my weekend 'sola'

Brittany and LC were both traveling this weekend, so I had the apartment to myself. It was nice to spend some time alone and regroup (although I really missed my online tv time with Brittany at night). It turned out to be a really great weekend. Saturday was a big day at the cathedral. All of the Episcopal priests from the Bogota area reunited to share time together and talk about their missions. There was a big mass followed by a great lunch. Looking around, I discovered that I knew the majority of the people in the room. It was a great feeling realizing how much a part of this community I have become. 

A woman (leaving out her name to protect her privacy) who was there with Father Carlos to represent the parish in Soacha. She was displaced from her home, with her four kids, a little over a year ago. During breaks, we talked about her kids and her situation. She invited me to her house for lunch after the service in Soacha on Sunday.  

The next morning, I took the 1.5+ hour bus ride back to Soacha for church at 11am. Afterwards, I left with her and her family and we walked to where she lives. When we arrived, I noticed that the roof was basically a sheet of metal. I met the owner of the house and made my way to the rooms that belong to her family. All six family members sleep in one bedroom and have a kitchen area without a roof. I took the kids to a park nearby and we played soccer. We talked and ate lunch (chicken feet) and then I left for my return trip to Bogota. It was a great afternoon and I learned again what it means to truly give...this loving family had very little and yet they shared what they had with me...another treasured gift from Bogota. 

Novena starts on Wednesday and it's going to be a very busy 9 days. We have a lot planned and I'm really excited about the entire experience. I'll keep you updated!

Love, Kate

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

top 10 highlights of dad's visit

November 27- December 3 

10. Surprising Dad at the airport late Friday night (even though he claims that he knew I was going to meet him there...) I had told him that I was going to meet him at the hotel.

9. Taking Dad to Usme and clearing out an entire area for our kids to play. Brittany, Laura-Catherine, Dad and I got a lot done. Some of the children from the mission were there and they are so excited! Later, we went back and he built a fence around the play area. We were able to find all of the materials we needed down the street from the mission.

8. Zona T (T shaped area with lots of fun restaurants and bars) and Bogota Beer Company (NFL, amazing burgers and cold beer).

7. Using the hotel shower (hot water AND great water pressure!) and eating an amazing buffet breakfast every morning.

6. Deciding to take a bus to the Candelaria (downtown, center of Bogota) that had "candelaria" on the front of it. Apparently, there is also a "barrio Candelaria" (a neighborhood with the same name). I finally asked someone where we were when I realized that we were nowhere near the center. The entire bus ended up giving us advice on how to get back. Most people suggested that we just take a taxi there. Well, the taxi we got in was low on gas. We had to go to a gas station, get out of the car (for safety reasons..it was natural gas), and wait for the tank to fill up....while our meter was still running. 

5. Shopping at a huge, open market on Sunday after church. Dad paid for my cool, new Colombian shoes! 

4. Taking the 'funicular' up to a church on top of the mountain (Monserrate). We watched a philharmonic Christmas concert in the church and confetti poured down as the last song finished up. Then, we went outside to watch fireworks and the lighting of the church. 

3. Eating at the typical Colombian restaurant right by the office. Then, drinking bags of water from the little corner market on our way back.

2. Going rock climbing in Suesca. It was a beautiful day and we had a great guide. The only problem is that my camera died right after I took a picture of Dad getting ready to go. I swear that we both made it to the top of a really high cliff!!

1. Spending a week with my Dad, showing him my life here, and watching him try to speak spanish. It was so much fun and we had a lot of adventures. He brought warm sheets, care packages (thanks aunt kate, mom and suz!) and magazines from the states. He even bought us a new toilet seat while he was here. haha Thanks for everything Dad!

Love, Kate

feliz dia de accion de gracias!

After waking up and talking to some friends and family, I felt like I was missing out on a big thanksgiving celebration back home. I was thinking about the football games I wouldn't be watching, my family and friends around the big table in the back porch, and of course 'black friday' shopping in my pajamas... Little did I know that my Thanksgiving day in Bogota would be one to remember.

