apartment

I moved all of my things over to the apartment this past Tuesday, after a month of living with Miriam and Oscar. I really enjoyed living there, and was quickly introduced to Colombian culture and food with them. It was a great first month and they were so welcoming and generous. Their place was about a 15 minute walk from the church/office/apartment so it was really convenient too. Last Saturday was the "day of friendship and love"...basically it was Colombia's valentine's day. There was a party at Miriam and Oscar's apartment and it was a lot of fun. There was a dancing contest that night....and I was signed up by Oscar. It was pretty official..they even pinned numbers on us. My dancing partner was a man from the apartment, and he was really good. Well, we ended up winning the contest. And anyone who knows my dancing skills knows that we only won because I was the cute 'gringa' and they thought it would be nice to let me win. It was a lot of fun and feliz "dia de amor y amistad" to everyone! 

So now I'm living in the apartment and I'm really excited about it. My room is all set and it's so nice waking up in the same building that I have to work in and the church is right there. The first night was a little chilly, but I have a few blankets now to keep me warm. It's a simple apartment, but it's perfect for what Laura-Catherine and I need. I have a nice, big closet that I've covered in pictures. The main roads to catch buses and a transmilenio stop are really close too. The 'Gran Pared' climbing wall is right next to us so I'm hoping to start climbing more frequently. I went with Laura-Catherine, Lucho and Oscar yesterday and it was tough, but a good workout. The only problem about leaving Miriam and Oscar is that I have to start cooking for myself. haha Please send any (easy!) recipes to kate.schaeffler@gmail.com asap! 

Everything in Usme is going well. The kids have been working hard on drawing their families and writing letters to their penpals from the USA. Sam sent me a care package earlier this week (thank you!!!) and I brought them some reeses peanut butter cups. They loved them and want to try more things from 'the United States!'. Hopefully I won't eat everything in the care package before the next time I see them!

I was able to meet with Father Carlos yesterday while I was working in the office. He works in Soacha, a city on the southern edge of Bogota. I had read about Soacha on the Doctors without Borders website, and really wanted to get involved there. Here is an article from 2005, but it's definitely still relevant: Soacha. It's a very sad story, but it's a reality all over Colombia. I was invited to spend this weekend with Father Carlos and his family to get acquainted with the city. He has wanted to start some sort of clinic or mission for a while. Unfortunately,  he works outside of the city during the week and doesn't have the time to start something right now. I am very interested on taking on this project and helping in any way I can. He is picking me up tomorrow and I will be there until Sunday afternoon. I'm hoping that I will have a better idea of what the need is, and how I can start helping, after this weekend. I'll keep you updated!

Brittany sent me a message earlier that she will be arriving on October 1st! We are really excited for here to get here and I can't wait to show her around. The two of us will start language classes on October 5th at the National University. I registered today and have to take a placement test next Wednesday. I'm really excited about this opportunity. I'll get to make some new friends while learning how to communicate more clearly. It's an intense 5 days a week class (4-6pm) for 2 months. It is exclusively for 'extranjeros', people from outside of Colombia and should be perfect to boost my spanish skills. Very exciting!

I hope everyone is doing well and I'll check in next week! Love, Kate