Week 42 - 10 Things You Don't Know About Ipiales

Dearest friends and family,

Hello loved people in my life that happen to be thousands of miles away at the moment. I hope you are well and enjoying this life we have been given. Elder Soto and I are doing very well and are happy to be finishing up a great week.

This week I wanted to do something a little different so I’ve structured this letter around “10 Things You Don’t Know About Ipiales.” Here goes.

1. LDS - so let’s start off with a good one. One of the street gangs here in Ipiales is named “Los Del Sur” basically calling out that these are the hard guys of South Colombia here in our border town. What makes it awesome is that LDS is a short nickname for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – the Church website for example is lds.org (check it out). Anyway, the graffiti here in Ipiales is very creative and well done compared to the graffiti back home and I always laugh when I see “LDS” – a some profane phrase signed LDS, Die LDS, We’re the Best LDS or You’re Either With or Against LDS – tagged all over the city. My people have been really busy with the paint here.
2. We’re on strike. The school teachers here are currently on strike protesting for better wages and the kids have been out of school for the last 3 weeks. Last week the teachers marched in the streets with candles in the dark. Every time we hear the strike is supposed to end, the date gets moved back. The latest we’ve heard is that classes will start again on June 24^th.
3. Vecies – The word vecie is short for vecino (neighbor) and is a commonly used word referring to anyone you don’t know but want to be friendly with. The owners of the store closest to our house love to say it to us and it always makes me laugh. At least we kind of are neighbors but the word is heard all around the city. In front of our vecies store the road narrows and when cars are parked there, a traffic jam / pride battle ensues between 2 cars try to pass at the same time typically in opposite directions. Sometimes the police have to come and help resolve it.
4. La Libreta – in Colombia military service is obligatory. All males have to serve unless they can pay for, or find some other way to get ahold of, a little card exempting them from service called a libreta. Most everyone seems to find a way to get the card.
5. Rotten shoes – in my Mother’s Day call home I made a comment about how the daily rain, cold temps and damp house we live in contributed to my shoes rotting. I didn’t mean to startle anyone but I got a lot of advice about how to cure it. Thanks very much to all who sent me helpful suggestions. We don’t have natural sunlight in our apartment but I’ve started removing the insole and sticking newspaper in them every night this week and while they still smell rotten they have improved a ton!
6. “Oh ya – esa vaina pasa corriente” – we have an electric stove in our house because buying gas in the border city is a problem. This particular electric stove passes electricity through to our metal pans. It only took one accidental touch for me to learn my lesson, prompting Elder Soto to firmly teach me that the word “vaina” is a Colombian word that means “thing” with a negative connotation…basically “watch out, that piece of junk passes current.” It made for a great laugh.
7. Dos copas – in our house we only have 2 cups. They’re orange. We’re too lazy to buy more and truthfully don’t need any more. It’s been a great lesson for me about washing dishes. If you want a drink: wash!
8. Street jerseys – Whenever the Colombian National soccer team plays, lots of men come out to sell Colombian soccer jerseys in the streets. The same is true in Ecuador but there are many more sellers here in Colombia. Well, today Colombia played Spain (I’m not sure why it must be a tournament or something) but all of the vendors were out with their knock offs. We ended up buying some for 25,000 pesos each which is cheap ($9) and it’s real fun because almost everyone in the city is wearing one.
9. Electricity – is more expensive in Colombia than Ecuador. This is one of the reasons we wash our clothes by hand – it costs too much to run a washing machine. Sometimes the government plans brown-outs and shuts power off for a day and it’s a little rougher when that happens. We do have an electric shower that more or less heats water. It’s real cold in the mornings so I’ve been showering at night. I lost my flip flops in the burglary a while back and am currently using a too small pair from the last missionary who was here who went home. I can’t find my shoe size anywhere in the city.
10. Colombian Prep day – being so far away from the rest of the mission keeps us 12 Ipiales missionaries pretty close together, especially on p-day. Last week we enjoyed a picnic in a nearby “forest” that included a game of Monopoly using some now-worthless Venezuelan money. I really enjoy getting together with my companions even if we just sit at the church or spend the day playing soccer. We have grown close in the last many weeks and I’m not looking forward to upcoming transfers. I love my companion – Elder Soto and I have a finely tuned companionship, a great vibe and are keeping each other safe. The other night some dudes knocked on our door asking for blankets, deodorant and razors with some story they were passing through and didn’t have money for bus tickets. We both felt really odd about the situation and did not open the door. We sent them away noticing one of them appeared to be wearing a helmet, suggesting they weren’t in need of a bus anyway.

I’m happy, healthy and positive. I miss and love you all. Talk soon.