The Usual in Baru

To my mom and the other 2 people that read my blog- “Que mas” from Isla Baru!

I got a few requests to write about my usual day here in Santa Ana, Baru. So here in my suprisingly slick and childish sense of humor...a day in Colombia.

Every morning I wake up fairly early because I’m an idiot. However, in reality it’s not a bad thing because starting next Monday, my school begins at 6:30 am! Despite my pretty ghetto bed and the sheets that somehow are nonexistent when my eyes open, I sleep pretty well! When I was a little guy, getting me out of bed was a nightmare process for my parents. Not just because I despised school, but because in New Hampshire its cold for almost 8 months of the year! My loving yet frugal parents always turned off the heat at night, which I enjoyed at night, yet cursed in the morning. There were many mornings where I could see my breathe and the last thing I wanted to do was leave my heaven that was 3 blankets and a huge comforter! I write that to tell you…I don’t have that problem here. Have I not mentioned this climate resembles the underworld?

So once my eyelids open and the ears turn on- I am graciously greeted by about 1000 roosters. Though they are often not in unison, I have come to appreciate their desire to sing to me every morning! Here I pray for a lot of you (the ones I like) and finish the prayer with “and please Lord may I not get stung by a scorpion this morning.” Pretty much on the second day here I found one of these tiny, rare, and deadly divine mistakes (ducking as I write this) chilling out on my bathroom floor. So needless to say- I now move around about as fast as my little Italian grandmother (shout out to Rita!). I check my shoes and throw on some running gear. Got to start the day right pounding the dirt roads before it turns into a blazing inferno!

I open my door and feel like Noah. “Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you…” Amidst the poverty and obscene amount of trash that is my morning view of Santa Ana, are usually pigs, dogs, cattle, goats, variety of birds, lizards, roosters, and my favorite animal the donkey! I see much more of this as I run but the fact that it hasn’t rained here for months deters me from getting out my blueprints of the ark.

A cold shower never felt so good than when I come back from these runs! I am cautious to make sure I don’t drink an ounce of water there, but honestly, I’m on a island with no running water (we’re the only ones who have it) and an garbage problem…I’m screwed. I fully expect to hug the porcelain many times before I leave here, but I am cautious nonetheless. My amazing breakfasts in Bogota are now an afterthought! It’s a bowl of good ol’ Kellogg’s and a banana. I do get some good coffee (special shout out to Edna)!

So the rest of the day is school stuff. I am at the public school here in Santa Ana which is going to be very rewarding but challenging. The last few days have been just lesson planning with our Colombian teachers (in the South we say "God bless them but..."). Should be interesting because during our first meeting, we came to learn that though they have spent the last 5 years teaching English, they have written nothing down in the form of lessons and or annual plans. So as you might imagine, my prayer life is being tested but I believe we are going to be alright. Tell you more about that soon. Class starts next Monday!

I want to share my favorite part of the day with everyone! We live right next to one of the “pueblos” of Santa Ana. If you just thought Cherokee Indians or somewhere along those lines...punch yourself in the gut. In South America this just means rows of small little homes which result in a quaint but poor neighborhood. I have made it a point to get out and just lift the people to him in prayer. In these moments God has opened up doors for me to meet a lot of great people of all ages. If you happen to forget, I live in South America and they speak Spanish here. Which means at this moment, there is a lot of smiling, proper salutations, and moments where I just listen and wish I understood. But in everything I do, I love them. I love them as He loves you and me! It would be hard to describe how much I wish I could really converse with them, but for the meantime I am content on loving them by giving them my time and appreciation. The best part is the 15-20 kids from the neighborhood whom I have introduced to ultimate Frisbee! These kids are athletes but it’s more laughs that competitive remarks. I walked out of my room yesterday evening to all of them yelling at me to come play (which took me a moment to translate)! Remember who Jesus said was the greatest- if you just though Ali- read Matthew 18. These kids rock and I ask that you pray over my South American Sandlot. May He open up doors to share His truths with them and their families despite my limited Spanish! These people are beautiful and I’m excited for those who might come to meet them!

After a light dinner because my eternal temperature is now 1000 degrees, I grab this here blessing of technology and touch down in America for a while. After my fix of “home” I walk back to my place for bed. On the way I politely ask a few donkeys if they wouldn’t mind keeping their debauchery down this evening. I threaten them by saying I wont let them enter the ark if they abide by my demands! I wonder how much I would jack up the ecosystem if I omitted a few animals? Lucky for them I am a fan of Eeyore and I would never do anything malicious despite how much there mating keeps me up. Too bad that Disney did not create a character who was a scorpion! Sucks to be them! Hope you enjoy the rain- suckahs!

(P.S...I know its not going to be rain but fire next time...save the email, it was a joke. Ha!)