The Best of Bogotá

In the same spirit as the last entry this too will be a choose your own adventure. In the first part I will talk about daily life and its trials and triumphs. In the second part I will give a run down of what is happening with the orphanage plans. In the third part I will attempt to trump Rick Steves and give you a taste of what Colombia and Bogotá imparticular is like. There might be a fourth section if I ramble, but I will try to keep short and sweet. So without further adew, grab your coffee, chocolate, popcorn...tofu and warm blanket.

Me, Mi, y YO

Its crazy how life takes it´s twists and turns. Getting off the plane I had a preconceived set of fears, strengths and weaknesses that I might experience in Colombia. "My fears of not being accepted, and confidence that I could build the orphanage by my own doing, have flipped. I have been accepted and loved by everyone and exposed to my inabilities in the face of a huge task" (journal entry, Oct 12th). The community here has been amazing and I feel more like a regular "rolo" (local) than the church´s token gringo.

Several have asked what my average day looks like....ok, maybe just my mom. I moved in with the parents of the pastor a week and a half ago. Ines and Octavio are there names and they are wonderful, loving people. I call them my abuelitos (little grandparents) because they are really little and they are sort of like my grandparents. We live in an apartment complex that has striking similarities to the Spokane county jail. However, the rooms are very nice and I dont have to wear an orange jumpsuit with a number on it.

I wake up day around 8:00 and either go for a run or go to the local soccer court (micro-futbol, as they call it) and play some soccer. After I shower I go downstairs to eat breakfast. I normally eat some granola, a piece of bread or my favorite, an arepa (say it with me AR-ai-pa) which is a corn tortilla with cheese in the middle (very similar to pupusas for you CA folk). I down a cup of coffee, which my abuelitos drink like their life depends on it. After my breakfast, I grab my bag and head off down the street to the local bus stop. The buses very in size and color, but the one I take every day is an old (1980´s) toyota van, that should fit 4-5 people max, but in this case 9-12. Buses are about 50 cents a ride, but they aren´t the most reliable thing, and at night, they´re not the safest thing either. For this reason, the pastor suggested last week that I get a motorcycle, because with the work that I will be doing it will be easier to get around and in the long run, cheaper. When he mentioned that, I immediately had two pictures pop into my head. The first was me mobbing around Bogotá in a Ché like fashion. The second was me flying head first over a taxi after being squished between a cart full of produce and a bus. It was a mix of "yeah, that would be awesome" and "yeah right, I am going to get myself killed". However, as time passed I became more accustomed to the idea. I dont know if the fear just dissipated or the rational side of my brain knew it wasn´t going to win this battle and gave up. In anycase, I will be taking a quick course of how to ride a manual bike and getting my licence soon. Vive Ché. Daddy, get mommy a tissue, I am not going to die.

Usually I arrive at the church around 10am and I am there working until 8-9pm. I spend my days writing and preparing grants, writing emails to people interested in the orphanage, and helping out around the church. I will be honest it gets a little lonely sometime, but the evenings are fun because all the youth show up for evening classes. Its been quite a shift in my social life.

Ok...moving on. Take a sip of your coffee and lets continue.

Orphanage

The plans for the orphanage become clearer everyday. However, despite it´s clarity we still have to wait on funds. I just finished writing a grant to the Mustard Seed Foundation and now am starting a power point presentation which I can email out to interested people. My work consists of thinking of new ideas and approaches and then trying to get other people excited about the orphanage. There are encouragements and setbacks everyday, and gradually I am learning more and more that God has this planned out. The following is apart of a journal entry I wrote the other day, while sipping some coffee and eating some pan dulce.

