Day One

Yesterday ended up being an extremely long day. Luckily for me, Gabby, Magnolia, Julieth, and my niece Tatiana came to pick me up at the airport.  I am so happy I finally got to meet my niece in person!  She is so beautiful and full of life. She knows a little English and is super eager to learn.  I feel closer to my brother than ever.  We all went to Magnolia's apartment and exchanged gifts. They gave me a huge stuffed animal that I know will be a challenge to pack.  I got Magnolia, my niece, and nephew fun electric toothbrushes as part of all their gifts and they loved them.  Magnolia asked me if I got Julieth and her husband toothbrushes and when I said no she said why not. It made me feel really bad. I put a lot of thought into everyone's gifts and spent a significant amount on everyone.  I didn't say anything.

Magnolia asked how much the tickets are to travel to Colombia and if I paid for myself.  She said that I must make a lot of money.  Gabby translated this all for me and it made us both uncomfortable.  I understand that Magnolia has come from a level of poverty that I will never understand, so I try to take that in consideration when she is fixated on money.

Boots Magnolia gave me

My gift to Marlon in hopes it will help him learn English.

Magnolia told me she  is buying an apartment in Soacha and informed me that it is also mine, so that I will always have a part of this country. This was a huge gesture and it means a lot to me.  For those of you who have read my blog, Soacha might ring a bell.  I taught English there last year when I volunteered.

Later we went to dinner at Monica's (the head of the volunteer program) sisters apartment. We were very late because we got lost looking for over an hour walking for street 13 when really the street address was 13A.  We didn't know everyone was waiting for us....awkward.  One of the volunteers as Monica was introducing me said "oh so now we get to eat"....rude.....needless to say I am happy that I was with the people that I had during my volunteer time.  I do not think they would have said that.  We got back to the apartment and went to sleep. At that point it was past midnight and I had been up at 3:30 in the morning. I was exhausted.

Today (Tuesday) I woke up and Tatiana and I watched a little tv and had ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast. I am meeting gabby for shopping at noon.

I feel that despite my lack of practicing Spanish, I have understood a lot more and have been communicating better. Maybe it's all the Skype conversations or just that I am more comfortable with this situation. Either way I am feeling very good about this experience this far.