Having a weekend away seemed like a great idea! Get fresh air, learn more about the Colombian culture, see beautiful waterfalls, put some emeralds in my pocket and eat local food.
For people that are reading this blog that do not know me very well, or not know me at all, I am not one to sign up for an outdoor activity. I like air conditioning, I like television, I like to be inside.
BUT, when in Colombia, do as the Colombians do.
I mean, so far I have done a great deal that is outside of my comfort zone:
- walking long distances
- talking to old people
- giving hugs
- letting nuns kiss my face
- eating beans and eggs with every meal
- getting mugged and continuing with my trip
- pretending i know Spanish when all i can really say is "hello my name is Erika and I have no idea what you are saying"
SEE, so brave!
Why not leave the city, go up in the mountains, and experience the real Colombia.
WELL I'M GOING TO TELL YOU WHY IT'S A BAD IDEA...
Let's start off with the 5 am bus ride. -_-
When a Colombian person says "the bus leaves at 5 am" what they really mean is "the bus will leave at 6:30" Apparently there is this thing called "Colombian time" which means, "we do things 1-2 hours later"
OK, in America we rush rush rush. So slowing down a bit to smell the roses isn't too bad.
We also ended up getting lost a couple of times which made me feel very uncomfortable... being lost, in the mountains! So bad.
The positive side:
The bus ride to our destination was BEAUTIFUL.
It's nice to see so much GREEN! Back in Texas I am only used to seeing brown and yellow grass. Not in Bogota! It's the real deal :)
After a few hours of a bumpy drive, we arrived at this huge waterfall! We were served breakfast and then given about 30 minutes to explore the waterfall.
It was raining and really cold, so I did not get in the water! But other people that were on the trip dove right in! I just enjoyed looking at the waterfall and taking pictures...again, it was just beautiful!
^ People getting read to jump in!
After the waterfall, we headed out to the emerald mines of Bogota! Again, it was a very bumpy ride and at times the driver would get so close to the edge of the mountain I was sure we were going to slide off and die!
(Do not be alarmed, we did not slide off and die... I could not write this beautiful blog right now if we did)
We could not take our bus all the way to the emerald mines because the road was too small, so we ended up taking different cars to the mines. The driver got turned around a couple of times but I just sat back and thought to myself "this is why i love my GPS or Google maps"
When we finally arrived at the mines, only a certain amount of people could go in so we had to take turns. While i waited, I did notice that I was no longer in the city.
Mountains, pigs, and chickens, OH MY.
Side note: I also realized, "HEY, im going to get sick because my nose hates fresh air, it needs polluted city air!"
About an hour into taking pictures of the chickens, it was time to see emerald mines!
FYI: When preparing for this weekend, the coordinator did say, "prepare for a dirty weekend"
Well, after walking in mud and poop, I decided they should have told us, "prepare to feel like you haven't showered in 3 weeks." BIG difference.
Doesn't this bridge look questionable! I was so scared to walk across it!
Erika's brain:
- how old is it
- what kind of wood is this
- how much weight can it hold
- is it possible to survive the fall if it breaks
Ok, so I'm tired, hungry, wet (from it raining ALL DAY), smelly and muddy. (Plus a little bored from looking at chickens for an hour.)
But it's OK! I am about to go into a mine and get a really great experience.
(Sorry to ruin the end of my story, but this is the most exciting thing I saw at the mines.....)
.jpg)
Want to know why my face went from this (left pic) to this................... >
Alright, maybe I am being a bit of a baby. Being inside the earth is pretty cool, and at one point we did have to turn off all our lights and stand in the complete darkness. But when I hear "emerald mines" I WANT TO SEE SOMETHING SHINY! Just a little glimmer of something.... even if its fake!
Do as the Americans do: take peoples money, throw some glitter on the wall, and give people a good show. Maybe when we get to the end of the mine, have fake bats chase us out and think we are going to get eaten alive! Dramatic? Ok, maybe a little :)
Just so you all know, I looked soooooo good on Saturday!
My hair, my orange looking skin, my dirty clothes. I could have seriously found myself a second boyfriend. (Just kidding john)
It's about how I imagined it.
