. They are fed and given a few pieces of clothes as well. While there, they are expected to keep their living space clean as well as help out around the shelter by cleaning, caring for the children, and cooking meals. After the 6 months they are expected to move into an apartment and find a job. I am not sure what happens if they do not do this or if they are unable to find a home or job. The situations that these families are in is heartbreaking. Many of the families are single moms and their many children, most moms expecting, and no father because they leave the women when they are pregnant and the women always take them back when they decide to return to the family. Other families have both parents but one or both may be dealing with an addiction and not supporting the family therefore they were out on the streets. Then there is Florecita. She is a mentally retarded mother, with one child and expecting a second, both from her stepfather who raped her and is now in prison. She cannot take care of herself because of her disability and definitely cannot care for her children. It is so hard to comprehend that someone could be so sick to do such a thing, but unfortunately it happens.

So anyway, I guess I was reminded that a stressful day at school is nothing compared to the lives of other people such as those at Hogar Nuevo Nacimiento. It was a good experience and I am glad that I finally got a chance to get down south outside of my box here in northern Bogota.

Top Ten Cultural Differences I am struggling with...

2007-09-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

This is a list of things we laugh about and struggle with due to the bumping of cultures. Of course, these are not things that everyone who lives here does, but just like people all over the world have stereotypes of Americans, we have formed our own ideas of the culture here. This is meant for me to look back on later and say, "I remember when that was weird to me" or "I was totally wrong about that" or even "what cultural difference?, that's completely normal". So just know that I am taken back sometimes by these differences that I have to adjust to but not enough to take away the love I have for Colombia and the people.

10- And my mom tells me I exaggerate...
Colombians are super protective of their children. Many times I have heard of parents who get upset for their children having to run a few laps at sport practice after school or for having to participate in class when they have a headache or stomache ache. Kids go to the nurse for EVERYTHING! The foreign teachers struggle with this because we are used to being pushed and not pitied unless it was an extreme case like vomiting or a broken leg so we often don't let students get out of work because of a simple leg cramp or cough (I'm probably exaggerating a little). Also, something I find pretty ridiculous and hard for me to comply with is that when people (kids and teachers) are sick, we have to wear face masks. I felt like I was mocking the nurse (who is super sweet) by not wearing my face mask when I had a cold last week... I just didn't want to look funny but I probably should have worn the mask. Maybe next time.

9- Greetings to you
In Latin American culture, to say hello and goodbye to someone you kiss them on the cheek. I like this better than shaking hands because it seems so much more personal. However, sometimes I feel a bit too lazy to kiss everyone and their grandmother goodbye. At church, friends' homes, school, and other places where there are large numbers of people, many that you don't know, it gets pretty annoying. It can take 30 minutes or longer to say your goodbyes so you have start leaving way ahead of time because it can't stop at a kiss...you have to say what you are doing later, where you are going, why you are leaving early, when you will see the person again, and what a pleasure it was to meet the person and hang out. In the US, we say bye to a few of the people who we are close to and then, maybe, wave to everyone else in the room. I have tried a few times to wave from the other side of the room but then felt like I was being rude and disrespectful. I am definitely going to have to put more effort into making this a part of my lifestyle here as it is soooo important. I love it but it doesn't come natural.

8- Higher Prices
Us Foreigners are often overcharged at small stores, services, and when buying things off the street because we are Gringos. If they weren't set off by our clothing, hair color, or eye color, they obviously can hear from our bad spanish that we are not from these parts. When Colombians are with us, they tell us to move away and let them purchase the items for us because they will get a better price. We paid 5,000.00 for an Avocado one day and our maid got one for 2,500.00. I'm pretty sure this doesn't happen in the States or does Walmart only roll back the prices for the Gringos? Guess I will have to dye my hair and work on my accent to fix this problem.

7- Honesty X 10
Colombians tend to tell it like it is. If someone is too skinny, they tell him/her. If someone is having a bad hair day, they tell him/her. If someone does something like drinking or dancing, they let them know their opinion on it. The worst, however, is when someone is overweight. At our gym we are required to meet with a doctor for an exam our first few weeks so they can go over healthy weight loss and that sort of stuff. My friend met with the doctor the other day and he told her that she needed to lose weight and she isnt overweight in my opinion. This isn't that crazy though because the purpose of the doctor is to tell you how to meet your weight goals. But it just isn't nice to tell someone that you think they are fat. Another time a friend and I were browsing some artistan booths and a guy reached over the counter and tapped my friend's stomache to ask when she was due and if it was a boy or girl. She was pretty offended and I would have been as well. By the way, there is very little obesity in Bogota so he may have been giving his opinion of her compared to the size of most women here. Another example of this is a comment made by an incredible lady who works at our school. Bethany and I were sitting with her during dinner at a school event and talking about life, God, the school, and how God brought us to Colombia. The next thing she brought up was her husband's accident which led him to take an herb to help him gain his weight back and she said the herb also helps people lose weight. Then she bluntly said to us that she has been considering giving a guy we know this herb because he is overweight. Bethany and I were shocked that someone so polite and sweet could say such a thing but we kept a straight face to not show offense to her comment but if someone were to say this in the US, she would be informed of her insensitivity. She also mentioned that she would love to take his weight off and put it on another friend of ours who is a bit skinny. Yeah, we were speechless. We couldn't respond either way because we didn't want to be disrespectful to her nor agree with her. I'm pretty sure I will never adjust to someone being so honest about such a thing but I really think that she didn't mean it in a negative way and if she understood our culture, she would feel terrible for having said it. I guess in the US we save face quite a bit and hold back our opinions, even if it is the truth, because it is so important to us to keep peace and not hurt feelings. Also in the US it is normal to see people of all shapes, sizes, hair colors, eye colors, etc. so we don't point out differences as often. Here everyone is pretty much the same size, height, hair color, eye color, skin color, etc.

6- I know the answer!
So it seems that Colombians do not like to dissappoint people. Many times we ask people for directions on the street and we have learned that we often get an answer but it may not be the right answer. Now when taking the bus we are hesitant to ask for help finding the correct route because we may end up going in the opposite direction. Also in stores, if they do not have an item we are looking for they tell us they will order it or find it and to come back next week. The item never turns up, but the manager will continue to tell you that it will be there soon. It's really frustrating actually because I think I would prefer being told no we don't have it, don't know where to find it, or simply I don't know which bus you should take, rather than I can tell you want you want to hear because I want you to be satisfied.

