Our Colombia Experience

  We’ve just completed 2 ½ weeks of school and I love it.  The kids are fantastic, the staff is incredibly accommodating and the other teachers are great. I am teaching Algebra 2 Advanced, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus, Regular and advanced Physics and an elective in Origami.  It is really cool to see how God has provided and continues to provide to keep this school functioning.  Just as an example, I am teaching both the regular and advanced physics for the 11^th and 12^th grade.  Being responsible for both classes that meet at the same time is quite a challenge. The plan was that another teacher was going to take care of the labs and I would do the class work.  This other teacher was returning a week late from the states because of family commitments.  Meanwhile, a new family registered and the dad, Flavio, is an engineer and interested in teaching physics.  We started working together and it has been fantastic.  Then, just this Friday, we found out that the original teacher who I was supposed to work with was not going to be returning to Colombia at all.  God had provided a replacement before we even knew we needed one!  There have been so many little things like this that have just been taken care of; it is really awesome.

     We have to leave around 6:20 am each morning to catch a ride with Noelle; we get to school around 7 am.  It is amazing how just a few minutes can make all the difference on the autopista.  On Friday we have to be at school at 6:45 so we leave at 6:10 and it takes only about 10 minutes to get there.  School starts at 7:45 and we have 8 periods; classes end at 3 pm.  The biggest complaint that Andrew and Kirsten have is that they don’t eat lunch until 12:45.  Oh well.  They are allowed to eat in most of their classes and there is a tienda where they can purchase snacks and drinks between classes.  They sell the most wonderful chicken and rice empanadas.  The tienda is also open after school so they can get snacks before volleyball practice for Kirsten and basketball practice for Andrew.  They stay on MWF and get home around 6 pm.

     The school was blessed last year with the completion of part one of their renovations.  A 2 story building was constructed that contains about 13 classrooms, teacher workroom, a few offices, bathrooms and the computer server.  Almost all of the classes are now in this building except for a few small classes that still meet in the old one.  The old building is Spanish style, in a figure 8 with open central grassy courtyards and a covered walkway and classes around them.  Most of the rooms are very small.  3 of the old classrooms were opened up to create an auditorium.  The library and offices are all in the old part of the school; along with the science lab. Eventually, this part of the school will be torn down and replaced during the third construction phase.

     The students are from all over the world.  About 60% are Colombian but a good number of them have lived in the
US.  There are students from Korea, one family who spent enough time in Aruba that the kids speak Dutch and Spanish in addition to their native English.  I think I told you before about Samuel, but I recently learned more about his great Uncle.  He is the one who was a missionary and murdered by an indigenous tribe back in the late 50’s or so.  I made a mistake, it was in Ecuador.  Samuel was telling me the other day that his grandfather recently visited the tribe that had murdered his brother and actually met the man who had done this.  I just can’t imagine it.  Here is the story I found on the web…..Peter Fleming (1928-1956) was an evangelical Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Huaorani people through efforts known as Operation Auca.

Early life

Fleming was born in Seattle, Washington. He was taught the Bible from an early age, but claimed he was not a Christian until he was 13 years old after hearing the testimony of a blind evangelist. During his late teens and early twenties, Fleming was known for his knowledge of Scripture and spiritual maturity.In high school, Fleming earned letters in basketball and golf. He was also a good student, graduating at the top of his class.In 1946, Fleming enrolled at the University of Washington as a philosophy student. He was very driven in college, working part-time and dedicating much time to prayer and Bible study, as well as keeping up on his classes. He was also elected president of the University Christian Fellowship. After college he went on for his master’s degree which he received in 1951.Fleming met Jim Elliot during a series of conferences and mountain climbing expeditions organized by a Christian oganization. They became good friends and at one time spent six weeks preaching across the country togehter. Elliot had a great deal of influence on Fleming and was largely responsable for his becoming a missionary and for his breaking off of his engagement with Olive Ainslie, a childhood friend.

Ecuador

Fleming went to Ecuador in 1952 as a part of a two-man team with Jim Elliot. After serving on the mission field for a while, Elliot changed his mind about celibacy and got married. Shortly afterwards, Fleming proposed to Olive in a letter, and they were married in 1954.In September 1955, Fleming joined with Elliot and three other missionaries in Operation Auca, an attempt to reach the Huaorani Indians with the gospel. He was the last member of the Operation Auca team to join, largely because of concerns of his wife. They had only been married 18 months when Fleming was killed along with the other missionaries. The rescue team found Flemings body floating in the Curaray River. His body was identified by a red woven belt he was wearing.According to reports, Fleming was speared by Kimo, a man who later became one of the first Huaorani converts to Christianity.Shortly before Pete’s death, Olive had had her second miscarriage. She soon returned to the
United States in order to recover. She eventually remarried to Walt Liefeld.

