Colombia: Part II

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!