Boyacá or Bust

Monday morning on the way to work, we stopped at Carulla to pick up an apple pie for our evening's get-together at the Andelin's home. Mike thought it was dumb to carry a pie to work and home again, but I didn't want to find the pies gone later on. He was probably right when he pointed out there would be plenty of pies left, since no one in their right mind would pay $14 for an apple pie (except for me, who wanted an Entenmann's import that would have a much higher chance of tasting like an apple pie). It was a long day, with only a short break for Subway sandwiches for lunch. There is a Subway in the back alley behind our office building. I'm so glad there are a few "U.S." food places here that provide a taste of home. An afternoon rain began in earnest shortly before we left for the day, so we hustled back to Carulla for "Popsy" vanilla ice cream, to accompany the pie I was still carrying with me (by the way – all the pies had been purchased and I smirked at my hubby). We bought a few other items, crammed them into our bags, then headed home to drop groceries before walking to President and Hermana Andelin's apartment five blocks away for a Christmas Family Home Evening with the Dyer, Lozano, Carpenter and Piepgrass couples. We watched a beautiful Christmas video of the wisemen seeking the young child, Jesus, followed by some singing of Christmas carols. Pres. Andelin, Elder Carpenter and I sang, "Would I Know My Savior", since I happened to know the song. Sister Andelin plays the piano and violin beautifully, which always adds a great deal to our gatherings. Everyone brought something yummy to share which is always fun! We felt the Christmas spirit in great abundance while walking back home in the drizzle.

Our December 23rd Christmas FHE Group

We worked a half day on Tuesday, Christmas Eve. Taking the very long way home, we enjoyed walking thru the streets where vendors of every sort filled the sidewalks hawking their wares of toys, wrapping paper, Crocs, sunglasses, hats, ties, games, etc. The colorful sight of parents and children filled us with a longing for home and of being with family. We stopped at a restaurant we have passed before and enjoyed a plate of paella for Christmas Eve dinner. It was a long first five weeks with nary a full day to just relax, so we prepared for a quiet, quiet, quiet Christmas Eve. Glowing candles and the lights of our little tree made our living room feel cosy and warm as we snuggled on the sofa in our pj's and watched a movie on Mike’s laptop (biggest screen we have), until we grew tired and went to bed. There was no putting out cookies, milk and carrots for Santa and his reindeer, no watching the grandchildren open their Christmas pj's, no reading the Christmas story while the grandchildren put the nativity figures in place - in short, it was a very different Christmas Eve (sniff, sniff). Even though we received several invitations to share the evening with families, Mike and I had decided to share a quiet evening together.

Belts-R-Us

If You Are in Need of a Christmas Shirt, We Know
Where You Can Find One

 For Christmas Day, Wednesday, I had set aside a “ham” and a bag of small potatoes (Colombians prefer a wide range of smaller potatoes). I made scalloped potatoes and ham, a family favorite. The $18 ham was half meat/half fat and provided about six servings of meat – expensive, but DELICIOUS!! Mike found a website with free old movies, so we spent the afternoon watching one from the Alfred Hitchcock genre and another entitled "Royal Wedding" with Fred Astaire and Jane Powell. That made us so tired J, we took a nap! Talking with all the kids in the evening was the highlight of our Christmas Day.

The office opened back up on Thursday and we worked from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. With all the regulars out of the office until the second week of January, Mike and I have become quite adept at resolving problems without them. I made a list of the students we communicated with in working out their issues and it numbered twenty-three individuals for the day! Colombia’s university institutes, which usually handle the initial interviews, signing of papers, and other concerns are all closed for the holidays and, beginning in 2014, will no longer be involved in administering the PEF program. When the students call with questions, the institute’s new favorite answer to anything regarding PEF is: "Call Bogota!" (That's us!) We've been inundated and alone. Mike suffered from a queasy stomach after work, so I walked to several "farmacias" (pharmacies) searching for Pepto Bismol, but to no avail. Pepto is in every store in Honduras, but appears to be absent from this market. I settled for Buscapina, an abdominal-specific antispasmodic tablet, which seemed to help.

On Friday we were excited to return to Migración Colombia to pick up our official "cedulas de extranjeria" cards, which means we are now legal, temporary residents of Colombia. They are plastic and have an ID picture, very similar to an American driver’s license in appearance. Whoopie! The cedula is the most important document for anyone living in Colombia – it grants you access to buildings, opens bank accounts, is used as ID, and identifies you to anyone in authority as officially existing! Now we can tuck away our Washington State Driver's Licenses, which have sometimes functioned (and sometimes not) for those functions up to this point. Amazingly, we were in and out within minutes, so we got back to the office earlier than planned. Our goal is to finish contacting all 411 PEF students on our high-priority list prior to January 1st, so we stayed quite late, before returning home to watch the BYU-Washington game on the computer.