One of my calculus students just returned from a year in Atlanta and one of the new tenth graders is from a Christian school in Jacksonville Florida that sponsors the annual FACCS competition.  I had been there with Andrew a few years back with some students from Panama City Christian school in Florida.  Another student whose parents are Colombian, is back in Bogota for a year after living in Ecuador.  These are just the students I have met in Secondary.  There are a few other countries represented in elementary.  It is most definitely a multi-cultural environment!

     It is really amazing to learn about all the contacts that various people at the school have and make use of.  Right now a past teacher is visiting.  Back in the States he helps prepare students for the SAT and ACT exams.  For the next two weeks everyone’s study halls will be devoted to information sessions on taking these test.  The first week of school we had a visit by a parent of an elementary teacher who is a high school science teacher in
Indiana.  He presented a few talks on integrating biblical teaching in the science curriculum.  Since we use public school text books we are responsible for the biblical integration and can always use guidance on this, especially in science!  Beth’s husband recently organized a visit by a well known evangelist Joel Sonnenberg to Bogota to speak publicly at the soccer stadium.  Joel will be visiting the school next week to speak with the kids.  http://www.joel.cc/pages/home.asp Here is his home page if you are interested.  I am looking forward to all of the surprise visits by various people that I am sure will occur over the year.

     Teaching all of these classes keeps me really busy.  It dawned on me the other day that as a high school teacher in the states you might teach maybe 2 different classes but teach them each 2 or 3 times a day.  I have to prepare for all of these different classes every day and it can be draining.  Luckily, I have taught them so often that it is basically auto-pilot; I think that is the only thing that makes it doable.  The hardest part is making up the exams and the grading which just takes time.  I am also taking Spanish two hours a week from Andrew and Kirsten’s teacher, Jairo Munoz. (Andrew and Kirsten are the only two high school students who aren’t fairly fluent in Spanish.  So they have a class with Jairo every day.  Basically it is private tutoring!)  Thankfully, Flavio enjoys working with all the physics lab machinery and has gotten a few things to work that would have taken me hours.  All in all, I think work will be as perfect as it can be as soon as the copier in the new building is fixed!  It did work for one day…….

The day after Beth took us all out to dinner, she and another long time teacher drove a group of us out to a lake called Guatavita. Some of you may recognize the name as the site of the Legend of El Dorado. It is about 1+ hour drive north of Bogota, up in the mountains.
We left around 10 am after having to have the tire changed, van gassed up, etc. The drive was beautiful. I was trying to think of how to describe the scenery. It is very hilly and green with clumps of forest. The ground is very rocky so you don’t see the smooth green fields like in Germany. A lot of the road are dirt, or almost dirt again; they are narrow when you go off the “highway” and very windy. We got stopped for 10 minutes because a huge truck was parked across the road and they were trying to load some cows on it. The cows were not cooperating! We got to Guatavita at about 11:30.
It had been awhile since Beth had been there and it had really changed. The government had built a tourist/info area and there are now guided tours. I am sure this is part of Uribe’s plans to encourage the populace to go out into the country and feel safe; pushing the FARC and narco-terrorists out of the area. His programs have been very successful and the area is very safe.
The hike up to the lake is fairly long so I didn’t go (because of my ankle) but Andrew and Kirsten did. I got the gyst of the story when they returned. It is really funny trying to get information out of Colombian officials. Someone from school had called ahead to see if there was an entrance fee. They said yes and told us it was 3mil (3000 pesos). When we got there they were trying to charge us 12 mil. After a very long discussion they decided that since we all had cedulas (Colombian Id’s) that we weren’t technically tourists so they would charge us 3 mil. Right before they were ready to go out on the hike we realized that the sign said there was a 1mil cost to get back to where we parked. Basically, the tour is a one-way tour and unless someone picks you up at the other end, you have to pay to take their bus back or walk the close to 5 miles by road (you are not allowed to do the park hike backwards) So I got to drive…my first time driving in Colombia. Drove Glen’s fairly old, some kind of big SUV. It was fun except trying to get it into reverse. I met them at the other end of the hike and had a really great conversation with a local woman who was selling things she had made. I was amazed that we understood each other! Overall it was quite an experience.
So here is what I got from Andrew and Kirsten about the legend…..The Indian culture groomed a boy to become the chief from the time he is little. He is raised separately from the rest of society. When he is to become chief they float him out on an incredible, gold raft out to the center of the lake. At the same time, all kinds of gold and gems are thrown into the lake as sacrifices to the gods. Apparently, the people thought that swimming in the lake was bad so almost no one knew how to swim. But this potential new chief, covered in gold dust, was supposed to jump off the raft and swim to shore. They did lose a lot of potential chiefs because of this. Here is the wikipedia story:
In 1636 Juan Rodriguez Freyle wrote this account, addressed to his friend Don Juan, the cacique or governor of Guatavita:
The ceremony took place on the appointment of a new ruler. Before taking office, he spent some time secluded in a cave, without women, forbidden to eat salt,or to go out during daylight. The first journey he had to make was to go to the great lagoon of Guatavita, to make offerings and sacrifices to the demon which they worshipped as their god and lord. During the ceremony which took place at the lagoon, they made a raft of rushes, embellishing and decorating it with the most attractive things they had. They put on it four lighted braziers in which they burned much moque, which is the incense of these natives, and also resin and many other perfumes. The lagoon was large and deep, so that a ship with high sides could sail on it, all loaded with an infinity of men and women dressed in fine plumes, golden plaques and crowns…. As soon as those on the raft began to burn incense, they also lit braziers on the shore, so that the smoke hid the light of day.
At this time they stripped the heir to his skin, and anointed him with a sticky earth on which they placed gold dust so that he was completely covered with this metal. They placed him on the raft … and at his feet they placed a great heap of gold and emeralds for him to offer to his god. In the raft with him went four principal subject chiefs, decked in plumes, crowns, bracelets, pendants and ear rings all of gold. They, too, were naked, and each one carried his offering …. when the raft reached the centre of the lagoon, they raised a banner as a signal for silence. The gilded Indian then … [threw] out all the pile of gold into the middle of the lake, and the chiefs who had accompanied him did the same on their own accounts. … After this they lowered the flag, which had remained up during the whole time of offering, and, as the raft moved towards the shore, the shouting began again, with pipes, flutes, and large teams of singers and dancers. With this ceremony the new ruler was received, and was recognized as lord and king.

