Bogota, Colombia Dia Uno y Dos.

So, I make my second trip to South America. I have to be honest that I was a bit intimidated by this one. We are told that the only thing to come out of Colombia is a white powder. We are told that it is a dangerous environment. We are told that it is not a safe place. I have to tell you that on my first day here, I was afraid to venture out for fear of being kidnapped or whatever because of what the media has told me. I stayed in my hotel room and worked because of fear.

On my second day my work was to start in earnest. I was met in the lobby of my hotel by a new friend Diego P. Deigo assured me that where I am staying is safe. We walked to the office which was right around the corner. I was introduced to some of my Colombian co-workers and they all were very warm and welcoming. We then needed to go to a meeting at the new office that we are building. Security is very important here. You see armed solders. You see armed police. You see private security and K9 units everywhere. You are checked into and out of buildings. But you are always met with a smile and a Beun Dia. The meeting is a success with several more through out the day that were also successful. I am afraid that my biases have made me miss a day of meeting new people and experiencing new things. I am sorry that my fear got in the way of this.

Work was long. Eleven hours on Monday and a total of eighteen hours in two days. I am tired and having difficulty sleeping. I am only on Eastern Time Zone, but I have a lot to accomplish in only 5 days. We went out for dinner at around 20:00. We went to the Bogota Beer Company, and it was a blast. One of my Minnesota co-workers came down. To show you how small the world is, this lady worked at Deluxe at the same time I did. This came out when we were discussing "six degrees of separation". How everyone in the world is connected to everyone else by no more than six people. We know a lot of the same people from Deluxe. Small world I guess!

Later on in the evening after telling war stories, I mentioned that I went to Augsburg College. And she started to laugh. She graduated from Augsburg five years after I did. Again the world is smaller. Diego was a great host. I am looking forward to tomorrow and the new experiences I am to gain by putting aside my biases against Colombia. It truly is a place of beauty in the Andes.

The new office has many great views of the Andes mountain range. It should be raining here right now, but has not since I have been here. They will be seeing a water shortage if it does not start raining soon. I am wondering how these people will get any work done with the views they have from their work stations.

It is odd to me to see Christmas lights when I am walking around in short sleeves and no jacket. To see Papa Noel a.k.a Santa Clause. To see arbol de navidad a.k.a Christmas Trees. We are all alike on this marble. We all have hopes and dreams. We all have fears. You would think after all my fears I have conquered that I would be smart enough to always enter a new experience with an open mind... I still have some growing up to do I guess.

I am truly going to embrace my next two days here. I will still try to habla Espaniol. It is getting easier. Diego encourages me to make mistakes. Apparently I say orange the wrong way in Spanish and it refers to female genitalia the way I say it. Oh well, that is the price I must pay to learn so I will continue to strive for correctness. I learned tonight that busette may mean bus in Colombia, but in the rest of Latin America it means whore. I also learned that you have to be careful with other harmless words depending on which country you are in they can be construed very differently.

This second trip to South America, continues to deepen my affection for it's people. They live life to the fullest. They know when to work, but more importantly, they know when to stop the work and live life to it's fullest. I can claim that I have visited three of it's countries, even if Brazil was only for two hours. I have not met one person that has been rude or mean to me. They seem very open and willing to share what they have.

So again in South America, I am working long hours. I am being taught valuable life lessons. I am achieving things which I have no ability to achieve. I am content with my day and my place in it. I need to make this an everyday occurance. Funny when I am not training for something bigger than myself, I still see myself as not worthy of the space I occupy. Funny that a place that I feared, has once again opened my eyes. Funny that I need fear to teach me these great lessons.

Gracias a ti Colombia!!!