5- Calls, Whistles, and Stares
I'm sure you are aware or have heard from someone that men in latin culture tend to make it obvious when they see a nice looking woman. It's called Machismo. Of course this isn't all men but it happens often enough that it should be on my list. Just yesterday I was at the store outside my house and this older guy was staring at me and began asking me personal questions like where I live and what I do. The gym is another place that we get those looks. Of course having lighter colored hair doesn't help to blend in, but these definitely aren't looks of "she has a different hair color". I don't know how Colombian women feel about this, but to us gringas, it is very disrespectful and distasteful and something we have learned to brush off because maybe these guys don't realize that we feel this way. I've also heard that guys think the word 'no' means 'maybe' and that they can be pretty pushy and get attached very easily. Basically it is hard to not be polite and talk to people, but we know that saying hi could be opening a door that we may have to slam shut.

4- I am from the South
We have been informed by the school that it is not safe to tell people about your personal life, like where you work, where you are from, what your name is, where you live, how old you are, etc. But umm, I am from the south and I tell everyone everything about myself because I trust that people are good or at least in Clinton, NC, everyone knows everyone so it is ok to talk about your life because they probably know it anyway. Here in the big city you obviously shouldn't tell people on the street or the taxi driver about your life and at times this is even hard because I forget that when I am practicing my spanish in Colombia that it isn't a game like in Spanish class. What better time to practice your spanish than in the taxi with the friendly taxi guy who could possibly kidnap you. What is more difficult is not sharing informatin with our doormen who are really nice and helpful that we see everyday and are here to protect us. And it was suggested that we not share information with our wonderful maid Patricia, who is much like a Mother, because she could be tell her friends that she works for Americans and be forced to give the information and our keys to the person threatening her life. Everyone is very serious about keeping this information quite that it must be a big deal and I guess I will have to refrain from being trusting and friendly to so many people.

3-Que hora es? No importa...
Being from the US where we are work driven and money is time, we are very concerned with being on time and maximizing the number of things we get done each day. We know that being late for something is inconvenient for all of the people that have us on their schedule and we wouldn't want them to do that to us. We work until everything on our list is done and often don't make time for the important things like God, family, friends, nature, breathing and resting. Latin Americans do not seem to be as concerned with time. Being late is not a big deal and is almost expected. When I first arrived here, it was very rare to see a clock, so I never knew what time is was and it drove me crazy. No one else seemed to care so I learned to just go with it. Last night we had a birthday dinner at our house for a Colombian friend. We started cooking at 7, which was the time everyone was suposed to arrive. We wanted to food to be ready, but not cold. We had to remind ourselves that they were Colombians to we needed to chill out. Everyone arrived at 7:45 which wasn't too bad.

I am the type of person who hates being late so I get super stressed out if I am on the bus stuck in traffic or if my friends are running behind and making me late. I think I eventually will adjust and it's nice knowing that no one cares if we show up late, but this could really mess me up when I return to the states and am late for work. I doubt my adaptation to this culture will be an accepted excuse.

Another thing about time is that everything is last minute. No one makes plans or schedules things too far ahead of time (unless it is work related). I am such a planner and I like having things written in my calendar so I know what to expect a week or month ahead. When we take weekend trips, they are often planned the day before or even 2 hrs before. Dinner plans, birthday parties, day trips, and all other events are planned a few hours before. I have a hard time waiting until the last minute and often find myself nagging people about plans but I am trying to hold back. I have started telling everyone 'no' who asks me to do something a few days in advance because I want to wait until the last minute to see how many last minute things come up on that day. So, when I come back for Christmas, if I tell you I can't commit to anything yet, remember the culture I have been living in and call me a few hours before you want to hang out and don't expect me to be my normal punctual self.

2- Social Status
In Bogota, there is a definite line of social status. The neighborhoods are divided into stratas. Strata 6 is the highest and Strata 1, the poorest. They charge your utilities bills accordingly, therefore, if you live in strata 6, you pay higher utility bills but will also get better quality internet, cable, and your electricity will be more consistent. The lower the strata, the poorer the quality of these things, the lesser the safety, and the more often you will lose electricity. I think we live in Strata 5.

Another clear division we see in social status are the jobs and the pay for those jobs. Services are very cheap. I have mentioned that we have a maid. We pay her 25,000 a day which is equal to 15 dollars for a 8 hours of work. She lives about an hour bus ride from our house because she can't afford to live in the city. We have been told we actually pay more than the normal wage for a maid and we often give her gifts. Hair cut and wash= 4-5 dollars. Deliveries of groceries and meals= 50 cent tip. You get the point. This seems to be a way of keeping the wealth with the wealth and keeping the poor, poor so that these services can continue to be offered to the wealthy. We really struggle with this and usually over tip (by alot) simply because we can and these people work super hard and are cheerful even though they live a tough life. We have been told that it is better to keep things the way the Colombians do it and I am not really sure what harm it would do if we didn't follow their system. Maybe they think that if we pay them more, they will begin to be dissatisfied with the way things are and start protesting. If this is it, it still isn't right. There are many wealthy people in this city and it would be awesome to see a transformation in their hearts which would cause them to have a burden for the poor, orphans, street kids, homeless, and lower class.

1- No cutting
On a lighter note, we have noticed a large amount of cutting...line cutting. For awhile I just thought the kids at school were super rude and had no manners or respect for adults. In the lunch line and at the school store, Kids are constantly skipping. Then it started to become more noticeable everywhere else. While waiting in line at the bakery with my arms full of bread, a man pushed right in front of me and put his stuff on the counter. In the bathroom at church a lady pushed us out of the way and stepped right in front of us to get to the stall. Everytime this happens (which is at least once a day), we look at each other and think what is wrong with these people. We have decided it must be a cultural thing and that it is weird to us because in the US we are very concious of equality and fairness and making sure everyone gets what they deserve. The concept of a line is in place so that whoever is there first gets what they need first. It makes since to me and I am trying to hold back my corrective comments and dirty looks when I am skipped in line.

Breakdown

2007-09-18T06:56:00.000-07:00

So I am sick at home right now with "el gripe" (sounds extreme but it's just a bad cold). Yesterday I went in to work late and left early and today I couldn't bring myself to attempt getting out into the city. At first I was like this is terrible. I have too much work to do at school to be sick.