We left Guatavita around 2 pm and stopped to eat lunch at a “yacht club” about 10 minutes away. Basically, a beautiful building on the shore of another incredible lake where you can put your sail boat in, a dock, a playground for the kids, a few cabins, and a restaurant with a large bank of glass windows that overlook the lake. Even though it rained off and on, the sun always comes out between the showers. The lake is a mountain lake with hills coming steeply down to the water. It was a place and experience that you would pay hundreds of dollars to experience in the states. It was beautiful.
While we were waiting for our lunches I was thinking and comparing to the US. If you just plucked the little area of the club out of Colombia, you could plop it down anywhere in the US and it would seem completely normal. There were little sailboats and a few windsurfers out on the lake as well as a water skier, even though it was only about 70 degrees. There were very few people considering it was a Saturday. But the area was well groomed, the playground was very spread out and well kept and it was so peaceful. But then I realized that if this place was in the states you would look out and see all types of houses and buildings built on the other hills on the other sides of the lake. There were none. There was not one single structure visible anywhere around the lake. Nothing! Absolutely no one, not one house, cabin, anything. Completely isolated and remote. And we were only 1 ½ hours outside of the city! It was so quiet and pretty and peaceful. Not to mention that Andrew and I had veal dinners with two large pieces of veal each with salad, drink and dessert for just 6$ each. The filet mignon was 5$ and it was apparently really good. It was an experience that I don’t think could even find in the US, and if you did, would never be able to afford!

