Thursday, June 30, 2011
The Outside
Francisco, Evelyn, mom, Samy and the baby live in the room on the right, that has the open door that people are coming in an out of on this video. The aunt and her family live in the left area on the left, where the refrigerator is, so there are like 2 rooms connected.
continuing
After the meeting, we took the CI truck to Francisco´s home. It was another wild ride and when we arrived, many of the children were there like they were when Steve visited. We went into a pretty good sized room which Francisco´s mom said was their home and I was confused because this did not look like the inside of the room that we saw on Steve´s video. In the video there was a small space with what looked like a back storage area, a refrigerator in the front w-TV , and a small bathroom to the side. So this is what I thought Francisco lived in with 12 other people but this room that I entered was a little larger with two good sized beds with some room to walk around so I asked Gabriel, the translator about it and he was confused too. He was confused because when he saw the initial SNG report of how much it would cost to add an additonal room for Francisco´s immediate family, he thought that the amount was much too large for a small additional room or to do the back storage area as an enclosed room as we had thought about. Anyway, we found out that this room that I saw was actually Francisco´s dwelling and he lives here with his mom, Evelyn, Samy, and baby sister. So there are only 5 people living in this room that has the 2 beds. It is right next to the area that Steve saw. The rest of the family -cousins and aunts-live in the area that Steve saw. Will try to post photos and a video of this room.
Thursday!
Blogger has been acting up so I was not able to continue with Franciso´s visit. I´ll be back in a few after getting something to eat and continue with Francisco´s visit. Today I also visited Bleidis who lives in Barranquilla, about an hour away. The day started off rough on the ride to Barranquilla but we had a busy and fun day! Back on that later and I will also try to upload some of the photos and videos from all of the visits tonight.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Day 2 - Visiting with Francisco!
Today has been a very busy day with Franciso and his family. First of all I want to share that Francisco is the sweetest little boy. He can be very serious and loves to share his things with his siblings and he has a very energetic side too!
First I was picked at the regular time and we were told that Francisco and his mom were waiting at the community center. So we drove straight there and he was sitting, looking very shy and holding his ID badge. Franciso is very thin, it is very noticeable and he is very small for his age. Of course he did not know me so I introduced myself to him and to his mother and and asked if he understood that he was sponsored by a group of sponsors. He said that he did and we looked at the beautiful collage of sponsors that he really liked. We went over each sponsor's name and country and also located his country and some of the sponsors' countries on the globe. This was a little hard for him to understand but he liked the globe. Gabriel read the letters from Elen and Barbara and I also showed him my photos.
After this he received his gifts and loved all of them. He really liked a little stuffed bear from Ellen and dressed up in his costume that Barbara sent. He loved it and looked so cute! I took photos of it and will post later. Another lady from the center came in and took photos of Francisco and me for a publication and then suddenly we had to leave the room because they needed the room for an important meeting. In the rush, I forgot to take photos of Franciso with the sponsor collage and with Ellen's bear.
!
First I was picked at the regular time and we were told that Francisco and his mom were waiting at the community center. So we drove straight there and he was sitting, looking very shy and holding his ID badge. Franciso is very thin, it is very noticeable and he is very small for his age. Of course he did not know me so I introduced myself to him and to his mother and and asked if he understood that he was sponsored by a group of sponsors. He said that he did and we looked at the beautiful collage of sponsors that he really liked. We went over each sponsor's name and country and also located his country and some of the sponsors' countries on the globe. This was a little hard for him to understand but he liked the globe. Gabriel read the letters from Elen and Barbara and I also showed him my photos.
After this he received his gifts and loved all of them. He really liked a little stuffed bear from Ellen and dressed up in his costume that Barbara sent. He loved it and looked so cute! I took photos of it and will post later. Another lady from the center came in and took photos of Francisco and me for a publication and then suddenly we had to leave the room because they needed the room for an important meeting. In the rush, I forgot to take photos of Franciso with the sponsor collage and with Ellen's bear.
!
Day 2 A.M. The Day to Visit Francisco!
Thanks everyone! Unfortunately I have not been able to post photos due to the internet connection here, hopefully soon though. Today is the day that I meet Francisco and his family. Francisco does not really know me so I know that he may be very shy and reserved as well as Evelyn, but hopefully as the day goes on, they will relax and have fun. I am supposed to visit the main office here in Cartagena first and then meet Francisco, visit his home, go the mall for lunch and fun with games and rides, go grocery shopping and shop for gifts for Francisco and Evelyn. Will post asap. God bless!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
First Visit Continued
Continuing on
After we left Sonia´s auntie´s home, we drove back to the community center to drop the other lady off. She was really sweet and smiled all of the time she was with us. I think that she was a relative as well as a CI volunteer, but forgot to ask what her relationship was. I can´t really explain the poverty that I saw as we travelled down the road dodging in and out of cars and pedestrians, wagons, ect. It is so overwhelming with people everywhere on the street, busy, constantly moving. We passed a place that Gabriel said was a bullfighting area where people were killed and then we passed a dirty creek that had garbage in it. Gabriel said that children swam in this creek. I just could not imagine it.
