last few days in colombia

Saturday: Anna and I went to Usme for a big health brigada. There were about 150 people there throughout the day and they all paid 1,000 Colombian Pesos (50 cents) for a full day of doctor's visits and a hair cut. There were optometrists, physical therapists, general physicians, lawyers, and barbers. While the families did the rounds, I helped the general physicians while Anna worked with the kids. It was a big day and our kids looked great after their haircuts!

Sunday: My last Sunday was spent in Soacha. My dad flew in to deliver pillows that were made by kids from my church in Maryland. When we walked into the church, one kid yelled "la gringa!!!" and about 15 kids ran up to me with big smiles and lots of hugs. It was a great service and the kids all came up to 'lay hands' as padre carlos gave me a 'goodbye' blessing. After the service we went upstairs and delivered the pillows. The kids loved them! It was so cool for them to know that they were made by kids in the US. Thanks to St. Andrew the Fisherman Vacation Bible School for making them! I've seen the community in Soacha grow throughout this past year and I met so many strong people there. I am so grateful for Padre Carlos and his amazing family for welcoming me into such a special place.


Monday: My last day in Usme with my kids in the after school program. It was a fun day and they absolutely loved the pillows. They all made bracelets and wrote notes for the kids in Maryland and then we watched a video of our year together. Watching that video and hearing the kids laugh reminded me of how special this year was with them. It was hard to leave my nenos but I feel much better knowing that Anna is there to continue our work with them. I can't believe that our time together is already over and I will miss them so much!


Tuesday: I was off to the airport early in the morning for a 7am flight to Houston. I arrived home in Maryland at 1130 at night. More on my homecoming in the next blog!

Love, Kate

anna moves to bogota and darcy visits!

As I waited for Anna at the airport on August 12, I thought back to my arrival a little less than a year before. I remember long lines and a huge crowd waiting for people at the airport exit. Her arrival wasn't much different, with 5 planes all arriving at once. After finding her in the crowd, we went to Myriam's apartment, where Anna will be staying for at least a month.

A couple of days later, one of my best friends from high school arrived for a five day visit. It was perfect timing because I was able to show them the city at the same time. Being their tour guide was a lot of fun. Here are some highlights of our time together:

Checking out the city from Monserrate:

Helping Anna buy a 40,000 colombian peso (20$) guitar from an open market. Spending time with Panchon was a lot of fun!

Spending time with my Colombian mom, Myriam and taking her out to dinner!

Padre Diego introducing Anna to the cathedral congregation and saying goodbye to everyone on my last Sunday there.

Teaching Anna the transmilenio system. Doesn't look like she was paying much attention....

Spending time walking through the center with our new friend, Andres. People thought we were famous because we had a 'police escort'!

Playing 'memory' with the kids. Thanks Major family for the cards!

Making picture frames with the kids in Usme. Darcy brought the pictures that were printed at Wal-mart. Toots and Grandpa sent foam picture frames and things to decorate them. All the children went home with a picture of themselves and their "profes", Brittany and me.

Welcome to Colombia, Anna and thanks for visiting, Darcy!

Love, Kate

medellin/quito

Medellin was once known as the most violent city in the world. Today it is a beautiful city full of happy people. It's a perfect example of the resilience and optimism of the Colombian people. Brittany and I stayed at the church and ate breakfast every morning watching about sixty 3-5 year olds at Medellin's Episcopal School. The kids were adorable and they had some amazing teachers.

Lorena, Juan and their seven year old niece, Samara were our tour guides throughout our three days in Medellin. They showed us Colombia's impressive metro, complete with a teleferico to take people to their houses up on a hill. We went to Plaza Botero, full of Botero's statues..you can't help but love them. We were there for the Feria de Flores (flower festival) and saw a concert in a park on our last night!

From Medellin, I flew to Quito to spend a few days with one of my best friends from college, Raleigh. He has been teaching english there for almost seven weeks to teenagers. They all love him and are learning really quickly. I think it's due to the fact that they have such a great teacher...I even learned a few things! He surprised me with a trip to the pacific coast where we spent two nights in a cute beach town, Manta. It was relaxing and fun to get away from the city. It was so great to experience another culture and to spend some time with Raleigh!

Arriving back in Bogota felt like arriving home. Brittany left last Sunday so I really miss having her around but Anna (the next YASCer) arrives tonight! I have two weeks left in Bogota and really can't believe how quickly a full year has flown by. My remaining time here will be spent helping Anna transition to her new life in Colombia, spending as much time at the missions as possible, sharing my life in Bogota with a best friend from high school, and finding a way to say goodbye to a beautiful country that has become my home throughout this past year.

Love, Kate

bucaramanga

Yes...bu-car-a-man-ga. It's the name of a city that Brittany and I visited last week. We stayed with Padre Jorge and his wife, Esmeralda and they were so welcoming and hospitable. We heard over and over again how much they wished we could stay longer than four days so that they could show us everything. We would have loved to stay, but we had to get back to spend some time at the mission before our next trip to Medellin.