Brittany and I headed out to Usme and taught the kids about our special holiday. They really latched on to the turkey part of it and started calling it 'dia de pavo' (turkey day). We asked them what else they thought that we ate on Thanksgiving. Their answers ranged from platano to arroz (rice) to soup (all very colombian foods). We taught them that Thanksgiving day is all about giving thanks. We had them all make turkeys out of their hands to bring home to their family. We also made hands with their names and 4 things that they are thankful for. They colored them all and put them on a big turkey that Brittany drew (she's so talented). Here's the final result:

After we left Usme, we met up with Ferney (a man from church) and went to a Carlos Vives concert! Carlos Vives is a Grammy award winner from Colombia and was amazing in concert! He was full of energy and a great entertainer. The entire place was packed. Luckily, with Ferney's connections, Brittany and I were in the first section and could easily see Carlos and his band. Very cool.

So now I'm going to write some of things that I'm thankful for:

loving and supportive friends, boyfriend and family; being able to form such a special relationship with all of the kids in Usme; my new Colombian family (miriam and oscar, brittany and laura catherine, church community, bishop, etc..) who have all been so kind and welcoming; staying healthy over here; the opportunity to spend a year in this amazing country; ferney taking us to the Carlos Vives concert; bogota beer company (to watch NFL games); sunny days in Bogota (doesn't happen often); and lastly...visitors!

My Dad got in late Friday night and will be here until Thursday. We've been having a great week and I've been putting him to work. I will blog all about it next time!

Love, Kate

p.s. we even had a traditional thanksgiving dinner on Friday with about 15 people from the church community!

our weekend in usme

Brittany and I went to Usme on Saturday morning and had a great english class. On our way out, Father Romero convinced us to stay a couple more hours to decorate the chapel. Brittany and I worked on the carnations and bows along the pews. I wasn't too good at making the ribbons curl, but luckily Brittany had it down. We went to the service on Sunday and it was packed. It lasted about 2.5 hours, but there was lots of singing and even some dancing to keep it interesting. Brittany and I had to get back to the cathedral for a grilling event, but we stayed a little longer because we thought they were going to pop the big balloon in the middle of the chapel (check it out in the second picture)...but it never happened. Que lastima!

We eventually made it back to the cathedral and joined the congregation in an afternoon grilling get-together.  It went really well and I was able to get to know some more of the families that attend the church. Like I have mentioned before, this church is inviting people from a very poor neighborhood to attend workshops on communication, money management, relationships, etc.. every other Saturday. 

The first workshop was this past Saturday, when we got back from Usme. There were lots of parents there, with LOTS of kids. Laura-Catherine took the oldest group (8-11) and did a workshop with them. Brittany had the 5-7 year olds and they were a little crazy. In general, they don't get much discipline or attention at home, so they got a little out of hand. I took care of the 4 and under group. I soon learned that 3 year olds are too young to play duck, duck, goose. I ended up pulling out a jump rope and had them jump over it and play limbo. It was a lot of fun and they were so adorable!

My Dad is coming to visit on Friday and I can't wait to show him around. I think I'm going to put him to work on the hill in Usme next Saturday...if he can handle the bus trip :) Thanks for all the continued love and support.

Love, Kate

PS: here are some pictures from the bus that we use to get to Usme every other day:

calle 53

Last week, we started decorating for Christmas in Usme. We cleaned off the Christmas lights and touched up some of the camels and wise men in the Christmas nativity scene. Then, this weekend, Brittany and I walked down calle 53. It is the "Christmas" street here in Bogota and it is so amazing! Every store has lights, reindeer, santas, garland, etc... Big, red christmas trees lined the street and kids were everywhere. You would have thought that it was December 24th. We ended up at the Galerias mall and decided to see a movie, "Los Fantasmas de Scrooge" (A Christmas Carol). It was a great movie and put us even more in the Christmas mood. It was our first time to the theaters here in Bogota and we can't wait to get back.