But we arrived safely at another center closer to downtown Cartagena and as I came in, I recognized Yiseth who was sitting with her younger brother, Nelson and their auntie. I don´t think that Yiseth recognized me at first because I had on shades. She was a little more reserved and nervous, which I sensed she might be, from looking at her last photos. I think that the thought of meeting her sponsor was a little overwhelming, but she began to relax after we went upstairs to get acquainted and to pass out gifts. We needed this time together alone because we were not sure because of all of the delays whether or not we would make it to Yiseth´s home. Sonia and her auntie were going to catch a taxi to the mall and catch up with us there, because we only had the CI truck today, and there was not enough room for everyone.
As I did with Sonia, we looked at the flip book first, showing her the very first photo that I saw of her which was the one that made me decide to sponsor her. She enjoyed looking at the photos and then we located her continent and country on the globe and then found where I lived. I told her just as I had told Sonia, how I travelled by train from NC to Florida, close to Miami, and caught the plane from there to Cartagena. She was familiar with Miami. I reminded her that one reason I came to visit was because she asked me to come and she really brightened up then. She said that she still wanted to be a pediatrician and loves biology. By the way, as we were opening gifts, a few of young male workers for CI, I think, had gathered around to observe and enjoy.
Next it was off to the mall and the first thing we did was eat lunch! We went to the food court and everyone ordered what they wanted. The girls wanted chicken fingers and Nelson, Gabriel, and I ordered a delicious pizza. The aunties and the driver sat at another table and ordered something else. Sonia´s auntie apologized for being an extra mouth to feed but I explained that it was okay! Everyone ate to their heart´s content especially Nelson, who is such a cutie and his own person. Whenever we asked what he wanted, he said ´´EVERYTHING!´´´I would love to sponsor him but will have to settle for sending him things along with Yiseth, unless someone else wants to sponsor him. He is a little gem.i did not need to worry about whether or not Sonia and Yiseth would get along because they were having the neatest conversations in Spanish as we waited for food. I´ll post videos of these later. They were also walking hand in hand together at times and several times the three of us would walk together hand in hand.
After eating to their hearts content, the kids were ready to ride and play games but we were too early and needed to wait about 30 minutes, so we went into stores to pass the time. They were all mesmerized by 3 videos of Michael Jackon playing simultaneously on big screen tv´s. Yiseth and Nelson especially loved Thriller. And I am serious, even the aunties, the driver , and Gabrielle were mesmerized! Videos showing this coming!
Well after this, we made it over to the games section. Yiseth and Nelson played games but Sonia only wanted to go on the huge water slide. So while they played games, everyone cheered the siblings on. They won lots of tickets as they are pretty good throwers. Once we got over to the rides, unfortunately, the water slide was closed for maintenance which was a big disappointment for Sonia, because she was unable to ride anything else because of her height. So Yiseth and Nelson rode a couple of rides and Miss Sonia ate Doritos which she seems to love!
Grocery shopping was after that and the families were so appreciative of this. I am happy that they have a little food in the home right now. One family also needed some kitchen supplies which they were able to get. Sonia was also able to pick out a little gift since she did not get to ride anything, which to my surprise was a little Winnie the Pooh bear which she held lovingly. We explained everything to Yiseth, plus she and Nelson had so many tickets that they were keeping to use when they returned, to purchase toys. So everyone was very happy with everything. We said our good byes and they both promised to write, study hard in school. Nelson promised to study hard also and then Yiseth and her family took a taxi home and Sonia and her auntie caught the bus home.
This was one of the greatest experiences I have had. I hope that one day you can visit your child if you haven´t. You will cherish for the rest of your life and so will your child. It was just so sad to see the stark contrast between the beautiful mall and the terrible living conditions of these families. It is really heartbreaking.
I hope to post the photos and videos when I can get my little notebook to work better here. Tomorrow it is off to meet Francisco and his siblings. This will be very interesting because Francisco does not really know me, but he knows that there is a group of people sponsoring him. We´ll see how things go! God bless and thanks for reading!
After we left Sonia´s auntie´s home, we drove back to the community center to drop the other lady off. She was really sweet and smiled all of the time she was with us. I think that she was a relative as well as a CI volunteer, but forgot to ask what her relationship was. I can´t really explain the poverty that I saw as we travelled down the road dodging in and out of cars and pedestrians, wagons, ect. It is so overwhelming with people everywhere on the street, busy, constantly moving. We passed a place that Gabriel said was a bullfighting area where people were killed and then we passed a dirty creek that had garbage in it. Gabriel said that children swam in this creek. I just could not imagine it.
But we arrived safely at another center closer to downtown Cartagena and as I came in, I recognized Yiseth who was sitting with her younger brother, Nelson and their auntie. I don´t think that Yiseth recognized me at first because I had on shades. She was a little more reserved and nervous, which I sensed she might be, from looking at her last photos. I think that the thought of meeting her sponsor was a little overwhelming, but she began to relax after we went upstairs to get acquainted and to pass out gifts. We needed this time together alone because we were not sure because of all of the delays whether or not we would make it to Yiseth´s home. Sonia and her auntie were going to catch a taxi to the mall and catch up with us there, because we only had the CI truck today, and there was not enough room for everyone.
