"Toto, we're not in kansas anymore"

Wednesday August 16th - First day of volunteering in Bogota!

So I have shared my plane and apartment experience, time to get to the juicy stuff... my days on the streets of Bogota.

TAXI 
- Taking a taxi in Bogota is basically sitting in a car straight to the highways of death. I'm pretty sure it's worse than New York City. People do not use blinkers, but they sure know how to use a horn!
People walking in the street... eh, we can replace them.


My first day was spent looking at a new project in a neighborhood called Santa Fe. This neighborhood is basically like walking into Oak Cliff  with more trash, dogs, and druggies. good stuff.
We spoke with a group of nuns that feed the hungry of Sante Fe everyday! They have groups of people that will bring food, or they buy it themselves, cook the food, and serve it.
These woman are amazing, so much love and kindness.

HUGS
- For those of you who do not know me that well, i hate hugs. OK, that's a strong word... i'm just NOT a huger.  I'm getting better but its just not me. I hug my boyfriend, my mom, and an occasional crazy hug to my One Friend. In Colombia everyone gives hugs...and kisses. (joy) I think I have had about 100 hugs in just 2 days. Saying hello and goodbye takes like 10 minutes here. In Texas, a simple wave, high five, quick side hug, or nothing at all is pretty common. NOT HERE. To leave without saying goodbye and giving a hug would make you the rudest person ever!
So the moral of this story is, when i come home... i'll be a hugging machine!

Kids
After we saw the 2 dinning halls they have (one for the children and one for the elderly) they took us to a school.
The children were playing outside when we arrived at the school and us arriving was like Santa Clause just walked in!
They automatically run and jump on you, give you hugs, ask you your name, how old you are, and any other questions they feel like asking. (all these questions in Spanish of course, so my conversations with the ninos were very limited)

The schools in Bogota work very differently because #1 they do not have enough schools/teachers and #2 they have way too many kids.
So, some kids go to school from 7:30 - 12:00, eat lunch and then leave.
The second round of kids eat lunch at 12:30 and then go to school.

We helped with lunch time, and it was an experience.

DO NOT WASTE FOOD
These kids know the meaning of a clean plate! They got a bowl of soup to start their meal, and then they were given a plate of rice,a little bit of meat, and one extra extra small potato. If for some reason they did not want to finish their food, they got yelled at in Spanish by the nuns..so great.
Kids in America are:
#1 FAT
#2 Ungrateful
#3 Wasteful

We need to send these kids here and learn the meaning of hungry. HECK, i need to learn the meaning of hungry. It was truly an eye opening experience.

Day 2 on the streets

A photo of Santa Fe, the neighborhood I have been at for 2 days.
















This morning 6 other volunteers went back to Santa Fe to help the nuns feed the homeless. Our day started off at a local, cheap market to buy the food.
The markets are open, packed, and not going to lie... a little unsanitary. BIG chunks of meat just sitting out, cats and dogs walking around, and tons of food just everywhere! It's something I have never seen at home... not even at Farmers Market.

My camera was dead (so sad) so one of the other volunteers took these next few pictures you will see and sent them to me! 

We each spent about 15,00 pesos buying food (that's about $7.50)

$50...  just $50 to feed 100-150 people. CRAZY!

We did get some veggies donated which i thought was so kind! 

After the market we went to the dinning hall and started cooking! We cut, chopped, and sliced! It was funny because none of us could speak Spanish and the nuns do not speak English. SO, giving directions on how to properly cut and cook the food was fun. I think I cut up veggies for about an hour. Then I helped pull stems from berries... here is what it did to my hands!

I don't know why i look so disgusted...it wasn't nasty. I think i was caught off guard :) 

The berries were used to make yummy yummy juice. 

Now, I love juice. I also love going to Tom Thumb to buy juice. NOT HERE. The berries (or whatever fruit you use) is put into a large blender looking thing. From there, you pour the mix into a strainer and let just the juice strain into a large tub. Sugar and water are added. I think it took them 45 minutes to make the juice LOL! 

After about 3 hours of prep, it was time to serve! People line up outside the door and 25 people at a time can come in. They only do 3 rounds of people so some people started lining up EARLY! 

Passing out food to people who only get about one meal a day is a very different experience. As much as i could, i talked to them and got to know them a little bit. Some people are poor because of the economy, some because of drugs, some because they do not have any family to help support them. I suppose it's a lot like the US but here in Colombia they do not have a lot homeless shelters or places that serve food. There is not welfare, there are no food stamps. This is their life. After watching them eat, I feel bad wasting food. I ask for very small amounts so I KNOW I am going to eat it all. I would love to do this project again. 

I love working with kids but this was great too because it was outside my comfort zone and i really enjoyed it!

I'm not sure what tomorrow holds for me. I think I want to visit an orphanage and see how I can help there. 

I'm liking it here a little more; I'm getting to know  the other volunteers better and I don't feel like a stranger. 

I do miss my TV, pizza, maggie, driving my car, my mom's cooking, my one friend, John, and all the other amazing people in my life. BUT I know I will see everyone soon :) 

ADIOS AMIGOS!