Saturday, we packed our bags for a two-day adventure to meet some of the church leaders we will be working with. We hopped in a taxi to meet our hosts, the Cely's, at their apartment thirty minutes away. Juan and Cristina Cely, and their daughter, Pilar, are church-service missionaries who work with us at the PEF office. The Cely's live in an apartment, along with daughters Lina and Natalia, plus Pilar, her husband, Andres, and their daughter Estefania. The Cely's son, Cesar, and his wife, Sara, who live in Venezuela, were in town and also staying at the apartment during Christmas. Our destination was Hermana Cely's sister's house in Sogamoso, 224 km or about 3 1/2 hours away. We traveled in two cars - Pilar, her family and Hermano Cely in one car, and Cesar, Sara, Hermana Cely, Mike and I in the other. Once outside the city, the mass of high rises gave way to one and two-story houses, large tracts of green, open space, and lots of trees. It was beautiful, the air was noticably “mas frescita” (fresher) and I felt like I could breathe again. Our hosts made many stops along the way to share the beauties of their country with us. First was the Rio Sisga, where we viewed the beautiful man-made lake behind the dam. We took a few photos, jumped back in the cars, and drove around to the other side of the lake, where we sat awhile among other families and enjoyed the warm day and beautiful view of the lake. Llamas and a solo cow grazed nearby. Next stop - Puente de Boyacá, where one of Colombia’s main battles (1819) in their fight for independence from Spain was fought. The entire park and it’s statues, including the bridge, glowed with lighted Christmas decorations. At the top of a steep hill, we sat in a little cafe and enjoyed a hot drink that tasted somewhat like cider. Our next stop was an "artificial lake" near the town of Paipa, where lighted animals, windmills, a nativity and other Christmas decorations floated near the shoreline. While walking along the boardwalk, I thought I heard the word "comida", mentioned several times. I could see lights ahead, so I assumed we were headed for a restaurant of some sort. It was 7:30 p.m. and Mike and I had only eaten a scoop of ice cream and a cookie since breakfast. When I asked if the lights ahead belonged to the restaurant where we were eating, it caused a great deal of laughter and concern for "poor Hermana Anderton - she's so hungry!" After leaving the lake, we immediately stopped at a little shop along the road and my tummy was fed "aguapanela", a drink made from hardened sugar cane pulp (very interesting taste), almojabanas (a round roll made from cornmeal and eggs) and pan de yuca (made from yuca flour and cheese, in much the same shape as almojabanas). It wasn't dinner, but our hunger was abated. We arrived at our destination quite late and waited outside the wall until the metal gate finally swung open. Two big dogs started sniffing the car and I felt a little nervous, not being a dog person. At least they weren't barking. Hermana Cely's sisters, Maria (Ta-Ta) and Carolina (La Gringa – she is the fairer of the two) greeted us with besos and hugs. Maria's daughter and 10-year-old grandson, Alejandro, waited inside. All we wanted by this time, was to be pointed in the direction of a nice, cozy, warm bed. Our room was one of three, directly off the main living area, and the bed was certainly "cozy." We dropped our bags and were invited back to the living area, where the dining table now held big bowls of soup filled with small peeled potatoes, hunks of chicken, and a small cob of corn. My stomach was happy to be filled! After dinner we played Uno with seven people (which led to an interminable game) – after an hour of only one person getting to “uno”, we kept changing the rules and finally I pulled out a welcome victory.

