February 24-March 9 The Nurse Needs a Doctor

Our Tappsi taxi was so slow Monday morning that we canceled and walked to the main street at the end of our block to find one. Blasting horns filled the air and people stood on the sidewalks watching as a procession of hundreds of yellow taxis filed by, three abreast, on the far side of the divided road led by two men marching on foot ahead of them. An empty taxi on our side of the road headed towards us, so we flapped our hands in the traditional, "Stop and pick us up" signal, but he waved us off as if to say he wasn't accepting riders in support of the protest. The next empty taxi that passed picked us up, glad for the work. Apparently the drivers were protesting the announcement of new controls on what they can charge.

Since we spent so many extra hours at last week's open house, we took off early so Mike could get his haircut. The salon was very busy, so we told them we would be back in 15-20 minutes once we got our shoes shined around the corner. The entrepreneur on the corner of Carrera 7 and Calle 70 runs two businesses. One is a shoeshine business for drop-ins and drop-offs. We were drop-ins, so Mike sat down in the white, plastic lawn chair and placed his foot on the stand. This man has shoe-shining down to an art. We had been here before, so we knew the ropes. He applies the shoe color three or four times, polishing between each application using a long, thin strip of cloth which has been twisted tightly around his second and third fingers, wrapped around his wrist three or four times, and then the ends tucked in. Touch-ups are applied using the same two fingers only without the cloth. He also sprays a clear silicone on and buffs that two or three times in-between the color applications. His hands move in a blur. When the first shoe is finished, he taps the bottom of your shoe three times with his knuckle signaling, "Take your shoe off the stand and put your other shoe up here!" The entire process takes about fifteen minutes and the shine lasts for weeks. I understand now why my two-minute shine and buff only lasts a couple of days. In addition to the shoe shine business, he runs a candy/snack/cigarette stand which is four or five feet away. It's a fold-up contraption on a rolling cart filled with hundreds of items. When customers come and he's shining shoes, he just excuses himself, waits on the customer, then returns. We asked if he rents the space on the corner, since he is always in the same place, and he shook his head. Evidently, he's been there so long that the corner is understood to be “his location”. We asked what would happen if someone else arrived earlier than he did and staked a claim. He replied he would call the police and the police would make the other person move, even though it is a public street corner, since they knew he had earned the spot through his years of business. Interesting! This particular day, after Mike was finished and went to get his hair cut, I stayed and got my shoes polished also. With a captive audience before me, his questions about what we are doing in Colombia were answered thoroughly. In the end, he expressed interest in reading the Book of Mormon, and I made arrangements to drop one the next time we passed (I did it a week later.) As Mike and I walked home after the haircut, Mike described the trouble the young barber experienced trying to get his hair to lie down flat so he could cut it. He was also a bit nervous about cutting the hair of a foreigner. Mike had slapped on lots of gel that morning, so it was glued in a bit of a spiked position. At the end of the haircut, Mike complimented the young man saying, "It turned out well," and the young man replied, "Yes. I said a prayer for Jesus to help me and he did." I LOVE hearing people share their faith of calling upon God to help them with the little things. Nothing is too small when you're in need.

The Main Bus System in Bogota (There is no Subway or Train System)

Funny story for Tuesday. Last week, one of our stake presidents had visited us to see our new facilities and enjoying one of our office cookies. Pointing to the bookcase, which presently has three framed photos of the First Presidency on top of it, he asked, "Who are those photos of?" Totally caught off-guard at the thought that he had never seen photos of the First Presidency, I began to answer, "Pres. Monson, Pres. Uch…" He started laughing and pointed down one shelf to the two small, plastic, photo holders containing the faces of our new young volunteers. "Whoops!!! That would be Jesus and Camilo," I said with a smile and a red face.

The Picture Wall

Wednesday we received HUGE, EXCITING, and WONDERFUL news. We were informed that our 1-800 line, which has been in the process of being transferred from the old office to our new office since EARLY JANUARY, was finally connected! Excited to try it out, we used one of the cell phones to dial the number. Unfortunately, we discovered the line had been connected to the wrong office! The office in charge of the transfer order for the 1-800 line was now receiving our PEF calls from students wondering when their disbursed checks would be ready, asking questions, trying to pay their monthly quotas, etc. Mike wrote the following email to the office manager (in Spanish) "Thank you so much! The 1-800 line is working! Yippee! But it is hooked up to the wrong line. No yippee!" Then he offered to send them the 139-page PEF manual to read so they could answer all the student's questions. They probably didn't think that was very funny, but we did! It illustrated Murphy's Law at its finest. Since they also are responsible to correct the error, we assume they will be VERY motivated to get it done quickly to shut off those “annoying calls”. Speaking of annoying, somehow I must have bumped my right hand against something as I noticed a lump between my first and second knuckles. By the next morning, the lump had spread into a large purple blotch which had everyone in the office worried. I received all kinds of interesting treatment ideas, such as putting garlic on it or steaming it over the stove (but not to hold it in smoke from a burning beet – preview of coming attractions). 