As I did with Sonia, we looked at the flip book first, showing her the very first photo that I saw of her which was the one that made me decide to sponsor her. She enjoyed looking at the photos and then we located her continent and country on the globe and then found where I lived. I told her just as I had told Sonia, how I travelled by train from NC to Florida, close to Miami, and caught the plane from there to Cartagena. She was familiar with Miami. I reminded her that one reason I came to visit was because she asked me to come and she really brightened up then. She said that she still wanted to be a pediatrician and loves biology. By the way, as we were opening gifts, a few of young male workers for CI, I think, had gathered around to observe and enjoy.
Next it was off to the mall and the first thing we did was eat lunch! We went to the food court and everyone ordered what they wanted. The girls wanted chicken fingers and Nelson, Gabriel, and I ordered a delicious pizza. The aunties and the driver sat at another table and ordered something else. Sonia´s auntie apologized for being an extra mouth to feed but I explained that it was okay! Everyone ate to their heart´s content especially Nelson, who is such a cutie and his own person. Whenever we asked what he wanted, he said ´´EVERYTHING!´´´I would love to sponsor him but will have to settle for sending him things along with Yiseth, unless someone else wants to sponsor him. He is a little gem.i did not need to worry about whether or not Sonia and Yiseth would get along because they were having the neatest conversations in Spanish as we waited for food. I´ll post videos of these later. They were also walking hand in hand together at times and several times the three of us would walk together hand in hand.
After eating to their hearts content, the kids were ready to ride and play games but we were too early and needed to wait about 30 minutes, so we went into stores to pass the time. They were all mesmerized by 3 videos of Michael Jackon playing simultaneously on big screen tv´s. Yiseth and Nelson especially loved Thriller. And I am serious, even the aunties, the driver , and Gabrielle were mesmerized! Videos showing this coming!
Well after this, we made it over to the games section. Yiseth and Nelson played games but Sonia only wanted to go on the huge water slide. So while they played games, everyone cheered the siblings on. They won lots of tickets as they are pretty good throwers. Once we got over to the rides, unfortunately, the water slide was closed for maintenance which was a big disappointment for Sonia, because she was unable to ride anything else because of her height. So Yiseth and Nelson rode a couple of rides and Miss Sonia ate Doritos which she seems to love!
Grocery shopping was after that and the families were so appreciative of this. I am happy that they have a little food in the home right now. One family also needed some kitchen supplies which they were able to get. Sonia was also able to pick out a little gift since she did not get to ride anything, which to my surprise was a little Winnie the Pooh bear which she held lovingly. We explained everything to Yiseth, plus she and Nelson had so many tickets that they were keeping to use when they returned, to purchase toys. So everyone was very happy with everything. We said our good byes and they both promised to write, study hard in school. Nelson promised to study hard also and then Yiseth and her family took a taxi home and Sonia and her auntie caught the bus home.
This was one of the greatest experiences I have had. I hope that one day you can visit your child if you haven´t. You will cherish for the rest of your life and so will your child. It was just so sad to see the stark contrast between the beautiful mall and the terrible living conditions of these families. It is really heartbreaking.
I hope to post the photos and videos when I can get my little notebook to work better here. Tomorrow it is off to meet Francisco and his siblings. This will be very interesting because Francisco does not really know me, but he knows that there is a group of people sponsoring him. We´ll see how things go! God bless and thanks for reading!
An Incredible Day!
Today was one of my best days of my life! I finally met Yiseth and Sonia and it was wonderful! The day started off very slowly because first of all I was up an hour before everyone else.. This was because I misread the time on my world clock page of my mobile phone. The regular time does not show, so I was looking at this page instead. This is the reason why the cook looked at me kind of strange when I asked if breakfast was ready at 7.00 a.m. when it was actually 6.00 a.m. But he fixed something for me anyway, very nice of him. Then I had an hour to do something to my hair which is not doing well in this humidity at all. I was downstairs waiting for the CI van at 8.20 the correct time because I knew that they are usually right on time. Well, 10-15 minutes passed and the van had not arrived. This was very unusual so I thought that maybe I had misread something. Just as one of the Don Pedro staff members dialed the CI number for confirmation, the translator walked in! I was so happy and relieved. They had problems getting down some of the streets due to road construction and were very apologetic. The translator´s name was Gabriel and the driver´s name was John.
The plan was that I was supposed to meet Sonia at home and spend time with her, and then meet up withe Yiseth at one of the community centers. Well the plan changed because Sonia was supposed to meet us at another center to show us the way to her home. Then as we were going to the center, Gabriel received a phone call, that Sonia had spent the night with her auntie in Cartagena and was returning to the center just as we were driving there. The ride was unbelievable, again as everyone was driving so aggresively down the streets, honking horns for people to move out of the way. Motorcycles weaved in and out of cars and pedestrians strolled down the streets with no regard for the vehicles! We took a very long dirt road full of pot holes to the center that had been built in 1980. It is way out in the country and as we passed the roads, I began to see the horrible poverty that most of these people live with every day.
