Best Friend Week in Bogota!

Hi! Marianne asked me to do a guest blog recounting all the adventures that occurred during my week long visit in Columbia. I began working on the blog when I was still there and promised Marianne at least 10 times since then that I would finish it. So tonight is my "Real Deadline" since she will be coming back to the US tomorrow!!!

My time in beautiful Bogota is coming to an end. Now we are sitting in Marianne's Colombian family's living room after having eaten a wonderful meal and watching futbol. I will be flying out in a couple of hours. What a blessing it has been to be here with my best friend. I am so thankful for all we have shared and experienced during my time here.



I arrived to the aiport around 11:30 pm on April 16th. I was greeted with a lovley bouquet of daisies and a hand-made sign saying "Bievenitos Bogota." So fun! It was there that I met Marianne's favorite Colombian friend Maggie and her best friend, Amanda who also came to visit for Spring Break. We hopped in the taxi and I got my first taste of Colombian taxi drivers and my first view of the city. After catching up a little we went to bed in order to prepare for this weeks events.



Sunday we woke up and got ready for our first adventure. Marianne's Colombian Mom Galdis would be taking the four besties to a Hot Springs. After much driving and beautiful scenery, we learned that all the roads to the Hot Springs were closed due to flooding and rock slides. Gladis quickly came up with a Plan B....the Salt Mine. We spent the day exploring a humongous salt mine that has been turned into a church. One of the neat things about being at the Salt Mine is that this Sunday was Palm Sunday. We got to see a little procession where Colombians were singing and waving their palm branches. We finished the day with a late lunch at the Country Club and a friendly game of Tejo. Tejo is a Columbian version of corn hole except you get to make an explosion of gun powder if you hit the target. Marianne and I kicked butt (really it was only Marianne that kicked butt). So fun! Monday night Marianne showed me around her lovely neighborhood. We purchased lots of fresh fruit and veggies for super cheap. And we found some alligator and turtle shaped breads at the local bakery. I think it is so awesome to be able to walk and buy all the things you need for dinner. I always love that about foreign cities.



Tuesday was another adventure with Amanda and Maggie and Jamie, another one of Marianne's friends from ECA. This was my introduction to the Transmilanio, which is a local transportation system that connects all of Bogota. We arrived at the city center where there is a beautiful cathedreal. We enjoyed walking around and shopping at the local markets. One of my favorite things was hearing a beautiful opera singer perform "Ava Maria" in the Cathedreal. Breathtaking. We went to one of the girl's favorite cafes for a local lunch. We enjoyed various salads and sandwiches. Then we had coffee and teas. The waiters and waitresses created designs inside our coffee with creamer. Various leaves, trees, and flowers, and Marianne even got a pig :) Ha. Ha. Ha. That evening we went back to Marianne's neighborhood to the cutest cafe that you can rent movies and watch them in small theater/party type rooms while you enjoy coffee and desserts. We watched Across the Universe came home and made some world class guacamole and chips. It was a good night. Marianne has become a pro at making all things South American especially fried pita chips and tortilla chips.


The next morning Marianne told me we had to leave her house at 7:30 for an excursion to the "most relaxing, peaceful town" called Villa De Leyva. So we woke up at 6 something, but still managed not to leave until 9:30. We were all packed up and feeling ready for the day when we loaded our bus. Although we tried our best to convince a local, no one wanted let us sit beside each other even when she told them I was sick and needed the window. Bus drivers here are CRAZY. Our 4 hour trip turned into almost 8 hours due to severe flooding and mudslides. It seems we should have watched the news before leaving Bogota. We finally made it to the picturesque Villa de Leyva before dark and found our hotel where we were greeted with a very interesting staff that gave us some so/so massages and pedicures. That night we had a delicious dinner, listened to live music and got lost on the way home in the pouring rain with no taxi's in sight. That was a little bit terrifying. This "little relaxing town" turns all the street lights off around 10 pm. The next morning we enjoyed our breakfast at the hotel and headed out to see what kinds of adventures we could get ourselves into. We found a four wheeler tour which is actually a jeep tour that takes you to some of the city's tourism highlights. We choose to visit a local winery and the fertility statues.

At 1 pm we boarded up with Carlos and his dog cleto ready for our personal tour of the city. We were enjoying all the bumps and scenery along the way, giggling, taking pictures and wondering why we had decided to wear cute dresses that day. About two or three miles into the journey we realized that their were several cars backed up along the road. Upon further investigation we discovered that the road was quickly being covered by flood waters. Carlos exited the car to talk to some locals about the best route to the vineyard. He assured us that his jeep could make it across and asked if we wanted to continue. We agreed. About halfway over the river crossing we began to question our judgement as the jeep sputtered and spatted like a whale. We soon arrived safely at the vineyard and were only a little alarmed that we were the only tourist that had braved the flood waters. The vineyard owner greeted us and provided us with a personal tour. The grounds were beautiful and we decided to stay a bit to enjoy a wine and cheese sampler.

