Matt

i don´t even really know who reads this and who doesn´t...and of those people I don´t know who even knows matt lewis but he was in a really bad skateboarding accident, hitting the back of his head on the road. he is at gwinnett medical with a lot of pressure on his brain and in critical condtion. please please please pray every chance you get that God will fully heal Him and be fully glorified through this experience. Also for Katie and Matt´s family. To stay current on his condition Katie has this page going

www.caringbridge.org/visit/matthewlewis

thanks and much love

Paipa

Today we went to some natural hot springs in a little town called Paipa. It was about an hour away and we took some TINY dirt roads to avoid paying the toll. It was pretty scenic, ridiculously bumpy, and kinda cool to see all of these little farms completely outside of the big city of Tunja. Plus, I saw cute pigs. At one point there was a cow in the road, and to give you an idea of how tiny I am talking, there wasn´t room for the cow and the car. Hilarious.

Once we got to the springs, Lali informed me that there was a volcano crater (this picture being it) at the entrance of the park. It wasn´t what I imagined, still very cool, but it was enclosed by this rock wall and had tons of algae in it. It was bubbling too, that was cool.

Inside the Park there were three main pools to swim in. An Olympic sized pool, and sorta baby pool just to sit in, and then a splash pool (freakin freezing) that this fun slide shot you out into. I only did the slide once because it was like 60 degrees and I swear the water wasn´t much warmer. I sprinted so fast jump back into the hot springs! The cold water had taken my breath away. AH. The springs were salty because of all the minerals that were in it. Lali said she thought the water came from the volcano crater and was just diluted so it didn´t kill us. haha. When I got out for the first time I had salt visibly dried all over me. We stayed there almost all day and goodness...I am fried. Go figure. I didn´t realize we were going to be there for so long and it has rained every second I have been here so I didn´t think twice about it. Of course today was sunny and decently warm haha. Overall Paipa was a cool little town and the springs were a neat experience.

Last night...good gosh, some of Lali´s friends came over...really drunk, and they decided to seranade us until mmm midnight. We were exhausted and in our pjs and in bed when they showed up. We had met them at a little club earlier and had a beer...when they found out my birthday was coming up they ordered me the birthday special. A flaming shot of amaretto and rum. Sweet. It came with a straw and I had to suck it down as fast as possible as to not burn myself. Luckily it was TINY (no Dad, I´m not just saying that) and tasted alright. Anyway...so they sang until midnight when we kicked them out. I have some of the most classic videos of everyone singing. You all will have to wait til I get home but GREAT stuff.

We leave tomorrow for Bogotá again and then will catch a flight to Cartagena Friday morning. Sixish days in Cartagena, two in the colonial town of Santa Marta, three in the BEAUTIFUL Parque Tayrona (camping in a tiny tent and eating nothing but canned tuna score) where we will hike like fifty miles to three different beaches. The Tayrona has the highest seaside mountain range in the world, I have been told, so I am stoked about the vistas there! From Tayrona to Barranquilla (where Shakira is from ha), Barranquilla to Bucaramanga which is TEN HOURS on a bus over night, Bucaramanga to San Gil, San Gil back to Tunja on the 25th. Then home five days later. So thats the trip. (the picture of the flowers is just cuz i felt like it)

oh, and I am getting all kinds of receipes so I can come home and actually cook good food!!! YES
I am going to go take some more advil for this sunburn.

p.s my eyes look like that bc the hat was pulling them so hard i got a headache!!

!

chao chao y que estén bien

and I danced...

I am practicing my Curramba (Barranquilla) slang so the bold words are defined for you, and me, at the bottom!

...this is the plantain I was talking about. YUM pascual guerrero!!!

Last night we went to an awesome little club called Quiebra Canto where there was a live band called Gaiteros de San Jacinto Cabeza e´Cera playing...and I danced Bullerengue, Currulao Mapalé, Cumbia and Danzón (these all originate in the Pacific coast of the country). There was also some salsa-ing and Son Cubano going on of which I was quite proud because Colombian salsa is pretty tough. I have a decent understanding of the basics at this point so hopefully that will improve with time. Pedí una fria!!! We left the disco because teniamos un filo* and then didn´t get home until about FOUR and then headed out for Tunja at NINE. sick.