When we arrived at the center, we waited for about 45 minutes in a very hot room, no air conditioning but families were sitting down being serviced. Gabriel explained much of what took place in the different parts of the center and also tried to find me some bottled water. I must have looked like I was in bad shape from the heat because they insisted on going to a nearby store to buy me some water!
Any way after waiting and waiting, Gabriel asked if I would know Sonia if I saw her and I said that I most definitely would. Maybe about ten minutes later, she came through the front door and I am not kidding, she ran into the room and grabbed me, hung on for about five minutes. I think that she was crying and I was too because she held me so tightly and I felt her strong sense of attachment. This was so amazing to me because from her videos that Steve had taken, I knew that she was very reserved and wasn´t too sure if she would feel comfortable with me. But she was holding me so hard, and I know now that having a sponsor in her life means so much more than I could ever imagine. She is a child who has been moved around from house to house and I found out that her mom is staying with man that Sonia does not like. They say that there may have been some kind of neglect or abuse there but the families can be very secretive about these things. She held my hand as we walked out of the center with Gabriel, the driver, her aunt, and another lady, not sure who she was. I have never seen this aunt in any photos, but she was very talkative and nice, very open and willing to share.
When we arrived at the home, the house was in a little better shape than most, with a couple of hogs walking around in yards. They are treated as pets. The area is very poor, just like you see in the pictures.I believe that Sonia is staying with her aunt until school starts back July 28. I will post photos as soon as I can get the upload to work but it may take awhile.
Sonia seemed to very happy with her gifts and especially liked a watch which she immediately put on her arm. It had her favorite colors, purple and pink. Sonia also received a top, necklaces, bracelets, sweet smelling lotion, a play set for swimming, a flip book photo album which everyone loved, a journal and pens, along with a few other things. Her aunt mentioned that Sonia does not like to wear girly things, is more of a tomboy and I shared, that I was also like that growing up. Sonia is sooo quiet and reserved but she was very affectionate and wanted to hold my hand most of the time we were together.
I asked Gabriel to see if she knew that I had another sponsored child waiting for us to go to the mall together and she seemed to know, but I emphasized that they were both my sponsored children and both are special to me. Her aunt chimed in that Yiseth would now be her sister! She seemed to like this.
Back a little later hopefully with more info. to share on the day.
The plan was that I was supposed to meet Sonia at home and spend time with her, and then meet up withe Yiseth at one of the community centers. Well the plan changed because Sonia was supposed to meet us at another center to show us the way to her home. Then as we were going to the center, Gabriel received a phone call, that Sonia had spent the night with her auntie in Cartagena and was returning to the center just as we were driving there. The ride was unbelievable, again as everyone was driving so aggresively down the streets, honking horns for people to move out of the way. Motorcycles weaved in and out of cars and pedestrians strolled down the streets with no regard for the vehicles! We took a very long dirt road full of pot holes to the center that had been built in 1980. It is way out in the country and as we passed the roads, I began to see the horrible poverty that most of these people live with every day.
When we arrived at the center, we waited for about 45 minutes in a very hot room, no air conditioning but families were sitting down being serviced. Gabriel explained much of what took place in the different parts of the center and also tried to find me some bottled water. I must have looked like I was in bad shape from the heat because they insisted on going to a nearby store to buy me some water!
Any way after waiting and waiting, Gabriel asked if I would know Sonia if I saw her and I said that I most definitely would. Maybe about ten minutes later, she came through the front door and I am not kidding, she ran into the room and grabbed me, hung on for about five minutes. I think that she was crying and I was too because she held me so tightly and I felt her strong sense of attachment. This was so amazing to me because from her videos that Steve had taken, I knew that she was very reserved and wasn´t too sure if she would feel comfortable with me. But she was holding me so hard, and I know now that having a sponsor in her life means so much more than I could ever imagine. She is a child who has been moved around from house to house and I found out that her mom is staying with man that Sonia does not like. They say that there may have been some kind of neglect or abuse there but the families can be very secretive about these things. She held my hand as we walked out of the center with Gabriel, the driver, her aunt, and another lady, not sure who she was. I have never seen this aunt in any photos, but she was very talkative and nice, very open and willing to share.
When we arrived at the home, the house was in a little better shape than most, with a couple of hogs walking around in yards. They are treated as pets. The area is very poor, just like you see in the pictures.I believe that Sonia is staying with her aunt until school starts back July 28. I will post photos as soon as I can get the upload to work but it may take awhile.
Sonia seemed to very happy with her gifts and especially liked a watch which she immediately put on her arm. It had her favorite colors, purple and pink. Sonia also received a top, necklaces, bracelets, sweet smelling lotion, a play set for swimming, a flip book photo album which everyone loved, a journal and pens, along with a few other things. Her aunt mentioned that Sonia does not like to wear girly things, is more of a tomboy and I shared, that I was also like that growing up. Sonia is sooo quiet and reserved but she was very affectionate and wanted to hold my hand most of the time we were together.
I asked Gabriel to see if she knew that I had another sponsored child waiting for us to go to the mall together and she seemed to know, but I emphasized that they were both my sponsored children and both are special to me. Her aunt chimed in that Yiseth would now be her sister! She seemed to like this.