As we were enjoying our day, it started pouring and thundering. A employee of the winery approached our table. No greeting; no "Are you enjoying your wine?" no "do you have any questions?" He very seriously approached our table and said "The situation in Columbia is very grave." I think I gasped, and stuttered "what do you mean the situation is grave? Are we in danger? Should we leave right now? Is my life at risk?" Before he could answer that the Columbians were mostly concerned about the loss of farmland, crops, and people's livelihood, I was thrown into a panic. From that moment on Marianne and I could only focus on getting back to Bogota. As far as we were concerned our mini vacation was over. Carlos our tour guide reassured us that every thing was going to be just fine. The laid back attitude and demeanor of Columbians became a little more alarming to me that time. Carlos outfitted us with some massive yellow ponchos (the kind you get at Disney World) and we were off again. He decided it wouldn't be safe to go to the fertility garden and insisted on taking us to a monastery.

I don't think that we payed much attention to the Montessori, but Carlos insured that we had a thorough tour. I remember that the inner courtyard was lovely, with beautiful flowers particularly orchids. In about an hour we we're on our way home " the long way." There were many river crossings where I questioned whether we would make it back, but after a couple of hours, we arrived completely soaked and muddy.

We convinced Carlos to drop us off at our hotel quick, give us 5 minutes to gather our belongings and return to give us a ride to the bus station. We had high hopes of catching the last bus to Bogota and ending the madness. We ran into the bus station only to learn that there were no tickets available. We convinced Carlos to go ask for us and he managed to buy us some tickets for the 4:00 bus even though it was already past 4:00. We joined the ranks of backpackers and began what would be come a long and stressful evening. 5 o'clock came, 6 o'clock and then 7. Around 7:15 I was approached by a young Columbian guys asking if we were English. He was in a tizzy running around to all the people waiting for the bus wanting to inform us that "We need to go to the police, the woman who sold us these tickets lies, and there is no bus coming!" As he gathered his army to approach the police I sat down to cry. Marianne convinced me that all we needed was to get a little snack. So we did. And we continued to wait. The bus ended up arriving around 8:30. Unfortunately at that time Marianne had decided to contact some of the local missionaries to ask for advice. They advised us not to get on the bus due to the dangerous conditions. At this point our imaginations were going wild. Marianne burst into tears :(

We ended up finding a very lovely hotel with a lovely hot tub and breakfast the next morning. We were able to get a safe bus back to the city early the next morning :)

We arrived back in Bogota on early evening on Thursday. Poor Marianne got so excited about getting off that bus and back to her home that she forgot her camera. Friday, Marianne's fun, fun friend Edgar took us on another adventure. His friend Angela joined us. We got to experience another jeep adventure. He took us to a local park called Sopo where we were able to hike and experience beautiful views. After that we had a lovely picnic at our next destination Guatavita.

Wikapeda says...Laguna de Guatavita was reputedly one of the sacred lakes of the Muisca, and a ritual conducted there is widely thought to be the basis for the legend of El Dorado. The legend says the lake is where the Muisca celebrated a ritual in which the Zipa (named "El Dorado" by the Conquistadores) was covered in gold dust, then venturing out into the water on a ceremonial raft made of rushes, he dived into the waters washing off the gold. Afterward, trinkets', jewellery and other precious offerings were thrown into the waters by worshipers. A few artifacts of gold and silver found at bottom hold proof to this claim; however, to date, the trips to the bottom of the lake have yielded no more than these.

It was a difficult hike and of course it rained some of the way, but the view was stunning. We visited a local coffee shop on the way home and I had some lovely tea with lemongrass. We got to talk with the owners who are living in Bogota to do ministry in the city and frequently host "The Jesus Film" and other outreach ministries at their shop. Talking with them was really encouraging. Edgar took us to a really beautiful overlook, were we could see the city of Bogota all lit up at night. It was the perfect ending to our days adventure.

Saturday, Marianne took me downtown Bogota to a Gold Museum, Art Museum and to Bella Vista. Bella Vista is a huge Mountain that also overlooks the city. They have built a beautiful Cathedral at the top. I was not a fan of the cable car or the street car that look us to the top but the view was very beautiful. That evening we met friends for dinner at a wonderful restaurant that had all of my favorite things (edamame, curry, jasmine flowering tea, and creme brulee). I eat until my heart's content. We finished the evening at Bogota Beer Company with several friends and some very lovely missionaries from the U.K.

I begged Marianne to take me to a local church for Easter Sunday. We went to the Alfanzo's church. It's a mega -church with various sites. We arrived 45 minutes early to wait in a line to see which site we would be assigned to. First we went into a site that was just video streaming of the service. The Alfanzo's were disappointed. However when the church staff learned that we needed english translated they escorted us to the main service. We received headsets where we enjoyed a passionate translation of the sermon. Our translator worked so hard to make our experience wonderful. I loved the church, how excited they were about worshiping and praising God, experiencing worship in a different culture, sing to God in Spanish, and experiencing Columbian's passion for Christ.

Gladis made us a lovely lunch and we watched futbol, which brings us to the beginning of the blog I began almost 3 months ago.

