Day 16

Bests: seeing Felo's hometown, touring botanical gardens with D, farewell hugs from the kids for the weekend, DAD'S ARRIVAL!

Worsts: spot of exhaustion/weird health for a moment in first grade yesterday.
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It's lovely to have a day off, sometimes. Just a little refresher right when you need it--especially if you spend it in good company.

I spent my "no car day" (when Bogotá does not permit any cars on the roads, except taxis and special buses) meeting up with Felo and D, and getting to know various areas of the city. In the morning I met Felo, and he gave me a tour of his barrio, neighborhood, called Orquídeas--orchids, the Colombian national flower. I saw his playground, his church, his restaurants, his various houses. It was really just so nice to be able to spend time with him again, because, in reality, seeing any of the Argentine friends I made is an unlikelihood. But God let this bit work out perfectly. :)

After a while of touring and talking, I caught the transmi to meet D down by his university. We then took a bus to a beautiful botanical garden called Salitre. It was wonderfully beautiful, a respite from the exhaust-fumed air, countless taxis, and innumerable people. Plus there is a tropicarium, a foresty part, and a pond and bridge.
When we had finished enjoying the park, we went to D's apartment to meet up with his parents. We arrived just in time to head to the cinema with them, which was really fun. We saw Sherlock Holmes. Fab-u-lous!

Here I'd like to interrupt myself with an observation about the North American culture/people. Meaning us gringos.
WE ARE SO CULTURALLY INTOLERANT. There are countless examples or evidences of this, but my particular example for this moment pertains to the movies. As the US pop culture is basically (and quite lamentably,) the world's pop culture, all movies here have to be either dubbed in Spanish or subtitled in Spanish with English audio. How many US-ians do you know that would stand for that? Or, more appropriately, sit for that, as it's in a movie theater. The cultural, lingual, and in most other respects "ethnocentrism" of the States continues to be a friction point for me. I think it's been helpful to spend more time with Colombians, who, certainly, have their own sets of faults as all humans, but it tends not to be as abrasive as the worldview of United Statesians.

Then Friday, I was exhausted for a last day of my full week of first grade teacher aiding. I had to be the enemy at one point, holding about eight or nine kids back from lunch recess. But kids are fantastic--their grudge memory is just under an hour, I think, because by Language Arts, I was forgiven, and a hot commodity for proofreading their stories again. :) They are beautiful.

After school I headed home in the camioneta for teachers...and hit mega traffic. It was very nice to spend time with L, one of the high school teachers who's totally hilarious. Then I had time to chill, rest a bit, and get stuff ready for the drive out to the airport to pick up my dad.
I met the lovely mother and daughter who volunteered to give us a ride to and from the airport, and the daughter is fantastically fascinated with English, Youtube, Jacob, and some things that reminded me very much of Bella (youngest sister). Then we made it to the airport safely, and I awaited Dad's exit from customs and baggage claim. I bought him a welcome gift of a bottle of water for the altitude. :)

I'm so glad he's here, and that he arrived safely and with all his bags. He brought stuff for ECA, and those bags came through! Gracias a Dios. So we drove home with the mother and daughter, then met my host parents at the apartment. Had some conversations to get to know one another, and then we all slept like rocks. Exhausting long week for all of us!

Today is sunny and bright, with no prediction of rain in the near future--perfect for going up to Monserate to see the whole city at a glance with Dad and N. After that, some yummy Colombian food for lunch, I'm sure, and then an evening with the Afanadors.

May God bless your day with as much felicity as I'm currently discovering here.
xox