Now I'm thankful for this time to slow down now. I guess in a way I'm getting what I asked for. I have been annoyed lately with how busy I am and how I have so much stuff going on that my time with God gets pushed to the end of the list of things to do, meaning it usually doesn't happen. I've been praying that God would help me to make that time a priority. It makes a huge difference in my attitude about the work I have been doing because it's become just that- work. I'm sure God is not happy with this because it's not from my heart and therefore, it's not pleasing to him. Jeff mentioned a passage from Isaiah a few weeks ago about the Isrealites' worship being worthless because they had lost the real meaning behind their sacrifices, incense, etc. I guess in a way the things I have been doing here lately have gotten to that point.

My being sick is probably God's way of slowing me down so I will spend some time with him and get the focus back on Him. It's amazing how I expected my time here with God to be the best it has ever been since I followed Him here. The first part of this adventure was incredible so I assumed I was going to be used to make a difference here in this country and that everyday God's purpose in me coming here would be obvious and clear. He has been working through us, I'm sure; it just hasn't been the way we expected.

This morning I was listening to some sermons and then to Jack Johnson. A song came on called Breakdown and I think the words describe how I have felt in all the busyness lately, so I pasted the song below...

"Breakdown"
I hope this old train breaks down
Then I could take a walk around
And, see what there is to see
And time is just a melody
All the people in the street
Walk as fast as their feet can take them
I just roll through town
And though my windows got a view
The frame im looking through
Seems to have no concern for now
So for now

I need this old train to breakdown
Oh please just let me please breakdown

This engine screams out loud
Centipede gunna crawl westbound
So I don't even make a sound
Cause it's gunna sting me when I leave this town
All the people in the street
That i'll never get to meet
If these tracks don't bend somehow
And I got no time
That I got to get to
Where I don't need to be

So I need this old train to breakdown
Oh please just let me please breakdown
I need this here old train to breakdown
Oh please just let me please breakdown

I wanna break on down
But I cant stop now
Let me break on down
But you cant stop nothing
If you got no control
Of the thoughts in your mind
That you kept in, you know
You don't know nothing
But you don't need to know
The wisdom's in the trees
Not the glass windows
You cant stop wishing
If you don't let go
But things that you find
And you lose, and you know
You keep on rolling
Put the moment on hold
The frames too bright
So put the blinds down low

I think, I hope, that this is the "Breakdown" I needed to get my focus back where it should be so that I don't look back and regret this time here. I want to put the moments on hold, walk around and see what there is to see, meet the people, enjoy the melody of the now because "I have no time that I need to get to, where I don't need to be". So I guess this is where I slow down and appreciate where God has called me to right now in my life and hand my time and schedule back over to him. "You can't stop wishing if you don't let go"...I keep wishing/wanting other ways to serve God outside of the school world but maybe I should let go and let Him direct what I do; He's the one who brought me here in the first place so he must know where and how he wants to use me.

There are many stories in the Bible that talk about toil/work and worship. One is the well known story of Mary and Martha definitely relates to my life the past few weeks- Jesus is pleased with Mary who is worshipping Him instead of working like Martha (who thought she was doing work for Him).

One more favorite Jack Johnson line that is similar to what God has been trying to tell me the past weeks is: "If you would only listen, you might just realize what you are missing, you're missing me". So simple to say but it's always so hard to let go of those things we think are so important on our list of things to do to make time for what is really missing- God, who will "equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever." (Hebrews 13:21)

Millionaros vs. Santa Fe

2007-09-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

On Sunday night, Bethany, Whitney, and I went with Mafe and her brother and uncle, and two fathers with their sons, to a soccer game. The two teams playing were the Millionaros and Santa Fe, both from Bogota. This was a pretty cool game to us because their is a battle at school over the two teams and which is better. Most of the school are Millionaros fans but we have a few pretty intense Santa Fe fans, one of which used to play for Santa Fe.

So, we payed our 20,000 (10 dollars) for a ticket and went to El Campin (the stadium) wearing blue for the Millionaros. I bought a Jersey that Mr. Chomoro bargained to lower the price to 18,000 (9 dollars)- so cheap! We had great seats right in the middle of the feild and in the highest section. The excitement from both teams was incredible (probably something like a Carolina vs. NCState game). However, the fans get a bit more violent than college football fans. Did you know that when the Colombian scored a point for the wrong team a few years ago, the fans killed him when he returned to the country...ridiculous! There were fully armed and sheilded policia everywhere and when a player threw the ball in from the sidelines, 4-5 Policia with their sheilds would surround him to block him from the crowd. We felt pretty safe there but I definitely will not cheer for the Millos in front of a stranger from the other team. The players are also pretty violent towards each other, I guess that could be assumed, but I guess in the US you don't see that so much because of all the rules that we have for games to avoid disorder. One of the Millios players fell down and a Santa fe player offered to help him up. That seemed like the right thing to do but then a Millos player ran up and pulled the Santa Fe's hand away from the Millos' because it must be insulting to be helped by the opposite team...geez.

While there we learned some chants from the Millos fans, many of which we also learned new words that we had to bleep out, and new futbol (soccer) vocabulary in spanish. It was neat to feel like we actually fit in. Normally we are the ones who look different, but wearing the blue and cheering made us feel like Colombians and part of their culture.

The final score was 1-0 Millos, yay! It was a great game and definitely a learning experience.

Staff Retreat, Dia del Amor y Amistad, etc...

2007-09-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

Thursday, Sept. 6 all of the El Camino Teachers left for staff retreat weekend in Tocaima, a small city about 3 hrs down the mountain away from Bogota. The retreat center was simple but incredible. We had the whole place to ourselves. All weekend we were served Colombian foods, and, of course, soup before every meal because T.I.C. The retreat center had two pools, a meeting room where we had meeting, worship, and devotions, and two hotel type buildings. We were assigned rooms randomly so that we would get to know staff that we often do not get to spend time with which meant mixing the English speakers with Spanish speakers (fortunately I speak spanish unlike some of the other americans). We had a great time getting to know everyone better and developing the relationships that will helps our staff work together and get along well this year. A few of the board members came along on the trip so we were able to spend time getting to know them and their vision for the school. Most of them are missionaries themselves so it was neat hearing their stories of how God brought them to Colombia and the work they are doing. They all have children at the school, some of their own and others that they adopted from Colombian orphanages.

We played lots of games in the pool and the last night learned a few spanish games. My favorite is "el rey y la reina se van a casar" which is a fun game of repetition and sequence that I can't explain without teaching it. It was a very refreshing weekend and we felt very blessed that the school could budget such a trip. It's awesome that they know that the school will not function without those relationships being strong.