I am so very thankful for God's provision and protection during our trips. Several people lost their lives in floods, car accidents, and mudslides that occurred due to severe weather. Reports indicated that flooding had not been that severe for over 20 years. Being with Marianne for a week was a true treasure. I loved that I was able to meet her friends, her host family, see her home, and experience the culture she has been in for a year. She was such an amazing tour guide and made sure that I experienced EVERYTHING! I loved knowing and seeing first hand her heart for the Columbian people and her passion for Christ. I loved talking with her about what she has learned this year and her plans for the future and sharing with her about my first year or marriage. My heart was ignited again with passion for serving others, traveling, and experiencing the everyday joy our God has gifted us with. I am so grateful.

Foreigner - not suitable for the little ones

No matter how hard I try, I still look like a foreigner in this amazingly beautiful country all the time, all day, everyday. It's kinda fun, embarrassing at times and a bit annoying as well.

Some examples are:

1. When I cross the street, I still think the quickly approaching cars are going to slow down a little bit. For some reason even though I have been here for 10 months, I still haven't understood that cars are first and people 2nd. A common remark from friends, "Marianne, you really almost got run over that time."

2. Im always walking in a hurry. At the mall when I am going up the escalator I even climb up the stairs while it is moving at a quick pace. Colombians look at me like, "donde es el fuego, gringa?"

3. At lunch I can never eat the whole meal. Colombians eat a huge lunch starting with a big bowl of soup, a large portion of meat, rice, potatoes or plantains, fruits, a salad and juice. I'm always trying to rush through my meal, wishing I had a sandwich to eat so I could go do some more work, and have to give my leftovers away everyday. A Colombian would want to smack me for not enjoying lunch fully, taking an hour to eat and finishing everything on my plate.

4. I like to do things myself. In the copy room, we have the loveliest assistant named Liliana to make all our copies for us. I always try to slip past her and make the copies myself even though this is her job. She yells at me a lot, but for some reason I still feel like I will be bothering her when I know how to make copies all by myself. She will kill me for being so American. Thank goodness my teacher aide knows me well and knows what I need before I even have to ask.

5. I don't wear jewelry everyday or get manicures often enough. Colombian women get a manicure once a week. no lie. It only cost $2.50 and it is amazing. I, however, do not take advantage and get a manicure only every once in a while. Then I have chipped nails for 2 weeks too long until my teacher aide shakes her head and says, "Miss. Parrish, there is no excuse."

6. Sometimes I play sugarland at a very high volume in my classroom before the students come in. Colombians don't approve of country and definitely not Jennifer Nettles.

7. I am always caught outside without an umbrella when it is raining. My gaurd, Don Manuel, always watches me come up to the house soaking wet, shakes his head and tells me I will catch my death. It rains here every single day, it is time to learn to keep up with my umbrella.

8. The two things I hate the most about being so different is that my Spanish is still horribly embarrassing and I am so wasteful compared to Colombians. Wasteful with food, wasteful with water, electricity, and resources all around. Im going to keep on working on both of those areas even when I return home.

Here are some ways that I have grown more Colombian though in my time here:

1. I now know if I am supposed to dance meringue, salsa, or bachinata according to the beat of the music playing and Im learning to pick out if the music originated in medellin, cali, bogota or the coast.

2. I am obcessed with Colombian food. Give me bandeja paisa, ajiaco, arepas, platanos, chorizo, and empanadas everyday for the rest of my life.

3. I can drink really, really strong coffee. Coffee that grown men add water too. Coffee that will make you want to run a marathon when you arrive to school at 6:45am.

4. I participate in Ciclovia every Sunday with 1000's of other people in bogota. It is so fun to ride bikes, run or walk all over this beautiful city and visit the different outdoor exercise stations.

5. I loose track of time worse than ever before. This is not beneficial to my habitual problem of being late, but it is very Colombian so I don't stress about it here. Until i piss off my American friends.

6. I don't stress much at all. Hardly ever. I went out of town with my Colombian family a few weeks ago and there was a tarantula in our cabin's kitchen. I watched them take it outside and put it on a tree and never thought of it again. Not even when I went to sleep. It didn't worry them any, so it didn't worry me. I hope this doesn't go away when I get back to the states, life is so much more enjoyable when you don't imagine spiders crawling on you when you are going to sleep just because you saw one in your house earlier that day.

7. I participated in a protest. Ok, really I just signed a petition in my neighborhood for the police to do something about all the men who use the bridge outside our house as a bathroom. I cannot explain to you how bad it smells and how hard it hits you first thing in the morning on the way to work. It made me feel slightly important, but nothing has been done. Colombians seem to love a good protest. Every week I get an email from the embassy listing 5 to 6 protests happening throughout the city. Here are some police getting ready for a good protest.

Some angry kraft workers.

A picture from the embassy showing 4 protests going on at one time on one day.
8. I have spray painted graffiti. Bogota is covered in graffiti everywhere you look. Some of it is beautiful and some of it not so much, but its interesting none the less. My crazy friend Maggie, also our art teacher, decided we had to paint a bra on a topless woman that was painted on another bridge near our house. We waited until late at night, dressed in all black, and went and gave the topless lady a nice blue bra with orange frills. No police saw us and all the bystanders who saw us only laughed. Just look at how disgusting it was before, something had to be done. Maggie and I will be cleaning up the streets one bridge at a time from here on out.

