Welcome to South America! I can’t believe that I am already on the last continent of my race. Time has flown by for me. Words can’t describe how much I have loved Colombia, so I hope pictures can! (That was super cheesy but like- it’s my blog I can do what I want…)
Filandia
This is the most beautiful place that I have ever lived. Filandia is a small little mountain town full of gorgeously painted houses and stores, that were so bright and cheerful. One of my teams favorite things about the town was that, because it was so small, we got to see the students from our ministry as we walked down the street. At first, they always looked confused, but by the end of the month they were running across the street to come say hello. Filandia felt a little more like home, because when we would walk places, we always ran into someone that we knew.
Farm Schools
Every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, my team split up into three groups and went to teach at farm schools. A little background: Filandia is surrounded by farm land, and the elementary aged students who live out there go to small schools. Now, when I say small, I mean like one classroom, one teacher, and maybe 12 students on a good day. We worked at three schools this month, teaching English, P.E., Art, and Religion. It was a ton of fun getting to hang out with the students and to get to know them, as well as getting to know our teacher.
One of the really cool things that I noticed was that the schools were not lacking for supplies or materials. Even though they are very small, and service only a few students, the schools weren’t lacking for supplies. It was really nice to see how taken care of they were.
The picture above was taken at the school that I worked at with my teammates Emily and Matt, during an event that we hosted for the students and their parents!
Our interpreters
Because 90% of my team doesn’t speak Spanish, we had interpreters. Our interpreters this month were so cool. Joan was the interpreter assigned to my school and he was the one that I got to spend the most time with. At the schools in the morning we had a little devotional that we did with the kids, which Joan lead in Spanish, and it was amazing to watch him lead the students in that way. Joan is a university student who is studying to be a Social Studies teacher, and he is also heavily involved with his campus ministry. Fun fact, he also happened to be the one who introduced our hosts to each other before they were married.
Luisa was another interpreter that we worked with. She helped interpret at one of the other schools with my teammates Kat and Hunter. In her free time she takes boxing classes and she invited us to join her one weekend, which we did- it was hilarious. We had a blast and were all pretty sore afterwards.
After school Program
Everyday after we got home from the farm schools, our team went to our host’s foundation and helped out with their after school program. We played games, watched movies, helped kids with their homework, and just spent time with the students. They were a hoot. They were rowdy and goofy and an absolute blast to spend time with. I think collectively as a team, this was our favorite part of the month. During the month we were able to learn about how hard some of the students home lives are, and it nice to see that those kids have a safe place to come and receive love from the Father, but also from some really awesome people, like our hosts.
The earthquake
(I don’t have any photos of the earthquake, so here is a photo of me with one of the friends I made while I was in Colombia.)
One of the last days that we were in Filandia, there was a 6.1 magnitude earthquake that hit central Colombia. The epicenter was about 50 miles away from us, so it was actually pretty strong where we were! We all went outside and we were able to see the telephone wires shaking and we could feel our host’s car bouncing around on the concrete. The whole thing lasted for about 3 or so minutes, and by the end of it, I was feeling thoroughly motion sick and had to sit down and take a breather. This was my second time experiencing an earthquake on the Race, when I was in Bulgaria I felt tremors from an earthquake in Romania- it was much smaller that time around, and much further away (it hardly counts). This is something that I can’t imagine getting used to, I’m grateful that Florida doesn’t have them.
A little history for you: in 1990 the larger city about 20 minutes away from Filandia, called Armenia, was hit with a massive earthquake that killed 300+ people. Our team didn’t learn about this until the earthquake hit, when some of our neighbors rushed outside during the earthquake too, but instead of goofing around and enjoying it (like we were), they was sobbing, and our host explained why.
Riding horses to a waterfall
This might be my favorite adventure day of the Race so far. Three of my teammates and I got to rent horses and ride to a waterfall. We rode through rivers and up and down over the mountains, until we came to a little waterfall. It. Was. Amazing. My horse’s name is Paloma, and she liked to take snack breaks (who can blame her). This is one of the thing that I have wanted to do the whole Race and I was so excited that it finally happened! The trail was beautiful and our horses were all divas so it made for a pretty great afternoon.
Mountains
This month I lived on the top of a mountain- several thousand feet higher than I have ever lived before… it was a little rough. For the first week I struggled with altitude sickness (surprise surprise) and I missed part of our ministry because of it, which was not fun. I better with time, though, which was good. Our view was amazing, when we could see it (I lived in an actual cloud of half the month y’all- it was crazy!!). All in all, it wasn’t too bad. I think the Race has really given me a new appreciation for mountains (though I still prefer the beach…).
All that to say that Colombia is breath-taking, and if you ever get the chance, you should come here.
Sol
Meet my Colombian mother! This month Sol cook lunch and dinner for my team, 6 days a week. She used to own her own restaurant and I can honestly say that we got an amazing taste of traditional Colombian food because of it. The food was amazing, and it was nice to have home cooked meals again. She pulled out all the stops to make sure we enjoyed ourselves and even let us come help her cool from time to time! At the end of the month I wished that I could pack her up and take her with me, I don’t know how any food is going to compare to hers.
Karson and Eyson
Karson and Eyson were our host’s this month. Their focus is on serving the children of Filandia, and they do that through after school programs, hosting a kid’s church on Sundays, partnering with farm schools, and creating a fun and safe place for kids to come and hang out. We LOVED spending time with them this month and some of my favorite moments happened when we were all just hanging out playing games. Karson is from Georgia and did a program with Adventures in Missions called Gap Year (it’s kinda like the Race, only its for younger people and they are only gone for 9 months). It was fun having someone to relate to and to swap stories.
During our time with them, we were able to see so much of their hearts for their ministry and for the community that they serve and it was awesome to join into that with them. They come along side of broken families and closed off communities and they are sharing the love of Jesus. It was so encouraging to be with them and to spend time with them, purposeful peace just radiates off of them.
That’s my recap of Colombia! This has been one of my favorite countries so far and I highly recommend visiting if you ever get the chance!
Much Love,
Morgan
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