it is simply unbelievable that we are half way done with our time here in bogota. it seems as though the time is flying. even though our retreat was only a week ago, our weeks are so full it seems like a long time ago. so…an update:
this week our focus was “culture.” our afternoons were filled with conversations of what culture means and how we understand our own cultures – interesting. the story you want to hear is that on friday we all brought food that was typical of our culture. it was a great meal with a lot of variety. so i decided to make zwieback. im the only European Mennonite descendent in the group and they’re always excited to hear about “Mennonite” traditions. the unfortunate truth, however, is that i couldn’t get the yeast to work. i thought i had killed it with too hot of water because it didn’t react with the water. so, i tried again. still, no reaction. i was thinking it was a mistake to make bread, so i decided to make hot fudge pudding cake simply because i had the ingredients, it is easy, and my family eats it. haha. when i talked to erin AFTER having made the cake batter, however, she said the yeast here is a bit different and i should try anyway. so now i have cake batter, and two portions of yeast ready to make bread. so, i made zwieback AND oatmeal buns, which is traditional on the stoltzfus side. as you can see in the pictures, the zwieback looked absolutely hideous…i think something to do with the altitude and the yeast. who knows…something doesn’t look normal, but they tasted good. and now i have tons of bread in my freezer. oh, and the cake was fudge pudding…no cakiness at all…who knows why. with new ingredients and a different altitude its always an exciting experiment in the kitchen.
today we had a 7 hour walking tour of bogota. this city is enormous and we only saw small parts of it. but it was really interesting to hear about all the different sectors of the city and learn a lot more about the history of this city and its people. good stuff…except our feet were very tired by the end and we were ready to eat lunch by the time 2:00 came around, since we had been walking since 730am. haha.
the apartment is really nice. hopefully its not impossible to invision what it kind of looks like from pictures. and, you can see that we often find ourselves with company over to hang out. its nice to have a place that is not disturbing host families if we all want to hang out…9 people can get to be a bit much when wer’re in people’s houses who we really don’t know very well. so its nice. i have had marvelous conversations in my living room with friends, as well as enjoyed playing games and guitar with the group when they come over, as you can see.
biggest news of the week: through the Mennonite grapevine, which, yes, exists here as well, it was heard that i play basketball and jess hunter-bowman (husband of janna, an mccer here) invited me to come play ball with him and a bunch of his friends, which they do every thursday night. it was AWESOME to get my hands on a ball , run up and down a court, and bump into people down low in the post. playing basketball outside at 9.000 feet is much different than in the gym, but it was so fun. competitive, yet fun. i plan to go every week. athletics is something i have been really missing. i’ve realized that the 4-6 slot every afternoon of my life where i’ve been in practice i’m missing. its nice to have a space where i can go and think about nothing except the ball. it’s a beautiful thing, really.
this morning...went to a house church i'm attending as much as i can (we're gone on weekends a lot) and it was wonderful. its a great community and so nice to be with new people. about half the church decided to eat together (14ish people) so we pooled resources and made lunch then i taught the women how to wax and we all waxed together, which was wonderful. this community is really special, and i feel priviledged that i am able to be part of it for the few months i am here in bogota.
i've been mising you all very much this week. maybe its cuz i watched anne of green gables with a bunch of our participants and it, as always, brought emotions to the surface. haha. just know that i'm missing and loving each one of you dearly from far away...but, as anne would say, i am happy, and nothing is going to hold me back...