Pictures

For some reason I am not able to upload my pictures to Blogspot. So instead most of them are on facebook. Click Here to get access to my facebook album.

Safe and Sound

After an entire day of flying and driving I am safe and sound in Marquette. Overall it was an AMAZING trip. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to go to Colombia. I do not have good internet right now so I can't post pics. I will try to get some up tomorrow. I love you all!

Final Day

It is my final day here in Colombia. We have spent the last couple of days traveling through beautiful mountains and valleys. They were full of farmers lowing with oxen. It was a very incredible sight.

We arrived in Tunja and went to a church to eat. It was wonderful and they were very welcoming. They sang a bunch of songs with us. The youth leader had worked at a camp in the US so most of the songs were from the camp. It was neat because we knew them and they would sing both the spanish and english versions.

We made our way to Villa de Leyvia. There we walked around downtown and I was able to get a bunch of gifts and souveniers for people. Then we stayed at a beautiful resort. We each had our own rooms and mine just happened to have five beds. We took a hot tub. It was wonderful to hear the frogs and the crickets after so many nights at the convent.

Tomorrow we wake up very early in order to get on the plane. Then we fly to Atlanta, then Chicago, then Green Bay. We will drive up to Marquette tomorrow night and I should be back by hopefully one or two in the morning. It will be a long day but I am excitedto sleep in my own bed.

I miss you all and look forward to see some of you and get to talk to the rest of you on the phone. I love you all!

Erika

A Day To Remember

Today was very very depressing. We went into the slums of all slums. The kind of town you see on tv commercials. We were just there to visit some people and take a look around. It was really sad. The houses were falling to pieces and people had nothing yet were very generous. I really will remember this day for the rest of my life.

We first went to a youth center. The kids were adorable. We played with them and talked with them about the struggles. Then we went to a senior center. At both places they were selling crafts that they had made. I tried to buy things from everybody and even though I left with a lot of stuff that I really don´t know what I will do with it was probably the best money I have ever spent.

I don´t think I will be able to post much for the next few days. We are heading about 5 hours north of here to a touristy spot. We will be staying at a resort. It seems weird after the day I have had today.

I love you all and miss you! I can´t wait to show everyone pictures!

Erika

Amazing Race

Hola,
Today was alright but a little bit more boring than the others. We saw a bunch of lectures about Colombia and the history and problems here. I definitely learned a lot about the country and it will help me to have a better understanding of the things that go on here.

Then we went to a hospital. It was a good experience to hear them talk about the health care but we didnt get to see much at teh hospital. I would have liked to walk around it more but I suppose with privacy issues it is hard.

The most fun part was when myself, Ross, Dave and Fred walked to the mall. It was a couple of miles but nice to exercise after so many hours of lectures. Ross was in search of a soccer jersey for a certain team. Him and I ran all over the mall trying to find one. It was great because we were getting to use our spanish with no translator. We were talking to a lot of people and getting a lot of directions. We were going all over the mall. I felt like I was on Amazing Race. It was super fun and I enjoyed it a lot. In the end we never found one but I am sure we will.

Well thats all for now. I love you all!
Erika

An Adventure of a Lifetime

Hello,

Once again I am writing from the convent. This is where I am staying for most of the time while I am here. I have both my own room and bathroom which is wonderful. I have a bit more time today so I will tell you more about yesterday and then about today.

Yesterday:
We woke up in the morning to a delicious breakfast of baked egg, bread, fresh squeezed juice and the best cocoa I have ever had. It was actual chocolate and they had fresh milk to go with it. We then took a bus up the mountains overlooking Bogota. It was beautiful and really gave us an idea of how big the city is. I found a piece of grafitti that was my name so I took a picture with it. Speaking of grafiti it is really neat here...true art around every corner. We took many pictures from the hills.

Then we went to this church up on a mountain. It is a very popular thing to do in Bogota. People come from all over the world to climb the mountains on their hands and knees all the way to the alter of the church. I can´t imagine how hard that must be. We were lazy and took the gondola or cable car. It held forty people on a tiny cable. I do not like heights. I do not like feeling claustrophobic. It was definitely scary but I survived. At the top there was a church and a market area. I bought a mask made out of clay from Northern Colombia. It is cool and has a lizard on the top.

After that we went to the government plaza area. It is scary because all over Bogota there are guards with very intense guns. We are assured that they are there for our safety but it is still scary. There were a lot in the square also. Lacey you would have hated it because there were literally thousands and thousands of birds that clearly had no fear of humans.

