a little bit of everything

Last night was 'ciclovia' in Bogota from 6pm-midnight. Many of the busiest streets, normally full of honking buses and cars, were completely closed off. The roads were packed with people looking at all of the Christmas lights. There were lots of street vendors selling everything from blinking santa hats and scarfs to corn on the cob and hot drinks.  Luckily, we live relatively close to one of the biggest parks where music and comedy performances were going on. It was great to see so many families out sharing time together and getting excited about Christmas!

My spanish classes at the National University ended this week. Not only did I improve my spanish skills, but I was able make new friends from all over the world:

Professor Ballen (Colombia), Renata (Brazil), Camiel (Holland), Jakob (Germany), Colin (Switzerland), Ahmad (Iran), and Alex (California).

On Tuesday, we went to Usme to see some of our kids from english classes receive their first communion. They were all dressed up and so excited. They looked great! Also, I had a meeting with Padre Romero yesterday and we planned out the next few weeks together. Novena (9 day celebration before Christmas) is going to be huge at the mission, with about 200 kids...just wait until I put up pictures of the decorations. We will be sharing our 'novena' time between three churches, starting off at Usme on December 16. I volunteered Brittany and myself to bring food for the kids and make arroz con leche that first day. We have a few days to figure out how to make that... Luckily, my mom will be here to help and share some of the novena with us!

Lastly, Laura-Catherine, Brittany, and I took a day trip to the hot springs just outside of Bogota. It was so nice to get away from the city and relax for a little while. We even put up Brittany's hammock. Next time I will wear more sunscreen and bring bug spray!

Love, Kate