Back a little later hopefully with more info. to share on the day.
Monday, June 27, 2011
In Cartagena!!!
I FINALLY MADE IT!! Thanks to everyone who posted to the blog. I am sorry about posting too late but this is the first chance that I´ve had to post and my little notebook is not getting any connection in the Don Pedro Hotel. So I am on their computer until someone else needs it. First my plane ride on Spirit was supposed take about two hours but it took more like 5. 5 hours. The plane ride itself was very smooth which is good for me and the guy next to me was very scared, even though he said that he had flown for a long time. He was very nervous until he fell asleep during the cruise part. I kept my head in a book, put earplugs in, chewed gum, sucked on candy like Barbara suggested. I was even calm when we had to stay up in the air 30 minutes in a holding pattern because we could not land at the Cartagena airport due to a disabled plane. Then we were diverted to another city to wait for another 30 minutes until Cartagena gave the okay for us to lift off again and land in Cartagena. I believe that God did this intentionally to help build some more faith in me, really, because it was unbelievable. Everyone was cheering both times we landed.
Anyway, going through the security check once we got to Cartagena was interesting because I found out that I was in the wrong line and the man gave me a stern look like, didn´t you know, can´t you read espanol????? After that fiasco, people of course wanted to find our luggage on the conveyor belt for tips, so one man found one and when I said that I had 2 bags, he said ´´But you haven´t paid me the dollar for this one yet!!´
Then another guy went looking and could not find it, gave up and still asked for the dollar. I found it in a group of luggage that had already been taken off of the conveyor belt! (Remember, this is all very new and funny to me because I am not a traveler!)
Anyway Dora the Explorer was supposed to pick me up but since I arrived at around 5 pm instead of at 12:35 pm, I knew she was gone and <i could not find a phone, well they did not have any at the airport and <i had no internet connection or mobile phone connection, so I did what I wasn´t supposed to do, got a taxi from the airport. Well the guy was very nice to me on the way and spoke to me telling me about the city in Spanish although I said´and indicated that I did not speak Spanish, but he went on with the tour in spanish and the streets are crazy, very dangerous, people driving any way they wanted. We almost crashed into 3 boys riding their bikes straight towards us, seriously! The boys yelled out and we narrowly missed them!
Anyway, the ride was beautiful because he took me right past the beaches and the ocean with kids playing in the beautiful water right across from the old city walls. When we arrived at Don Pedro, he wantéd to charge me ten dollars for the ride and I remembered that we were to talk them down, so when <i said, ´¨How about five dollars, he said adamantly,´NO, NO! I tried for six and received the same response, he said ¨EIGHT!¨ and I said, ¨Seven?¨ and he was okay with that. I know that it was too much to pay but it was the best that <i could do with this guy!
Anyway, after I checked into the hotel, Dora the Explorer arrived and called for me to come down! She said that she had waited at the airport from 12´.35 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. holding a sign for me to see. With all that was going on, I was so sorry that I did not see her and felt so bad that she was there all of the time. I offered to pay her for her trouble but she declined and was so nice. I recommend her for anyone who wants to take a tour through Cartagena if you can come. The tour is still on for Friday, although another one of her workers will do it because she will be out of town.
Don Pedro is a very charming hotel and it feels like you are in another age in time. Very rustic but very hot in the lobby area. The rooms are very cool but smaller than I thought. The pool is out of order too, Barbara. Maybe they will fix it soon. Tonight I was starving and walked in the old city square to find something to eat. It seems to be very safe, lots of people are out watching the dancers in the square and people are taking the wagon rides up and down the street. I can see and hear them outside of my window which has a little balcony.
Well I was hoping that I would be able to post photos and videos of my visit with the kids while I am here but my little notebook is not picking up the connection. Another worker is supposed to take a look at it for me tonight. I hope he can figure it out!
Well, I must get ready to see Sonia and Yiseth tomorrow! I have been imagining this day for a whole year since deciding to come to Colombia. I hope that they like all of their goodies and enjoy this day!
<hope to post more tomorrow, but I do plan to take lots of photos and videos! God bless!!!
Anyway, going through the security check once we got to Cartagena was interesting because I found out that I was in the wrong line and the man gave me a stern look like, didn´t you know, can´t you read espanol????? After that fiasco, people of course wanted to find our luggage on the conveyor belt for tips, so one man found one and when I said that I had 2 bags, he said ´´But you haven´t paid me the dollar for this one yet!!´
Then another guy went looking and could not find it, gave up and still asked for the dollar. I found it in a group of luggage that had already been taken off of the conveyor belt! (Remember, this is all very new and funny to me because I am not a traveler!)
Anyway Dora the Explorer was supposed to pick me up but since I arrived at around 5 pm instead of at 12:35 pm, I knew she was gone and <i could not find a phone, well they did not have any at the airport and <i had no internet connection or mobile phone connection, so I did what I wasn´t supposed to do, got a taxi from the airport. Well the guy was very nice to me on the way and spoke to me telling me about the city in Spanish although I said´and indicated that I did not speak Spanish, but he went on with the tour in spanish and the streets are crazy, very dangerous, people driving any way they wanted. We almost crashed into 3 boys riding their bikes straight towards us, seriously! The boys yelled out and we narrowly missed them!