The retreat ended when we returned to Bogota Saturday night exhausted. Sunday morning a few of us stayed home and listed to my church in Raleigh's sermon online (which I am soooo thankful to have access to). Those have been talking about social justice and charity which is pretty cool because God has been teaching me alot lately that related to the past few messages at Visio Dei (my church).

I've been pretty upset lately that most of my time is spent at the school and hanging out with staff because everyday I pass by homeless people, or hear of how little people are paid for their services, or learn more about the orphanages all around the city. I really want to be involved in other things and find other ways to give to people in this country but everyone continues to remind me that God called me here to teach and that I am also still adjusting to the culture and getting to know my surroundings. Hopefully I will soon find more ways to serve the people here.

One thing I haven't mentioned to many people is that we have a maid. Her name is Patricia and she is incredible. She works for many of the Americans here and calls us her gringos. I'm sure it sounds a bit weird that missionaries are paying for people to clean their homes and that's how I felt at first. Then, after meeting Patricia and hearing her story, we learned that she is from a poorer part of Bogota and supports her daughter and grandchild. She is an amazing lady and treats us like her own daughters. In many ways, we are her ministry and she is ours. In this country, jobs such as hers pay very little. We pay about 15 dollars for a whole day of her work which is more than she would normally make and she does way more than we would expect of her. She has become a friend and part of our family here in Colombia. She goes out of her way to make sure we are comfortable. She even offered to clean the guys place knowing that they don't have sufficient support raised to pay her because she says God is the one who gives her the finances she needs to survive and support her family.

After everyone else got back from church Sunday, they came over to watch the cubs play san diego since everyone expect me seems to be from Chicago area. Afterwards we cooked dinner and moved the furniture out to do some salsa and merengue dancing. (Did I mention that I love this part of the culture?!) It was muy chevere.

The following week was pretty busy for many reasons. The President of our missions organization, RCE, came to visit us to make sure everything was working out with our support and insurance type stuff. Beth, our principal put me in charge of organizing and hosting a dinner for him on Thursday night. It was stressful but fun getting that together. Patricia helped with the cooking of Ajiaco, a Colombian soup, and plantanos, yuca, guacamole, arepas, maracuya juice, lulo juice, and the deserts. It was muy rico and a fun, informative night.

Friday we celebrated "el dia de amor y amistad" at school. This is Colombia's equavalent to "Valentines Day". The student council had a flower sale which was very sucessful. We have sooo many flowers around our house that the students and staff gave us!! Saturday we celebrated again at Johnny and Susie's home, a couple that work at the school. They had a dance party and invited people from their church that are our age. It was fun getting to know more colombians and they taught us more salsa and merengue and a few other dances.

New House and More Roommates

2007-09-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago, Me and my two roommates, Melody and Liz, moved from our small, third floor, one bath, empty Mirandela apartment to a beautiful 3 story, 3 bathroom, fully furnished house with a garden! It was definitely a blessing from God that we were given this place to live. A couple, who worked at the school last year and were planning on returning to teach this year, decided last minute that they were not going to come back this year. (You may remember from previous blogs my thoughts about the situation and having to take over some kindergarten classes because of their decision to stay in the US). Everything has worked itself out now and we are super excited about living in a place that feels like a home. We were also given many extras that aren't so necessary for living in a foreign country as missionaries such as a video projector and surround sound that we can hook up to our computers to watch movies on the big screen that pulls down in our living room! We are loving the company that comes with having such a cool piece of equipment! Another really awesome thing we "inherited" that everyone can take advantage of, if you'd like, is a US phone. That means anyone, anywhere in the US, who wants to hear my voice over the phone, can call for free! The phone works through the internet and we pay only $25 total for unlimited calls! (I really really really love this because it is so much more convenient to talk to my wonderful boyfriend. And, my parents can call me instead of worrying for hours if I have been kidnapped yet!). It's amazing how this simple piece of technology can make me feel less far away from the people I care about! Maybe homesickness won't be too much of a problem this year. Anyway, if you want the number, let me know!

Saturday night, Rebecca, the fourth of our roommates arrived. On Sunday we went to the only English speaking church in the city (as far as we know) and then took Rebecca up the mountain to a favorite restaurant of ours called "La Mazorca" which is great for typical Colombia food.

Tuesday night my 5th and final roommate, Katherine, arrived. It is going to be a fun, but interesting year, living with 5 girls! We are all pretty different but have lots of fun together exploring Bogota and other parts of the country. I do not doubt that we will have conflicts at times, but we are all we have here and we are similar in that way. So far the only stressful thing about living in this big house with so many roommates was finding beds and getting the beds to our house from the guys' house (which sounds simple but dealing with the laid back view of time in latin american culture means you could wait around for hours or days or weeks before something gets done). Also, because of construction of our neighborhood road (that has been going on for 6 months) we lost water Tuesday, which was the day before staff picture day at school, and for 2 days we couldn't work our gas to warm the water. Anytime something happens like this, we, the Americans, say "T.I.C." aka "This is Colombia". So if you ever want to travel to Colombia, don't worry about the guerillas because that is not a problem. So far, the biggest problems we have had is understanding and adjusting to the different culture.

I will be on a staff retreat for school at 3pm today until saturday night so I will load some pictures when I return. We are going to Tocaima, which is about 2 hrs down the mountain, which also means it will be 20 degrees warmer (hopefully at least 80 degrees)!

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the end of your summer (I am really missing the warm weather)! Thanks for your prayers and support!

Espinal and Prado

2007-08-20T17:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend we travelled to Espinal to a Finca owned by a family that has children at our school. It was very last minute, as most things are here in Colombia, but we were all thankfu that we went. As always, everytime we are invited to do something, it turned out to be an incredible experience. The Finca is in "hot country", about 5 hours from Bogota. We arrived Saturday night about 11pm to this beautiful house in the countryside. The car rides are some of the most exciting parts of our trip since all 11 of us are packed tight in a van...I'm starting to be curious about why we say "packed in like a bunch of mexicans" because at times we have had 17 people in this same van. I've decided to start saying "packed in like a bunch of Colombians".

We stopped at a restaurant in "Mesa" on the way to eat dinner saturday night where we ordered a three big platters of chicken, potatoes, and platano. This seems to be typical of colombia meals and is delicious! However, we were not given plates or utensiles to eat with which was fine until we saw the sink area, which is in the middle of the restaurant for everyone to use openly. There you have a community bar of soap and a community bath towel to dry your hands. Once again, not so bad until you see the dirty stains on the towel and a lady dry her hands and then wipe her nose on the towel...which was followed by a friend of mine dying her hands on it not having seen what the lady had jut used it for. It was awesome! And of course after that we dared each other to use the towel...