This post was to avoid reality. School is over in 1 week and my time in Colombia is coming to an end. Next post will be much more reflective, including my this year's highlights and how excited I am to still serve here for a bit longer during the summer. Hope everyone is enjoying the beauty of South Carolina's summers back home, I am looking forward to the warm weather, even if it is 100 degrees. Be on the lookout for a post from the one and only Jamie Peckous telling of her travels here during April, we had way too much fun!

No tengo llaves otra ves!!!

This is beginning to be a real problem. Here I am again in my favorite coffee shop, completely soaked from running from my bus stop to my house and from my house to the coffee shop without an umbrella, but with at least an hour on my hands to finally write a blog again. I know its been too long, because couldn't remember my logon information for my own blog. Seriously took me 5 minutes to access this thing. I am still loving life in Beautiful Bogota. Just not the two people making out at the table across from me. Usually I dont mind all the lovey couples here, but these two make an especially loud smacking noise when they kiss and they have kissed at least 57 times in the last two minutes. I am refraining from throwing my coffee cup at them. I wish I knew what my best friend thought about all the passionate souls making out everywhere in Colombia. Oh wait, I will find out in 3 days!!!!! I have the priveledge of picking up Jamie Marie Peckous at El Dorado Airport Saturday night! I dont know if I have ever been more excited or thankful to see her. We will get to have a whole week of galavanting around Bogota during Semana Santa. A week off of school and adventures with my best friend couldn't come at a better time. I have been feeling exhausted and a little burnt out lately. Somedays all I can do is go to school, teach English after and then go to sleep before 8 like a wimp. School has been great because we have been studying the Easter Story. Throughout the whole year, I always feel closest to my Savior at Easter. I love the beauty of the whole story coming together, from the passover to the last supper, seeing all the prophecies coming true, and reflecting on what Jesus did for us. It was nice to worship this morning in English and Spanish with all my co-workers. Man, am I going to miss worship wednesdays next year.

We have had some great oppurtunities to serve in the past month. Two weekends ago I went with some 10th graders to Luz y Vida, a special needs orphanage. I have been wanting to visit this place all year, but honestly when the day came I wasn't that excited. After waking up at 6 on a Saturday, I actually arrived on time to our meeting point. A miracle I know. The van driver was the only one else there. After about ten minutes, two other teachers showed up, but no students. 30 minutes later we are still waiting, start calling around and realize the girls who had signed up aren't coming anymore and there are only two boys still going. One of the boys was confused, had ridden a bus to school, realized no one was there and was on his way back. So after a hour and a half, we have two high school boys. Was it worth it? Two high school boys and three teachers going to an orphanage with over 900 special needs children? Yes, almost a 1000 children. We had developed some pretty terrible attitudes during our wait. We decided to take the long trip there anyways and prayed God would use us however small a group we were. When we arrived they took us to the top floor where the children who have the most profound disabilities are. I have worked with plenty of special needs kids during college. I've smelled the smells, seen the feeding tubes, heard the strange sounds of a trach, watched the repetitive movements, and seen the vacancy in children's eyes before. But I was still caught off gaurd when we entered this room. We stood awkwardly for about 1o minutes and then slowly started trying to connect with the children. Only 4 out of about 30 children and babies could sit up or move on their own. We were told not to pick up or hold these children because they would be too sad after we left. The rest of the children were strapped into wheelchairs or laid flat on mats on the floor. There were about six staffed-workers in the room who were constantly changing diapers, feeding tubes and giving medicines so they didn't have much time to love or show affection. It was a joy to get to do that. One beautiful, but rather demanding, girl attached herself to me when I first arrived. She would point to her arms, legs or back for me to rub and anywhere I went, I had to have one hand on her at all times. I loved her. One girl just wanted to rub and hold my hand, every few minutes she would pull it to her mouth and kiss it. Other children didn't respond much or even make eye contact. Some cried and could not be comforted. It was overwhelming, but the sadness I felt was nothing compared to the joy I felt everytime I looked over at one of the 10th grade boys clapping with the children, rubbing their backs or pushing them around in their wheelchairs. Some of the children would make the most high-pitched squeals of happiness when they were given any attention at all and it became the boys goal to hear that sound. I had to make myself not watch them or I would tear up everytime. So, so beautiful and 100% worth it. It was neat to see their hearts soften so much in just the 3 hours we were there and become true servants.

I would like to take a moment to brag about one of my friends who does way cooler stuff than I ever will, but invite me to help her. Maggie Long, my closest friend here, Colombian sister, and empanada-selling business partner started a sandwhich ministry with the 5th graders she teaches. There is this awesome place called The Jungle who opens their doors to street kids in Barrio Santa Fe once a month. This place is a YWAM run ministry and built by a team of people in Texas. It is pretty well equipped with a rock-climbing wall, a foam pit to jump in, a suspending bridge and of course a Wii. The perfect place to have fun and escape reality for a few hours. The children that come truly need an escape and deserve it more than once a month. Its in a neighborhood where drugs, prostitution, and homelessness is everywhere you look. Not the safest place, so I know it made Maggie a little nervous to bring her group of 5th grade students there every month. The thing I love about ECA is that they don't sugarcoat anything for the students. They explain to them that you will be working with children who come from abusive homes, whose parents are fighting addictions and choose not to provide for their families and who are sometimes involved in prostitution. If there wasn't a D.A.R.E program in my elementary school growing up, I wouldnt have known what drugs were, let alone prostitution. I was so sheltered. It has been so awesome to see them raising money every week through bakesales, fundraisers and by just bugging people to give them 2 mil. Once a month they make over 200 sandwhiches and head down town early on Saturday. We get to play with children, hold babies, visit with the pregnant teens who bring their babies, worship, eat and have fun. The 5th graders hold nothing back. I am so proud of my friend maggie, her class and their willingness to meet a need for an amazing ministry already in place.