Anyway, the ride was beautiful because he took me right past the beaches and the ocean with kids playing in the beautiful water right across from the old city walls. When we arrived at Don Pedro, he wantéd to charge me ten dollars for the ride and I remembered that we were to talk them down, so when <i said, ´¨How about five dollars, he said adamantly,´NO, NO! I tried for six and received the same response, he said ¨EIGHT!¨ and I said, ¨Seven?¨ and he was okay with that. I know that it was too much to pay but it was the best that <i could do with this guy!
Anyway, after I checked into the hotel, Dora the Explorer arrived and called for me to come down! She said that she had waited at the airport from 12´.35 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. holding a sign for me to see. With all that was going on, I was so sorry that I did not see her and felt so bad that she was there all of the time. I offered to pay her for her trouble but she declined and was so nice. I recommend her for anyone who wants to take a tour through Cartagena if you can come. The tour is still on for Friday, although another one of her workers will do it because she will be out of town.
Don Pedro is a very charming hotel and it feels like you are in another age in time. Very rustic but very hot in the lobby area. The rooms are very cool but smaller than I thought. The pool is out of order too, Barbara. Maybe they will fix it soon. Tonight I was starving and walked in the old city square to find something to eat. It seems to be very safe, lots of people are out watching the dancers in the square and people are taking the wagon rides up and down the street. I can see and hear them outside of my window which has a little balcony.
Well I was hoping that I would be able to post photos and videos of my visit with the kids while I am here but my little notebook is not picking up the connection. Another worker is supposed to take a look at it for me tonight. I hope he can figure it out!
Well, I must get ready to see Sonia and Yiseth tomorrow! I have been imagining this day for a whole year since deciding to come to Colombia. I hope that they like all of their goodies and enjoy this day!
<hope to post more tomorrow, but I do plan to take lots of photos and videos! God bless!!!
Monday a.m.
I am waiting at the airport. Spirit Air moved everyone through pretty quickly. Staying in Ft. Lauderdale was very pleasant last night. This still feels like a dream and I won't believe that I will see the children until I am in Cartagena. I hope that the hotel Don Pedro is as nice as it looks and that I will be able to post updates through their Internet connections.
If you had asked me if I would ever fly to S. America alone over a year ago, the answer would have been "That is completely out of the question!
So I know that God has brought about a change in my thinking, along with encouragement from others, and reading what sponsors have shared about visiting their sponsored children :)
Hope to send another update from Cartagena soon! .
If you had asked me if I would ever fly to S. America alone over a year ago, the answer would have been "That is completely out of the question!
So I know that God has brought about a change in my thinking, along with encouragement from others, and reading what sponsors have shared about visiting their sponsored children :)
Hope to send another update from Cartagena soon! .
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sunday
I had a very nice train ride to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and hope to arrive in Cartagena tomorrow around 12:35 p.m. Dora the Explorer is supposed to pick me up from the airport. After checking in, I will need to confirm the van reservation for travelling to Baranquilla to visit Bleidis, Thursday and load up on some bottled water. I am hoping that my luggage filled with things for the children will not be too heavy for customs, but I will have to wait and see. I am learning as I go along! I have also tried to send emails to family members and some sponsors but the internet connections are not very strong so I guess they are somewhere out in cyberspace!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Bags Packed and Ready to Go
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Bleidis
When I checked my CI account just now, I found the new annual photo of Bleidis. She looks very happy and pretty :)
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Thurs. Night
Thursday
Today I picked up a few more odds and ends for the kids like water toys. I know that Sonia likes to go swimming and I believe that Bleidis mentioned swimming in one of her letters. Since both Francisco, his sister, Evelyn, will get clothing as gifts from their sponsors and the new baby received clothing from one of Francisco's sponsors, I did not want little Samy to be left out. I picked up a little top for him from Target along with a small thermos for Francisco and a pencil bag with pencils, erasers. Everything has made it into the two suitcases that I am taking so the checked bags will include a suitcase full of stuff for the children and families and my suitcase which also has some more things for the kids.
I also finished filling out my passport today and recorded some songs for listening. Yesterday I after some difficulty with phone connections, I was able to speak with staff from both the office in Cartagena and Barranquilla about the itinerary. They sounded very happy and confirmed the times they would pick me up from the hotel. The staff seems to be very accomodating to the sponsors and is working to see that the visits go smoothly.
Tomorrow is hair day and taking care of a few other things. Then it will be time to go!! :)
I also finished filling out my passport today and recorded some songs for listening. Yesterday I after some difficulty with phone connections, I was able to speak with staff from both the office in Cartagena and Barranquilla about the itinerary. They sounded very happy and confirmed the times they would pick me up from the hotel. The staff seems to be very accomodating to the sponsors and is working to see that the visits go smoothly.
Tomorrow is hair day and taking care of a few other things. Then it will be time to go!! :)
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Francisco - Growing Up!!