Saturday night at the Finca we swam for a few hours which was so relaxing because it was very warm there which is hard to believe being only a few hours outside of cold Bogota. The Finca was so beautiful and we were so blessed to be able to get out of the city and see nature again. I cannot express with words how gorgeous this country is and I was in awe of this place that God has created that so many travelers have not yet seen because of the dangers of the country. Most of the territory we were in this weekend was Guerilla territory a year ago.

Sunday morning we woke up early, had a Colombian breakfast of arepas, eggs, fruit, and of course hot chocolate, then headed out towards Prado, another of God's amazing creations. This place is a lake, surrounded by huge mountains where everyone who lives there travels by boat because there is no road system. My pictures do not do it show the so everyone is just going to have to come see it for themselves (or you can see the video that I took while out on the boat). The area is not very touristy because the guerillas lived here only a year and a half ago and had run everyone out of the area except for the family on the island where we spent most of the day. The property we were on at first looked pretty run down but soon felt like turns on the boat and while waiting swam in the lake where later, we found out that there are sting rays that you have to scare away from the sand, and crocodiles in low water areas. I didn't get back in the shallow areas the rest of the day except to get in and out of the boat. paradise undiscovered. We took naps in the hammocks on the island mid-day and then had a huge colombian lunch with maracuya juice...mi favorito! After lunch we went out to find some high cliffs where we went cliff jumping, which was a highlight. Later that afternoon we headed back to the boat ramp to head back to the finca in Espinal where Sancocho, a Colombian traditional soup, was waiting.

Today we woke up early and drove back to Bogota. The view of the mountains coming back up was incredible. All of the natural beauty of this country has taken over my heart and all I can think of is how awesome our God is to create such beauty for us to enjoy and that he must really love us alot, much like how I want everyone I care about to be able to enjoy this beauty with me.

On the way home, Rafa, my principal's husband who is absolutely hilarious, and his son, Rodrigo, discovered that the windsheild wiper fluid sprayer actually is aimed to the right and shoots pretty far and so they begin spraying it as we passed pedestrians walking along side the road. What was even funnier is when we passed the guards/military men standing along the road and sprayed them as well...probably not the kindest thing for us to do but it wasnt spraying them alot because we weren't going too slow and it was warm so we were actually doing them a favor. What a great time road trips can be!

So we are back in Bogota now ready to begin the week (today was a holiday, we have one like every other week in this country).

And to update on my meeting last week: a teacher who was taking time off this year volunteered to do half days so I will only do kindergarten 2-3 hours twice a week to fill in for when she is not there, which would be a normal amount of time to spend with those kinder ESL kids. What a relief!

Thanks for everyone who is reading about my adventures...I'm sure it seems like all I do is travel and have fun but I promise I work too! We have just been really blessed with opportunities to get to know the country and the people here.

Guatavita trip, and a difficult situation

2007-08-16T17:43:00.001-07:00

So, after two weeks of not blogging and updating I have many new experience to tell about. My third roomate arrived, we took a day trip out of the city to Guatavita, school started, we went to a salsa festival called "salsa en el parque", I learned how to make many tasty colombian juices, we found a house to rent nearby some of our friends, and tomorrow there is a chatnce I will become the kindergarten teacher instead of ESL...

The trip to Guatavita was really cool. We heard the history of the lagoon and how many people have spent tons of money searching for the gold that was thrown into the bottom of the lagoon as a tribal ritual to their god's. We also heard a story of the "three viejas" (three old women) which is the name of a set of mountains near the lagoon...the leader of the tribe was the only one permitted to have more than one wife and three of the women were not happy with this so they ran away from him. He saw them running in a distance and turned them into mountains so now the mountains are named "the three old women". I have also added a few picutures of us at the lagoon.

Also on that trip we had some fun taking pictures of random people we passed along the way. You will see three men standing in their gauchos...they thought we were strange for taking pictures of them. Then a friend of mine tried to sit next to a group of men at a small store and they all got up and walked away...probably because he is red-headed and looked pretty odd to them.

After Guatavita we had lunch at a outdoor recreation club. The view was gorgeous! I took some video that I will have to show when I return to the US of us on this swing thing...definitely the coolest swing ever! It is a telephone pole with three swings hanging that we each layed in on our stomaches and ran around in circles. On one side of the pole is a cliff so you run on the ground and then when you get to the cliff you fly through the air. This is probably not the safest thing for kids to play on which is most likely why I have never seen one of these in the USA.

The school year has started off great! The first day of school, July 7th, we had an opening day picnic which the families were all invited to and 85% of the families showed up. It was neat meeting the parents and they are all so friendly and welcoming (we practiced our spanish alot that day!). After a week of observing all grade level teachers and students, presenting at a few meetings about how to teach ESL kids, filling in for teachers, and helping out around the school, I am exhausted. I haven't had to do much planning like the other teachers but it is pretty stressful coordinating a schedule for ESL kids that works around all K-12 core classes and trying to fit in a few English classes for our Spanish speaking staff members. Today I was able to chaperone a enjoyable 7th grade field trip to the botanical gardens which I will try to load some pictures of. This was really fun and I was able to see this part in the city without having to pay. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to go on more of these throughout the school year.

Sunday after church a few of us had lunch at our principal's home with her family. It's always a great experience when we join them because they know exactly how to help us experience the country. Afterwards we had plans to go to "salsa en el parque" with some of the single teachers and so the principal's son and daughter went with us. Rodrigo, the son, drove us so we got out of getting lost in the city and paying bus fees...always a plus. The salsa festival was cool and free and they even played songs that I knew. I was able to do a little salsa dancing and I have talked some of the girls into taking lessons, so that is very exciting! This guy from Cali, Colombia- the "salsa capital of the world" as he mentioned, tried to teach us some Colombian salsa moves. He also told us that he has cousins who live in Miami and we said what part- he said Los Angeles. We asked a few times to make sure he understood our spanish but he definitely thinks Miami is a state and Los Angeles is the capital.

