Ancient Anderton Wenatchians: Just Say Yes to Cheese

Just Say Yes to Cheese

As you can see by the post dates, we have been extremely busy for the past two weeks. The time has flown by as the busyness of the work has kept us hopping every minute. Monday 6 was ANOTHER holiday, "Dia de los Reyes", which celebrates the arrival of the three kings to worship the Christ child. Many businesses and families extend their vacations for another week after Christmas. It's crazy. Mike and I slept in and then, about noon, we took a long, long walk. The normally crowded and noisy streets were deserted and everything was closed up tight. We walked six blocks south, eight blocks east, then about twenty-two blocks north. One of the few places we found open was "The Flower Park", which is a conglomeration of flower businesses in one location. We asked the price of one of the beautiful arrangements and were shocked. The large, stunning mix of roses, gerbera daises, etc. was a mere $20. Some things really are a good deal here. We ended our walk at the Andino Mall which was open for business, and we ate a nice dinner upstairs in the food court. While eating, the familiar sound of rain pounding on the roof began in earnest. It was still coming down hard when we finished our dinner, so we hopped into a taxi and headed for home.

Boiling our Drinking Water for the Week

The Flower Park

Would You Believe This is $20?

On Tuesday 7, we enjoyed the long-awaited return of the Amaya's, as they showed up at the office ready to go to work. This sweet, senior missionary couple from Colombia will be working with us at the SRC (Self-Reliance Center). They have been serving in Bogota since last March, but took a two-month leave to go to Panama to help their daughter with a difficult pregnancy. Everything turned out okay, which was a great relief for them. Elder Amaya is a soft-spoken, quiet man and Hermana Amaya is a go-getter. They are sorely needed and very much appreciated. The workers came today and took out the big cubicle they had constructed on Friday. Apparently, it wasn't in the plan, so out it came. We also had them take some extra chairs, bookshelves, etc. that we didn't need. Carlos Fernandez, the former director of all welfare activities in Colombia (who is transferring to Peru), came in to collect his things. We were shocked when he only took a few notebooks and a little basket with flowers given to him by his mother who passed away Christmas Eve. He left us with "mountains" of manuals, papers, notebooks, books, CD's, etc. which will take days and days to go through. Edgar, our boss, also stopped by. I think he was shocked to see that his entire office was packed away in boxes. We are the directors of the SRC now so we were directing! Sometimes I am sure some people roll their eyes with our impulsive eagerness.

KR in Front of Our New Office

Mike Mulling the Cheese Shortage

Graffiti is a Problem

A Cold & Rainy Bogota Morning

Now we are at new location, it seems we are going non-stop every day. We feel so tired by the end of each day, but it's a good tired. Mid-morning Wednesday 8 the buzzer rang and I looked out the door to see a group of women standing outside the gate. The front door is ALWAYS left open, even when it's cold outside. Every so often when I'm freezing, I'll shut the door and go into our office, but seconds later, I'll look and Ferney has opened it back up. Ferney is a young, twenty-something intern who is being paid by the government to work at the front desk. He is shy, quiet, and never eats lunch with us or anyone else in the office. He seems to prefer solitude and is perfectly content eating alone. Even at the big area Christmas party, he took his plate and found an empty room for himself. Back to the women at the gate - (all appearing to be in their 20's or early 30's). I approached and asked if I could help them. Apparently, they had seen our sign, "Centro de Empleo" (employment center) and were interested in finding some kind of job. I invited them in to sit down and speak with Mike. Each of these women are mothers to a special needs child who they bring to the center around the corner at least three times a week to receive therapy. These mothers became friends as a result of being together while waiting for their children. The therapy class lasts two to three hours, so as they wait, they walk and talk. Each hopes to be able to find some sort of job that will help them provide for their family. I think they were hoping that we had a small business where they could work during the hours they wait for their children. We shared some snacks with them as we talked about what our center provides in the way of tools to help people find employment or start small businesses. They were especially interested in hearing about ideas for things they could do/make at home. I told them about the baby blankets I make and they may be back to see them one day. Mike and I walked to "Mi Casa" for lunch, which is one of the few places I will consent to patronize around our new office. The neighborhood around the SRC is very different from the bustling downtown location of our old office. After work, the Amaya's walked with us to a nearby grocery store. Things in this area of town are less expensive, so we bought things like cereal, yogurt, etc. I even found cornstarch and sage, which I have been searching for! We had the taxi drop us at Carulla's to continue the “great cheddar cheese hunt” but alas, no luck. We walked home empty-handed.