Wednesday
Yesterday, my sister, Carmen, and I returned from Ft. Lauderdale. This trip was a trial to help ease my reservations about traveling by plane. It was great because I was able to take four flights and experience turbulence and everything. So now I know that I will definitely need earplugs and gum! Seriously, I am not a person who likes planes, but Carmen helped a lot along with other friendly passengers and my sister, Cheryl, was encouraging in her phone calls. Thanks also to CI sponsor, Barbara, for her support.
So now I have to figure out how to do the baggage because Spirit Airlines charges for one carry on bag. I was hoping that I would not need to take more than 3 bags so I am repacking again. Ellen's gifts also came today. I know that Francisco will love them. I also found more cute postcards for the kids and will try to pick up some more when I get back to Ft. Lauderdale.
Tomorrow I plan to do all confirmations and do some letter writing to some of my other children.
So now I have to figure out how to do the baggage because Spirit Airlines charges for one carry on bag. I was hoping that I would not need to take more than 3 bags so I am repacking again. Ellen's gifts also came today. I know that Francisco will love them. I also found more cute postcards for the kids and will try to pick up some more when I get back to Ft. Lauderdale.
Tomorrow I plan to do all confirmations and do some letter writing to some of my other children.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Sunday
Things Left to Do!
Call the Cartagena and Barranquilla offices to confirm the visit 2-3 days before leaving
Laminate or frame collage of sponsors for Francisco
Call or email Don Pedro Hotel to confirm reservations again
Confirm van pickup and tour with Dora the Explorer
Finish packing one suitcase :)
Pack Ellen's gifts for Francisco when they arrive
Make sure that I don't forget anything!!!
Call the Cartagena and Barranquilla offices to confirm the visit 2-3 days before leaving
Laminate or frame collage of sponsors for Francisco
Call or email Don Pedro Hotel to confirm reservations again
Confirm van pickup and tour with Dora the Explorer
Finish packing one suitcase :)
Pack Ellen's gifts for Francisco when they arrive
Make sure that I don't forget anything!!!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Article
Here is a good article on Wikipedia on Children International that I came across today for anyone interested. It gives a history and overview of the program. God bless.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_International
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_International
Saturday
This has been a day for cleaning up around here. I am also trying to get accustomed to using this notebook that I plan to take on the trip for emailing, updates, uploading photos and video hopefully! It is taking me awhile to learn how to get around on this Don Pedro has internet connection so I hope to be able to post while I am there!
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A cute bear puppet for Melani, Yiseth's sister
(first photo uploaded onto the notebook :) )
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Thursday
Today I did the last hepatitis shot and also obtained pesos, very colorful Colombian money. The few major things left to do are drop my doggy off at the vet for boarding, visit the optometrist tomorrow, and get my hair done right before leaving! I saw a very fun bubble activity that Mack did when she want on a visit. If I can find some like hers or similar to hers, I would like to do that w/Francisco and his siblings/cousins, since I will be spending more time there, so I'll check to find some cute wands. I am also waiting for Ellen's gifts to arrive hopefully in time. She is one of Francisco's sponsors and is sending a soft football, stickers, and other items.
I think that I am just about planned out now and will write everything down again in a notebook that I am keeping. Also need to call all hotels and email Dora the Explorer one more time about the van services and the tour on the last day. I also have to call the CI office in Cartagena and Barranquilla a few days before leaving. God bless.
I think that I am just about planned out now and will write everything down again in a notebook that I am keeping. Also need to call all hotels and email Dora the Explorer one more time about the van services and the tour on the last day. I also have to call the CI office in Cartagena and Barranquilla a few days before leaving. God bless.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Wednesday
Today was the day for finishing up at school and after that I was able to get the pages done for Sonia's flip book. Some of the original photos did not come out very well through Snapfish, so I redid some on my own computer and they came out a little better. Unfortunately, the background is not the same because I did not have the same kind of paper that Snapfish used. I hope that the kids like the photos, which included very young photos and older photos. Each book has 10 pages except for Sonia's which has 11. Each child will see the first CI photo that I saw and decided to sponsor them from, except for Francisco who was not listed on the CI site.
Tomorrow is the day for the last hepatitis shot-yes!
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Tomorrow is the day for the last hepatitis shot-yes!
Flip Books
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Sonia
This week I also heard from Sonia and she writes:
"Dear Sponsor,
I hope that your family and you are well. I pray every night to your family and you are well, thank you for the beautiful letters that you send me and that you remember me, always giving me affection and love, I'm grateful with you, my sibling and my parents are well, the thing that makes me happy are the jokes that my friends tell me, I'm happy to met (you?), my favorite animal is peacock, I would like to know what is your favorite animal, I love you so much,
Sonia
"Dear Sponsor,
I hope that your family and you are well. I pray every night to your family and you are well, thank you for the beautiful letters that you send me and that you remember me, always giving me affection and love, I'm grateful with you, my sibling and my parents are well, the thing that makes me happy are the jokes that my friends tell me, I'm happy to met (you?), my favorite animal is peacock, I would like to know what is your favorite animal, I love you so much,
Sonia
Yiseth
This is a letter that I received from Yiseth this week, thanking me for recent birthday gifts. I thought that she might like the colored pencils because she enjoys drawing. She says:
Dear and appreciated Shana C.,
I hope that you and your family are well. My family and I are well. I liked you(r) gift and the letter a lot. I just wanted to thank you for thinking of me. I received: a box of pencils color, a notebook cover, a card, two folders, a pair of ponytail holders, a calculator and a blouse. Good-bye. Be well. I love you so much. Thank you so much for the letters.
