First Impressions of Colombia

I praise God that I survived the long day’s journey from São Paulo, Brasil to Sincelejo, Colombia. Such a switch would have definitely been some major culture shock if I hadn’t already been used to traveling in Latin America as I went from a massive globally powerful city speaking Portuguese to a small farming town speaking Spanish, but I feel like through all my experiences I have been prepared to pretty much live and deal with any circumstance effectively in any part of Latin America.
My journey started at about 5:30am when I got a ride from my girlfriend (a story to be told another day, but her name is Rubia (who-be-a), she’s 24, obviously a very special girl, met her on a missions trip, she’s lives in São Paulo, has a degree in Business Administration, works for a Brasilian bank and is up for the craziness and adventure that is a relationship with me) and her brother to the airport for my 9:30 flight. Luckily we got there early as I learned that my 9:30 flight left at 8:30. I was worried about my luggage weighing too much, but was impressed by the grace of the airline (Avianca, the official Colombian airline) to let me check three bags, and pass the weight limit without any fee. It was incredibly hard for me to say goodbye to my housemates and people from my neighborhood. I spent the whole day before visiting all my friends and people I worked with saying tearful goodbyes and not believing how quickly my time past. I can’t believe that 6 months ago I didn’t think I spoke Portuguese and was scared to live in a favela. It is so amazing to see how things change and how God really worked on me and was graceful to me in learning Portuguese so fast and adjusting to Brasilian culture. I think in a lot of ways I became more “Brasilian” in 6 months there than I ever became “Mexican” in my nearly year and a half there. I said a tearful goodbye to Rubia and to Brasil and with a bit of fear and trepidation went through customs praying that my back would hold up. I took my aisle seat (so I could get up and move around which sometimes helps my back). I definitely struggled through a fair amount of pain in my 6 hour flight to Bogota and was relieved to get there. I spent about an hour and a half in the airport in Bogota before an hour flight to Cartagena. There I was met by a 30 year old or so employee of my microcredit organization who met me in Cartagena to help me with my baggage and getting to Sincelejo. We took a taxi to the “bus station” which was a patch of dirt with a few buses waiting on it and there we took a shared taxi to Sincelejo, about a three hour trip, with a full taxi, including a crying baby before arriving at the house where I am staying. Thanks to a good exchange rate I pay about $190/month for my own room/bathroom, all my meals and daily laundry service. Additionally there is a cable TV I can watch and a fan in my room (which helps a lot as it is very hot here). There are two other young people staying here in this family’s home (a common practice to make some more money in various parts of Latin America) as there is a university near my house.
Now to the interesting part, I spent the last two days visiting various projects where our organization (ADIN, Asociación para el Desarrollo Integral, the Holistic Development Association) is helping various small businesses. I was impressed by a carpentry shop that started with a man and a saw and now with small loans over time has two electric saws and 6 employees making quality furniture that gets shipped to Cartagena and Bogota to be sold. I also visited a successful small bakery, a small family business that makes various kinds of jewelry and a beauty parlor. Last night I visited the missionary’s house who is acting as my host while I’m here. Their names are David and Connie Befus, formerly president of the LAM. Dr. Befus has written several books including one called “Where there are no jobs” that is a sometimes referenced book in economic development literature. He has an MBA from Michigan and a PhD from the University of Miami and I’m really excited to get some life and career advice from him. Today we visited a town about 40 minutes away (a $1.50 bus ride) from Sincelejo. It was a beautiful little beach town where with probably about $20,000 you could retire like a king and a live on a beautiful, peaceful beach for a good number of years. There we visited various projects, ranging from small convenience stores, a woman that makes and sell chocolate to fisherman that make a living off of catching shrimp and lobsters. So far it’s been a great experience here.
I think though my favorite part of this town is that for $0.40 you can ride a motorcycle taxi anywhere in the whole city. It’s an amazing system that allows for affordable travel all across the city. I could get used to the door to door service for a fraction of the price of even São Paulo public transportation. My back is holding up alright so far, I’m definitely in significant pain, but I stand by my decision to come to Colombia and think that it will be an incredible learning experience, as well as a restful time. I say restful because it seems like most days I’ll be done with work at 6, giving me some free time in the evening, which is something I am not used to. In Brasil I was pretty much on call 24/7 and had no where that was my own space. Here I have my own room and some free time which is much appreciated. I definitely still need your prayers for wisdom with my back as a $60,000 or so surgery in the US isn’t really in the cards and I need to see if I can do it more affordably in Mexico or if I will have to wait (6 months) to be able to go back to Brasil and attempt to have the surgery in their public health care system (i.e. free). I appreciate your prayers and will keep you updated on comings and goings in Colombia. Much love and God bless.