As for this week...it has been pretty stressful for me. A couple that taught at the school last year, who are due to have their first child in October, have pushed back their travel date and sort of added an extra load to many peoples plates who have to fill their spots. We are still unsure of when or if they will return to teach this year so the school is exploring other options. The principal mentioned to me that she would like me to consider, and pray about, working with the kindergarteners to fill one of the roles...at first this sounded ok because 15/20 students in the class do not speak any english. Basically I would be working with them anyway so spending 2 hrs a day in the class wouldn't be too bad. However, I think she was thinking more of letting me take over kindergarten as the head teacher, and then in the afternoons teach ESL to everyone else who needs it. This didn't sound too terrible until I was talking to the temporary fill in teacher about upset parents who have been calling her with concerns and the hassle of doing report cards, etc. If I were to take this on I would be filling two jobs at the school and I wouldn't be with these kids enough of the day to answer their questions, like why their child used the bathroom on himself after lunch, because I was only in the room during the morning hours. And the report cards I would be doing would be based on things I wasn't able to see because I wouldn't be with the kids all day.

And so all week I have been waiting to hear what the future of Kindergarten will look like and yet need to be planning something but can't until I know which job I will have. To add to my stress, everyone is telling me their list of kids who do not speak english and need my help. And everyone wants to know when I am going to start helping their kids and the staff wants to know when I am going to start giving them English lessons and the pastor wants me to volunteer on saturdays downtown to teach our parents English, and so I am completely overwhelmed with the present situation and whether or not I should sacrifice my passion and my desire to serve the ESL kids so that the kindergarten can have a teacher. The Principal and Elementary supervisors have been meeting all week to work out this mess. Tomorrow I have a meeting with the principal to find out what is going to happen and I am hopeful that God will help me to be content either way this works out even if it comes to being with kindergarteners all day everyday. I have the choice to say no to all of these things and that's why it is so hard. I want to help and serve everyone here in everyway I can, but my friends are encouraging me to take care of myself mentally and physically and set limits meaning that saying "no" is ok. Please pray for me, that I will make the right decision and be willing to sacrifice what I want if that is what is needed of me.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers in advance and I will let you know how it turns out...

Love,
Casey

Pics and updates

2007-07-31T18:32:00.000-07:00

Buenas Noches todos! I finally have internet after we spent two hours on the phone yesterday with spanish speaking internet service guy. So, here is a quick update of a few experiences I have had here...these are the good ones. I can share the others later when I am back in the USA and my parents won't have to worry about me anymore.

Here are some pictures of my first week in Bogota....they are few because I am still a bit nervous about taking my camera out in public or on the street drawing attention to the fact that I am a foreigner. Plus it is important that I watch my surroundings and hold tight to my stuff since we are in a big city.

There are a few pictures of the school where I am teaching. These are a few of the new school building. The old building is really cool too so I will get some pics of that soon. You will also see my wonderful view of the mountains, "la cordillera de los Andes", from the school. Remember, Bogota is at 8,660 ft in altitude so it isn't hot here as many would expect from a country close to the equator. The homes here have neither heat nor AC so we depend on the windows and sunlight. It's perfect!

Other pictures are of my first weekend here...the beautiful mountains and lake picture is close to where we had lunch after church on Sunday with the Principal of my school and her husband, as well as a well known singing group in the Christian Latin American community in the US and Latin America who was here to perform at some concerts. The singer, Ingrid Rosario, is Colombian but grew up in the US and attended Liberty University (however, she graduated in '98 so you Liberty people probably haven't heard of her). It was neat spending the day with them and getting to know them because they have an incredible passion for ministering to people through their music. Also, you will see the view on our small hike up the mountains right outside of Bogota. The cross was on the mountain where will were standing. You may notice how close the clouds are...I am soo amazed every time I look at the sky.

Other pictures are of the city while we have been on walks.

This weekend we are going on a few day trips so I should get some beautiful pictures of the city view from las montanas. Friday some of the group is going to take a chair lift type thing up to Monserrate where we will have dinner. Saturday we are taking a day hiking trip to Guatavita where we will see a laguna and maybe some other pieces of nature that Colombia has to offer. So be expecting more pictures.

Lastly, today at school during our staff meeting it was brought up that a family who has been part of the school for many years is struggling financially and cannot afford to send their four kids to the school anymore. The father's family business was shut down a few years ago because of bigger industries taking over and cannot find consistent job that can support his family. The mother has been working various jobs to make do but they are quickly going in debt. The school has tried to help them as much as possible the past few years but there isn't much more they can do. The children have a huge positive influence on their peers and are very well rounded. Many of us teachers have considered offering our stipend to them to help with the tuition but we are already on a tight budget and they want us to leave that as a last option. For the four kids to attend the school, it will cost the family 1,000 US dollars per month. This is important to me because the mother was very welcoming to me during my first few days here and was willing to give everything she had without letting their financial situation keep her from welcoming us to her country. If you, or anyone you know, are looking for a place to donate, the family would be very grateful and surprised, so please email me!

Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers. Miss you all!

-Casey

I am still alive!

2007-07-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

So I have had a great first week in Bogota although it started out a bit tough. I am getting used to the culture and the people and am already feeling a sense of family here at the school. Unfortunately I still do not have internet at my apartment but hopefully that will get worked out soon. Some of the teachers from last year said it took a month or more before their internet was working properly. We have a very busy week here at school now that it has officially started for staff and we have meetings all day. When I do finally get internet I will try to update my blog and send an email update of the exciting things that I am experiencing here and hopefully some pictures.... So this is just to say hang on and I will get to it muy pronto. Also, if you want me to add you to my email list...email me at kcmac82@gmail.com or leave your email on here in the comment part.
Hasta pronto!

I have arrived!

2007-07-30T19:39:00.001-07:00

7/23/2007
Many of you may have gotten this in email but I havent had time to write two seperate updates and I would have repeated myself anyway...

