Dearest friends and family,
Well I guess this letter is my “first impressions of
Columbia” report so I better make it good. Truth is, I’m doing very well. It’s
remarkably different than Ecuador in terms of how the houses look and the vibe
of the city. I freaked out a bit saying goodbye to everyone that I had grown to
love in Tulcan and it shocked me a bit waiting in the immigration line,
realizing that I was going to be staying on the Colombian side of the border
for a decent amount of time to come.
Lots of things are new for me here. First off, a roll of
toilet paper costs 1000 pesos. It’s confusing - the exchange rate of US dollar
to peso is roughly 2700 to 1. It’s like everyone is just putting a bunch of
zeros where they don’t need to be. Shoes are 200,000 pesos…a banana 500…a
bottle of water is 1500 pesos. I haven’t bought much but I do feel like a rock
star punching 250,000 pesos into the ATM and watching the bills come out,
50-grand at a time. The down side is some businesses try to take advantage of
outsiders, especially the gringos (like me). There have been a few instances where
Elder Soto has stepped in and saved me.
Oh, speaking of Elder Soto, he is a huge blessing. He is
super friendly and we have been talking a whole lot about everything…he’s going
to be a great friend. I’m so relieved about that because truthfully I would go
crazy without it! We are far from any other missionaries and we really need to
get a long well out here. I woke up this morning and he had cooked me a
ham-and-cheese sandwich without even asking me if I wanted one! I was so
incredibly grateful. Note taken for future companionships and for life in
general. (Parental note – c’mon Adam…you know this one already. J)
The house we live in is very different from Tulcan. It’s the
smallest house I’ve lived in and feels like I’m still outside when I’m indoors.
We have a small patio area that has a glass window covering instead of a roof,
so it outdoors. The patio provides a small area to wash our clothes, which we
do by hand. It’s tough and takes a lot of time and I’ll forever be grateful for
washing machines we have back home…what a blessing!
I’ve been thinking a lot this week about how I am choosing
to drive my destiny and my overall well-being. Life is much more meaningful
when I take charge and create my circumstance instead of being the product of
circumstance.
Colombia has an amazing culture and it fills me with joy
being in a place where things like honor and chivalry still exist. I think
Colombians in general catch a bad rap for a small percentage of bad people who do
bad things. (I’m not denying that we need to be safe and I need to always be
alert. I mean there’s a reason we have to be back to our apartment by 8pm.) But
the people here show and expect civility and respect. The little kids all say
senor and señora when spoken to and family members greet one another with
affection upon arriving and departing. I’ve been fortunate to have this in my
life back home but truth is it would be weird if Nathan started saying “yes
sir” or “yes maam” all the time. I don’t know…it’s impressive how polite they
are. People visit just to visit. And when they visit it’s expected that they’ll
be given something small to eat and drink. The word gentleman seems to carry a
lot of weight, especially with the youth. I’ve gotten off topic, haven’t I?
As I said: first impressions. I’ll update you more in the
coming weeks. In the meantime, have an amazing week. Remember that every
failure brings the potential for excuse and we show the world our power by how
we react in hard times. Be good and be strong. Create your circumstance.
Love
you all,
- EE
PS – My new favorite thing in life? “Colombiana” soda. Google it.
PSS - Not many photos this week. I need some time to learn the area before I'll be comfortable bringing my camera out of the house.
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