Estefania, Juan, Lina, Natalia & Cristina

Loading Up the Cars

Mountains in All Directions - Just Outside Bogotá

The Reservoir on the Sisga River

Monument to Simon Bolivar

Puente de Boyacá

Stopping for Almojabanas, Pan de Yuca & Aguapanela

Dinner on Saturday Night - Mike Was as
Tired as He Looks

Sunday morning we awoke bright and early so that nine of us could be ready to leave for church at 8:30 a.m. The shower head had a small heater attached to it with two wires running from the overhead light socket to the heater. I was careful not to touch the wires! The "capilla" (chapel) was lovely and the Cely's were greeted warmly by many friends. This was where they first attended church as new members and Bro. Cely had served as Branch President at one time. The congregation has grown to become a ward and the chapel was filled with families. As we entered the chapel, the sweet and simple music of a Christmas carol greeted us. I was surprised to see a young boy about 6 or 7 years old sitting at the piano in a gray, pin-striped suit and a blue tie. When he finished playing the song, a young girl about 8 or 9 years old with long, dark curls, a pink hairband and pink fleece took his place. As her dark eyes peered over the music holder on the piano, she caught her mother's eye and smiled. As she finished playing her piece, what appeared to be an older sister, about 10 or 11 years old, took her place. Throughout the meeting, each of the three took turns accompanying the congregation for the four hymns sung. Each used the Simplified Hymn Book and the songs were played slowly, but perfectly. When the young boy finished playing the sacrament song, "I Stand All Amazed," he looked over at his dad, smiled, and his dad smiled back. Then he gave a little wave of his hand as if to say, "I did it!" After the service concluded, I went to the piano and took a picture of the young boy playing the postlude music. I told all the children what a great thing it was to develop such a talent in order not only to enjoy the gift of music, but to bless the lives of the members of their ward. I actually got choked up speaking as they were the sweetest, most beautiful children. Their parents are from Mexico and their mother teaches them piano. Their father attended school at BYU-Idaho and taught at the Provo MTC. All the children speak perfect English, which is a rarity, and will be such a blessing in their lives. Speaking English opens the doors of opportunity for education, work and service. Mike talked with many of the leaders of the ward and the visiting stake counselor to discuss the Self-Reliance Initiative and what they would like to see happen. He even got to speak with the Branch President of the Amazonas Branch, who was in Sogamoso visiting family for the holidays. His branch is in Leticia, in the middle of the jungle far from any population center. It is at the junction of Peru, Brazil and Colombia on the banks of the Amazon River. Members of the branch are drawn from the three countries, and both Spanish and Portuguese are spoken in their meetings. He has been the Branch President for four months and has seen the attendance grow from about 40 to 140. He was very excited about what we had to share with him and said he had the very person picked out to be his “Self-reliance Specialist”. Now we have to figure out how to set up Skype or some other form of communication to help them.

After we returned from church, we found the table set with a lovely dinner of meat, salted potatoes, and yuca (manioc or cassava). After feasting, everyone took a "siesta" (nap), then changed out of our church clothes and dressed for an evening outside. The Cely's took us to a little pueblo, Coralles, to see the Christmas lights. The entire central plaza, the cathedral, all the streets leading into the square, and the surrounding hillsides were covered in lights. We took "dinner" with us and chomped on the meat and potatoes leftover from lunch while we sat in the car. I was glad to also have an apple tucked away in my bag and a bottle of water (which I carry everywhere). It was fun to observe the families enjoying the festivities. Next, we drove to Nobsa, another little town decorated to the hilt with lights. My two favorite lighted features were Cinderella's carriage complete with white horse and pumpkin coach and the huge, sparkling Christmas trees made from the bottoms of clear, one-liter pop bottles. They were amazing! We walked around looking at all the beautiful lights, then sat listening to the music and talking about our families. What a beautiful Sabbath day being with people you love reflecting upon the Savior, the Light of the World.

Ward Pianst

Jovenes In the El Sol Ward, Sogamoso

The Christmas Lights of Corrales

Dinner in the Car

Colombian Version of Potato Chips

The Town Cathedral Ablaze With Lights

Food Court Selections

A Father Toting His Child

The Streets Radiating From the Main
Plaza Were Decorated with Lights

Santa's Train

Nobsa BBQ'd Corn Stand

Christmas Tree Fashioned From
Green Pop Bottles

Sara, Cesar, Cristina & Juan Cely
in Nobsa

KR With Cinderella's Carriage

Our Hot Water Heater - Just Be Careful and
Don't Touch a Loose Wire While Showering!

The Living Room of Our Attentive Hosts



Chao, chao from Colombia.

El Horno del Diablo



Beginning Monday, our office had a “five-days-before-Christmas-breakfast-event”. The 40 employees of the Church in Colombia which work in our office had been divided into groups and each group took turns preparing a special breakfast for the entire group each day of the week. Most of the breakfasts consisted of typical Colombian foods, except for Friday (our turn – see below). Monday's breakfast was “aprepa con huevo” or, as they it, “arepcohuo” (really fast and blurring all the words together).

Arepa con Huevo

Everyone was in our office all week trying to meet our goals for the month. With our training days, people being sick, and Christmas, we were a little behind and trying to catch up. Every month we have a list of 400 – 500 students (we have over 1500 PEF “participantes” in Colombia alone at the present time) in various stages of their education and we are to contact each one. Some are new students participating in PEF for the first time, others are in the middle of their studies, and some are graduates who, hopefully, are working in their field of study. For the contact to count (and it really is the most effective way to develop a relationship of trust), it must be voice-to-voice or you must get a reply to an email or Facebook message. We ask them about family, school, jobs, etc., then give them the "rah-rah" and "please remember to pay your monthly stipend" (which is less than $5 per month). If the student doesn't have on-time payments five out of six months, they do not receive the next term's stipend. Requiring this teaches them to pay their obligations. We have three part-time, church-service missionaries doing the calling, so do the math. Mike and I stink at phone calls. Colombians talk so fast on the phone that it is very difficult to understand them (even for Mike) without being face-to-face. We will get better with practice. I am good at saying, "Could you hold for just a moment please?" (in Spanish, of course).