"I talked with Libni and Daniel (pastor and brother) earlier, and they were a great encouragement. I dont know whether Libni is just overly optimistic or has great faith. But it seems everytime we talk we talk I am encouraged by his confident expectation that Christ will provide and that the orphanage is just one step in a grand plan to reach out and radically change our community for Christ. Libni encourages me to think big and not let money be a barrier. However, the natural businessman in me wants to focus on the tangibles and numbers. I know Christ is bigger than that. I know faith requires me to look beyond the tangible. I know the only way that this orphanage is going to succeed is that God directs it. I know...... please give me the faith to believe". (oct 27)

If you are wondering how you might help or maybe you know someone who could, please email me at grady.jacob@gmail.com . I am always looking for more contacts and foundations that might help. Thank you for your help.

Bogotá

Step aside Lonely Planet, take a seat Rick Steve, and buckle up yall, because here are the ins and outs of everything you would like to know about Bogotá. Like I had mentioned previously, Bogotá is surrounded by mountains. The mountains rise abruptly at the city´s edge. Standing in downtown Bogotá on seventh ave, you feel like you could drop kick a ball at the mountains and it would bounce right back to you. Monseratte and Guadalupe are two famous cathedrals that are perched on top of two mountains that overlook southside Bogotá. The city´s architecture is a blend of it´s historic colonial past, and modern day high rise buildings. Bogotá has autumn weather year round and its only change is that September-Nov is the rainy season. Every afternoon it rains for about an hour or so and then stops and clears up. For this reason, Bogotanos have the reputation for being pretty fairskinned. Speaking of pretty, Colombians on a whole are very beautiful people and they pride themselves on it. The miss Colombia pagent is going on right now and it get about as much press as the NFL play offs. Another thing Bogotanos pride themselves on is their spanish, which is very clear and proper.

The political scene is somewhat similar to that of El Salvador and Costa Rica. The president, Alvaro Uribe, is a card carrying free trade member. The good things that have come from his time in office is that the country is a lot more safer, because of his no tolerance stance on Guerrila violence. This increase in security has bolstered the Colombian economy and definitely made it more attractive for forreign investment. Speaking of which, all the utilities are privatized. The companies owning the utilities are from Spain, U.S. and other European countries. The sad thing about this is that the prices are very unreasonable and in many poor areas, they become the perverbial nail in the coffin for those who need access to water. As Uribe begins his second term (I believe 4 years) many anticipate the signing of a free trade agreement (TLC) with the States. In my conversations about this, I have heard a person say it would be good because there would be more jobs and in the same breath say its incredibly unjust. There seems to be an attitude of appreciation for more jobs, and yet a strong recentment of multinational abuse.

There are a handful of other experiences that I could talk about, like forgetting that the toliet paper goes in the trash can not in toilet, which thanks to years of playing super mario bros I am a great plumber and have not had problems. However, this has been quite a long post and so I will end this. As always if you read the whole thing, you deserve a treat so go out buy yourself a snap-bracelet or something. I love you all. Stay in touch.

Jacobito Grady

The first pic is of my second day in Bogota. When it rains, it really rains and the streets turn into rivers.

The third image is of Daniel (pastor libni´s older brother). He is sort of like an associate pastor. He teaches classes in the evening. He has a passion for starting a business that will help pay for the orphanage and other ministries in the community.

The second pic is of the youth leaders in the church, who are preparing crafts and making signs for the upcoming youth retriet, which is going to be on some finca outside of Bogota. When I walked in they said I wasn´t supposed to be there because it was a surprise but due to language and cultural barrier, I thought they were joking, and helped them anyways. oops

the fourth pic is of Oscar (the church musician and overall handy-man) He is perhaps one of the genuinely nice guys I have ever met. The other guy (not the devilishly good looking one in the middle) is Alfredo (the church drummer). He also has become a good friend. And he likes soccer which is a plus.

The fifth image is of Natalia (pastor libni´s wife), who meets with all the women in the church and is really looked up to for her strong faith. There is a huge percent of sexual assault and she spends a good amount of her time counciling victims. Notice the quality office space, ha ha.

The last pic is of the building that the church wants to buy-rent. The church is the building to the left. It has possibly 6 rooms in which we could hold 24 girls. However, the owner doesn´t want to sell it, only rent it. This would be a huge blessing if he would sell it us at a good price.

