Trip to "The Farm"

On Sunday morning, I was able to go for a run with Glenda’s niece, Melody, who is a teacher here at El Camino Academy (I’ll tell you more about that school later.)  There is a nice running/biking path right by Glenn and Glenda’s apartment.  We only went for about 40 minutes.  It was a pretty run and there were a lot of people out running and biking.  I was surprised!  I’m definitely feeling the altitude here!  Melody mentioned that her and a few other teachers run a few mornings a week before school.  She invited me to join them this week.  I’m excited about that.

After coming back from the run, I joined the Glenn and Glenda on a walk for about an hour, back on the running path and around the local community.  On our walk, we saw a tropical king bird (John Hawbaker, if you’re reading this, that was for you!)  We did some local shopping and they pointed out various fruits and vegetables at the market to me.  I love seeing fresh markets in other cultures! 

After breakfast, we went to the BIC church here where Glenn and Glenda and STEPpers attend.  I am being introduced here to everyone I meet as the STEPpers “boss.”  That’s the best way to translate my role as running the STEP program.  It just sounds funny to me to be called their boss.  After church, we all headed up the mountain to “The Farm,” which means “country place.”  Glenn and Glenda took Beth and Eryca in their car.  Aaron and I took the Trans-Mi to another bus and took that up the mountain.  We all met at a fun restaurant for lunch.  We had a Colombian meal, all served on a platter and we sat on tree stumps to eat.  It was all finger food.  Pig intestines were one of the choices on the platter, but I passed on those.  J  The others tried it…although, we found out later that Aaron bypassed that one too!  I enjoyed the grilled corn, which was pretty much like field corn!  It was tasty, though.  We stopped at a little stand for dessert after lunch.  I had maracuya cake (passion fruit flavor cake) with mora (fruit, like raspberry) topping.

After we finished eating, we continued on our way to the top of the mountain.  Aaron and I walked while the others went up in the car.  It was quite a hike!  “The Farm” is where Aaron has been serving while he has been here.  As I mentioned the other day, he is helping to build a house that will be for future workers or kids who are part of Steve & Evie’s ministry.  What a beautiful place!  We had an awesome afternoon of hiking the Andes Mountains!!  We hiked an hour up to the top of the mountain…11,000 feet!  What spectacular views!  Beautiful!

We visited with Steve & Evie after our hike over some tea and coffee.  Glenn, Glenda, Eryca and Beth left to go back to the city.  I stayed overnight with Aaron and Nathan, in the house they are working on.  I felt like I was camping out.  No running water, but I did have a bed.  We were on the top floor of the house that has a skylight.  It was a beautiful, clear night—you could see a ton of stars!    

Monday morning, Aaron and Nathan humored me by joining me in a workout.  We did some intense intervals and then did some running around on the mountain.  It was a great workout, AND, we had great views of the Andes Mountains all around us! 

One of the things I tried at breakfast this morning was a fruit called “Granadilla.”  It definitely looks questionable, but it is delicious!  After breakfast, I joined Aaron back at the house and we worked together for the day.  His latest project has involved welding the steel together for stair railings for the house.  So, Aaron got to teach me how to weld and grind it down.  He was a great teacher—and I was a quick learner!  J  Of course, he kept laughing at me in the welding outfit that I was wearing. 

It was a great time to connect with Aaron and how he has been doing here in Colombia during his time with STEP.  He’s really growing in his faith and listening to God’s voice.  He has a lot of great ideas and dreams.  It was great to see him interacting with Nathan and others at The Farm. 

Tomorrow, I’ll be spending the day at El Camino Academy (ECA) with Beth.  She’s helping to teach English to a kindergarten class.  I’m looking forward to hanging out with her!

The weather was beautiful today…the sun was out most of the morning!  It’s been cloudy and mostly in the 60’s, which has still been nice.  But, I have to say, seeing the sun on the mountains this morning was pretty awesome.

Enjoy the photos!  I have so many--sorry I can only show you a sampling. 

Thanks for your continued prayers.  Everything is going well here.  Pray that my continued interaction with the STEPpers goes well and that I can provide a listening ear and encouragement.