(mi fria)

(Quiebra Canto)

You can´t really see that well in this picture but the woman in the foreground is wearing a pollera. Its the big skirt that Shakira wears in the ¨Hips Don´t Lie¨video. She held the sides of it in her hand and danced...really beautiful.

Cafe con leche really should called be leche con cafe...
Its rainging. nonstop. and its cold. i´m so looking forward to the coast!

Laura´s family is just as wonderful as I remember. We had a HUGE lunch (which is typical) of a whole fish (head and all) yuca frita, a really great blush wine, rice and juice which is actually just fruits and water in a blender. YUM. We also ate my first bowl of fresh amazing South American fruit in three years. AHH. I am so happy that I can communicate with them a little better. I still barely understand her dad and brother and I am finding that women in general are a lot easier for me to understand. They had my little room prepared and its awesome. It´s freezing but awesome.

KT...the coffee didn´t cause a dire emergency it just made me unbelievable caffined and have a super jumpy stomach. I am proud to report that I haven´t had an problems in the 48ish hours I have been here! No he tenido churrias* todavia.

P.S. God is really tangible here. It´s just wonderful and peaceful and I am enjoying it a lot. Tricia gave me a book called ¨Living Worship¨before I left and its really encouraging.

And this is Laura la Cachaca, Julie, Erin and Juan, el novio Costeño. Son gente bacana*.

(Juan, Lali´s boyfriend, Lali, me) (Julie, Lali, me)

Vocab:

*bacana/o- cool

*Cachaca/o- someone from Bogota and Boyaca, the center of the country
*Costeña/o- the people of the coast. that are apparently really loud, so i should fit in!!!

*churrias- THE RUNS!

*filo- we were super hungry!

*fria- cold beer

Day 1

My first full day was wonderful. I am in Bogota with Laly and her friend Julie who has welcomed me into her home with open arms. I love this culture. Everyone is giving and warm and stares at me. ha
I am getting my mouth reaccustomed to the language finally but settling my stomach with the food will be a longer process. I had two big cups of tinto today (strong dark coffee) and lets just say its a little rough. We had lunch at a little restaurant called El Arco that specializes in plantains. I ordered Arco Guerrero.. an whole fried sweet plaintain stuffed with beans and guacamole and then topped with Colombian chorizo and something that resembled pork rinds, chicharron. Delicious. I think the best though part might be the funny looks I get when I ask for my fo0d cheeseless. Classic.
We also went to an art gallery that displayed a lot of Botero´s work, a few Picasso´s, Degas, Matisse...it was great. I got too close to the Picasso and an alarm went off. awesome.
I have been hearing a lot about the culture in Barranquilla and I cannot wait to get there. Laly just told me like ten minutes ago that the people there have the funniest names. The best one: Usnavy, oos nah vee. That´s right, one of the more popular names in the wonderful port town of Barranquilla is U.S. Navy. Laly said the people see the ships come in the ports and they just run with it.
I´ve been surprised to see lots of anti-Uribe sentiment (thats the president). There is graffiti everywhere calling him a paramilitary supporter and for the people to not vote for him. Walls everywhere say things like ¨solution for the social and armed conflicts.¨ this country has improved so much as far as violence but still has so far to go. Oh I also learned the FARC is completely different than the paramiltares. The paramilitary defend the rich from the FARC (a communist terrorist group here), but are an enemy of the government as well. The FARC, obviously an enemy of the government, hate the paramilitares. So those two groups are fighting in the southern parts of the country. Thats my beyond basic, simple minded understanding at least. Our breakfast conversation consisted of explaining that to me and then explaining to Julie the racists in the States. Lovely.
I am going to go take a nap before we go out tonight. I hope this finds everyone well and I promise pictures soon!
Much love

I´m here

Hey everyone, I am here and safe and FULL of chinese food, ha. It´s been a really long day but I am so excited about the rest of this month!

more to come...I´m pooped