Bienvenidos a Bogota

Family and Friends,

Like I said in my last quick email, I arrived in Bogota safely at 2pm on tuesday. It is almost too overwhelming to write this because there is so much to write about. So, I will write this blog in a choose your own adventure form. The first part will be my thoughts of my time arriving and living here so far. The second part will be about Bogota and the third about the church and my responsibilities here. Without further adue (sp?), I bring you my life in Bogota.

Many people asked me before I went if I was scared to go for such a long time and truthfully my response everytime was "no, not really". However, after leaving Jay and May (my friends who dropped me off at LAX) and boarding the plane, the reality of leaving hit me. For most of tuesday I was mix of anxiety, fear, loneliness and yet excited for the adventure at the same time. When I was waiting in the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica for my next flight, the reality of leaving the familiar hit me when I realized everyone was talking in spanish. There would be no more bantering with Justin and cracking jokes with Lauren, Nicole and Jay. The only thing that might seem to role off my tongue would be lo siento (im sorry). However, I kept reminding myself of the adventure that I was about to embark on and that helped hold the fear back. Flying into Bogota, I thought it inconceivable for there to possibly be a flat spot in all of Colombia, however, sure enough there is. I got off the plane and after a wait I finally exited customs, got my bag and was greeted by a girl who worked for Radissa hotels, and was also from the church. She spoke english pretty well and was shocked to know that I spoke spanish. She quickly radioed for Pastor libni to pull up and get me. I will go into more detail about the people here a little later. Over the past 2-3 days I have felt like a total stranger and like a church leader who had been working there for years. My spanish is doing quite well and everyone is shocked that I know spanish (they apparently thought i didn´t know any), which is a huge miracle. I have been accepted very well by everyone. I feel that it will only be a matter of time before I can become a regular face and hopefully a close friend. Hopefully this wont take too long.

If you´re still reading give yourself a pat on the back and if you finish it all, treat yourself to a little treat, chocolate, ice cream, a turkey...etc.

Bogota is classic Latin America in soo many ways and very different from my experience in Central America. There are several indicators that one is in latin america: 1) there is absolutely no organization in traffic and yet everyone knows what they´re doing 2) when driving you can pass a horse drawn cart with corn stacked 10 feet high, only to be passed by a motorcycle with a washing machine on the back(you can rent hourly) that is carrining dangerously between buses and trucks 3) there is a soccer field about everyother block. The average standard of living seems to be a bit higher than those in Central Amer. However, poverty is as obvious as the trash strewn all over the streets. Like I said earlier the people here are very nice and the people at the church are really warm and welcoming. Pastor Libni is very generous and has a huge passion to reach the needy around Bogota. His brother Daniel is also very nice and he deals with adult ministries at the church. Both are very well educated and speak Portugese and Daniel knows a little english. Yesterday I met alot of the youth at the church and they were really cool (or here they say Chevere for anything good). And because Justin and Ryan asked, yes there are some girls that go to the church that are pretty. I actually had a long talk with one of them and we are practically engaged. Just joking (no, seriously thought dad send money for ring, fast). Ha ha.

My job right now is to help raise funds and create a plan with Libni and Daniel for the orphanage. I thought they had facilities, but they dont and so right now we are brainstorming how we are going to afford to rent a place next door or better yet, buy it. I will be completely honest, I feel a bit overwhelmed. They are being very good about not just dumping it all on me but the burden is big enough that my part seems quite big. If any of you know of any foundations that give internationally email me please. I feel like the next couple weeks/months could be spent writing grants and raising money just to start. We are faced with a catch 22 situation because the government will not let us adopt the kids until they have inspected our facility, and businesses are hesitant to help unless they see our facility. In short, we need money like a fat kid needs a little debbie snack. Any suggestions are welcome. However, the upshot of all this is that we HAVE TO RELY on God, this orphanage will not happen if its up to me.

Thank you for reading all of this, go treat yourself to a little snack. I love you all.

Jacobo