Visitors to the SRC

Thursday 9 began with a 5.5 earthquake in Santa Maria, some 160 miles south of Bogota, and was felt by many here in the city. Since we were in a taxi at the time, we didn't notice anything as every taxi ride feels like you're in an earthquake! It was a big day for us even without the earthquake, as we opened the office all by ourselves. It's quite the process. First, you must insert both arms through the railing of the big metal gates of the driveway connected to our office in order to unlock the heavy padlock holding the thick chain around the posts. The lock is on the inside of the gates, so it's a bit tricky doing it from the other side. Once the chain is free, you unlatch the gate. The thick, metal latch is wiggled back and forth which produces an awful screeching sound until it clears the latch and you can swing one of the gates open. Once through the gates, you return the latch to it's original position and replace the padlock. The next obstacle, the front door, has three, keyed locks, but only the bottom two are used (usually). First, a key is inserted into the top lock and jiggled in and out until it catches. You then turn the key clockwise two complete turns. Next, the key is removed and inserted into the bottom lock and is turned one complete revolution clockwise. At this point, you return to the upper lock, and turn the key slightly to the right while gently pushing the door forward until it moves a quarter inch. Holding the door in that position, you remove the key and return to the bottom lock, which will now turn all the way to the right releasing the latch so you can enter and punch in the four secret numbers to disarm the alarm. Lest you think we are finished, no. Now the front gates have to be opened. The padlocked chain holding the front gates together has to be removed and the chain replaced around one post and padlocked. The latch on this gate must be wiggled back and forth (screeching louder than the one on the big gates) and when that is done, the office is open for business! Visitors have to be "buzzed" into the front gate, which helps us feel safer. After work, we had the taxi drop us at the old office so we could retrieve the PEF cell phones from the file cabinet. The last load of our things apparently didn't make it and the phones were in the drawer of the "archivo". We collected our three phones, then took off for home via another Carulla. The great cheese hunt was still underway, but no luck. (Mike comment: For those of you that have been around my sweet wife for any period of time, you know that when she gets something fixed in her head, you just get out of the way. This month it was cheddar cheese.) When we got home, we ate dinner and Mike fell into bed and was fast asleep by 8:00 p.m. Sometimes, we're just totally exhausted. Interesting tidbit: The military is often out in force on the roads and highways and as you zip past, it is common practice for them to give you a "thumbs up" sign, which means “everything's good, keep driving”. Pilar told us the army is trying to present a new image of friendliness. Good for them!

Friday 10, so tired. Mike feel asleep on the bed with his shoes on.

Ahhh, Saturday 11, a day off from the hustle-bustle of the office. We got the laundry done, then continued on the great cheese hunt by going to yet another Carulla (I am literally dragging Mike around by this time). I asked the young man in the "deli" if they had received a shipment of U.S. cheddar yet. He remembered me and smiled, "Si, senora." He disappeared then returned with a beautiful, orange, cylinder-shaped brick of U.S. cheddar cheese! It was about 12" long and 5" in diameter. He asked how many slices I would like and I told him I wanted half of the entire brick. He blinked twice and asked, "Perdon?" I held up my fingers about 6" apart and repeated myself, "One half of the entire thing, please." The great cheese hunt had come to an end. When we came out of the store with our bags of groceries it was raining hard so we hopped into a taxi. I spent the afternoon making dinners for the coming week. At 5:00 p.m. we hopped into a taxi again to meet the Cely's at the Santa Fe Mall. They showed us all the stores in the mall, then we hit the ice cream store next to "Whopper King" where we enjoyed a giant banana split while Jon texted the play-by-play of the Seahawk-New Orleans game. So exciting! Going home, we had the taxi drop us at the Hilton Hotel, where we stopped and arranged a Super-Bowl replay\dinner for two on Monday, February 3, if all goes well. The staff there is so nice, as we stop and eat there frequently and talk football.

The Queen

Making Baked Potato Soup

Sunday 12, we took a long, $11 taxi ride to attend Barrio (ward) El Jordan in the Suba Stake. Riding through the narrow streets, we felt like we were back in Honduras. The people in this part of Bogota live in much more humble circumstances. The narrow, little chapel slowly filled with children and adults. The reverence during the sacrament portion of the meeting was exceptional. We have noticed the same reverence in most of the wards we have attended. It's amazing, because there are lots of children and tile floors which usually don't bode well for a reverent meeting. The purpose of our visit was to interview and photograph Richard Lopez and his family. Richard benefited from a PEF loan and now has stable work and is able to provide for his family. Mike shared the work of the SRC during priesthood meeting and the members are very excited about the changes. FaceTime with the kids was the highlight of the day, as is each time we hear from them.