This past weekend I wanted to keep the kids busy so we decided to go to the Museo del Oro downtown (the Gold museum). Kaleb went with us, he loves to go do this stuff as he really hasn’t had much opportunity to. His mom is a single parent missionary and I imagine is pretty busy. We took a taxi downtown to the museum and were able to each get one of the electronic….oh I don’t know what you would call them…..you enter the number of the exhibit and it plays a recording for you in your language. We spent over 2 hours going through the 2 floors of exhibits.
A good number of items were related to the El Dorado legend so the kids were able to make some connections to the artifacts from the story they heard about in Guatavita. Apparently, the religion of the Indians involved Shamans. They would eat the coca leaves and go into these trance like states. Many of the objects involved combinations of human and bat features. Bats were seen as very powerful in the culture with their ability to fly, to see in the dark, etc. Other animals you often see are jaguars and snakes. There were many examples of decorative, religious and everyday household objects.
We were all amazed at the gold fish hooks and lures. Can you imagine fishing with gold hooks and lures? The nose rings are amazing as always. Some of them are so huge, well I don’t want to think about what their noses looked like. There were many objects that appeared to be “massed produced” Turns out they used a lost wax process and did essentially mass produce them. A lot of the items had a reddish tint from the small bit of copper that was mixed in.
When I was there 25 years ago there were a few exhibits but the most impressive collection was inside a locked vault. There are now many more exhibits outside the enclosed area, but they still do a 3 minute presentation in an enclosed area. You enter a circular room and lights go out. They slowly come on in sequence around the room with some local music. The display is incredible. At one point a light shines in the center of the room and you can look down on various gold objects with mirrors below so you can see all sides. The music had a latin sound but also that eerie sound you associate with ancient Indian cultures. While the total amount of gold was not Fr. Knox, the workmanship was incredible. It was fine, intricate work that is amazing for a 2000 year old culture.
After the museum we went across the brick walkway and had a snack and coffee in a local tienda. The waitress got Andrew to try one of her empanadas and he was hooked, ate 2 or 3 of them. There was a fairly large area of local shops nextdoor that I wanted to check out. I was really surprised at the prices. In the states, if you go to any type of gift shops that are really close to a large museum you know you are going to pay way more. Well, I thought these prices were really good and on Monday found out from another teacher that yes, this set of shops across from Museo del Oro are the best prices in town. I bought Kirsten a silver ring with 4 little emeralds (not the greatest quality…very light green) for about 45$. We all decided that we have to back and buy each of us our own hammock before we leave! We spent about an hour there and then walked across a park area to get a taxi.
Just as we got the road Andrew did what I kept telling him not to, he got himself caught up in an attempt at conversation with a pretty poor street person. She gave him a little card written in Spanish, he took it and then we could not get away, she kept following us. So what does Kaleb do? The Colombian who is supposed to be the one who knows what is going on? He stops to listen to her!!!!! Well, when she found out we were trying to get a taxi, she made it her personal mission to find us a taxi. She ran 2 and 3 blocks ahead of us, kept trying to flag one down. But as you’d probably figure, what taxi was going to stop for an obvious street person. She finally cornered one stopped at a stop light and somehow convinced him to wait for us to get there. We gave her 3 mil for her help. Then in the taxi the driver didn’t realize that I spoke Spanish and he starts lecturing Kaleb on how he needs to tell us not to talk to the poor people or give them money because it just encourages them to not leave you alone and how they will take advantage of foreigners. I sure hope Kaleb listened to him!!!!
We decided to check out the mall that was near the restaurant Beth had taken us to, called Santa Ana. It is a much more upscale place than I thought and pretty busy, although not busy like a US mall on Sat. afternoon. We ate lunch at Spoleta’s, Italian place, and then I had to go grocery shopping. There is a Carrefor there, kind of like a Kmart super store, so decided to get what I needed. Kaleb wasn’t into grocery shopping so he left to go home.

Now, I said this was like a Kmart super store, but it was 2 floors with groceries on the first floor. So I am wondering, you get your groceries and then what do you do if you want something from the second floor? Do you leave your cart somewhere? That was when I found out that escalators don’t have to be in the form of stairs, they can also be ramps! Yes, you get on the escalator ramp with your grocery cart and make sure your feet are solidly planted because you go up on about a 25 degree angle and if your cart is heavy, well, watch out! It really was pretty cool. Makes it a lot easier for the kids to go up the down way! It was certainly a different way to do things!

Sunday after church I took the kids to check out another local mall, Unicentro. It took us almost an hour to go from Calle 53 to 100 because of the ciclovias. A whole bunch of roads that are normally 2+ lanes each way with a median in the center are blocked off and reserved for bicyclists. It creates horrific traffic problems which probably would encourage a lot of people to just not drive on Sundays. We finally got there and the place was mobbed, even mobbed for a US mall; sort of like Macy’s at Christmas time in NYC. We walked around and bit and decided it was too crazy and got a taxi home.
It was about 3:30 by the time we got home so we had the taxi drop us off in front of the chicken place down the street. We hadn’t eaten there yet, but Maria Jose had said it was really good. And it was. I am still not sure exactly what all the things on the menu are but basically you order your chicken in ¼. ½ or whole chicken. It comes with a few little boiled potatoes rolled in salt and a small arepa. Fries, salads, etc. you order separate. We got a whole chicken that had been roasted and cut into about 8 pieces. It was all served family style. I had a salad and the kids had fries. It was just about the best chicken I ever ate. But of course, there had to be an amusing little difference that we never expected…….
Before the waitress brought the chicken she brought out this little metal platter with some silverware and three things that looked like 3 thin plastic bags tied in a knot. As we looked around we realized that everyone who was eating chicken had on clear plastic gloves!!!! Yep, you eat the chicken with plastic gloves on your hands to conserve the paper napkins! It was weird at first, but after you get used to it, it was a pretty good idea! Except when you try to pour your coke out of the glass coke bottle…..that takes a little care when you have greasy gloves on!
When we were almost completely stuffed, the waitress asked if we’d like some fruit salad. I am always up for fruit so said yes. Well, she asked if we wanted ice cream with it. Why not? It was a good thing we only got 1! She brought this 5 in. diameter bowl piled with fresh fruit in a cream sauce (apple, mango, pineapple, strawberries, peaches, papaya, bananas). There were long slices of fruit stuck upright around the edge of the bowl with a huge scoop of cookies and cream ice cream in the center. It was topped with (sprinkled with) shredded mozzarella cheese. The kids weren’t too big on the cheese but it really went well with the fruit. They eat apples and cheese all the time, so I don’t know what the problem was. Personally, I really like the ice cream here because they don’t make it with such a high fat content so it doesn’t make me sick (gastric bypass surgery has made me really sensitive to high fat foods). So that was our 2$ dessert! As we walked out of the restaurant I realized that the dessert had come from the shop next door. Until then I hadn’t understood why a shop would advertise as a fruit and ice cream shop. Now I understand!
Needless to say, we were exhausted by the time we got home, but as usual, my kids had homework to complete. I was asleep way before they even thought about bed time! 5 am came way to quick on Monday morning!