The Scary Window Cleaner Outside our Office

Esfefania, Pilar's Daughter, Helping Us in the Office
During Her Christmas Break

During lunch, we walked to a little kitchen store filled with all kinds of Christmas delights. It almost felt like we were in the states, except that everyone spoke Spanish! We bought the rest of our gifts for the Christmas party planned for that evening. I also made a Friday reservation at the J.W. Marriott down the street. Our 40th anniversary was on December 21 (see below) and I really wanted to "go away" and do something different. The hotel was promoting a weekend special, which included two buffet breakfasts, two sixty-minutes massages, and free internet, so it fit right into our plans.

In the afternoon, while making calls, someone opened our office door and told us that Friday was our assigned day to provide breakfast (that was the first we heard about our turn). He wanted our group to do a musical number in addition to the breakfast, so our little group of eight will be singing "O Holy Night". He sent each of us David Archuleta's youtube video of "O Holy Night" from his Christmas performance at the Chile Santiago Temple so we could practice. Ha, ha! David Archuletta's version is written about an octave lower than any version I have ever heard and he has a great voice! Sometimes Latins think all Americans can sing like the Tabernacle Choir.

Our evening Christmas party turned out perfect - one of those rare things that go just like you imagine it in your mind beforehand. The hotel prepared the table beautifully and really made us feel special. The chef even came in to explain the dishes he had prepared. Dressed in white, wearing an apron and a tall, pleated hat, he looked like Linguini, the boy chef in Ratatouille. In the invitation, we stressed the dinner began at 7:00 p.m. "en punto" (on the dot) and, miraculously, only one couple arrived a few minutes late. Arriving anywhere on time is often determined by traffic and you never know how it is really going to be. The attendees were people we work with: the Ostos (humanitarian missionaries), los Olayas (PEF), los Celys (PEF), los Gomez (our supervisor and his wife (CAS/PEF)), and Pilar Cely (PEF), along with her husband and their 9-year-old daughter, Estefania. All of the guests received a jar of jam (American-style) and some chocolates.

Our Christmas Dinner Party

Our Tuesday breakfast was a big chunk of smooth, white cheese, two different types of bread with unique flavors and a cup of hot chocolate. That white cheese is often used for breakfast here and is almost squeaky - kind of like cheese curds. One of the men in the day's breakfast group created a Christmas tree out of strawberries, cherries and slices of starfruit, and did a great job of arranging the table decorations. He even made little “gift cards” with white chocolate and decorated each with a tiny Christmas tree with ornaments. Very talented! He definitely “upped the ante” of expectation.

Chocolate Christmas Tree

Wall of Rice at One of the Local Stores

Wednesday's Christmas breakfast was . . . interesting. The "lechona" tasted quite good and may become one of my favorite Colombian dishes. It comes from the Department of Tolima and involves a whole pig – stuffed with rice, yellow peas, and lots of bits of porky goodness (FYI, the pig was not brought to the office - just the end result). A piece of the pig’s skin topped the rice. It had been fried and dried, kind of like a potato chip. The skin was described by someone as "crispy and delicious." I'd have to agree with the "crispy" part, but as for "delicious" - well, it reminded me of breaded and deep-fried leather lined with pork fat. I took one bite, then slipped the rest discreetly under my napkin. Mike took one look and did not take a bite.

We worked quite late and when it was time to leave, the rain was coming down in torrents. Pilar also worked late and was waiting for a ride, so we invited her to join us for dinner at the nearby OMA café - one of our favorite haunts. They serve good soups (lentil is my favorite) and decent bread (hard to find here). Bogota, when it is raining, is kind of like Seattle – you just want to sit in front of a fire with a bowl of soup. We stopped for groceries on the way home and had trouble keeping all the bags plus two adults under our one umbrella. It was a long day.

Lechona with Arepa (the White Disk)

Thursday was our first time having Luz at our apartment. "Luz" means light and that is what she provides to my day. Luz cleans for one of our friends and needed to pick up some extra days, so I willingly volunteered to have her come to our place one day a week. It's really heaven coming home at the end of a long day to find the laundry done, the shirts ironed, the floors mopped, rugs vacuumed, etc. The clean sheets on the bed and sparkling bathrooms make me the happiest - all for $25, which she is thrilled to get. Christmas breakfast today was a "tamal", which is a traditional dish often eaten for breakfast. The filling for a tamal can include any of the following: chicken, pork belly, pork ribs, boiled egg, carrots, peas, potatoes, rice and condiments. The filling is placed in “masa” and is wrapped with green plantain leaves neatly tied together, then cooked. The texture is similar to a tamale and is delicious! For those of you familiar with Chilean humitas, it is the Colombian version, just wrapped in banana leaves instead of the corn husks.

