Life in Colombia + Final moments in Colombia

WOW! What an amazing past couple weeks in Colombia! I am currently writing from Guatapé, Colombia at debrief. Debrief is a time of pause, rest, and reflection as a squad to look back at the work we did in previous ministry. Will definitely be sharing my experience here in Guatapé, which so far has been such a blessing, especially now that we are out of the city! A little update on me- I am doing really well. I am not homesick at all and am super content with the season that I am in! I am making such good friends and truly having a blast.

The last few weeks in Colombia have been such a dream! As we wrapped up ministry, we had heavy hearts saying goodbye to our new Colombian family. Lisa, who prepared meals for us (and is the pastors mother in law), was very special in all our hearts. Saying goodbye to her was definitely the hardest! She had such a giving and nurturing soul and I am so blessed to have build a relationship with her. Some other goodbyes included two volunteers from Germany. They are both very close in age with all of us and we spent a lot of time with them. Whether it be adventure days, free time, ministry, or playing games on the roof (including a game called Secret Hitler… ironic…) we were with them a lot. There were many other tough goodbyes as well, but what a blessing it was to know them and have something this hard to say goodbye to.

Back tracking a little bit further, ministry was still pretty relaxed this week, as it has been for all of our time here. With about 43 racers, the foundation did not have enough jobs to keep us on scheduled ministry work. Lots of us were personally reflecting in our last week and felt pretty discouraged, disappointed, and feeling like we did not do enough during our time here. But, this also taught us lessons on how we should better steward our free time. Even when we aren’t given a specific ministry to do, we can still use our time in prayer, going out and evangelizing, or strengthening relationships with locals. Or even just not being on our phones. I personally really tried to spend my time well, whether it being in the word, doing laundry, or journalling, but there are definitely  areas that I could have spent more time in, especially community building. Side note- I did get to tap into a little bit of photography again at kids ministry recently which was such a blessing!

Other than ministry, the last few moments we had in Medellín were a blast, especially on adventure and sabbath days!! Some fun activities included taking the metro to the mall and getting Starbucks for the first time in a while, going to the local dirt field to play soccer as a squad, and going to Pergamino or SMASH! Those two restaurants were squad favorites! Pergamino is a coffee shop/bakery/restaurant which is very popular in Medellín. There are over 5 locations… I went to 4 of them and went a total of 5 times. So basically, it was really good and worth it. I tried this sparkling cold brew coffee drink which was so good! SMASH is a healthy food restaurant with a lot of vegan food. I went twice! Got an açaí bowl the first time and a bagel sandwich with an avocado coffee the second! I have been loving trying new drinks and different foods here! Instead of ordering a simple caramel latte, which I know that I love, I try to order something I’ve never heard of and wouldn’t get in the states. Sometimes it doesn’t go as well, let’s just say a vegan brownie is actually not very appetizing.

The last big adventure in Medellín actually wasn’t in the town… a group of 5 girls and a local, Yeyson, took a bus 2.5 hours away to San Luis to repel down a waterfall! It was the BEST day in Colombia so far. We left the foundation at 6am and took a bus at 7am. By 11:30am, I had already repelled down and was swimming. When we got there, Yeyson translated for us, got geared up, and climbed up the hill by rope, and then went down! The section we went down was 30 meters, but the entire waterfall in total was 200 meters. It was HUGE and so beautiful. I struggled a little at first but eventually got the hang of things. The main problem was the language barrier and not understanding what my guide was trying to tell me what to do. BUT I did it! The current was so strong and we were absolutely soaked. I got to do the last half by myself which was scary but so so fun! This is for sure the most dangerous thing I have ever done. After everyone went, we ate cold pizza that we packed for lunch, swam around, dove, and jumped off big rocks into the swimming area. It was pretty deep in some spots. It was just so joyous. We were fully clothed, and fully submerged. After a chunk of time in the water, we got out and saw that the lady who runs the business had made us a ‘charcuterie’ board on a giant leaf full of different snacks like fresh coconut chunks, buñuelos (really good Colombian bread) banana, and a candy-cheese thingy. It was so kind of them to prepare that for us! Later, we changed in an abandoned shack and then hopped back on the bus back which was 5 hours back which was way more than what we expected. Overall, the whole entire experience was 10/10. The workers were so nice and really cared about us! This was definitely my favorite adventure day so far!

I’ll also talk a little about different things I’ve experienced and noticed about life here! First being that all of the people we encountered were so so hospitable. Whether it be our ministry hosts, locals within the foundation, cafes, or the waterfall workers, everyone made us feel so welcome and treated us to kindly. One night, one of the ladies who volunteered at the church invited us into her apartment (which is attached to the foundation) and gave my friend Marcie a whole spa treatment while us other girls painted our nails and drank her juice. It was so fun and was so amazing of her to invite us into her space and give her time to us. One of the ladies apart of the foundation program also was very kind to us. We got the opportunity to have a few girls nights with her, just chatting and laughing together. She did not speak English at all but it was still such a wholesome time, and thank you God for google translate! Another thing to mention is a little Christmas party we did! One of the couples who attends English class baked us two traditional Colombian desserts and bought buñuelos for us because they wanted to share their Colombian Christmas traditions with us. We had a great group conversation and shared our USA traditions as well! It was such a great time to learn more… and try delicious desserts!!

Another thing about Colombia is motorcycles. Wow, I was NOT prepared for that! They rule the streets, weaving through cars like crazy. it is actually very impressive though. I cannot imagine driving in that city. People did not follow the street lines very consistently and I’m sure traffic laws were broken quite a bit, with both cars and motorcycles. Catcalling was also something new! It would happen to all of us girls every time we went out.

Also, I brushed up my Spanish quite a bit being here! I had a couple conversations in full Spanish which was so fun! One thing that I took charge of was the meal lists/numbers so the kitchen knew how much food to make, which meant I got to talk to Lisa a lot, and she knows only a little English, so I tried my best to do Spanish as much as possible with her!

Our time in Colombia was a big time of rest, however God still worked a lot, which I will touch on in another blog. Thank you all for your continued support and prayer. It is greatly appreciated!

Love you all,

Ellie