It has been a spectacularly busy week.  I spent most of the week at school, meetings, etc. getting ready for school starting this Tuesday.  But there have a been a few funny times as well as some educational.  While I hope you’d like to read about Church, don’t skip the last 3 paragraphs. 

     Last Sunday we attended the local Episcopal church, Catedral del San Pablo.  It is not the easiest place to get to by bus, so we took a taxi.  Good thing we left early as we didn’t know about the marathon that was being run down Calle 7.  The taxi had no way to go across so let us off with directions how to walk to the church.  Well, that would be fine if we could get across the race! 

After walking a few blocks and observing the technique we decided to attempt it.  We stepped off the curb, in our church clothes, and started jogging with the crowd, slowly making our way to the median.  On the other side of the divided road was a bike ride that followed the marathon course.  While a little more dangerous to cross it was really easier because most of the bikes had already gone by.

     Even Kirsten really enjoyed church.  It was all in Spanish but being liturgical was fairly easy to follow.  The electric pianist is blind but he does a fantastic job.  That Sunday they were short on singers.  We met a gentleman named Delbert who is American but has been working overseas for a, I believe, non-profit co. in Europe and now here in Colombia.  The kids met a young girl named Julie who speaks fantastic English. Unfortunately she lives south of the church and we live way north.  It was really comforting to be doing something you understand…benefit of liturgical worship.

     The church itself is really pretty, it is on a fairly steep hill with wrought iron looking gates, white stucco type exterior and tile.  The dark wood pews are set up in 4 sections creating a semi-circle around the front of the altar.  The kneelers have no cushions and apparently are not often used…usually stand.  Some of the hymns have been translated into Spanish and the words only are in a small 3 ring binder that is handed out along with the prayer book.  The altar is white, possibly marble, as are all of the walls.  There is a crucifix over the altar with multi-colored streamer hanging down behind it.  The flowers are beautiful and on each side of the altar, hung from the ceiling are these large round balls with roses on them…like, I guess a topiary, but hanging.  The congregation is a bit small and the service is very informal.  We all really enjoyed it and hope to be back often.

    Today we returned to the Catedral.  The bishop was there today; apparently he is usually there but was absent last week. He is a very nice man, speaks very good English and has 2 lovely daughters.  Elizabeth, his youngest daughter also speaks very good English and spent some time with Andrew and Kirsten.  She is a senior this year.  Her older sister does not speak as much English and is a freshman at the university.  I also met Rev. Gonzalo’s family; his wife Joanna, son Miguel (3) and the baby, Jacob (2 months)  I found out today that he is from Medellin, but didn’t have a lot of time to talk.  He does not speak much English.

     We were surprised to meet the visitors today.  The priest from the national church office in NY who is in charge of Hispanic ministries was visiting.  He and his wife were actually on vacation visiting Ecuador and Venezuela, but visited the Catedral today.  He preached about his ministry and about not hoarding your possessions…Luke 12.  He very graciously spent 5 minutes summarizing his sermon in English for Kirsten and Andrew.  I was really thankful for this as he preached about exactly what I am trying to do…to give and to share what God has blessed us with.  There are many times when the kids don’t really get this, or maybe choose not to understand. His wife and I spent a bit of time before church talking about lots of little things from home.  I hope we will keep in touch.

     After church I spoke with a young guy who I thought had passed the peace in English.  Sure enough, he was an American from Maine.  He is a master’s student at GWU in Washington down here working on his thesis.  He is examining the role that the church has played in the national problem with the separatist groups..FARC and the narco-terrorists.  (I hope I explained this right, I am sure he will correct me if not!)  He is here with a friend also from the same school who is Colombian.  They will be here until the end of August.  I hope to get to talk with them more.  The civil war situation in the country is very complicated with so many different aspects.  I imagine the church has a large role to play but I don’t yet really understand what that is.

     After church, while I was talking, Andrew and Kirsten talked with Elizabeth who told them a great place to go to find a restaurant was Parque 93 and they convinced me to take them.  It is really a neat little square at the foot of the mountains at about Carrera 93 (the church is at crra 53 and we live on crra 146.  Surrounding the park are lots of nice restaurants.  We eventually spotted the TGI Fridays and the kids begged for a little taste of home.  The fancy McDonald’s café just wasn’t going to cut it.