I hope that you are enjoying Spring break with your families! Love you all!

I am in the fourth quarter at school and am seeing so much fruit from my Kindergarten students. They make me so happy and are learning so much. Here are some recent pictures of my class:

Colombia is..... Part 2!

Colombia is a gorgeous country with some of the happiest, most carefree, warm, affectionate, generous people in the world. Colombia is never having to lock your doors because your gaurd stands outside your door all day everyday. Don Manuel has become my friend to share coffee with since my roomates don't drink it and having someone to help me eat all the dinners I make. He holds open my door every time I come home and keeps me company when I lock myself out side of my house (read the post below). Colombia is buying your fruits and vegetables for insanely cheap prices in the back of your neighborhood, your meat across the street and getting your haircut 2 streets over. It is built-in community, walking everywhere, and stopping to buy empanadas or fresh bread on every corner. It is kissing everyone on the cheek to say hello and goodbye and feeling perfectly at home in every house you visit. Colombia is beautful, clear Spanish, loud traffic, salsa music and Andes mountains in every direction. Bright colors, beautiful flowers and delicious food. Colombia has adventure waiting for you at all times.

This past weekend I went on one of the craziest adventures I have been on yet with Beth and Rafa Afanador, the directors of my school. They invited the first five teachers to sign up to go on a short weekend trip. I signed up as quickly as I could because I have missed spending time with them lately and I am always up for seeing more of Colombia. We left Friday after school in Rafa's landcruiser for a wild 7-8 hour drive. If you were to hop in his car for even five minutes, you would think he did not value his life or anyone's in the car with him. Agressive does not even begin to describe it. Beth says driving here is like learning a different language and you cannot compare it to the states at all, I believe her and try to trust Rafa a little more. We ended up in a tiny hotel that sat on Rio Claro at midnight. We went into our room that had a distinct smell of cat pee and no glass on the windows, only bars. To unlock the door you just reached right in with a hanger in your hand and pushed open the handle. Seemed a little unsafe, but no one else seemed to worry so I didn't either. I even ignored the roach on the floor and the very, very dirty matress. I have learned that I can sleep anywhere here.

The next day we rented some innertubes and went to the natural park that was waiting for us on a very sunny Saturday. We hiked for about 30 minutes and sat our tubes in at the same spot that they were taking groups white water rafting. Seemed a little risky, but again no one else was worried. We quickly approached rapids, flippped out of our tubes, banged up against rocks and limbs and then floated lazily down the river some more. We stopped to swim and jump off ledges. It was so fun we did it twice and ended up with double the amount of bruises. Our group went ziplining through the tropical trees and over the river while staring at the Andes the whole time. My first time ziplining and hopefully not my last. Beautiful and so fun.

Later after a quick and very late lunch we went back to the hotel to get ready to go caving. I was very excited to get to do two things I have never done in one day. I thought we would just ride back over to the public park, buy a ticket, read a brochure filled with exciting facts about the cave we were about to explore and maybe rent a headlamp or flashlight. Oh how I was decieved. A dark cave seemed a little scary before, even when I imagined handrails to hang onto and lights hanging about everywhere. Rafa proceeded to take me to my worst nightmare. At around 6:30, just when it was getting dark, we stopped on the side of the road and let three young boys hang onto the car. Their ages were 8, 10 and 15. Our 15 year old friend had a machete tied to his waist and they directed Rafa to a farm. I kept wondering what could he possible need that huge knife for, what kind of cave will we be entering. We drove through cow pastures and had to dodge horses. We rode through a creek and up and down hills and I was sure we had lost one of the kids hanging on. We got out to walk for 30 minutes in complete darkness while trying to dodge huge piles of cow poop. When we found the entrance to the cave there was no one selling tickets, no tour guide in an official uniform and no headlamps to be rented. This is Colombia I reminded myself, Colombia is adventure. Just go with it. We went into the entrance to the cave and instantly heard the most terrible noises that sounded like tortured creatures and lots of wings flapping. 100s of birds live in this cave called guacharos (oilbirds in english). Our young guides tell us repeatedly to not shine our flashlights on them because they will swoop down and attack you because they HATE light. I hated this cave with all my heart and I hadn't even entered. We keep our flashlights on the ground where we see roaches, spiders as big as my hand, dead baby birds, egg shells and lots of bird poop. TONS of bird poop. Within the first five minutes we are wading through water up to our chests and having to hold unto the dark, wet, slimy cave walls. For two hours we held on to each other, climbed up rocks, slid down rocks, waded through more water, crawled through holes, tried to determine if our guides were confident in the direction they were leading us and slapped Rafa for grabbing the backs of our legs and making us thing a terrible creature was coming for us. My own personal hell was what that cave was for me. Never did I grow used to it or become less frightened, if I even started to feel a little confidence creep in a bird would swoop down near my head or I would see a huge bug on the person in front of me knowing that one was probably on my body too. We had to swim out of the cave for our last challenge and I was so thankful to see trees, the moon and sky, to put my feet on grass and never to hear the sound of those dreadful birds again. Just another hour walk back to the car covered in mud and soaking wet. We just laughed as we tripped over rocks and slid down hills because nothing was as bad as the cave. We got back to the hotel after 11:00 and the sweetest kitchen staff made us the most delicious Colombian dinner and we all sat and stared at each other in disbelief while Rafa just laughed and laughed. While I didn't enjoy it too terribly much, I am thankful I did it and I don't think much else will scare me from here on out during my stay in Colombia. I will get Rafa back soon though somehow.