Cows, chickens, dirt, and a roof so you dont get wet.
A Colombian tamale
When I hear the word "tamale" I think of a delicious Mexican treat that is full of meat, chicken, and/or beans. Well, I was very wrong to expect that when I arrived at the farm. The picture to the left is what was put in front of me. It's a giant corn husk and when you open it, it's full of rice,beans,egg, potato, chicken, and beef. Basically like a giant plate of food put into a husk and warmed up.
A few things:
- I LOVE chicken. Ask anyone, I would eat chicken everyday if I could. But when you have chickens walking around you while you eat their cousin... it takes the joy out of eating.
- My food CANNOT touch on a regular plate at home, so it was REALLY hard to eat food that is all mixed up in a corn husk thing. But I am trying to not be picky and always have an open mind. trying is the key word.
- my dinner = 3 boiled potatoes. (one that was in my tamale and two I stole from Lupe) and about 3 bites of the meat.
After we ate "lunch" it was time to walk back to the bus and head to the little town of Chivor. When we arrived I was SO TIRED and very excited to see what my "home stay" would be like!
Not to be a negative Nancy.... but my home stay was a home fail!
Let me paint you a picture:
Me and another volunteer walk with one of the coordinators of the trip (not a lady involved with my volunteer program, this is a lady who is with the weekend trip) and we end up at a store/house (family owns a store and their house is in the back.) The coordinator talks to the family for a while, asking if it's OK that we stay at their house. I was under the impression that these people already knew we were coming.. NOPE. So after a couple of odd looks from this family, they agree that we can stay. We are put into a back room, with a bunk bed, smelly sheets, and off to bed we go.
Ok, my positive side:
- so kind for the family to let us stay! if some lady came to my house asking if two girls could stay the night, i would say "NO NO NO they cannot!"
-Luckily, other volunteers had a pleasant home stay and those families were expecting them. I guess I just don't have the best of luck on this trip!
That's about all the positive notes I have. When you shower under a pipe, and sleep on questionable sheets.. your positive outlook on life and sunshine smiles just go out the window.
I swear this blog is almost done....
The next morning the two of us woke up, got dressed, and awkwardly walked out the door.
We headed to the center of the town to set up our "American presentation"
That's right. American presentation.
According to the head coordinator of this project, the people of Chivor do not know much about America, or any other place that is not Bogota.
Presentations:
New Zealand and Australia (two volunteers that went on the trip are from New Zealand and one volunteer on the trip is from Australia) They had a great set up! Maps, pictures, facts, and Vegemite! (I was brave and tried Vegemite... -_- )
Presenting America is harder than you would think! We are so diverse in food, fashion, and culture. We have everything! It really is great. ( I MISS HOME!)
I think our little presentation came out pretty good. We only had about 1 1/2 days to put this together, so I would give the American team an A+
The hit of our presentation:
One of our fellow volunteers had a friend come with her for the weekend and he looked a lot like our Presidente! So Lupe decided to put a sign on him, give him a flag, and take photos with people. They loved it!
(He also decided to give out free american hugs since we didn't cook anything)
< American Hug
Barack Obama >
So great.
My fellow volunteers who came on this Colombian mountain adventure!
The end...
Overall, I paid for an experience.
I NOW KNOW:
- Erika does not belong outside in the mud
- Erika wants American food
- Erika likes being on time
- Erika will need physical therapy when she gets home
- Erika is a weanie
BUT ALSO,
Colombia is beautiful. The people, the view, the culture. They have about half of what I am used to having at home and yet, they still have this beautiful view on life. I think America is such a great country but also very spoiled. I bet about 90% of the population has no idea of whats outside the USA.
I think I'll stay in the city for the rest of my life, but at least I can say that I climbed a muddy Colombian mountain, showered under a pipe, breathed in questionable mineral air in a mine, at lunch at a farm, and survived a bumpy 6 hour bus ride!
