This week has mainly been orientation and finding our way round Bogota:
We arrived on Monday after a very long day of traveling. We made our connecting flight in Miami (but only just!) and were greeted by the in country co-ordinator, Abi, at the airport. We were taken to our first project, the Philadelfia College for the Deaf, which is where we are both working and living for the next 2 months. The accomodation is lovely, we are in separate rooms with comfy beds and WiFi access! Monday evening we were introduced to arepas (a typically Colombian and Venezuelan corn pancake type of thing, filled with cheese) and the Colombian hot chocolate, which is AMAZING! It comes in bars which you melt in hot milk and its so, so much better than at home.
From Tuesday to Friday we completed a number of important tasks: getting bus passes; beginning to understand the Transmilenio (bus/metro system); learning how to use the charts in taxis so we don't get ripped off; finding our way around the nearest neighbourhood (called Las Galerias); sampling the delights of Colombian restaurant chain, Crepes&Waffles; discovering the nearest supermarket and stocking up on some essentials like laundry powder and hot chocolate.
We have also had our first sign language lesson, which will now be a bi-weekly occurance. It was great fun and I'm so excited to learn more! The contruction work here is on hold as something didn't go through with the plans, so instead we are going to be spending much more time with the pupils, which I'm so excited about! Next week we will be teaching a number of classes, including cooking and percussion which will be great fun. Our timetable looks quite busy, but hopefully it won't be too hectic.
Today was our day off so we went into the centre of Bogota to the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) which was very well done and really insightful into the history of Colombia. Tomorrow we will be off to church with Abi, and then we have been invited for lunch with some of her friends, which will be a fantastic opportunity to get to know some locals.
Since as we have quite good internet here, I'm going to try keeping a blipfoto daily photo journal here: http://www.blipfoto.com/rachelhpreston
The idea of a blipfoto journal is to upload one photo for each day as a way of helping you remember and share what happens each day. I might not be able to include a photo every day, and I will probably update it weekly with the past 7 days photos, but I'll give it a go and see if it works out!
Prayer requests:
- For a great week with the pupils here, that we will connect well and really inspire them
- That we will pick up sign language quickly
- That the team continue to get to know each other and bond well
- That we will continue to settle in and not feel totally lost in this culture
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