Espinal and Prado

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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...