This trip is hard...much harder than I expected. It really is a love/hate relationship. Most days i love being here because i love helping the kids, meeting new people, and gaining all this experience that I would NEVER get from a textbook. But another part of me misses home at least once a day and wishes I could just watch 5 minutes of tv and eat a cheese it.
But, I'm here and I'm doing it!!!!!!
That's it for now!
ADIOS AMIGOS!
When a Colombian person says "the bus leaves at 5 am" what they really mean is "the bus will leave at 6:30" Apparently there is this thing called "Colombian time" which means, "we do things 1-2 hours later"
OK, in America we rush rush rush. So slowing down a bit to smell the roses isn't too bad.
We also ended up getting lost a couple of times which made me feel very uncomfortable... being lost, in the mountains! So bad.
The bus ride to our destination was BEAUTIFUL.
After a few hours of a bumpy drive, we arrived at this huge waterfall! We were served breakfast and then given about 30 minutes to explore the waterfall.It was raining and really cold, so I did not get in the water! But other people that were on the trip dove right in! I just enjoyed looking at the waterfall and taking pictures...again, it was just beautiful!
^ People getting read to jump in!
(Do not be alarmed, we did not slide off and die... I could not write this beautiful blog right now if we did)
We could not take our bus all the way to the emerald mines because the road was too small, so we ended up taking different cars to the mines. The driver got turned around a couple of times but I just sat back and thought to myself "this is why i love my GPS or Google maps"
When we finally arrived at the mines, only a certain amount of people could go in so we had to take turns. While i waited, I did notice that I was no longer in the city.
Mountains, pigs, and chickens, OH MY.
Side note: I also realized, "HEY, im going to get sick because my nose hates fresh air, it needs polluted city air!"About an hour into taking pictures of the chickens, it was time to see emerald mines!
FYI: When preparing for this weekend, the coordinator did say, "prepare for a dirty weekend"
Well, after walking in mud and poop, I decided they should have told us, "prepare to feel like you haven't showered in 3 weeks." BIG difference.
Doesn't this bridge look questionable! I was so scared to walk across it!
Erika's brain:
- how old is it
- what kind of wood is this
- how much weight can it hold
- is it possible to survive the fall if it breaks
Ok, so I'm tired, hungry, wet (from it raining ALL DAY), smelly and muddy. (Plus a little bored from looking at chickens for an hour.)
But it's OK! I am about to go into a mine and get a really great experience.
(Sorry to ruin the end of my story, but this is the most exciting thing I saw at the mines.....)
.jpg)
Want to know why my face went from this (left pic) to this................... >
because this is all I saw:
Water, darkness, and questionable smells.
Alright, maybe I am being a bit of a baby. Being inside the earth is pretty cool, and at one point we did have to turn off all our lights and stand in the complete darkness. But when I hear "emerald mines" I WANT TO SEE SOMETHING SHINY! Just a little glimmer of something.... even if its fake!
Do as the Americans do: take peoples money, throw some glitter on the wall, and give people a good show. Maybe when we get to the end of the mine, have fake bats chase us out and think we are going to get eaten alive! Dramatic? Ok, maybe a little :)
My hair, my orange looking skin, my dirty clothes. I could have seriously found myself a second boyfriend. (Just kidding john)
After my "exciting" trip to the emerald mines, we took another car ride to a different part of the mountain. we were dropped off, told to walk about 20 minutes down a path, and we would come up to a farm where lunch was being served. (Just so you know, it was about 5:30... that is not lunch time, but I suppose it's Colombian lunch time)
A 20 minute walk... HA HA. More like 40 minutes! In the mud, rocks, dirt, and I think more poop. Down big hills, up big hills, through questionable grass and plants.
When we finally saw the farm, our hungry eyes focused on the prize of lunch, one of my fellow volunteers (lupe) rolled his ankle :( I KNEW those rocks and mud were a accident waiting to happen. He should really take Bogota to court.
When we finally saw the farm, our hungry eyes focused on the prize of lunch, one of my fellow volunteers (lupe) rolled his ankle :( I KNEW those rocks and mud were a accident waiting to happen. He should really take Bogota to court.
But, on the plus side, he rode a horse back to the car... so he has a great story to blog about now!
