I been living in the gangsta’s paradise. Take a look see:
9:30pm– Team time is over. Every other day Team Open Arms and TONKA switch on laundry and showers. Today is our turn for showers.
10:00pm– I’ve finished my shower and join the masses in the main room where we teach English. The room that also serves as our movie theater, breakfast dining room, and sleeping quarters. Our Colombian friends are here to hangout; they always bring a lot of laughter with them.
10:30pm– No more showers and everyone is supposed to be winding down. I put my sleeping pad down even though everyone is still in our room. They’ve gotten the keyboard out and are singing songs.
11:00pm– We kick everyone out and the lights go out soon after.
11:30pm– Our neighbor is playing his music. I’m sure they are drinking. They have a really nice bass too; it rattles the floor I’m sleeping on.
12:00am– The bass gently massages me to sleep.
12:06am– I wake up. Our other neighbor turns his music on. Now it’s a competition to see who has the better stereo system.
12:41am– Oooo thunderstorm. I like listening to the rain. With these shallow walls and ceilings it almost sounds like it is raining inside. Oh wait… the roof is leaking… in three different places.
1:14am– SCREAMS from the other room. What happened?!?! Oh the mouse… it ran over Amy’s face. No one is hurt.
1:33am– GUN SHOTS?! Nope, just fireworks.
2:00am– A dog hacks up his lung right outside our window, it happened yesterday too. Maybe he should stop eating so much trash.
2:23am– A small plane flies right by our house to land at the airport next door.
3:00am– GUN SHOTS?! For real this time. Is it a gang fight? Is it the police in the forest? Is it a gang fighting the police in the forest during a drug bust?
3:53am– When did we get a cat? I swear I can hear a cat in here? It sounds like it’s dying. Well hopefully he will kill the mice.
4:12am– A 747 Boeing plane comes in with her passengers. I hope they have figured out how to sleep on planes like I have. It’s this little orange pill called Dramamine.
4:59am– WHY are they still playing music? Who can stay up that late dancing and drinking?
5:11am– The woman behind us either has a lot of babies or runs a daycare. Yelling at them won’t help when they’re all crying lady.
5:45am– I thought party buses were just a thing in Ecuador. I was wrong, two of them just drove past the house.
6:00am– You wouldn’t think buses and motorcycles and taxis and trucks would use our street to get where they are going but they do. At least they’re up and at em early, ready to win the day.
6:30am– There is a couple outside. They always sound so angry when they talk to each other. I’d tell them to use their inside voices but I don’t know Spanish very well.
7:30am– Lights on. Gotta pack up our beds. BREAKFAST TIME!
I may have exaggerated a bit. However, all of these instances occurred sometime during our stay in Colombia, not all on the same night but many repeated themselves.
To some people silence is deafening. They cannot stand silence. I have no problem with awkward silences. I like the silence. Back home I’ll turn my radio off in my car sometimes. These last three weeks could have been rough. Thirteen to fifteen people in one small building with one bathroom/shower and all of our bags, the rooms become smaller and smaller. I could become claustrophobic.
This past week my ears became plugged. I’ve had ear troubles since I was little. It was like I had my ear plugs in but I didn’t. It threw my balance off. I constantly asked people to repeat what they were trying to tell me. This problem lasted about four days. It was awful and I gained a new empathy for the hearing impaired.
Moral of the story is this: I have so much to be thankful. Complaining is a waste. I have learned to find my stay here an enjoyable one. I absolutely love the ghetto of Colombia and all her people. I’ve learned to sleep through all of the crazy, for the most part. Many circumstances are beyond our control. All we can do is choose what are actions will be and how we perceive the circumstances around us.
I choose joy. I choose patience. I choose peace. What do you choose?
**UPDATE!! I’m just over $4000 away from being fully funded! Would you consider donating to help me stay on the field? This would be about $500 a week through the end of the year!! Thanks for your prayers and support.**