KR's Bruised Hand

Thursday, while walking home, we came upon a business venture we had not seen before, which we named, "Trunknuts". This industrious fellow rigged his car trunk to accommodate special tilting racks holding beautifully frosted donuts, which he was selling on a street corner. The colorful sign showing th delicious looking doughnuts did not pull me in. Dunkin' Donuts down the street Colombia taught me that, "just because it looks like a donut, smells like a donut and feels like a donut, does not mean that it will taste like a donut." No thanks! I recently did make an exception to my dessert rule though. Andino Mall has an "American Cheesecake", store so we ventured in and took a chance buying a small piece of "Oreo Cheesecake" and a berry-covered "New York Cheesecake". I will not return to that store. The cheesecake was DELICIOUS and the temptation would just be too great to resist. Nope. That store is off-limits!

Friday, the 1-800 line was reconfigured to ring at our office. It was absolutely miraculous to see how quickly the transfer occurred the second time (with the extra motivation)! Unbeknownst to me, Bro. Gomez, our manager, tried the line using his cell phone from just outside our office door. No one was at the front desk, so I took the call at my desk when the phone rang. "Centro de Autosuficiencia y PEF. Puedo ayudarle?" (Center for Self-sufficiency and PEF. Can I help you?) The caller asked about his loan, so I asked him for his loan number. He said he didn't know it, so I asked for his name so I could look it up in the directory. When he replied, "Edgar Gomez", I could hear laughing on the other end of the line AND in the office. I looked up to see him standing in the doorway holding his cell phone to his ear and wearing a cheesy grin. Mike sat at his desk chuckling. Good one, guys! You got me! On the way home from work while stuck in traffic, we chatted with our taxi driver about family. He could hardly believe we really had 16, going on 17 grandchildren. His two children are out of the home now and he proudly shared that his son received a scholarship and is studying petrochemical engineering at one of the city's best universities. He seemed so pleased that his son would have a better life than he did. Education can do that with careful preparation and diligence.

We had him drop us off at the Carulla about a mile from our apartment. We loaded up on groceries and headed home in the dark and wet trying to stay dry under the umbrella. Strolling the sidewalks during the day is always a challenge with tilted bricks, sunken cement, uneven steps, and missing utility covers. Doing it in the dark while carrying eight or nine grocery bags can be hazardous. Up to that point we had occasionally tripped, but had avoided any outright falls. On our trip home that night my luck changed. Our shoulders were slung with our bags from work while our hands gripped the plastic grocery bags as we began the long walk to the apartment. Many of the sidewalks have narrow sections bordered by a tall wall on one side and the busy street on the other. One must sometimes turn sideways when meeting people coming the other direction in order to pass without falling into the path of traffic. As we walked on a section of sidewalk shaded from the streetlights by a plant-covered wall, I stepped right into an uncovered utility box several inches from the wall. The front of my right leg scraped down the edge of the box as my foot settled into the muck at the bottom of the hole. With one foot sunk twelve inches down a hole, my forward momentum screeched to a halt and the rest of me catapulted to the ground. I must have let out a gasp as people all around came rushing to my aid. Mike and others kindly lifted me up and out, and I assured them I was okay. Limping the rest of the way home, we got into the house and I sat down to assess the damage. I was most concerned about my favorite pair of tights. Amy sent these special, super thick, thermal tights for Christmas to keep my legs warm and I wear them at least three days a week. Examining them carefully, I found not even a snag! Blessings!!! The front of my leg, on the other hand, had a nice, deep scrape that was throbbing. Mike snagged a bag of frozen peas from the freezer and placed it on my leg while he fixed dinner. One additional scraped knee and knuckle were discovered as the only other damaged body parts. It could have been so much worse! I would NOT want a broken anything here nor a cut that needed stitches.

One Lucky Girl

Saturday we enjoyed eating Impossible Pie (delicious) for brunch (thanks for the baggies of Bisquick, Amy!) and spent most of the day catching up and preparing for the next week, before taking a long walk in the rain to enjoy dinner at Crepes & Waffles. We heard good things about it and they were true. The soups were delicious, as were the crepes. Mike got in his 10,000 steps in one jaunt.

