Wired in Bogota

Monday 13, our office was inundated with wires, as the phone/internet lines were being installed. The way they did it was interesting. The two guys doing all the installation of the phones, internet, etc. measured how long the wires must reach from place to place. A box of heavy-duty, 1/4" diameter wire was taken outside the gate and seven to eight lengths of it were strung out on the sidewalk. One of the workers then bundled the wires together while the other one taped them together every ten feet with a strip of black, electrical tape. The first bunch of wire to be strung was about 80 feet long. After it was all taped together, they hauled it back into the office, removed a few ceiling tiles, then threaded it thru bit-by-bit. Since all the walls are solid cement, all the wires have to be installed through the ceiling then down the walls and along the floor. They have been at it for a week and the job continues. After work, we had the taxi drop us at the old office so we could pick up our two Christmas packages from Amy and Jon's families. Katie thinks theirs is lost, but we think it should arrive before we go home in May. We also found a Christmas card from our niece, Mindy, when we got home. The guard slid it under our door. We pretended it was Christmas Day as we opened our boxes and played a hand of Scrabble Slam (Amy's box), while chewing our gum (Jon's box). Amy also sent a surprise of two baggies with 1/2 cup of Bisquick in each so we can make Impossible Pie! I was craving it on Christmas morning, but was missing that key ingredient.

 

Installing New Phone & Internet Wires

The Couple in the Middle are the Amaya's (Colombia) - They Serve
With Us in the CAS and Are Wonderful People

Tuesday 14. We worked until 7:00 p.m., ate some chicken soup, and fell into bed at 8:00.

Wednesday 15, the phones rang all day long. Many of the students will begin classes in the next week or two and are awaiting word on their desembolsos (tuition checks). The area office in Lima is centralizing all the tuition payments and applications in one center, so there has been lots of glitches as everything gets set up. The keyword is patience. Many of the students don't seem to understand the 5/6 rule. For the six months prior to a tuition payment, the student must have made at least five payments or show five of six months with a negative or zero balance. What some have done is skipped paying for five months then paid all six payments on the sixth month, but that doesn't comply. It's been painful to have to explain why they must wait another semester until they comply with the 5/6 rule. We are trying to instill within them the habit of regular payments. The Church Education System is no longer involved with any aspect of the PEF program, so when the students go for help they are told to call Colombia PEF, which is us. We've been overwhelmed with emails, calls, visits, etc. but slowly things are clearing up little by little. Staring next month, we will be responsible for teaching the "Planning For Success" workshop, which is required for all PEF loan applicants. That should be fun! The internet phone guys are still trying to get the lines installed. The job was scheduled for one week, but they're still here.



Job Seekers in the CAS - Jonathan, Noraly & Carlos

Jonathan Got a Job This Week

Nestor Being Mentored By Jonathan

Thursday 16. Work and more work. Mike was very tired. We had to do some errands on the way home, did some walking, and he told me later he Zombie-walked the last half-mile. We are working 10-hour days, then come home and work another 2 or 3 hours catching up on what we didn’t finish during the day.

Friday 17. Our taxi rides to and from work reminded us of Star Tours - the 3D motion-simulated space flight ride at Disneyland where you enter the "star speeder", buckle in, then get tossed about for ten minutes until you're ready to hurl (Mike never goes on that ride, it hurts his back). It felt very similar, but without the "buckle in" part since most of the time the seat belts are buried deep in the seat crack. Our two drivers for the day must have been related – how interesting that our two wildest rides in three months happened on the same day. I was wishing I had our big camera to record the ride on video. It was super fast and super jerky. I'm sure those two drivers have to replace their brakes every couple of months. Just for fun, I have began keeping track of the plate numbers of the taxis we ride in along with the driver's name. Since we take taxis everyday now, I thought if we got the same driver twice, I could act like I remembered him/her (I included "her", but we've only had one female taxista in over 100 trips). When we use the Tappsi app, we get the name and plate number of our taxi before it arrives, so that gives me time to look at the list on my phone. We haven't had a repeat yet, but with 60,000 taxis in the city, that's not surprising! We walked to the Marriott Hotel to have dinner in their little cafe area. The hotel is a piece of U.S. heaven and we occasionally like to immerse ourselves. Both it and the Hilton are only a few blocks from our apartment.

Saturday 18. Schedule was the usual: Laundry, clean, cook for the next week, nap, long walk. This walk was to end at the Andino Mall, but before we got there, we passed another mall we had never seen before. And inside was, are you ready, a……a……a Taco Bell! I NEVER eat Taco Bell at home, but we haven't eaten Mexican food, or even seen an authentic Mexican restaurant since we've been here. Somehow, it sounded like it would be delicious. Nope. The mall also has the Hard Rock Cafe-Bogota, so that is on our radar for some other Saturday. Might even get a t-shirt.

Sunday 19, I finally captured a few photos of Sunday morning on the main thoroughfare 1/2 block from our home. Every Sunday, from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., the police close one side of the Septima 7 (a divided, six-lane road) to all motorized vehicles. All morning long, the road is filled with bikers, roller-bladers, runners, strollers, etc. Mothers and fathers walk behind their little children on trikes and bikes, couples stroll hand-in-hand, athletes huff and puff as they run or jog, and even little old ladies shuffle along. It's a wonderful thing to just sit and watch all the people go by. We enjoy the event each time we walk home from church.

The Store in the Background is a Carulla, One in a Large Chain
of Stores We Frequent. It is Expensive, But Has Many Imported
Items and is Very Convenient

Our Street on a Sunny Sunday

Thank you to everyone who sent Christmas cards. My mom scanned any we received in Wenatchee and emailed them to us. Especially fun, were the cards sent directly to Bogota. Nothing was as fun as coming home to a letter slipped under the apartment door (thank you Marty and Mindy) or having the security guard hand us a card as we headed for the elevator (thank you Greg and Patty). One day we received three cards! FYI, we looked at the postage and one card sent from Denver cost 64 cents. Another enterprising family from Draper, UT (you know who you are) guessed the postage and put $5.50 on their card - both arrived safely:)