I am in Bogota, Colombia!!! Yesterday I flew from Raleigh to Atlanta to Aruba to Bogota. I arrived at 8pm and it was raining and dark so I wasnt able to see the beautiful mountains. One of the parents who has a child at the school picked me up at the airport and it was very easy to find him. I met a few Bogotanos while travelling from aruba to Bogota and they were very nice and helpful as if they were old family friends. Everyone else that I have met here is really nice as well. I stayed with a family last night with two adorable kids- Tatiana, 5, and Esteban, 3. It was a very warm welcoming. It was kind of cold last night and this morning I was told that no apartments in Bogota have heat. Christina, the mother, took me around the city this afternoon a bit to show me a nice park and restaraunts. I went to the school today to meet everyone that has arrived so far and was able to see my classroom\office which is the size of a bathroom or large closet. It is a good size though because I will pull only 3-5 students at a time to teach them english and other times I will be helping within the regular classrooms to assist the teacher with students who have lower english levels. A lady who works at the school took my roommate and I to see two apartments that we can choose from. They are three bedrooms with one or two baths. Pretty nice, but small. They are both in gated communities with guards 24 hrs a day. There will be four of us staying in an apartment together so that will help when we need to go explore the city and go grocery shopping. We should be able to move in by this weekend. The school is still trying to collect furniture for us. I believe we have a few beds so far. I will be staying with some other teachers this week until my apartment is ready because they live closer to the school and will be travelling there everyday so Christina will not have to drive me 45 minutes each day like she did this morning. It is a bit difficult to get around the city because there is one main road (autopista) and the rest are small roads between neighborhoods. Also, Christina and many who live here, have driving restrictions that do not allow them to drive between 6-8am and 4-6pm, I guess to prevent traffic problems. The city is kind of dirty from what I have seen of it but hopefully I will find some cool places to hang out, eat, read, and have coffee of course, once I get comfortable with my surroundings! There is a large mall with movie theater a few blocks from where my apartment will be so that is exciting. Right now I am sitting at the computer drinking coffee and playing peek a boo with little Esteban who has become attached to me and wants to sit or lay in my lap everywhere I go. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support and I will keep you updated on what is going on. I´m sure I will have more eventful things to tell everyone this week if internet is made available. That´s all for now! Miss you all! I will try to send pictures when I am able to use my personal computer or the school computer.

Countdown

2007-06-24T09:45:00.000-07:00

So in less than a month I will be beginning my year in Colombia. Wow! It still feels unreal that I am actually doing this. I'm so ready but not at the same time. I am trying to hold on to each and every second of every day and at the same time am anxious to start the next part of the journey. This blog will definitely not do justice in expressing all of the feelings and emotions that I am experiencing. My heart is wide open to everything God is teaching me and I can't get enough of Him and it feels awesome! God is using everything that I am reading, hearing, and seeing to challenge me and mold me into something that he can use to bring Him glory.

He brings me to my knees daily and I am, more than ever, ready to devote my life to following Him wherever, whenever, to do whatever no matter the sacrifice. I feel burdened with the pain that people throughout the world are constantly dealing with and want to bring some joy to their lives in whatever way he can use me to do so.

I can't wait to begin building relationships with the Colombian people and missionary families. I am ready to invest in their lives and show them the love that has been shown to me in so many ways througout my life. The people who will soon be my neighbors in my apartment building, the people in the shops in my neighborhood that I will pass by daily as I walk to the bus stop, and the people who will be passengers on the bus that I will ride everyday to the school; these are the people that I will have the opportunity to form relationships with. A recently met this guy from Colombia, who is a friend of a friend, and I was telling him about my trip to his country. He told me that the Colombian people will love me and be amazed that I am in their country as a volunteer, asking nothing from them, and that it will be eye opening and make a huge impact on them. He finished by saying a simple "thank you so much". That meant so much to me. Many people in other countries do not expect this out of americans and it is a huge shock when they meet someone who is willing to come help their country without some other motive. I am going to this country to serve those people and put my whole heart and energy into it. I was listening to a sermon by Rob Bell this week and he said as God is putting you back together, you should turn and put the world back together. As God molds me into something more like what he created me to be, I should be working to make the world what he intended it to be.

So, as I countdown the days, I hope that I will already be showing others a bit of God's love for this world and his people by telling others about the vision and passion he's given me for this country and it's people.

updating

2007-05-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

I'm really bad at this blogging thing. It's not much different from journaling which I do often lately but for some reason I enjoy writing my thoughts more than typing them. So anyway, I guess I will do a quick update of what's been going on lately for those of you who are trying to keep up with my progress with getting to Colombia.

Raising support is soo hard. I really do not do well with asking for money. Everytime someone says "I would like to give you a donation" I feel the urge to say "Oh, you don't have to do that" or "that's way to much money, are you sure you want to do that?". Yeah I am a retard but all my life it has been difficult for me to accept things from people whether compliments, help, or money and material things. But this part of my journey really depends on me asking people for their help (sometimes more than once). With that said, I really am going to try to suck it up and get out there. It's been great so far but not because of what I've done. I just happen to know many unselfish people who will give without me bothering them about it. My mentor at my job, for example, had already given me a donation a few months ago and recently asked how my support was coming and wrote me a check double the first one. And people who I havent even sent letters to directly have heard about it through familiy or friends and sent the donation without me even knowing. I have a long way to go to reach my full amount, but it has been such an amazing experience to see the kindness of others that if this is all the support I am able to get, I will feel blessed (although my bank account/my parents' will not like it so much).

I never imagined how many ups and downs I can experience in even just one day about this journey. It's mostly the emotions involved with leaving things and people behind but I am glad I am dealing with them now I guess so that maybe I won't be hit so hard with them when I get there. I often have nights when it is difficult to fall asleep because I fear, not getting kidnapped by the FARC, but leaving the airport while my mom cries and seeing the worried look of my parents as they see off their 1st child for a year of her life, with obvious thoughts of what could happen to her in one of the most dangerous countries in South America. That's a pretty painful image if you haven't experienced anything like it before.

It's interesting to people that being kidnapped is no longer something that scares me. I figure if it happens, at least I will have been doing something with a greater purpose at the time and will therefore have no regrets. I'd much rather have that happen to me that to allow my body to waste away from my diabetes over the years while doing the same thing day after day. Life is an adventure and I will not settle for less. Of course, if kidnapping becomes a reality I will probably pee on myself or faint but I don't want the fear of what could happen scare me away from the amazing opportunities that the world has to offer. "Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive". I really can relate to this quote lately as I think about how I long for new, exciting experiences to make me feel truely alive. I need challenge and adventure so that I have to trust God with my life.

It's been tough lately at work thinking about the kids I am leaving behind and all the relationships I have built with each of them this year. I started telling my students a few weeks ago because I wanted them to be used to the idea. I have grown to love my students as if I had 50-70 kids of my own (some feel more like my kids than others). If I think about leaving them, I usually start to tear up because I worry if they will have teachers in the future who will truely invest in them and love them as much as I do. I want to be there to help them through their problems and make sure someone is protecting and watching over them. Many of my students can be overlooked because they are quiet since they cannot voice their opinions as easily as their english speaking peers. These are my babies, my first students of my teaching career. I don't think it will be as difficult to leave future students as it will my first ones. Hopefully I can keep up with them to know what they are doing 5-10 years from now.