The first morning, we visited the church's mission with Ernesto, a missioner of the church. We drove up a dirt, rocky road and finally arrived at a very poor community up on a hill called Pueblo Viejo. The view was amazing and we couldn't believe that there was actually a neighborhood so secluded from the city. As we cleaned off the makeshift benches, Ernesto rang the bell to notify everyone that the church service would soon be starting. Families started to arrive and we had a really nice service on top of the hill.

Afterwards, there was a sunday school class and we ate lollipops with the kids. They were intrigued by our english and asked when we'd be back. We decided that we'd try to come back as soon as possible after we saw the church's land and heard about their future plans. Next time though, we would like to bring a mission trip to help build a school and church. The Bishop of the Diocese of West Virginia has expressed an interest in taking a trip to Colombia and we are excited about working together to make this happen.

We also went to Padre Jorge's service later that day. It was a very interesting and lively 2.5 hours. As always in Colombia, we were welcomed with open arms and were given the opportunity to talk about our years here. Another highlight of our trip was when we visited a colonial village close to Bucaramanga called Girón where all the buildings are white with black doors and brown roofs. It was a very pretty town and a nice break from the city. We walked around trying to find their speciality, fried ants, but didn't have any luck. Don't worry...I bought some at the airport on our way out! Thanks again to Padre Jorge and his wife for a great visit!

Love, Kate

heyyy macarena

We met the bishop of West Virginia, Mike Klusmeyer, and his wife Marsha last week. West Virginia has recently become Colombia's other 'sister' diocese (along with Connecticut). Bishop Klusmeyer and his wife were here to get to know the diocese and Bishop Duque of Colombia. We met with them on one of their first days here to talk about our work and lives here in Bogota. They had lots of questions for us and it was nice to be able to speak english!

We went to Usme to show them our kids and the mission. We had a lot of fun that day teaching the kids a country line dance and the macarena. The best part is that both bishops and their wives joined in!

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The day after we went to Usme, it was a national holiday because Colombia turned 200! During the day, Sam and I checked out the big concert in parque simon bolivar and saw Colombia's current and future presidents speak. Then, we went downtown to grab an early dinner before the main event in the plaza. The doors opened from 4-7 to get into the plaza for the bicentennial show. Apparently all of bogota arrived early (definitely a first) because the entrance was closed by 5. Brittany, Sam and I couldn't even move in the crowd of frustrated colombians who were trying to push through. We decided to take advantage of a hotel contact and ended up on the roof of hotel casa deco with a bottle of wine watching some great fireworks. It ended up being a perfect way to celebrate Colombia's 200th birthday!

Today, Brittany and I are flying to Bucaramanga to visit a mission for about four days. Also, today marks my 11th month here! I can't believe how quickly time has passed. See you in a month!

Love, Kate

san pablo vbs

After a great trip to Cartagena, we jumped right into our last VBS in Bogota with San Pablo church, the one we attend almost every weekend. All of the children came from a poor neighborhood about 25 blocks above us. We met a lot of children from this neighborhood back during novena (the nine days before christmas). Like novena, the families said that the program would be best at night, when they could bring their kids down after work. The first night, we were waiting at 6pm with our t-shirts and songs ready. We decided to get started around 620 with only about seven kids. Around 645, ten more kids showed up and we had to adjust the schedule to make sure everyone could make a shirt, sing the songs and play. By the last day, we had over 20 kids and they started arriving at 5.

After the last day of VBS, the kids walked all 25 bocks up the hill with a few parents to their houses. It was pouring rain and they didn't have umbrellas. They told us later that the kids all arrived soaked to their houses but were so happy to have new t-shirts and some treats from the US that my boyfriend Sam brought.

The kids loved Sam and Brittany and I were so grateful for his help. Moises was a little boy who is one of eight children. He kept acting out and leaving the group because he wanted attention. Brittany and I were getting frustrated because Moises is one of the kids who we know best. We were counting on him to be a good example, but he just couldn't handle us sharing our attention with a group of other kids. Sam took him in as his little helper to solve the problem and his behavior completely changed.

Thanks again to everyone who helped us make these programs possible. We have been able to have five vacation bible schools all over colombia with your donations!

VBS ended and we went to Soacha for our usual Saturday program. Like I have mentioned before, Soacha is outside of the city and is where the majority of the internally displaced families start their new lives. For that reason, our group of kids is constantly changing. This past Saturday, we had four new children from the same family. The entire group was really well behaved and they loved their new hot wheels cars and hair accessories from the states (thank you Major family!).

This week, Brittany and I have been showing the bishop of West Virginia our work/Bogota and celebrating Colombia's 200th birthday. We are also preparing for a quick trip to visit a mission in Bucaramanga this weekend.

Love, Kate