October 1 - Facebook Post -

As I’ve been taking in the sights and sounds during my first week in Colombia, a few things have struck me, which I will attempt to capture in 4 lessons.

1) While walking the streets of Bogotá, it is useless to try to make eye contact and smile at everyone you pass. Not only does this draw more attention to yourself, highlighting your “gringa” status, but it also quickly tires you out. Lesson 1: focus on your destination and attempt to somewhat block out the 1,000s of people walking past you, yet always keenly aware of your surroundings. 2) While using public transportation in Bogotá (here called the TransMilenio), one should not wait for the people standing on the platform to enter the bus upon its arrival. Rather, you need to take initiative and get yourself onto the bus because it is more likely that the people standing in front of the doors don’t actually want to board this particular bus but are still waiting for their bus. Lesson 2: Assert yourself and don’t think you are being nice by waiting and allowing people go in front of you; you might end up missing your bus! 3) My first full day in Bogotá I had the privilege of visiting the Colombian Mennonite Church’s building (IMCOL, Spanish translation), which houses the IMCOL offices, the sanctuary of one of the 8 Mennonite churches in Bogotá, the Mennonite seminary offices, plus MCC office spaces. The director of the Mennonite Seminary, Santiago Espitia, was there and I learned that he has hopes of us being collaborative partners in the work that the seminary is and will be doing. Lesson 3: in terms of work culture within Colombia, things are quite collaborative so anything that the seminary ends up being involved in will be a joint effort between Santiago, other seminary and church leaders, and at some point myself. (This fills me with great excitement!). 4) And finally, this past weekend, current service workers Eric and Kelly Frey Martin & Mark and DeeDee Landes along with their children and I gathered in Anapoima, Colombia for a retreat together. Here we rested from work, rejuvenated our souls through scripture reading, reflections, and team building games, made good food, and took in the beauty that was around us. Lesson 4: don’t forget to rest and have fun in the midst of your work; remember to find and appreciate the beauty all around you, no matter where you are, and laugh; laugh until your stomach hurts.