Anywho, the farm:
Cows, chickens, dirt, and a roof so you dont get wet.
When I hear the word "tamale" I think of a delicious Mexican treat that is full of meat, chicken, and/or beans. Well, I was very wrong to expect that when I arrived at the farm. The picture to the left is what was put in front of me. It's a giant corn husk and when you open it, it's full of rice,beans,egg, potato, chicken, and beef. Basically like a giant plate of food put into a husk and warmed up.
A few things:
- I LOVE chicken. Ask anyone, I would eat chicken everyday if I could. But when you have chickens walking around you while you eat their cousin... it takes the joy out of eating.
- My food CANNOT touch on a regular plate at home, so it was REALLY hard to eat food that is all mixed up in a corn husk thing. But I am trying to not be picky and always have an open mind. trying is the key word.
- my dinner = 3 boiled potatoes. (one that was in my tamale and two I stole from Lupe) and about 3 bites of the meat.
After we ate "lunch" it was time to walk back to the bus and head to the little town of Chivor. When we arrived I was SO TIRED and very excited to see what my "home stay" would be like!
Not to be a negative Nancy.... but my home stay was a home fail!
Let me paint you a picture:
Me and another volunteer walk with one of the coordinators of the trip (not a lady involved with my volunteer program, this is a lady who is with the weekend trip) and we end up at a store/house (family owns a store and their house is in the back.) The coordinator talks to the family for a while, asking if it's OK that we stay at their house. I was under the impression that these people already knew we were coming.. NOPE. So after a couple of odd looks from this family, they agree that we can stay. We are put into a back room, with a bunk bed, smelly sheets, and off to bed we go.
Ok, my positive side:
- so kind for the family to let us stay! if some lady came to my house asking if two girls could stay the night, i would say "NO NO NO they cannot!"
-Luckily, other volunteers had a pleasant home stay and those families were expecting them. I guess I just don't have the best of luck on this trip!
That's about all the positive notes I have. When you shower under a pipe, and sleep on questionable sheets.. your positive outlook on life and sunshine smiles just go out the window.
I swear this blog is almost done....
The next morning the two of us woke up, got dressed, and awkwardly walked out the door.
We headed to the center of the town to set up our "American presentation"
That's right. American presentation.
According to the head coordinator of this project, the people of Chivor do not know much about America, or any other place that is not Bogota.
Presentations:
New Zealand and Australia (two volunteers that went on the trip are from New Zealand and one volunteer on the trip is from Australia) They had a great set up! Maps, pictures, facts, and Vegemite! (I was brave and tried Vegemite... -_- )
America:
I think our little presentation came out pretty good. We only had about 1 1/2 days to put this together, so I would give the American team an A+
The hit of our presentation:
One of our fellow volunteers had a friend come with her for the weekend and he looked a lot like our Presidente! So Lupe decided to put a sign on him, give him a flag, and take photos with people. They loved it!
(He also decided to give out free american hugs since we didn't cook anything)
< American Hug
Barack Obama >
So great.
The end...
Overall, I paid for an experience.
I NOW KNOW:
- Erika does not belong outside in the mud
- Erika wants American food
- Erika likes being on time
- Erika will need physical therapy when she gets home
- Erika is a weanie
BUT ALSO,
Colombia is beautiful. The people, the view, the culture. They have about half of what I am used to having at home and yet, they still have this beautiful view on life. I think America is such a great country but also very spoiled. I bet about 90% of the population has no idea of whats outside the USA.
I think I'll stay in the city for the rest of my life, but at least I can say that I climbed a muddy Colombian mountain, showered under a pipe, breathed in questionable mineral air in a mine, at lunch at a farm, and survived a bumpy 6 hour bus ride!
This trip is hard...much harder than I expected. It really is a love/hate relationship. Most days i love being here because i love helping the kids, meeting new people, and gaining all this experience that I would NEVER get from a textbook. But another part of me misses home at least once a day and wishes I could just watch 5 minutes of tv and eat a cheese it.
But, I'm here and I'm doing it!!!!!!
That's it for now!
ADIOS AMIGOS!
