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