I have many more thoughts to share about the ups and downs but that will have to wait til the next one...

purpose

2007-03-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17563357 (I can't seem to hyperlink it so just copy and paste it into your internet browser)

I was reading the news update from President Bush's trip around South America. This is the link to the article. VERY INTERESTING! Can you believe I will be living in that city?

Why do they hate us/bush so much? We are trying to help, geez. Have you ever burned something or said terrible things about people who gave you 4 million dollars to help you out of your problems? I guess I will understand their hatred once I am there and can get their opinions on things. Right now it's difficult for me to see what the real problem is and to really take it seriously.

It's pretty frightening. If they really hate americans that much, maybe I will get kidnapped. But at the same time, this is going to be a great adventure! I am already having to trust God so much more with what he's got in mind for me this next year. People act like I'm crazy when I tell them where I am going. I don't really think it's that crazy. God sends people places that need to know about him and this is definitely one of those places. Why should he send us to perfect places?

I've realized that my purpose there is to reach the Colombian kids that I will be teaching English to while I am there. The youth of today are the future of tomorrow and if someone invests in them enough, maybe they will make better choices unlike others in the country who have turned to the FARC (and other rebellious groups) and drug production. They can change the country if someone tells them how God can change their life.

I am extremely excited that I will be able to be part of what is going on in Colombia and possibly impact a few lives. That's definitely something to live or die for. Que buena oportunidad!

Colombia

2007-02-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

I figured since I have decided to pursue this colombia adventure I should start doing this blog thing. I don't know how I feel about letting you randomly read my thoughts and I don't know how devoted I will be to sharing my thoughts but I'm going to give it a try.

So if you are unsure what I mean by this Colombia adventure, here goes...

Over the past few years, I've had the idea in the back of my mind to live and work overseas. I really don't think I actually took it seriously though until recently. It was just an idea that sounded cool when I thought and talked about it. I looked online all the time for opportunities (there are so many) and I even went so far as to email the people with those organizations, but I never followed through. Something always stood in the way- family, friends, relationships, worries about my diabetes, fear of raising support, etc. I wanted to take thatbig step and say yes, but I let my list of "responsibilities" talk me out of it. Looking back, I'm pretty sure that was God taking me down a path to prepare my heart for this.

For this year, I decided that I would teach ESL in Raleigh and threw out the idea of going overseas; maybe not forever, but postponing it relieved me of the worry and guilt trips from family. Then in November I got an email from an organization I had emailed awhile back. ONCE AGAIN THAT ANNOYING THOUGHT POPPED BACK IN MY HEAD. It was sooo hard to escape it, especially when God keeps calling you back to it. So I started searching again. After hearing of some friends who were taking their own step of faith to go overseas, my passion only grew stronger. It seemed everything in my life had been speaking this message to me. At church, at my job, the books I was reading, everything...

I emailed this Christian school that I saw online...the website looked amazing and they needed an ESL TEACHER! It was a perfect opportunity...teach ESL in spanish speaking country at an American school for missionary kids! WOW! BUT...(and this is where God had to work on me)...it was in Bogota, Colombia, a country that is pretty dangerous for Americans.

I kept looking at other options, somewhat to satisfy my mom and dad's wants of me being more "responsible, financially secure, close by, and safe" and my hoping to find something that I wanted- Costa Rica, for example, which has nice weather, plenty of outdoor activities, smaller communities, and, well, not a year commitment. I wanted to go to Costa Rica, NOT COLOMBIA! I looked and looked and looked. All of the options seemed exactly what I wanted, yet I wasn't excited. They were short term (summer- so I still come back and teach and have a salary), and in great locations in Costa Rica. For some reason I felt dissappointed that I was settling for only a two month adventure. What was wrong with me?!?! Isn't that what I wanted? I think I was starting to realize that going to Costa Rica wasn't going to require me trusting God with my life. It would have been very easy for me to pick up and go to Costa Rica. God wanted me to trust him and be faithful to his plan for my life, not my plan for my life.

THEN on Monday, January 8, while on the eliptical at the gym, I got a phone call from an unknown number. Guess who? Beth Alfandor from El Camino Academy, in... BOGOTA, COLOMBIA. At first, I was like, crap! I was going to have to be polite and listen, waste my few day minutes on my cell phone, to hear a schpeal (don't know how to spell that) about this place in Colombia, where I didn't want to go. We talked for a good half hour or more and somehow, without realizing it, my thoughts began to change. I started to sincerely listen to what she had to say, and I started to become more comfortable about considering looking into it. When I brought up the dangers of Colombia she said something like 'the safest place to be is where God wants you to be'. I don't think she meant physically, but spiritually. It's dangerous to get off the path that God planned for you because that means denying his authority over your life and taking it into your own hands. Beth was great and before getting off the phone, she said a quick prayer for me, not at all pushing me to choose her school, but just to follow God's lead.

And so I thought about it and prayed about it. I was also reading this book "Dangerous wonder" about jumping first, fearing later; taking those steps that the world views as irresponsible, reckless, unstable, etc. God was definitely working on my heart that week. Finally, later in the week, I was riding in the car with Erica, and saying aloud, with lots of emotions, all of my reasons why I should do it and should not do it. The danger, the risk, the fears, the doubts, the emotions, the challenge, the adventure, the excitement, the journey, THE JUMP. Then I said yes. Then, out loud to Erica, I commited to seeing where God would take it. That was the moment. That was the first time my I have said with my whole heart that I would for real go if God wanted me to. I knew it was the first time because of the relief that I felt after saying it. The pounding in my heart, the exhiliration!

This opportunity was definitely going to require me putting every bit of my trust in God.

I realized I could't run anymore because I would end up running the rest of my life or either settle for something less that the exciting plans God has for me, and causing me to be dissatisfied for the rest of my life every time I think about the opportunities I could have experienced.

So here I go. I completed the application and paperwork. The school board went on their retreat and approved my application. I recently sent off my first round of support letters. Still can't believe it. It's amazing the peace God has given me since the beginning when I started looking. And, amazingly enough, my parents aren't making me feel too guilty about it anymore. I had expected more emotional phone conversations about how my desires in life are not the same as there's and that I am ok with being the "different one" in the family. God is making it happen and I know will continue to guide my heart in the direction he will have me go. And if that be in the direction I am heading now, then on July 20, 2007, I will be teaching ESL in Bogota, Colombia, at El Camino Academy!