The next day we went to the notorious Pablo Escobar's finca. It was very interesting and I learned a ton about Colombia's past during the 80's and 90's. He influenced the country so much and dehumanized the culture during his reign. He is someone that should not be honored, but could never be forgotten. He became famous at first by having a Robin Hood feel about him. He made millions and millions quickly, built churches, libraries, schools, houses and fixed up neighborhoods. He also began to buy out public authorities and control people with his wealth. He had a huge hate for the goverment and state authorities, but somehow managed to serve in congress and run for senate even though everyone knew he managed all the cocaine that was being exported from Colombia during this time. He gave a set price for any police officer that was killed. He bombed an airplane with 107 people on it just to get one goverment official. He bombed goverment buildings (DAS and the Supreme Court Justice building) killing hundreds to go after just a few. Car bombs everywhere. Kidnappings and torturing victims a certain way before their death so everyone knew it was him who did it. He had everyone in the country after him and everyone bowing down to him at the same time. People worshipped him and despised him. The paramilitary didn't think the goverment was doing a good enough job so they began to try to capture him as well, only to use the same evil he used. Kidnapping and torture of people and families that could be in anyway related to Escobar's movement. When we went through the museum the Colombians I was with had tears in their eyes because it is still so real and fresh in their memories. The pictures I saw of buildings on fire and tons of bodies tied up had been real for some of them.

He was a genius and very eccentric. Before he was killed he built a huge farm that has now been turned into a strange type of tourist attraction. He imported hippos, zebras, kangaroos, and all sorts of exotic animals to create one of the world's greatest zoos that Colombia could gain recognition for. He had a airplane runway and helicopter pad to arrive and leave easily. Escape tunnels and a bull fighting ring where he would have hundreds of guests for a private bullfight on any given weekend. Politicians, actors and beauty queens of Colombia all visited and spent time there. He was training and Israelian army to fight for him at his farm. He had a beauiful house and pool for his family. He kept all his evil from his family and would not even smoke in front of his children. His house and car collection were bombed by the paramilitary, but they still sit on his property in their unrestored condition. It was a lot to take in and very sad, but intriguing all at the same time. I want to learn a lot more about him, I can't wrap my head around how someone so evil could have had so much control over a country.

Back to those awful birds though. I googled them immediately when I got home because I never saw what they looked like when I was in the cave. Again, they did not sound like birds, they sounded like tortured men screaming. A few interesting facts. Alfred Hitchcock used a recording of these birds in his famous 1964 movie. They make nests out of their own droppings ( how lovely) and have all sorts of bat-like tendencies. I found a video for anyone who is interested in what they sound like. They don't look scary at all and they only eat fruit. Wish someone would have told me that at the beginning instead of the attack scare I was given.

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/video/oilbird-steatornis-caripensis/group-birds-calling-cave

Hope that doesn't traumatize anyone too much. Viva Colombia!!!

Yo no tengo llaves!!!

I lock myself out of my house at least once every two weeks. Usually one of my roomates shows up within thirty minutes and it always creates an opportunity to practice spanish with Don Manuel (the greatest gaurd in the world). Usually its no big deal. Today I waited for a very long time before the rain started to pour and I had to seek shelter in a cozy coffee shop down the street. But no worries, the opportunity to blog has been created and I am sipping the most delightful chai tea latte. Im only slightly drenched.

All is well in Bogota. Staying busy with school and English classes. My "Shepherding Your Child's Heart" conferences have been going great. The one for parents was very well-recieved and I have been able to speak at length with parents who attended. Parents shared a lot in areas where they struggle and fall short, and it is amazing that God's Word has an answer for every teaching/parenting problem. I have finished only 1 of 3 for the ECA staff but it went well too and I felt like it was really good timing. Wasn't even as scary as I thought it would be. It has been a wonderful reminder for me of how to make teaching your full-time ministry.

