“I long ago lost a hound, a bay horse, and a turtle dove, and am still on their trail. Many are the travelers I have spoken concerning them, describing their tracks and what calls they answered to. I have met one or two who had heard the hound, and the tramp of the horse, and even seen the dove disappear behind a cloud, and they seemed as anxious to recover them as if they had lost them themselves.” Henry David Thoreau, Walden
  

Hola hermanos y hermanas,

          Don’t worry I won’t be writing in Spanish, at least not yet. The last 36 hours or so have left an emotional stain on my body. Saying goodbye to loving family and flying over the equator have contributed to my lack of sleep and unwillingness to be fully engaged in first impression conversations, but I know my fellow services workers understand.

          I will be spending the next nine days in Bogota, Colombia with members of Mennonite Central Committee and fellow SEED participants. The following days will consist of building friendships and learning more Spanish. We will also visit several landmarks around Bogota, and maybe see a film.

….

          The walls to the entrance of Independence Park in downtown Bogota are scribbled with discernible graffiti that could be read if one were to stop and read, but no one does because it is everywhere. The medians between a couple lanes of traffic are speckled with anti-authoritarian blurbs, and one wonders if that stray sentence is attracting more onlookers than myself. Unfortunately, I have little to say about the authoritarians in Colombia, but the words do leave a resonate feeling. I can empathize with the frustrations of anti-authoritarian Colombians; I am sure anyone that recognizes the inequalities that government creates could empathize. Thankfully, my mission in Colombia is not to change the social conceptions of Colombians.

          While walking down the busy sidewalks of Carrera 12 I noticed the increased about of young adults, and I remembered that Colombia has a population demographic very different than the USA. Instead of an hourglass shape that characterizes developed countries, Colombia has a demographic similar to the shape of a pyramid. This means Colombia has significantly more youth in the population than the USA. All of the bright young faces put me in a happy mood; it is a different feeling than walking around the campus of a university.

          Bogota is about 8,500 feet above sea level and the skies seem to be partly cloudy all day. The mercury rises about to 65 degrees midday and the walk to a small café might require a light jacket if you are thin skinned. The irises are blooming and the sidewalks are littered and cracked, but each supplements out the other. The diesel exhaust is noticeable when passing an idle bus and it only caused a burning sensation in my eyes for a moment.

          Our little afternoon outing was a not only good time to familiarize ourselves with a small section of Bogota, but it also gave us the opportunity to start building our friendships. The afternoon group consisted of two Americans (Liz and I) and one Guatemalan (Glenda). Glenda knows very little English and Liz and I know very little Spanish, so there were several breaks in conversation and definitely some mispronunciations. I know my Spanish skills went up a notch over those few hours. My feet were very sore after our outing because I wore my huaraches for the first time, and the cord between by toes was probably fastened too tight.

          The following evening we ate a nice dinner, which consisted of vegetables, rice, fruit, and chicken covered in mushroom sauce. I decided to try a little of the chicken even though my diet in America contains no animal products, but I can’t control what the hotel serves, I also dislike wasting food and I need to acquaint my body with eating animal products again. I will try to consume the least amount of animal products, but it is almost impossible in this type of situation. This isn’t a true complaint; I am truly happy to eat the food that is served, I just don’t want to get sick.

          The next morning the rest of our group arrived in Bogota, and we began the orientation process. The orientation consists mainly of introductions into Mennonite Central Committee and all of the work the organization does. We also were introduced into the South American projects and more specifically MCC Colombia’s projects. In the afternoon, a representative from the Mennonite World Conference gave a presentation on peace and restorative justice. Cesar Garcia gave a very informed view of what peace and justice look like through the eyes of a peacemaking Christian. Mennonites practice non-violence in accordance with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Cesar mentioned this passage but he based his lecture on Luke 4:16-30. Cesar and I believe that being a follower of Christ means following His words that were spoke throughout the New Testament. Cesar also mentioned the prevalence of violence within the Old Testament, but I don’t think I can word his explanation well enough. Cesar spoke from experience on following Christ and his radical ideas of non-violent solutions to evil acts, and fully showing God’s love to people that are the hardest to show it to. I know I didn’t give Cesar’s lecture a good summarization, but information about restorative peace can be found on Mennonite World Conference webpage.

          I am trying my best at learning Spanish from fellow SEED workers, but I am really excited for the intense Spanish classes that are awaiting some of us in Cochabamba, Bolivia.  The next week will consist of listening to presentations in Spanish being translated into English, which is really exhausting. I will try to post consistently, but I foresee some time gaps in my posts. Buenos Dia!