We then went back to the convent to listen to some people about the Emmaeus Road Foundation. It is the reason we are here and is a really great program.They provide meals for displaced children and also scholarships for school.They have put 890 kids through high school or college. It is really great.

Today:
Once again we woke up to a wonderful breakfast. This time Tomales(corn sstuff steamed in banana leaves). To be honest I didn´t really like it but it was still very nice. The fruit here was wonderful. Then we went to a church service in this garage. It was cool because there were so many people in a little tiny space. Paige and I spent time in the Sunday school room and the kids were all really cute. They were all really sweet. I brought them some gum and beach balls and things like that. They loved them.

We have wonderful tour guides names Nataniel and Estella. We visited some of their family a poorer part of town. The hospitality of people is amazing even though they have very little. It was good to hear about some of th struggles that people have here in Bogota.

Then we went to a wonderful lunch. It was huge. They kept on bringing more and more appetizers so we all got a chance to try a ton of food. I can tell you I have not gone hungry on this trip.

After lunch we spent some time on the countryside. It was so beautiful. TOns of flowers and fresh fruit and just beautiful mountains. Again the hospitality was amazing. I got the most beautiful rose of my whole life that a woman had grown in her garden. The flower industry is huge down here. One of the women made us Empanadas and they were so good.

Overall it has been a wonderful couple of days. I really do love it here. I can´t wait for the rest of the trip. I hope everyone is enjoying their spring breaks. I miss you all and am excited to talk to all of you and share our spring break stories. I love you!

Erika

Busy Two Days

Hello friends,

I only have a few minutes to be on the computer. It took me me forever to figure out how to sign in on this computer...haha.

Anyways, we arrived safe and sound in Bogota last night. The flights were long and stressful but we made it. Nataniel and Estella met us at the airport to take us to the monastary. It is beautiful. I have my own room and bathroom. Everything is very ornate and beautiful.

We spent the day in Bogota. We took a ride on a Gondola or cable car up a mountain to a church that overlooked the city. We also walked around downtown and saw the goverment plaza area. It was a wonderful day. I am having a blast. They are calling us for supper now (the food here is amazing...no rice and beans for me). I will post more later if I have time.

Paz,
Erika

Tentative Itinerary

Hi all,
Just thought I would let you know the very tentative itinerary:

-Friday: I fly out of Greenbay and should arrive in Bogota around 9:45. We will spend the night at Catholic Sisters Convent.
-Saturday: This will be a day of sightseeing in and around Bogota.
-Sunday: We will go to church in the morning at St. Matthew Lutheran Church. Then we will go to the country side to do some sightseeing and possibly some home visits.
-Monday: we will watch some presentations about the ministry, political, and socio-economic situation of Colombia. The afternoon will have a bit more sightseeing and a visit to San Lucas Lutheran School.
-Tuesday: In the morning we will go to Caracoli and Soacha in Southern Bogota. We will explore that area and eat lunch there with the elders. Then we will return to Bogota for an afternoon of sightseeing, shopping and family visits.
-Wednesday: We will leave the convent and travel North to Tunja. There we will eat lunch and go to a gathering at Prince of Peace church. In the afternoon we will go to the colonial town of Villa de Leiva to shop/sightsee. We will spend the night at a resort there.
-Thursday: We will have breakfast and spend a few more hours around the town of Villa de leiva. We will return to Bogota by way of Zipaquira where we will eat lunch. The rest of the day will be spent in Bogota.
-Friday: We will leave El Dorado Airport for Green Bay. Hopefully I will be in Marquette by Friday night.

I will try to keep in touch throughtout my trip. Hope everyone else has a wonderful spring break!
Erika

Getting Excited (T-5 days)!

Hola! I am getting so excited to go to Colombia. It has been so cold and snowy up here lately and the 70 degree weather we will hopefully have down there sounds wonderful! Only 5 days left before I depart! I am flying out of Green Bay early Friday morning. I have a meeting in a little bit where we will work out the final details of the trip. Mostly we will be around Bogota and head a little bit North into a couple of the villages. I absolutely cannot wait for the trip.

I decided the easiest way to update all of you on my trip would be to write about it on Blogspot. There should be several times throughout the trip when I will have computer access and should be able to update this page (and hopefully include some pictures). It will be much easier for me to update this site than to carry email addresses with me and although I will update facebook also I want people who aren't on facebook to get the updates also.

Peace,
Erika