Tamal

My first haircut appointment was in the afternoon at a place called "L'Equipe" Coiffure - Design - Photographie. They design something (who knows what) on the third floor, take portraits on the second floor, and cut hair on the first floor. I felt a little embarrassed to introduce myself to the Esneyder, the stylist, because of a text I accidentally sent earlier in the week. I meant to send the text to our supervisor asking him what his wife preferred for her meal at Monday's Christmas party, but mistakenly, I pushed Esneyder's number. The text read, "Would your wife prefer fish or pork?" I discovered my error that morning when checking a phone message. When I arrived, I introduced myself, then said, "I mistakenly sent a text to you on Monday." He laughed, "Yes, I wondered what 'fish or pork’ meant in terms of a haircut - and I don't even have a wife!" While I got my gray colored, Esneyder cut Mike's hair. Mike then promptly fell asleep on the sofa while my hair was cut and styled. I miss my Tara, in Wenatchee, but hair grows. Mike remarked later that he's never had such "extras" during a haircut. While laying at the shampoo bowl, Esneyder painted something around his eyes, put gloss on his lips, and massaged his scalp - things never done at an American barbershop. :)

When we returned home, I attempted to make cinnamon rolls for our Christmas breakfast assignment. We have recently named our oven "El Horno del Diablo" (the “devil's oven”), because of its habit of removing all cooking agency from the apartment dweller. You never know what temperature you are going to get on any given day. I sometimes hear it making taunting noises. On this day, it decided to be uncooperative. One batch cooked brown on the bottom and raw on top, followed by another batch that appeared white as snow, but cooked through. I frosted the rolls, then did a taste test, YUCK!!! When rolling them up, the brown sugar looked like large granules of white sugar and the cinnamon had no smell. Upon sampling one of the rolls, it was quite tasteless and the frosting had a gritty texture like after you get your teeth cleaned and a little of the pumice remains in your teeth. Ewwuuu! Not wanting to gross anyone out, I made the last batch of dough into little crescent rolls instead of cinnamon rolls. By this time, El Horno del Diablo had decided to stick with one temperature and the rolls actually turned our quite well.

We were informed late Thursday that our group's Friday Christmas presentation would be taking place in the afternoon instead of the morning as the final event before the holidays. Pressure. I got up at 6:00 a.m. and made three more batches of rolls and baked them - AFTER preheating the devil oven for one hour. During lunchtime, Mike and I walked to Carulla, our favorite and most convenient grocery store, to purchase some ham, turkey and jam for the rolls, along with condiments. About 2:00 p.m., we began setting up the spread. Wow! We had enough food for an army and it's good we did, because everyone kept eating and eating. Afterwards, they made plates with what food was left and took it home. Luckily, I thought ahead and hid away six, genuine Chilean empanadas before they all disappeared. At the end of the party, karaoke made an appearance and it was hilarious. No embarrassment or fear at participating in that group! We got some classic video that will keep us entertained for days. Mike and I sang “El Paso” (Marty Robbins).

The Mad Baker

El Horno del Diablo

The Friday Spread

Chowing Down

Karaoke

The best part of the day occurred after we walked home and grabbed our suitcase. It was time to celebrate our anniversary! Wanting to get our "steps" in for the day, we walked to the hotel. I'm sure we were a sight to see rolling our little red suitcase behind us as it clattered over the potholes in the road and the uneven bricks in the sidewalk! We checked in and watched the news (our first TV in a month). Later that night we enjoyed a massage. It was Mike's first one ever and I think he's hooked. The only stipulation for a repeat massage though, is the robe has to go all the way around him. The robe he got was "made for a mini Colombian man" (his words), so he had to hold a towel in front to shield the gap. When I saw him, I burst out laughing. We were led to a dimly-lit room, where we were told to wait on padded lounge chairs. Half of the room was covered with decorative river rock with stepping stones across them. When they indicated our “massage room," Mike stared in disbelief as I clattered across the stones kicking them in all directions (I didn’t see the stepping stones). A very refined beginning. When our masseuses left the room while we got situated on the tables, Mike said they were probably outside the door doing rock, paper, scissors to see who got stuck with the "hairy guy." The tables we were laid out on like slabs of beef started heating up and Mike asked to have his turned off or he was going to be medium rare. They thought that was pretty funny. Our hotel room was lovely with fresh flowers, a super-comfy bed, and a beautiful view of the city. The Saturday morning breakfast was delicious, with all kinds of choices. We are going to check out the Valentine’s Day specials (I am sure they do not celebrate that here, but we will pretend they do!) It was a great day – an adventure within a greater adventure.

