Colombia

     Over Thanksgiving break 5 of us went to Bogota, Colombia for the International Christian Educator´s Conference put on by ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International).  This conference drew teachers from across Latin America as well as speakers from the U.S. and Australia. The conference was informative and inspiring.  We learned about some of the strategies Jesus used as the Master Teacher.  That was probably the most interesting to me.  In addition I was able to present the work I have completed on my thesis at a smaller session.  The best part of the conference was networking with other teachers from surrounding countries such as Bolivia, Haiti, Suriname, Peru, and Bolivia. The conference began late Wednesday afternoon.  We arrived later Tuesday night so we had some time on Wednesday.  

Bogota is a city nestled in the mountains and we were staying at a convent.  Brenda and I felt like we were Maria from the Sound of Music!  Breakfast the first day was my favorite (because of the scrambled eggs!).  They had potato soup and hot chocolate as well. 

We took a city bike tour and saw many things.  This is our guide Juan and a friend of his.  I think he is friends with everyone in Bogota!!

We went in a small coffee factory.

 

Of course the most fun part was sitting on the llamas!!  Mine sat down.  The lady here told our tour guide it was because he was old.  :P

 The llamas were in this square that had government buildings on each side of it. 

We went to this huge market.  My favorite part was the fruit and fresh flowers (not pictured here).  I could get used to living close to this!!  Isn´t it beautiful?  The flowers were sooo cheap.  Arrangements that would cost at least $40-$50 in the U.S. were about $5!!  We saw some poinsettia´s ready to be shipped to the states with U.S. dollar price tags on them.  

One fruit we tried was really sour!

This is raw sugar from sugar cane.

Aloe plants

 Cinnamon sticks...I could make a lot of cinnamon bread with that!!

The bike shop was very eclectic with books in many different languages filling the shelves.

Here is the courtyard of the convent where we stayed.  Isn´t it beautiful!!  Don´t ask me what the road was like getting there though.  We literally bounced off our seats many times!

 Here we are in one of the vans.

 

  It wasn´t quite like Thanksgiving, but they tried!

 

On Thanksgiving night they took us to a mall for a little bit so we could shop around.  They have more Christmas lights than I have ever seen!!

Brenda and I found Cinnabon, which we don´t have here...yum, yum!

This was one of the venders at the conference.  He sells Christian material for children.  I had to get this picture for my dad though because he played John McEnroe at Wimbledon!  He has even played on Centre Court!!!

The last night of the conference we ate at a conference room at a hotel.

 Tim Heaton, one of my professors from Cedarville attended the conference and spoke at some of the breakout sessions. 

 Colombian dancers provided the dinner entertainment reenacting the story of Jesus´ birth.

 On Saturday the host school organized a City Tour.  We went to a church at the top of a mountain.  The nation is mainly Catholic mixed with animistic traditions.  

It´s hard to tell from this picture, but this nativity is very large and beautiful.

 Outside the church there are many shops.

Oh, and on the mountain with the church you have to pay to use the bathroom.  It´s only about 40 cents, but they don´t give you much toilet paper!!! 

Here we are at the top of the mountain overlooking part of the city.  It was rather cloudy though making it difficult to see much.

 

 Here we are in the car that took us back down the mountain.

 When we got to the bottom we saw another llama with a Santa Clause hat on!

Then we went to a man´s house that played a large role in the history of Colombia.  

 

This banner hangs in the front of his former home.

It is interesting that they use the spines of cows to make this path because the bone is stronger than rock. 

It may be difficult to tell from this picture, but this man was very short and so was his bed!

The gardens around the home were beautiful.

Here is a bust of the man and the Colombian flag on the left.  

For lunch we went to a traditional Colombian restaurant.  I ate capybara which was quite fatty.  I couldn´t finish all of it.  We have capibara here by the river, but I have never seen it served before so I thought I´d try it.  It´s like a small big or giant guinea pig.  

After lunch we went to the gold museum and did some shopping.

This beautiful girl was outside some of the shops.