We Found a Lechona Booth on the Long Walk

Easy Way to Clean all The Pots

Note the Intestines of Some Animal on the Right

Sunday church was at 10:00 a.m. instead of 9:00 a.m. (lovely). Waking up without the alarm was a treat. Since we are the only congregation in the building, our ward decided to start the meetings an hour later to see if people would arrive on time. It seemed to work. After church and lunch, Mike took a nap and I cooked for the week. I love putting on my "apple apron", pretending I am home in my kitchen. Edgar picked us up at 3:30 p.m. and we headed south of the city to Tunjuelito to do some training with their stake and ward leaders. Passing thru some Honduran-like neighborhoods, we arrived at the beautiful chapel appearing as an oasis in the desert. Neighborhood children were inside the fenced property playing games on the large cement parking area. It is probably one of the few places in their neighborhood where a ball can roll straight. The grounds bloomed with beautiful flowers and beds of greenery were all nicely pruned and weeded. It was so lovely. Thirty+ people attended the training and the three of us talked for about 90 minutes. It made for a long day, but they gave us treats afterward (a bologna sandwich, a cookie and a cup of juice) which perked us up for the long ride home. In the darkness and on unfamiliar roads, we started for home through parts of town you do not want to get lost in, so naturally Edgar got turned around and became lost. At a stoplight, he rolled down the window and asked a young woman in the van next to us for directions to a particular street. "O chico! Usted es muy lejos!" (Oh little boy! You are very far away.) Edgar now has a new nickname, "Chico", and we use it frequently! 

A Sunday, Daylight Reenactment of the Open Hole

Very Fortunate She Didn't Break Her Leg

She is Not Kneeling, This Shows the Depth of the Hole

Tunjuelito Chapel

Ready to Train

The Cely's invited us for dinner and Family Home Evening on Monday, so we went straight from work by taxi. It's a long way to their home, but the traffic was surprising light. Dinner was a traditional soup, Sancocho, which we enjoyed along with a chicken thigh/leg, plus an orange fruit drink. After one taste of the drink, I watched for the perfect time to switch glasses with Mike after his was emptied. He didn't even notice at the time but later realized what I had done. We brought the LCD projector from work and showed some of our photos from Israel on the living room wall. Everyone loved seeing the places spoken about in the scriptures. Dessert was red jello with apple pieces, which was so normal and yummy! Two-year-old granddaughter, Isabella, who lives one floor up, came down to show us her wild baby dove (squab or chick) the maintenance man had given to her after finding a nest of live birds in the eaves while cleaning the gutters. The chick was still alive after eight days, which was miraculous after watching Isabella put it on her head and dance around with it. Cesar and Natalia, the Cely's son and daughter, drove us home afterwards and we talked and laughed all the way. It felt like being with our kids, as Cesar is 28 and Natalia is 21. Cesar's wife, Sara, a citizen of Venezuela, is stuck in Caracas amidst the uprisings and is unable to get out of the country. Luckily, she is able to stay with her parents. Apparently food is being rationed and is hard to come by. Feel so appreciative of the country you live in.

Isabella & Her Bird

Tuesday was key-matching day, one last time. A locksmith came and cut the padlock from our door (we had no working key) so we can now escape in the event a fire blocks our main door. He then spent the entire morning (with my supervision) trying to get all of the lockable things in the office (of which there are many) matched to a functioning key (of which we had few). The locksmith also sanded the post on the front gate, so now we can open both sides of the gate. We took a picture with the gates wide open for the Church website. 

Our Fixed-up Center

We had lots of students calling today signing up for our workshops next week. We will have two sessions with at least fifteen students in each. Also, the person scheduled to clean all the computers (as in wipe clean and reinstall programs) finally came to complete a task we have been waiting on for weeks. Unfortunately, he was sick with "gripe", which is what we would call a bad cold/flu. I followed him around wiping keyboards, phones, and each mouse and desk with disinfectant. We don't have time to be sick! Before the open house, we stacked all kinds of records in our office bathroom to hide them from sight, as we didn't have time to get them all shredded. We began the shredding and it will take us awhile because the shredder only likes three sheets at a time or it chokes. The cleaning lady loves the bags of paper, as she recycles to supplement her family's income and keep her missionary in the field. We go through lots of paper and boxes, so this helps her quite a bit. Mike was talking with a man and woman in the afternoon both of whom are seeking work. After conversing and asking questions for awhile, Mike pointed to the young woman and asked, "Is this your daughter?" "No, this is my wife," the man replied. Mike paused for a moment to regroup, "Wow, que bendicion in su vida," (what a blessing for you), then gave the man a fist bump. The gentleman is 71 and his wife is 35, so you could maybe understand Mike's error. Great recovery Elder Anderton.

