Blogs from Colombia, South America - page 284

Bienvenido! Just a quick update tonight before I go to bed. Welcome and thanks to Chrissy and Adam. I'm so glad that you found my blog, and are actually taking the time to read it! I wonder sometimes if I have anything interesting to say, so its very encouraging to hear positive feedback. Thanks so much for the thoughts, well wishes and most importantly, thanks for the prayers. It's what I need the most. This last week has really seen me become not just comfortable with my new home, but actually pretty peaceful also. It was a rough going for awhile. When we did get into our apartment, we didn't have water for a few days. Then, we didn't have enough furniture. I slept on the most uncomfortable couch you can imagine for almost two weeks. ... read more

Hola everyone. First thing first....I haven't been kidnapped. I haven't been mugged and I haven't gotten any weird tropical disease. Those were my biggest concerns, but they really are unfounded. Actually, the only things that really separate Bogota from Chicago are the amount of pollution, the size and that everyone down here speaks Spanish. Other than that, I'm living in a major metropolis. There's plenty of 'social capital', people walking around talking to each other. Five blocks from my apartment is a nice little shopping center called Mazuren. It's clean, safe and has a couple really nice restaurants that are inexpensive. There's a little cafe where I can grab some coffee when I need...and they actually do have real coffee...not the stuff Colombians call coffee. It's so strange, but the majority of the coffee crop is ... read more

Better late than never. Here is the last episode of our year and a half long jaunt around South America! Our final destination was the much anticipated Colombia the 4th largest country in South America, after Brazil, Argentina and Peru, its size roughly equivalent to the combined area of France, Spain and Portugal. For many, Colombia is synonymous with Cocaine, kidnappings and corruption. The country does have more than its fair share of problems, but we had only heard stories about how beautiful the country is and how wonderful the Colombians are, from travellers we’d met on the road so we were really looking forward to seeing this country for ourselves. After a long border crossing with huge queues on the Ecuadorian side and a short steep hill on entering Colombia, we arrived in the Colombian ... read more

Following the rather eventful last few days in Pisco, it was certainly a relief to be out of the place. On that bus, about 6 hours later than we planned to leave due to an urgent appointment with an ultrasound machine and the nice Cuban doctors, I watched the sun set over the desert for the final time as the bus sped through the ruins of Ica province. Still in ruins, still so much to be done, but not by us. I've just found out that following Paul's little incident with a Peruvian and an "arma blanca" (what we think now is a fruit knife, not a screwdriver), there were more robberies at gun/knifepoint, and HandsOn have decided to pull out a month early from the project. In addition to that, Burners without Borders, who were ... read more

Greetings from Colombia! I'm writing this blog from the friendly home of the Bye/Van Zandt family. When I arrived in Bogota, my apartment wasn't ready, so I am spending the extended weekend with this family. Two of the sons are students at El Camino, and Kathleen Van Zandt is a teacher at the school. The first morning and afternoon I spent here, I camped out at the house. There wasn't much to do really. The father and sons went to a missionary farm, while Kathleen had an appointment to keep with a local single mother in need. I stayed in, napped, watched a movie and got accustomed to the thin mountain air. It was really quite pleasant. Later in the afternoon, I ventured out into the city and went to a local bakery, and I can't ... read more