Our Room

KR Catching Up on the Grandkids Activities

Bogota From Our Room

Lobby View

Sunday was full of meetings, reading our scriptures, and resting. The bishop sofly walked up to us after Sacrament Meeting (alert, alert, alert) and asked Mike if he wanted a “challenge” (major alert). The gospel doctrine teacher thought the last lesson of the year was last week (actually it was) so she wouldn’t be teaching until January. The bishop asked if Mike could “teach something”, which he did---and he did a great job.

Chao until next week.

40 Years - Where are Your Rubies When You Need Them?



My hair is a little whiter and thinner, I have put on a few pounds, but isn't she still a beauty. It has been quite a ride and we are still buckled into the coaster. Happy Anniversary to my Eternal Companion.



Our Front Door

As you may or may not know, Colombia has had a violent past. There is a lot of tight security here. We have to go through fingerprint scanners twice to just get into our office. We thought you would like to see our front door. The frame is made of steel and on the hinge side of the door there are also pins that go into holes in the frame. This is in addition to the security guards in the lobby that lock and unlock the door whenever we leave the building (the tenants do not have a key to the front door).

  

Shoes, Parties & Tappsi

The rain stopped this week. No raincoats or umbrellas needed. Bogota's driest months are December, January, July and August, and it held to form this week. However, in looking at the 10-day forecast, it looks like we may get spotty showers every day from now until Christmas. Interestingly, the highest recorded temperature ever in Bogota is 80 degrees (Fahrenheit), so you can see it does not get hot here. This makes walking very enjoyable and we certainly do a lot of that.

Much of our work at the office revolves around the same things each day for the time being. So, until we get moved into our new office in January, there is not much to talk about on the missionary front. Also, most Church employees and members of all ages are turning their attention to the Christmas season. It is a VERY food and family-oriented time of year in Colombia, so there is not much time for PEF loans, job fairs, job searches, college classes, and the like.

We will be taking a taxi to the new office, as it is too far to walk, but when we return each day we will have the taxi drop us a mile or so from home so we can get our walking in and stop at the store for groceries. Our friends from the embassy shared a wonderful app with us called, Tappsi. You tap the icon, it finds your location by GPS, you adjust the address if necessary, and then tap "Pick me up here!". The app then displays a little map showing the location of all the taxis in the area. When it locates one for you that agrees to pick you up, it says, "Reservation confirmed!", then gives you the taxi's license number, name of the driver, and estimated time of arrival, along with a security code that you give to the driver. The taxis pay a fee to be part of the system and it is much safer than just hailing a taxi off the street. We have been using it a lot.

After work on Tuesday, we picked up one of Mike's suits and a white shirt that needed repairing. When he bought the shirt, he hadn’t noticed it had French cuffs. Not wanting to use cuff links, he asked if the "sastre" (tailor) could take the cuffs off and make them the button kind instead, using the spare buttons sewn at the bottom of the front placket. When we saw the results, it was incredible! The cuffs looked like all the rest of Mike's shirts with button cuffs. The total bill for hemming pants, repairing the lining in the suit coat, and remaking the cuffs was a whopping $10. Even though Bogota is not a cheap place to live, like most Latin American cities, services are much cheaper than in the U.S.

On Wednesday we took a taxi to the Alhambra chapel, which is our Stake Center. Our Colombia Bogota North Mission was holding their Christmas party/zone conference, and Pres. and Hermana Andelin asked if we could come and enjoy the party and take their missionary photo. We gladly attended as the mission's only senior couple among all the young missionaries. Mike was called out of the crowd to tell about us and to talk a few minutes to the missionaries about the importance of learning English while in the mission field (to help them with future job prospects). The building was awash in Christmas decorations and they were still putting them up. We watched as a young girl hot-glued rope lighting to the brick archway in the courtyard. A lighted reindeer and angel figures sat amid the greenery in the planters and the posts were wrapped in poinsettia garland with tiny white lights.