     Now, once you were inside you would recognize it, but from the outside it looked like most other local restaurants, the main building set back from the sidewalk with lots of outdoor tables in front covered with a retractable….what do you call it, like tarp.  The entrance steps went up the center and on the left of the stairs was a wheelchair ramp.  I was actually a bit surprised at this, there are not a lot of laws to give handi-capped equal access and I really haven’t seen any thoughtful accommodations by shop owners.  I decided that maybe it was the American influence even though the restaurant is in
Colombia.  I was ready to just walk on in, but leave it to Andrew to see the truth of the situation.

     It really was a wheelchair ramp; it paralleled the stairs at about a 15 degree angle down to the sidewalk.  But Andrew pointed out that at the end of the ramp there was a 10 inch drop off down to the sidewalk!!  I suppose it is better to bump down only one step as opposed to 10!.  We laughed about that ramp for a good 10 minutes.  Only in Colombia!

    

Kirsten and I left around 9 to go check out the school.  Noelle drove us, it is about 15 min. north just off the autopista.  It would be a good bit more than 15 min. during rush hour.  Unfortunately, it is not easy to take the transmillenial because it doesn’t go far enough north. They are doing a lot of renovation at the school,  recently finishing the first part of the new construction.  All middle and high school will be in the new building, except for the science labs. The old building is set up in a typical spanish style in 2 squares with rooms open to a central open air grassy square.  It is a great location, well gated and guarded, well kept up with lots of open spaces, good sized library for a small school and lots of super dedicated people.

     Turns out I am going to have 5 classes out of 8 periods; geometry, Algebra II advanced, precalculus, calculus and physics.  I was just going to do advanced physics, but it was decided that it would be better to put the two classes (advanced and regular) together and have a second teacher work with me so we can split the group as needed.  Hopefully, he will take care of a lot of the laboratory set up and operation.

     It will be nice to have the extra prep periods…never had that amount of time before.  Hopefully, I will get everything done at school.  We have to leave for school by 6 am, 5:30 on Fridays which makes for a long day. 

     Kirsten went with some friends to a movie…in English with Spanish subtitles.  Meanwhile, Andrew and I made our first excursion to el Exito for some major grocery shopping.  For a whole $2.80 we got a taxi to and from the store and help bringing in our groceries!  It is interesting how
Colombia is just starting to sell foods that are pre-packaged and prepared.  For the most part, food is sold by the ingredient and requires daily preparation.  It is still pretty rare to find cake mixes, instant pasta or rice dishes, etc.  It makes sense when you figure that maid you pay only 12$ a day usually stays to get dinner started for you.

    

Sunday morning we went to church with Robert and Noelle and their kids. They have a ministry with the very poor people in southern Bogota. The day also happened to be the day of the patron saint of drivers. I have never seen a parade of decorated cement trucks before! They had blue and white balloons all over them along with crepe paper streamers. There were long lines of buses, cement trucks, taxis, etc. in small parades all over the place. Hence the traffic was horrendous (even more than usual). The church is located in an area of dirt (ie mud) roads and semi built houses (again, the people build their houses as they can afford the bricks. The church used to be a house that they opened up the second floor to make the sanctuary. The roof was like a greenhouse roof so there was lots of light. They had a piano player Paula, and the son of the pastor was the drummer. Paula’s husband also sang, prayed and read scripture. We actually did recognize some of the songs, although everything was in Spanish. Noelle had warned me about this, but I was still really surprised. No matter what the song leaders did, no one could keep the beat when they clapped. It got to be pretty funny. The people sang so off key and even with the good drummer, they could not keep proper time! Scott would have been tearing his hair out!!! But to see these people, with nothing, come together to worship was really incredible.
Afterwards we went to McDonalds for lunch..pretty expensive. While parked you pay this guy to watch your car. Next door was a fairly large store so we did a bit of grocery shopping. We got home around 2 pm.
Andrew had made friends with 2 of the guys on Sunday, Carlos and Caleb. Caleb came over on Sunday afternoon and he and Andrew played halo II all afternoon. That evening we did experiment with ordering dinner. Andrew and Kirsten were not too adventurous with hamburgers, but I tried a patacone con pollo y queso. Patacones are plantains (those big funky looking sort of bananas you occaisionally see in the US markets) that are mushed pretty flat (these were REALLY thin) then fried. It was topped with shredded chicken that tasted like that canned chicken, and cheese. Then there was some type of sauce on it. It was actually pretty good. Sort of like a compuesta or Mexican pizza with patacone instead of a taco shell. Caleb left around 8:30 and we all got a good night sleep.

Carlos’s dad is the one who drove us to the mall on Saturday. As the boys started talking they realized that they were all really into paintball. We then mentioned Oklahoma D-Day which I had just taken Andrew to in the beginning of June…..huge reenactment of D-day using paintball by over 5000 people north of Tulsa in Wyandotte. Well, it turns out that Caleb, Carlos and his dad are all really into paintball, they are from Oklahoma and had just that morning been lamenting how they wished they could get to OK D-Day!!! They will be back in the states on furlough in 2 years and we decided then and there that we would all try to meet up at D-Day 2009. It constantly amazes me the connections you find between one another.