Last weekend I was able to visit a new ministry called Simon Bolivar. It is for street kids in the poorest part of Bogota and was a really neat place. My good friend, Edgar, started the ministry a few years ago almost immediately after becoming a Christian. He is an architect here in Bogota and felt the need to get to know his neighbors in the south of the city. God has been teaching me so much about intentional community. Simon Bolivar is a really cool place and definately much needed. It is a place to seek refuge from the oppression of poverty, a place to be fed, a place to be loved, a place to play and laugh, and to hear truth. The children are invited to come every Saturday to get help with homework and participate in fun activities. They also come on Wednesday nights with their families. I went with five 11th graders from school to help with registration for the new year and to clean the entire house from top to bottom. The students from school were so much fun and very helpful. It was neat to see all the families greeting Edgar and the children filled with excitement for the ministry to be opened back up after break. I hope to keep visiting and cant wait to go when the house is filled with the children of ciudad Bolivar. Edgar really wanted us to see what the community was like and the affects of December flooding so he got us to pile in his jeep for a wild ride. The students had to stand up in the back and I was scared for their lives as we rode to the top of a mountain to get a clear view of the city. So many houses had been destroyed and tons more were barely standing. I heard about how devastating it was in the news, but had no idea what it was really like. I was struck at how terribly selfish I had been during this time. I had been praying for the floods to stop because I knew of all the devastation in the poor areas from the news, but it was only halfheartedly and only for a short time. Really I was annoyed the whole time because our school grounds were so muddy and we couldn't go outside. One week we had to teach without electricity for 3 days and I thought the world was ending. And in the back of my mind, I was also worried that the airport would get flooded and I wouldn't get to go home for Christmas. I was seriously thinking about that. I was disgusted with myself after I saw what happened there and how many families were displaced. I really am so far seperated from the poor people in Bogota, going to visit a ministry in the South of Bogota every other weekend obviously isn't teaching me and changing me enough. I have some amazing friends who just moved to this neighborhood so that they can be changed and live how the people they are serving really live. I will write about them after I visit their new home this weekend.

Meredith scrubbing chairs and tables and families signing up across the street.

All the places where there are steps, there used to be a house.

Our crazy jeep excursion

Que Linda!

Cleaning up the kitchen with JuanFe


I am having tons of fun with my kindergartners as usual. Two of my students became Christians over the weekend so we celebrated in class this morning big time and it was a beautiful thing to hear them share their simple but truthful testimonies. Last week we made pizza and playdough for "P" week. We are learning that God loves all kinds of sinners even the "worst" ones and that has been a great reminder for me. My high school student and I started going through the book of Romans after Christmas break and we are still on chapter one. We are learning so much together. Hopefully we can start moving a little faster and get at least halfway through before the end of the year. I hate the words, end of the year. I am hoping to have her and two other girls over this coming weekend for a fun girl's night.

I have had two very serious goals since living in Colombia. To make Needtobreathe wildly popular here (everyone should love them) and to become a street vendor. I am still working on the first goal one student at a time, but I became a real life empanada selling street vendor last weekend with my dear friend Maggie. We made shirts, signs, aji sauce and the best empanadas that we have ever prepared. It was really our social experiment to see if a Colombian would trust a gringa to make one of the most "colombian" foods here. They did. The night before my Colombian mom, Gladys and her son Alex came over to bring a table over and see how they could help us. They spend at least 30 minutes telling us all the ways we had failed in our business endevour by explaining how cheap we could of gotten our meat if only we had gone there and that you have to use double the amount of potatoes to make profit. We were not discouraged though and set out with determination the following morning. People got the biggest laugh out of us but we sold over fifty empanadas. We made a profit of 40 mil pesos (almost 20$). Some people hung out with us and ate 5 empanadas and some people wanted their picture taken with us. Some people walked by with their mouth hanging open. It was beautiful and one of my favorite experiances so far.

I am missing home a little and starting to get anxious for next year. I will definately be back in SC and will have to start worrying about my living situation, car, and job soon. Please pray that I will stay focused for my last few months here and also be able to take care of the things I need to for next year as well.

Back in Bogota!!!

I have been back in my beloved Bogota for over a week now. Completely back in my routine and am feeling good about my 2nd semester here. Christmas break was too good to be true and I felt like I had been gone for a really long time. I couldn't even remember my logon information for the computers at school and the transimileno felt exciting and dangerous all over again.

My time with family and friends had been highly anticipated and it couldn't have been better. From the second I saw my nephews waiting for me in the airport until my mom and aunt were driving me back to the airport I was in heaven.


Highlights from time at home:

Getting to go to my home church for 3 different services and spending time with my small group one afternoon. It was great to catch up with them, share about Bogota in person and feel their constant support and encouragement.

Three very important friends came to visit: Sara Davis, Jamie and Caroline. I was so thankful they took time out of their busy Christmas breaks to come see me in SC and had the best time with them. There is nothing like time with the girls who know you better than anybody else. Here's a picture of a girl's night out, thanks angie and heidi for meeting in Greensboro!


Sleepovers with my nephews, seeing them open their gifts on Christmas morning,seeing how much they've grown and changed and getting tons of hugs and kisses from those sweet boys.

Doing last minute Christmas shopping with my brother on the 23rd because he is crazy. We had lunch and coffee downtown, walked around everywhere and got most of the shopping done at the end of the day thanks to Target. He is so fun.


Time with the best big sister in the whole world.



Getting to spend time with my family and celebrating Christmas at my Grandma's house.

My mom spoiled me by making sure I had all my favorite things at home and cooked me the most delicious meals. Truly have the best mom ever.