A special part of the day was meeting two young sisters and one elder from Honduras. Both of the sisters were from our mission area, one from the Guaymuras Stake and the other from the Danli Stake. The conference part of the day included many beautiful musical numbers by young missionaries sharing their talents on the piano, violin, and through song. All the missionaries lined up on the stage, in chairs and on the floor for the mission photo. Mike took three successive shots to get them all in then, pic-stitched the photo together when we got home. It turned out great, as you can see. Mike even photoshopped out the encroaching tables, chairs, and big, blue and white crepe-paper balls hanging from the ceiling! Afterwards, we helped serve the catered lunch of fried rice, beef, ham, potatoes, salad and flan. It was delicious. After lunch, the Andelin's taught everyone some fun group games the missionaries could use at Family Home Evenings with investigators and members. In one final game, all the missionaries took off both shoes and tossed them into the middle of the floor. The first table group to all have their shoes back on were to be declared the winners. The hermanas had it easy as their shoes were red, orange, yellow, gold, blue, etc, while almost all the elder's shoes were black. One of the cute hermanas thought it would be funny to slow down the guys, so she would grab two or three shoes and hide them outside the window, under the stage curtain, in the kitchen, etc. Those poor elders were stumped when all the shoes in the pile were gone and theirs were nowhere to be found. We all got a good laugh out of that!

KR in Front of the Alhambra Chapel - They Take
Great Pride in Their Church Grounds



Putting up the Christmas Lights Using
the "Hot Glue Gun" Method



Zone Conference Break

Hermanas in the Chapel

Missionaries of the Bogota North Mission - About 60% of the Mission

Serving Up Lunch

Posing for Hermana Anderton

Start of the Shoe Game

Hermanas Hiding Shoes

Found Mine!

Dos Catrachas - Missionary From Danli, Honduras



The Cooking Crew

 



On the way home from the party, we had the taxi drop us at a hardware store to see if we could find parts to repair our dryer. The foil ducting hose had fallen off, which was understandable since nothing was holding it on. Using scribbled drawings, we explained that we needed a duct-to-dryer extension and a vent clamp to hold the vent hose onto the opening. They had a clamp, so we bought that. Well, eventually we bought it. The sales procedure reminded me of China's. First, we selected the item, after which the salesperson went to the computer and ordered it up, printed a slip and sent us down to the cashier. I stood in line until it was my turn to pay, which I did, then I proceeded to the line to pick up the purchased item. The items were being sent up to the “cashier floor” on a manually-operated dumbwaiter from the basement. Each worker had a walkie-talkie, but they all just yelled down the dumbwaiter shaft to the person below. One by one, the items arrived and one-by-one each of the people behind me received their items. After a fifteen minute wait, our little vent clamp finally made it's way up the dumbwaiter, my receipt was stamped and we walked out triumphant in our purchase. Walking home along the highway, we passed a little hole-in-the-wall place with parts for washers and dryers. Miraculously, we drew the picture for the woman at the window and she went back to her shelves and pulled out a genuine Whirlpool metal, vent elbow which was just what we had been searching for all week! After arriving home, I pulled the dryer out and had it all working again in a matter of minutes. Getting the dryer parts took one week with visits to six or seven stores. Repairing the dryer took five minutes. It was a long day and we both fell asleep reading at 9:30 p.m.

A Bogota Mobile Nursery - This Was a
Very Long Truck Loaded with
Hundreds of Plants

Celebrations, celebrations. Thursday the employees of the Church in this part of Colombia held their Christmas Devotional (and lunch) at the same building as yesterday's party. It was part of a bigger celebration being broadcast from the Area offices in Peru. We watched the devotional portion of the program in the chapel together, which mainly consisted of talks by the Area Presidency and choir numbers. The choir members all wore Santa hats - I am not really sure how long our American Christmas traditions have been creeping into Latin American culture, but the world is becoming a small place. After the devotional, Mike offered to take a photo of the group, which turned out great, except one couple came late and were sad to have missed the photo. We called on our fabulously-talented photographer friend to photoshop them into the picture. The tables were set with red linens and the chair had linen covers tied with red and gold fabric bows. Lunch was pork rolled up with something in it (never quite got an understandable answer), ham, boiled potatoes, salad and for dessert, creamy white jello with red and green jello pieces, flan, and a cupcake. Each table had a burning candle inside a square glass vase filled with fresh bing cherries. Our table decided to eat the cherries and since they were so heavenly, one of the women at the table decided to go see if the other tables had eaten their cherries. Within moments, she returned with two candle vases full of cherries - which we promptly shared around our table. One by one, the candle holders on each of the tables made their way to our table. Mike told the candle collector that in case of an emergency situation in the country, he wanted to be in her shelter, as we would never starve! We were exhausted from two long days of activities, so we took a nap and when we awoke, decided to walk to the mall about a mile away, to see the movie, Hunger Games. We liked it better than the first one - not as bloody. Near the mall, while crossing a street, a truck pulling a trailer passed in front of us. Inside the trailer was a large, white ceramic horse which looked vaguely familiar. When I looked again, I noticed a sign across the back of the trailer - P.F. Chang's. What!!! As soon as we got home, I checked online and supposedly there is a P.F. Chang's right near the mall. We will definitely have to check that out.