Yiseth
This is the back of one of letters. She loves to draw and write "I love you"on her drawings :)
Dear and appreciated Shana C.,
I hope that you and your family are well. My family and I are well. I liked you(r) gift and the letter a lot. I just wanted to thank you for thinking of me. I received: a box of pencils color, a notebook cover, a card, two folders, a pair of ponytail holders, a calculator and a blouse. Good-bye. Be well. I love you so much. Thank you so much for the letters.
Yiseth
This is the back of one of letters. She loves to draw and write "I love you"on her drawings :)
Pennies for Pancho
This year my first graders collected pennies to buy bricks for home improvements for Francisco's home. We call him Pancho because this is a name given to boys named Franciso. They learned a little about Francisco and his country and they collected $18 in pennies. I plan to show Franciso some of their photos. He will get to see his special friends from the USA. One of my kids asked me Friday, if I could bring Pancho back to the USA to visit them!
A big thank you to another teacher at my school who also contributed to Pancho's penny box. Thank you, Mrs. Bartell!
Gifts
Dishtowels for families (75 cents) at grocery store, lotions donated by Mrs. Conahan (teacher) at my school
Goodies left over from my treasure box at school
Gifts I forgot to post earlier
All gifts are bought at the dollar stores or discount racks at Target and Roses. Most are between 25 cents and a dollar.
Sunday, June 12
For someone who rarely takes trips, packing and trying to decide what to take and not to take based on the changing airline regulations can be a headache! Thanks to my sister, Cheryl, for some of her tips and thanks to my sister, Carmen, who will travelling to Florida w/me June 20, to get a feel for the plane rides.
Today, I was able to find 2 little USA flags for Francisco and Bleidis, for 50 cents each, get my Xanax refilled (yes, for the plane ride), work on Sonia's flip book which I hope to get finished tomorrow at Staples or Office Max, get more plastic bags for the treats and goodies to give to individual kids in Francisco's family and my other children and their siblings, found some cute dish towels for an aunt, grandmother, and 2 mothers, bought batteries for radio/cassette. I plan to tape some of my fave songs to listen to but I am trying to get acclimated to some of the music of the country. I do like this sound by this group that I found on Youtube:
I remember that Sonia told me the name of her favorite group in one of her letters. Maybe I can find the letter and post it or and ask her about it.
Today I was able to get a new cell phone which I won't be using in the country except to take extra photos, which I can upload to my Verizon account, in case something goes wrong with uploading camera photos from the notepad. Posting pictures later.
Today, I was able to find 2 little USA flags for Francisco and Bleidis, for 50 cents each, get my Xanax refilled (yes, for the plane ride), work on Sonia's flip book which I hope to get finished tomorrow at Staples or Office Max, get more plastic bags for the treats and goodies to give to individual kids in Francisco's family and my other children and their siblings, found some cute dish towels for an aunt, grandmother, and 2 mothers, bought batteries for radio/cassette. I plan to tape some of my fave songs to listen to but I am trying to get acclimated to some of the music of the country. I do like this sound by this group that I found on Youtube:
I remember that Sonia told me the name of her favorite group in one of her letters. Maybe I can find the letter and post it or and ask her about it.
Today I was able to get a new cell phone which I won't be using in the country except to take extra photos, which I can upload to my Verizon account, in case something goes wrong with uploading camera photos from the notepad. Posting pictures later.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Updates
The kids at school are finally out and now I have more time to concentrate on what else I need to do before the trip. Some of these things are taking one more shot on June 18, getting currency for the country from my bank, getting pretty and interesting postcards for the children, finishing up Sonia's flip book, getting my hair done and getting some more walking shoes. I have a large container which my kids call the "Treasure Tub" at school which contains sweets and treats, so after they selected what they wanted on Friday, the last day of school, I brought the remaining things home. I can divide this up between the Cartagena kids and my other sponsored children.
This week I heard from Sonia and Yiseth. Yiseth sent a thank you letter for her birthday gifts and Sonia sent a letter. I was so happy to hear from both of them! I will scan the letters a little later and also scan a photo of Yiseth with her birthday gifts.
This week I heard from Sonia and Yiseth. Yiseth sent a thank you letter for her birthday gifts and Sonia sent a letter. I was so happy to hear from both of them! I will scan the letters a little later and also scan a photo of Yiseth with her birthday gifts.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
More Updates
CartagenaWell, today I was able to get the typhoid and yellow fever shots from Passport, which is a travel clinic which does all kinds of vaccines. It wasn't too bad and yesterday I was able to confirm the airport shuttle to Barranquilla for only $28 roundtrip. That is a good deal! I just had a hard time trying to understand the contact person's English in the email :)
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