All of this inspired us to decorate our apartment. We had to get a little creative and make our own ornaments. We even made some special ones including: RICE, the Sewanee S, a Texas flag and cowboy boot, a GO NAVY football, santa, YASC, sailboat, snowman, and of course, Kix (my dog). We even put presents under the tree and an angel at the top!
Check it out:
Last night, we had a sleepover at Miriam and Oscar's apartment. The Miss Colombia pageant was on and we watched all 2.5+ hours of it. It was great to spend some time with our 'Colombian parents' again and we had delicious hot chocolate for breakfast this morning. We are in great hands over here and are so lucky to be surrounded by wonderful people. Oh, and Miss Bolivar won, in case you were wondering...

Love, Kate

Christmas is coming!!

Sorry about not updating last week! I haven't been able to post because the internet has been down in our apartment. But...it seems to be back right now so keep your fingers crossed. 

They don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Colombia (but we will!!), so the next big holiday is Christmas! The decorations are already starting to go up around the city and it's easy to see that it's going to be a big celebration. We have started talking about plans for three different churches that we work with.

Cathedral: This church is in the middle of Bogota and is connected to the office and the apartment where we live. It's not a huge church, which makes it feel like home for me. The people are all so nice and welcoming. Well, up until a few weeks ago, I had no idea that 5 minutes up the mountain, there is a very poor community. We went up to meet with them and started to get to know some of the families and their needs. We decided last week that we will begin to offer weekly workshops addressing family issues, money management, etc.. These will be led by members of the congregation and will allow us to form a community with these families. We are also going to celebrate the Christmas season with them and people in the congregation are going to 'adopt a child' (like an 'angel tree' in the US). There are about 80 kids, so this is going to be great!

Soacha: Brittany and I went to the 11am service yesterday (about 1.5 hrs away by bus) and we had a meeting with Father Carlos to talk about the future plans of the church. As I've mentioned before, internally displaced families are forced to leave their homes and move to Soacha to start their new lives. The second floor of the church has just been finished and it's great! It has come a long way since I first arrived.

before

after

We discussed ideas to start an after school program for the children, a restaurant to give people warm meals for a very low price, and catechism classes for children who attend the church. One thing that I'm really interested in is a VIH/SIDA  (HIV/AIDS) education and prevention program. Father Carlos said that he would like for us to give classes to members of the community. 

In Colombia, the nine days before Christmas are very important. In Soacha, Brittany and I will each have one day of the 'novena' to lead prayer devotion and songs.  We're not quite sure right now what we have to do, but it's great that they're trusting us with such a big part of their Christmas celebration!

Usme: Lastly, there's Usme, where Brittany and I spend about 3 days a week with the kids, and Saturdays teaching english. Father Jose Romero is the priest there and he has big plans for Christmas. We are going to start decorating this week! We have lots to set up and lots to paint (i'm VERY artistic (not really)...so this should be good...). There are going to be about 200 kids there and all of them are going to receive a shirt, or some kind of toy, for Christmas. We are looking forward to sharing this Christmas season with the all of the kids that we have become so close to. 

Yesterday, on our way to Soacha, we received a text from Miriam telling us that Father Romero's mom had passed away. After church in Soacha, we ended up going all the way to Usme (another 2 hrs in bus) to spend time with Father Romero and attend a 6pm memorial service. It was packed, and Brittany and I held the candles at the front of the church for the entire service. Ave Maria played, bringing many people to tears. His mom had lived a good, long life, and lots of people were there to support Fr. Romero and his family. We ended up getting home very late, after getting up early to get to Soacha. It was a long day, but it was definitely a special one that we won't forget. Please keep Father Romero and his family in your prayers!

Hope everything is going well back home. Brittany and I are listening to Christmas music right now (sorry to those of you who think the day after Thanksgiving is even too early) and are so ready to get started!  

Love, Kate