Local Church Employee Dinner - We Currently Work
in the Service Offices (For Now) and Were Invited

The Missionaries\Volunteers\ Employees of the Service Center, the Bogota MTC, Bogota CES,
the Distribution Center and PEF

Another Day, Another Dinner

A note on our schedule – we are finding that we are spending so much time tied to an office (probably 40 hours a week – and that will even be more rigid with the new year) and then you add other evening and weekend events and obligations, we will probably have no set P-day (do the wash, etc.) or study time. We will have to make time to do those things and take a break when the opportunity presents itself. Our eating schedule has also changed considerably. We now eat our main meal at lunch. As we are often too tired to cook when we get home, we eat something light, usually cold. Life without a car is a big adjustment for us (Americans love their cars). We have to carry everything home that we buy and we are walking A LOT. We are at 9000 feet, and you notice it when you walk and lug things around. Mike is adjusting and his feet are taking a pounding. You just get tired more easily at this altitude.

Brother Gomez, our supervisor, left town for a road trip on Friday to train some stake PEF specialists, so Mike and I manned the new office for him all day. We accomplished many things, and are ready and raring to go with the new programs that will roll out next year. It will be a big job, moving all the computers, phones, files, etc., but we'll get it done. Everything just takes more time here. The distribution center for the country is in a room attached to our new office, so we knocked on the door and asked for a tour of the facility. The steel racks inside are filled with neatly stacked boxes of all the materials needed by the stakes, wards and members in Colombia. They also distribute the materials and clothing sold in the distribution center next to the temple. After work, we had the taxi drop us off about a mile from our apartment (getting our exercise). We stopped at McDonald's for an ice cream cone (caramel and vanilla twist - no chocolate here), then walked home.

Big plans for Saturday rolled around in my head the minute we awakened. I showered and got dressed in my jeans. I only brought one pair of pants/slacks and they are my beloved jeans which I adore wearing after a six days in skirts and nylons. I made pancakes and cleaned the house quickly, so we could get on our way. First we stopped at the Hilton Hotel to check out a place to host a Christmas party for our little office. Then we went to the Marriott to check out their restaurant. Whoooa - way too expensive, so we went back to the Hilton and reserved the "VIP" room and worked out a menu. I think they weren't sure about us using the VIP room, since I was in jeans and a zip-up hoodie, and Mike was in khakis and his skunk shirt (family and friends know what shirt I'm talking about). We convinced them, though, and we got the room for Monday's party. Next, we walked to a store where our neighbor said they might have a white cake mix. I need one to make Mock Raspberry Cheesecake. It isn't Christmas without it. Bad luck though - no cake. I may have to settle for a yellow cake, since that's all I can find in the stores and I haven't found baking powder yet to make my own from scratch. After the chocolate chip cookie disaster, though, I'm a little nervous. I read up on high altitude cooking and you have to jump through hoops to get cakes, cookies, etc. to come out right.

Our destination for the day was Coferias to view the Expoartensanias, which is an international exhibition for the handicrafts of Colombia. According to it's literature, "it aims to promote the arts in Colombia and develop a platform on which national and international distributors can find high quality products." There was live music, shows featuring native dances, children's teaching stations for weaving and painting pottery, plus lots of delicious food, beautiful native crafts, artwork, clothing, jewelry, pottery, rugs, furniture, etc. In short, building after building was filled with beautiful colors and wonderful Colombian handicrafts. We were sad that we have absolutely no room for anything in our suitcases (nor any more room at home to put things either). We did get a tiny ornament for our Christmas tree!

Coferias Exhibition Site

Some of the Wonderful Fruits and Juices of Colombia

There is a Great Deal of Bead Work in
Colombian Crafts - These Feature Millions of
of Individual Beads and Took Months to Make

Mike Liked the Hand-Crafted Bull Rings - Made of Fired Clay
and Some Measured 4 Feet Across

Beautiful Items Made Using Inlaid Wheat Fibers

More Beadwork

Wonderful and Colorful Tradition
of Basketry in Colombia

And If You are Thirsty, You Could Buy a Shot of
Hard Liquor Served from a Cart Pushed
Around by Young Teenagers

We Had Dinner at a Popular Stand Featuring
Food from the Colombian Caribbean Area

Sunday, I actually made a cake that turned out! I followed all the directions for very high altitude cooking, like preheating the oven for 20 minutes at a temperature 25 degrees hotter than the actual baking temperature, putting the cake on the middle rack and turning the temperature down, then baking the cake 15-20 minutes longer than the instructions. Our little cake baked for 1 hour 15 minutes and it came out great. I poured a container of strawberry yogurt on top of our pieces and YUMMM! Mike was so-so with the yogurt idea and when I grimaced, he mentioned that our dessert standards are plummeting.

Have a great week and chao from Bogota!

Los Anderton