Twister, Construction and Carbs!
Before leaving for our trip we were told about certain Colombian traditions and their lifestyle but I don’t think any of us had fully appreciated the concept of Colombian timings until we were sat at Bogotá airport at 4 am on day one of the trip looking for our lift home. We did, however, eventually find Pipe, our project coordinator for the next 7 weeks, and drove to where we were staying for the next couple of days. Whilst in Bogotá we explored the city and tried loads of weird new foods.
On Saturday we travelled to our new home for the next seven weeks in Santa Marta and were given a very warm welcome from both the family and the sun (less appreciated). We were given a couple of days to adjust giving us time to visit one of the amazing beaches here and also to stock up on carbs for the next few weeks. We also went to our first church service here which was completely unlike any service any of us had ever been to but we still really enjoyed it (despite most of us not understanding a single word).
We started our construction work on Tuesday. This week we’ve been helping to dig a trench ready to lay the foundations for a wall around the church to act as flood defences as well as security. We’re definitely still trying to adjust to working in the heat and have been making full use of our afternoon siesta time. We’re also helping with the children and have played more games of twister and skipping than one should ever play in their whole life.
In summary our first week here has been a week full of firsts for all of us (even for the locals meeting their first ever real ginger that’s not on the TV) and we hope the coming weeks go more smoothly than the flushing of our toilet.
Praise points:
- For safe travel from England to Bogotá and to the project in Santa Marta
- For our team coordinators Pipe and Abi helping us to settle in so well and being so lovely
- For such a warm welcome into the project community in Santa Marta
Prayer points:
- For all of the team to settle in well and adjust to the culture
- For all the team to improve their Spanish and be able to understand and be understood
- For Jemima’s ankle to heal quickly (skipping accident)