July 20^th was the first full day we were in Bogota and it is also the Colombian Independence Day (as well as Andy’s birthday….big 42!)  There were a lot of people around but just like in the US, all the stores were still open.  In the morning we took a walk around the neighborhood on our own.  Maria Jose had taken us for a quick tour the day before so we felt a bit more comfortable.

     As we left the apartment building it was really different to have the front door opened for us with a cheerful Buenos Dias.  Every apartment building has a security door man who is really just like the doormen you see in the movies.  He runs to get the door for you, will call you a taxi, help you with your groceries, check ID of your visitors before he calls up to ask if you are expecting them, and is always smiling.

     Kirsten observed that it is like living in a little neighborhood.  There are all kinds of little stores and shops for everyday things (not shops like clothes).  There are bunches of beauty salons (pedicures are $4.00!) dry cleaners, a gym, little convenience stores (a latino 7-11!), small little restaurants, a fruit and vegy store (all fresh), a butcher, a cheese store, and icecream and fruit shop, a few bakeries, movie rental store, computer repair, telephone store (it is cheaper to go to these to make calls than to use the home phone), a few internet cafes and stores, and at the end of the 150^th at the autopista del Norte (main N/S highway 5 short blocks away) is a small grocery store.  If we go to the autopista and turn south, there is a vet and pet supply, furniture store, and my favorite place that I have to check out, a tile store (if you don’t know, I love to do mosaics and am looking forward to see what I can do with local materials!).  The really cool thing is that every single one of these places will pick up or deliver directly to your apartment!  Restaurants, grocery store, vet, all of them.  You go around and collect all the phone numbers and just call for whatever you need!  That is taking a bit to get used to, but will it ever be hard to give up next year!!!

     Anyway, we walked down, almost to the autopista to this little bread store that sells pan del horno….bread sticks with cheese mixed in the dough.  Oh are they good!  They also sell this drink called arena.  This actually means oatmeal which is in the drink, but there is also milk, maybe coconut, vanilla….like a thick sweet milk.  For 5000 (5 mil) pesos we had breakfast.

     After breakfast we went to visit Robert and Noelle who live just 2 blocks from us.  Noelle was the high school principle last year and Robert works full time with his missionary organization (although this year he has apparently been recruited to teach 9^th grade science at ECA as well!)  They introduced us to a great phone service called Lingo which will let us get a phone number with an OK (405) area code and we can make and receive calls via the internet.  I have subscribed already and am waiting for the equipment to arrive; will give you the number when we get it. I am trying to get our 285 number that we had in Edmond.  They have really been life savers in explaining how various things work, how to do things, etc.

    That afternoon, one of the high school girls, Natalia, was able to arrange for a group of the kids to go to the newest and supposedly largest mall in all of South America, El Centro Commercial de Santa Fe.  It is located on the autopista about 10 minutes north of us.  One of the dad’s picked us all up (9 of us squished in this SUV) and off we went.  Because it was a holiday the mall was pretty crowded.  It doesn’t appear that the mall has “anchor stores” as we think of them.  There is a large store attached that is like a Target.  But it is primarily high end small retail shops and it is fairly expensive.  Being a holiday, there were a bunch of bands and as we were leaving a large open coffee shop area there was an incredibly good saxophone player performing. (The coffee shop is called, of course, Juan Valdez and apparently they are really expanding….watch out Starbuck’s!)

     After 2 hours of walking around we walked across the autopista (lots of pedestrian bridges) and had dinner with one of the other teachers, Kathleen.  She and her husband are here with a mission that is serving very low income boys who live and learn at a farm outside of Bogota.  If I understand correctly they are serving about 24 children.  That evening, they drove us home and were we ever exhausted!

    