I made my first venture out to Europe, to the great country of Moldova, to see my love for Christmas. David is there with the Peace Corp. I was able to meet his wonderful friends, some of his host family, hear him speak in Russian, and see what his life has been like for the past year and a half. We stayed busy the whole time and had the chance to go to Romania for a day as well. He took care of everything and even cooked for me a few nights. It was perfect.


I learned all about the inconveniences that can occur when traveling. Lost my luggage both ways when I went to see David, had a 30+ hour layover in Frankfurt on my way home, and found out how comfortable the chairs are to sleep in at the airport. On a positive note, I met the sweetest friend imaginable on the subway who showed me all over her city and had a fun day exploring with her.


I was able to see my friend Katie Parshley Barber get married. It was a beautiful wedding. She had a big part in me becoming a believer in college. I love her.

I prepared a Colombian dinner one night with my family, had a great Christmas party with some of my closest friends at home, went out to see a show with my sister and crazy fun cousins at Cafe and Then Some, was lazy and read books while in my pajamas all day....


SC was hit with blizzard like snow (anything more than 3 inches is a blizzard to me) the night before I was supposed to fly back to Bogota and I was blessed with two extra days with my family. It felt so nice and cozy at my mom's house and the snow was beautiful. I did some serious sledding with my brother and two cousins, made snow cream and was really, really lazy.




And now I am back home in Bogota. It is "summer" here and I am loving the warm sunshine. No torrential downpours or need for a coat during the day. I am hoping not to go into a deep depression when it leaves us next month, I have really fallen in love with it. It was so good to get back to school and see my sweet students. They have been really good since school started back and they didn't seem to lose any of their English over break. We are working on much more challenging content and our classroom is full of excitement all the time. They have absolutely no translation during the day now. The first day that I got back in Bogota was at 5am and I was driven directly to school. One of my favorite students, Santiago, greeted me at the classroom door with a surprise in his bookbag. Thought it might be a nice little welcome back present. But no, it was a scorpian in a jar that he brought to share with the class. They keep me on my toes at all times. I will post more pictures of their beautiful faces soon. Here is my prayer for 2011:


Two exciting things are that I will be taking two extra Spanish classes a week and will be teaching three English classes a week. I won't be teaching my classes at school anymore because we didn't have enough students sign up this semester. I am sad about that because I loved my adult classes that I used to work with. I randomly met the nicest family though who needs extra help with English and they will be paying me the same amount I made at ECA. I will meet with them twice a week. I spent most of the day with them on Sunday riding bikes, eating icecream, having a huge traditional Colombian lunch and spending time in their home. They are extremely generous and joyful like most Colombians. I look forward to getting to know them better and learning about them. The third class is just for a friend in exchange of Salsa lessons, so that will be fun and a good break from my busy schedule. The best part of this whole situation is that I dont have to teach English on Saturday mornings anymore, which means I will get to go on as many Ministry outreaches as I want. I am looking forward to visiting the special needs orphanage that our 10th graders work with. Last weekend we went back to the Penuela house for the teenage mothers. I helped lead a kickboxing class with my friend Claire and it was so fun. The girls got so into it and pretended they were punching boys and kicking them in the face(claire told them to imagine the most disgusting guy they had ever come in contact with). It was a good time for sure. The girls really love any physical activity that we plan because they dont get many opportunities to exercise, next time we are bringing Zumba DVDs with us.

One of the things I realized when I was home that I love about living in Bogota and working with ECA is that I feel like they see my strengths and make sure they are being used as much as possible. This weekend I get to teach two parent workshops on shepherding a child's heart and throughout the semester I will get to lead 3 workshops for our falculty and staff. I am slightly terrified about teaching my peers because they are all amazing and very accomplished, but thankful for the oppurtunity to focus and prepare for something I am passionate about. I am excited to work with parents this weekend and see how they respond. Most of the information is very counter-cultural even for Christian families here, so pray that it goes well. I think it is counter-cultural in the United States as well, just not as much in the Christian community. It is all about not just trying to change a child's behavior, but focusing on their heart. It uses every behavior problem you have with a child and gives you a chance to share the gospel in the most grace-filled way. It has completely changed the way I teach and disciple my students.


I was constantly asked what God was teaching me and what had I learned about Colombia since I moved here. It forced me to reflect a lot. One thing is that I know I want to keep working in full-time ministry with students and families no matter where I am. I love it so much. I am proud to work with an organization that reaches out to so much of Bogota and raises up future leaders with compassionate hearts, intelligence and big ideas. Even though I can say that I see God working everywhere here in Bogota and that there are tons of churches that are thriving and doing great things, there has also been many, many people that I have met who have turned away from the church completely. Many people that I have talked to think that the church is nothing but a business or have been hurt by people so badly that they want nothing to do with it anymore. One reason I think this is common here is because the prosperity gospel message is preached here a ton. If God is not being their genie in a bottle and giving them everything they asked for they are told that they are too full of sin and aren't living correctly. I hate to see that and wish I could change their views so bad. I think my favorite thing God has shown me here though is my love for working with high school students. Just today my Jannett came into my room crying because of something that happened with another student and I got to be the person to help her work through it all. The girls I get to spend time with encourage me a lot. I have been getting secret notes left on my desk for a while now and found out this week that it has been one of my favorite high school girls instead of another teacher like I thought. God is good and I am learning so much. Peace!