Wednesday, an older woman came to the gate, got beeped in, then walked in the door asking, "Is this the church of the empleo (employment)?" We got a good laugh out of that one. As we were closing up for the night, a man came to the gate, also got beeped in, and immediately went over to the computers. We explained that it was almost closing time and he nodded, but kept his eyes on the monitor. Rosita (the cleaning person) often closes up, but I didn't want to leave her alone with this man. "What if he's a robber or worse," I asked Mike? Rosita spoke a few words to the man and returned to her sweeping. Mike approached Rosita and whispered quietly in a concerned voice, "We were planning to leave in a few minutes but now we’re not sure. Do you know this man?" Rosita, smiled and whispered back, "Yes. He's my husband."

Thursday. Every single day, when we arrive home from the office, the first thing I do is change into my "uniform." Life without it would be cold, as the apartment has no heat source. When it's 55 or 60 degrees outside, it's cold inside! My uniform consists of five items that never vary: 1) thick black leggings purchased at the St. George GAP outlet while shopping with Amy just before leaving for the MTC, 2) a black, tricot nightgown purchased at Dillard's in St. George shortly before leaving, 3) a black, hooded, zippered sweatshirt purchased our first week in Colombia at "Sevens", a store here in Bogotá, 4) white, athletic socks, and 5) a pair of slippers or my favorite Adidas slides. I love my uniform that keeps me warm! 

KR's Nightly Outfit

Since we would be in meetings all day Saturday, we left the office early Friday and headed home. In the midst of our taxi ride, the skies broke loose and sent a massive rain/hail storm down, deafening the usual honking and beeping that fills the air. People ran in all directions trying to get out of the deluge. Apparently, we missed the action at work when water from the roof came pouring down one wall (newly painted), flooding the floor with several inches of water. Everyone pitched in to mop up the mess. The storm also wrecked havoc on the alarm system and the security people kept calling Edgar during the night with alarm reports.

Saturday began with a 9:00 a.m. training meeting at the office. A newly-called Especialista de Autosuficiencia from Duitama traveled hours to receive her own, private session and we were happy to oblige. It was evident from the questions she asked that she has the vision. We will travel to Duitama next month to teach the Taller de Planificacion para El Exito (Planning for Success workshop), which is required for anyone seeking to use the Perpetual Education Fund. It is a great workshop which requires the participants to think about what work they would truly like to pursue and then make a concrete, step-by-step plan of how to get there, including where to study and how to pay for their expenses. Mike and I will also be teaching the first session of a double set of the same workshop (eight total classes in a 12-day period) here in Bogota starting Monday. Each workshop consists of four sessions, 60-90 minutes each. One will be held Monday and Wednesday mornings from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at our Centro de Autosuficiencia office and the other will be held Tuesday and Friday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Los Heroes Institute building. Our Saturday afternoon activity began shortly after lunch when we left the office for the Villa del Prado building about ten miles away. TWO HOURS LATER, we arrived at the Relief Society Preparedness Fair that we had been invited to participate in. We had been to the building once before, but our taxi driver went a different way and we didn’t recognize any landmarks. He finally stopped to ask a man if he knew where the “Iglesia Mormona” was and the man gave him a funny look and pointed down the road. The chapel was about 100 feet ahead of us, big as life. Even though we were fifteen minutes late, it was no problem, as we found everyone in the cultural hall setting up tables with their exhibits. The sisters displayed their small business ventures, which were both varied and unique. Our favorites featured decorated cakes and the “Memory Bra”. Mike was a little surprised that the local leaders didn’t say a word about the bra posters in the cultural hall, but women everywhere in the world need bras, no? They weren’t selling their wares, just touting them. I was planning to make it to our stake’s Relief Society birthday celebration, but since the fair began 90 minutes late, I just relaxed and enjoyed the activities. We began in the kitchen eating small hamburgers made from lentils (using food storage). Either they were quite good or I was starving. Next we rotated to the “emergency preparedness” room discussing what to do in the event of earthquakes, floods, etc. The sisters did such a great job on their displays. Next, we moved to the chapel where Mike and I did a presentation on self-sufficiency and PEF. Lastly, we returned to the cultural hall to sample the cakes and give everyone a “great job” before heading home. We love these people and are so impressed with their enthusiasm and drive to make their lives better through their own ingenuity.

Cake Display - Pregnant Belly for Baby Shower

Need a Wonder Bra?

Relief Society Teaching How to Use Food Storage

Cute Family - He Runs a Window Coverings Business

Sunday. Interesting dicho used today at church: hablar menos y hacer mas. Talk less and do more. Good advice for all of us.