More from Jorge in Bucaramanga

 

Jorge and some of his friends enjoying their day off, exploring the quaint town of Giron.

My handsome hubby.

We have an inside joke about this popular soft-drink in Colombia called Pony Malta ... probably about 17 years ago, soon after we first moved to Cartagena, one day I was doing grocery shopping at the outdoor market in Cartagena and I wasn't feeling very well.  While I was in the meat department I almost passed out and several of the butchers came to my rescue, bringing me a chair and fanning me.  I was kind of out of it hunched over on the chair but I could hear them fussing about what to bring me...a coke, a sprite...something!  And then one of the butchers said to another, "No, bring her a Pony Malta!!!"  Well, I hate Pony Malta so I found enough strength to sit up straight, open my eyes wide, and plead with them... "Noooo!!!  Pony Malta, NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!"  And then the butchers all turned and looked at me and scoffed at me, now convinved that I couldn't be too bad off after all!  I guess you had to be there...but it was funny!  So now, anytime someone offers me a Pony Malta, the first thing that comes to my mind, and sometimes out of my mouth is, "No!!! Pony Malta NOOOOOO!!!!"  

Do ya'll think that someone might be missing his wife about now??? 

Yeah, Jorge is washing his laundry by hand...all by himself!  

Poor thing!

Town Meeting

Last week my neighbor and I went to the Turbaco town meeting.  There is a new highway that has been under construction between Turbaco and Cartagena for over a year now.  The road is far from being finished but there is one thing that is almost ready...a new toll booth, right in the middle of the city limits!  You can imagine that this has caused a bit of an uproar among us Turbaco residents!  So the town meeting was organized to discuss this new highway and the toll booth!  The meeting was held to give the residents the opportunity to voice their opinion although no decisions will be made for another week or so (or so they say.)  I made this short video set to the music of the Colombian National Anthem to give you a peek at life in Turbaco!


Turbaco Town Meeting from Karen W. Silva on Vimeo.

Trip to ¨Eje Cafetero¨

We just got back from a great week traveling with my brother, Kurt and my sister-in-law, Lucha. We were in the Eje Cafetero which is the Coffee Region of Colombia which includes the states of Quindío, Risaraldas and Caldas. We also spent a few days in Medellin. There are more photos that I hope to add in the near future. But for now check these out and to see the complete album CLICK HERE!

We got our photos taken dressed up as Colombian coffee farmers at the National Coffee Park.

Beautiful countryside views as we travel through the mountains.

Lucha and Kurt with our friend, Jorge Colmenares, on the Metro Cable in Medellin.

With our friend, Elizabeth, in Santa Rosa de Cabal, where the hot springs are located.


Lucha, her mom, Esther, me and Elizabeth in the park in Santa Rosa de Cabal.

Colombia on NO RESERVATIONS Travel Show

A friend just sent me the link for these excerpts from Anthony Bourdain´s travel show NO RESERVATIONS , this particular episode was filmed last year in Colombia. The first two parts are in Cartagena and the island of Tierra Bomba, which is where Bocachica is located (on the opposite end of the island) and the last three parts are in and around the city of Medellin. This will give you a great taste of Colombia!

Don´t forget to PAUSE my playlist on the right hand margin so you can hear the video sound.

Anthony Bourdain´s No Reservations - Colombia Part 1 of 5

Anthony Bourdain´s No Reservations - Colombia Part 2 of 5

Anthony Bourdain´s No Reservations - Colombia Part 3 of 5

Anthony Bourdain´s No Reservations - Colombia Part 4 of 5

Anthony Bourdain´s No Reservations - Colombia Part 5 of 5

The Yuca Man

So, I have been walking for excercise in the mornings and if I go out early enough I get to see the Yuca Man. Oh my gosh...he is SO CUTE! He´s a little old man who rides around the neighborhood at about 6 am on his donkey selling Yuca (yuca is a root, kind of like potatoe that is real common here). He has a high pitched voice and yells/sings out ¨Oye! Mira! Yo llevo la yuca!¨ Which means: ¨Hey! Look! I´m bringing the yuca!¨ . He yells it over and over again as he rides up and down each street. When he sees me he smiles real big (he makes me smile big too!) and calls me ¨Niña¨ (little girl) and comments on me walking so much! I just love this guy! The other day he came by and I bought some yuca from him and asked him if I could take his photo. He seemed proud and posed for several shots!

Youth Confrence in Córdoba

Last weekend Jorge and I drove about 5+ hours to La Apartada, Córdoba where Jorge was the guest speaker at a two and a half day youth conference. You guys, Colombia is such a GORGEOUS country! There were so many beautiful photo opps that I missed along the way but here are a few of the scenery and at the conference.

This one was taken across the street from where the conference was held.

This was the beautiful postcard we got to look at each morning!

Behind the conference center...the little mounds are termite hills!

A very popular snack is fruit! This guy´s specialty was green mango cut up like french fries with salt and lime juice squeezed over it. Each cup costs about .40 cents. This man is dressed typically for a man in this region...notice his cowboy hat and the poncho he has over his shoulder...I saw a lot of guys wearing these while I was there.

This was our host family for the weekend.

Our friend Cecilia with her darling little girl, Keren. Cecilia used to work with YWAM in Cartagena back in 1997 when we first arrived. We hadn´t seen her in years so it was neat to meet up with her at the conference.