We were very lucky to have an apartment waiting for us here in Bogota. It is 3 bedrooms, 2 baths (only showers), a living/dining room, kitchen and about700 sq. ft. There is a washing machine but no dryer and a small fridge.
Our first bit of excitement came with the laundry. I found out that it is not fun to wash socks when you have hang them dry! The kitchen is long and very narrow, with a window at the far end. On the left are the cabinets and stainless steel counter top. On the right is a cabinet that used to house the electric water heater, but is now empty, then the fridge, then the small washer, about 3 ft. of space which now houses the cat litter, then a scrub sink. Above the scrub sink and the space is a 4 ft. x 3 ft aluminum construction hanging from the ceiling on which to hang the laundry. There are rods at each end and then parallel rods at various intervals to hang the clothes over. You really wouldn’t think it so bad until you realize what the weather is like in Bogota. Jeans take up to 2 days to dry and they still aren’t really fully dry!
But anyway, the excitement. As I said, the heater is gone. Apartments are going to those gas heaters that only heat the water when you need it. They are starting to advertise them in the states…Renai is importing them. When the hot water is turned on somewhere in the apartment, the flame kicks on and heats the water. Well, the laundry hangs right in front of the water heater which hangs on the wall above that empty space. Well, you guessed it. The first time one of us used the shower one of Andrew’s t-shirts was a bit too close to the heater. I did realize it before it caught fire, but it was really warm. Actually though, I did learn a good lesson….clothes dry faster in the morning while everyone is taking showers!
We also had some fun with the stove. Maria Jose who owns the apartment had shown me how to use it, but I hadn’t paid very good attention. You have to turn on the main gas line below the counter, which I did. I then went to light one of the burners with the push button spark thing and all four burners lit up with various levels of flames. Scared the u no what out of me! The area around the little knobs all had a mark for off, but none of the marks on the knobs actually line up when they are really off! After I figured that out we were fine. I am not looking forward to trying out the stove!
The apartment is furnished. The living room is beautiful. There is a big window overlooking a playground/park across the street. We are on the 5th floor so there is a little view. But we face west and the mountains run N/S on the east side of the city. There is a blue couch under the window, a blue wing back chair, coffee table and some built in bookshelves. Also in this area is a dining table with 4 chairs and a floor to ceiling glass area with door out to a very small balcony, just big enough to sit one of those plastic patio chairs. (about 3×3 ft.). The kids each have a twin bed, but I am going to have to buy Andrew another mattress. They are just mattresses that are basically a thick piece of foam. Kirsten is fine with it, but Andrew is not. Overall, the furniture is really nice, I am very thankful we don’t have to go and buy furniture!
All of the woodwork is very different. It basically looks like unfinished pine and all of the doors are put together with horizontal slats. You can actually see light through the front door during the day. It gives the place a very caribbean feel.
Living here is very economical. The rent is 1,000,000 pesos/ month, the apartment fee is 150,000 pesos per month and I was told the utilities, phone, internet, etc. are about 400,000 per month. It is a little under 2000 pesos to the dollar just now, which makes everything around $800 per month. We are also going to have someone come in to clean, do laundry and start dinner for about $12 – $18 per day.
I mentioned the weather…it is cold here! You think South America and of course it must be really warm? NOT! The average high temp is really only 70 degrees F all year round and it goes down to the low 50’s at night, sometimes high 40’s. But it never freezes. Because of the temperate climate, the apartments do not have ac or heat. If you want heat you buy a space heater. There are a few blankets on my bed, but it is taking a bit to get used to. Layers is the key. It also rains a good bit, there are often clouds on the mountains and a light shower in the afternoon. But when the sun shines, it does heat up. Because Bogota is at 8500 ft. (yes, you read correctly) you really need sunscreen all the time. I found that out today, I can feel the sunburn on my face!
We are living in the northern part of Bogota. The southern part of the city is very poor and very dangerous. The government assigns a number 1-6 to areas of the city to indicate income levels. Southern Bogota is a 1, the school is located in a 5 area. We are living in a 4. Your utility prices are based on this number. If you live in a 4 you pay exactly what you use. If you live in a 5 or 6 you pay a percentage more in order to subsidize the cost for the zones 1-3. In zone 1 you find unpaved roads, houses built as the people can afford the bricks, extremely low income….under $150 per month. Many of the people who live in these areas are essentially refugees, people who have fled the guerilla fighters and civil war in the country. In zone 4 you find doctors, lawyers and other professional people as well as service industry owners. From what I have seen it is the lowest end of the safe areas to live.
Bogota is a city of over 8 million people, it is very crowded. The area we live in is entirely high rise (5-8 story) apartments for miles around. The streets are very crowded with taxis and automobiles and private buses as well as the occasional horse drawn wooden cart that is used by the very poor to collect recyclables. A few years ago the Colombian government built a modern bus system called the trans-millenial. They have lanes in the centers of the large roads that are completely dedicated to these buses. You cross via pedestrian bridges to the median of the highway. One trip on the TM is 1400 pesos. Once you go through the turnstile you can change buses until you arrive at your destination just about anywhere in the city without paying again. These buses actually often have 2 lanes in each direction which allows express buses to bypass the local ones that are stopped at a station. It is a very efficient system, for the most part safe, and relatively cheap (I say relatively because to me it is cheap, but on $100 per month it is not!) On the other hand, if all three of us go somewhere it is almost cheaper for a taxi. The taxi to the Exito (like Wal-mart) about 1.5 miles away was 2800 pesos. It is amazing how cheap some things are and how expensive others are. This is probably due to the wide disparity in income.
As I think of more to tell you about the city, I will. If there is anything you’d like to know, please just ask!