We also got to see Victor, Aris and David Mateo! They used to work with us in Bocachica a few years ago. Victor travels around singing Christian Mariachi music and we got to hear him at the conference.

Jorge hanging out with some of the kids.

First day of class.

There were more than 350 kids at the conference but we never could get an exact count.

By the looks on their faces, Jorge must be telling one of his stories!

Jorge answering questions after class.

The closing service.

Praying for some of the kids.

Jorge with Farides and Alex, two of the conference organizers.

In case you are wondering where I was all weekend...I was behind the camera! :)

Modes of Transportation

Jorge and I have been looking for a vehicle for the last couple of months and we are really hoping that soon we will have our own set of wheels! My mom has loaned us the money to buy one and we can´t wait! Until then we will continue using public transportation...

This is the bus we take from Turbaco to Cartagena. Once we are in Cartagena we have to take another one to get to downtown.



Motorcycles are a very popular way to get around. They are cheap and fast. Not the safest way to go though, as you can imagine! We use these in Turbaco and sometimes in Cartagena but we try to avoid them because there are SSOOO many motorcycle accidents each year!

In Turbaco, one of our favorites is the MOTO TAXI! It is a motorcycle with a covered cart attached to the back. Here is the view from inside.

The moto taxi can fit 3 people plus there is room in the back for your groceries or packages.

Jorge and I usually walk into Turbaco to get our groceries and then on the way back home we get the moto taxi to bring us and our bags. Every time we ride in it we get such a kick out of it!


This, however, is the Renault Symbol and we currently looking at the possiblity of buying one of these. We have the opportunity to get a 2004 that is in really good condition, low milage, good gas milage, and a decent price (for Colombian standards which are WAY TOO HIGH for American standards!!!). It would cost us around $13,000 plus we want to pay for a year´s worth of insurance and we have to get our Colombian driver´s licenses which will cost us about $120 usd each! So now you can see why we have never tried to buy a car before. It is crazy how expensive it is here! But we are to the point now where we REALLY need one so we are biting the bullet! We really wanted to get a double cabin pick-up truck but they are way out of our price range so it looks like we will settle for a car. We should know something over the next few days.

How Colombia became HOME

The night before we left the USA to fly back to Colombia, a friend asked me if I felt like I was LEAVING home (USA) or GOING home (Colombia). It was an interesting question, because I was having a mixture of feelings about that myself. My answer was that while I’m on my way there, I feel like I’m leaving home… but once the plane starts to land, I feel like I am going home!

On the trip back the ¨going home¨ feelings started sooner than I expected. In Miami, when I got in line at the Avianca Airlines counter to check in for the flight, I started to hear all the different Colombian accents from the other passengers in line around me… people from the Coast, others from Medellin, and others from Bogotá! I immediately felt like I was transported to Colombia and all of the sudden I wasn’t LEAVING home anymore… I was GOING home!

I believe that this phenomenon is a GIFT that God gives a missionary. In my case, it didn’t happen right away. As a matter of fact, I would say that it didn’t happen until after about 3 years of living in Cartagena. During those first 3 years I knew that I was in Colombia out of obedience to God, I had no doubts about that! But I knew that I lacked the feelings in my heart…a love for the land, an acceptance of the people, an appreciation for the culture, etc. I prayed for three years that God would put feelings in my heart to go along with what I knew in my head.

It happened one day, totally unexpected and out of the blue. I think it was January 2000. Jorge and I had been in Mexico on vacation with his family and as usual I had a certain sense of dread as we were saying our goodbyes at the airport, getting ready to return to Colombia. I wished I could just stay there with them in Mexico! But I felt the same thing every time I returned to Colombia so I knew that it was part of the transition process and I learned not to pay too much attention to those feelings.

Usually the sense of dread got stronger as the plane was about to land in Colombia. Kind of like when you’ve been on vacation and you dread the first day back to work (maybe some of you can relate?) But this time something different happened that I have no explanation for other than to say that God decided it was time to answer that prayer of mine.

As the plane started to land, I was looking out the window and got a peek of Cartagena from above. I could pick out Bocachica, our apartment complex in Cartagena and the YWAM elementary school in the poor barrio of San Francisco. All of the sudden I started to feel butterflies in my stomach… I was excited and I had this deep sense in my heart that I was HOME! The feeling just got stronger as I was in the airport, and then in the taxi on the way to our apartment. I was so excited to see all the familiar sights along the way, even to smell the familiar smells (good and bad)! I had a big knot in my throat and tears welling in my eyes and all I could do was thank God for the miracle he had done in my heart because I knew it was a GIFT that He had given me! I knew that he had answered that prayer. I had always expected it to be a gradual process but for me it happened very suddenly!

Ever since then, when I fly to Colombia, I am going ¨home! ¨ Now that I am on the other side of that time of testing it’s easy for me to understand why God allowed it to happen that way and I am thankful for it. I’m sure the lessons I learned from that will carry me through many other tests and trials. There were many lessons to learn along the way but the main thing was about PERSEVERENCE! Not giving up, not turning back, and hanging in there even when my feelings and my flesh only wanted to look for the nearest escape route! God is so gracious and merciful and patient with us as we learn these lessons in life.