Back from COLOMBIA

Coming back from Colombia seemed like a dream.
During our bus-ride to the airport, I was  zonked from waking up at 4.00, having slept only two hours in the wee morning because I had been discussing wonderfully important things with friends....besides, I didn't want to sleep the last night I had in Formando Vidas. So there. On account of my dazed sleep-state, however, (pretty sure I was in the REM sleep stage, only AWAKE...if you could call what me awake at that point...) I just couldn't seem to cry. Those tears just wouldn't come, even as we were driven carefully through the city of Bogota to the airport. I saw some crazy joggers up and running, along with shady figures here and there and business-people, nibbling on either mango or bread, I speculated. Bread. I wouldn't miss that aspect of Colombia. In Cartagena, all the people seemed to eat was white bread, white cheese, and white frothy juice drinks (ok maybe I'm exaggerating...but maybe not!)
Nevertheless, leaving Colombia is leaving Colombia. Even Cartagena suddenly became a place worthy of being missed, as I walked in a stunned fashion through the airport, wearing my tourist pants and remembering all of the sweet, on-fire-for-Jesus people, young and old, that I met there in that sandy, dry city. As we boarded the plane, the rain began to fall. Overwhelming homesickness took me by surprise, and the song "This is Home" began playing in my mind. Of course I could only remember the chorus, but then I looked it up when I got back, and the whole song encapsulates the feeling I was having at the moment.

I've got my memories
They're always inside of me
But I can't go back
Back to how it was

I believe you now
I've come too far
No, I can't go back
Back to how it was

Created for a place
I've never known

This is home
Now I'm finally where I belong, where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching for a place of my own
Now I've found it, maybe, this is home
Yeah, this is home

Belief over misery
I've seen the enemy
And I won't go back
Back to how it was

And I got my heart set on what happens next
I've got my eyes wide, it's not over yet
We are miracles
And we're not alone

Yeah, this is home
Now I'm finally where I belong, where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching for a place of my own
Now I've found it, maybe, this is home
Yeah, this is home

And now after all my searching
After all my questions
I'm gonna call it home

I got a brand new mindset
I can finally see the sunset
I'm gonna call it home

This is home
Now I'm finally where I belong, where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I've been searching for a place of my own
Now I've found it, maybe, this is home

    The tears didn't come till later. Much later. All I could do was wave and whisper good-byes while staring out my little airplane window (which reminded me of a little submarine port-hole) and gazing on the landscape: green green green all over, with bushy trees, sweeping mountain ranges, and the city perfectly grand and huge and bustling and hued in gray, brown, and black to off-set the beautiful scenery. 

So this is Bogota, the above pic from Monserrate, which is a famous mountain that devoted Catholics climb up to the top on their hands and knees to kiss the cathedral of the fallen Christ. We just went up for fun and were praising God for the absolutely drop-dead gorgeous scenery!!!!
But here are some pics of the other places, Leticia and Cartagena=-D

This is a typical Leticia port. Kinda miss it=-(

Ok so these pics are not my pics, nor were they taken by the team, I found them online, but they capture the essence of what I saw. Actually this pic is a very accurate sunset. Soooo stunningly beautiful. Because we had no technology there, we watched sunsets instead of watching movies, and we talked, read, or wrote instead of doing social media. It was the hardest, best week of my life. Oooh, or we'd go swimming in the pirahna-infested Amazon! That was the best, .diving off this little floating dock into the lovely brown water. Could do that all day with my little friends Estaban and John. They were awesome diving buddies=-) We'd say "Uno, Dos, Tres!" and then jump into the water! Haha, it was a blast.

Classic scene, especially with the dog in there itching himself...the dog population is out of control in Colombia, and the majority in places like Leticia are not cared for; they are full of ticks and fleas and who knows what, and I saw some going about with broken legs=-( If you're a vet with a mission, go to Colombia! Haha, not that I'm twisting your arm or anything...

Fruit! We looooove fruit in Colombia! You think you've tasted a mango, but wait till you taste a mango from the jungle of Zaragoza. Yum-yum. And there are so many unique jungle fruits that are marvelous. Interesting note: I hated guava, till I tasted one from the jungle. It was like tasting something an angel would make for breakfast. And the aroma was just soooo sweet. The fruit of our good works tastes that sweet to God! Puts a whole new spin on "bear fruit in accordance with repentance". We're not talking genetically engineered, contrived fruit here! We're talking authentic, wholesome, out-of-this-world delicious fruit!!! Also bananas are everywhere there, and plantains, which are fried up in oil; guanabana is a great big green fruit that is so hard to describe---and there are plenty more that I can't remember the names of at the moment. But the kids liked to show us the fruit and go up the fruit trees to knock some down for us--they were so sweet! I wish I could have spoken Spanish to them, but hey, this is incentive to learn!=-) I have so much to learn from the simplified, down-to-earth way of jungle living. Being content with yourself and your family. Big lesson to learn! 

  I like one of those pics above because it has a red cross symbol on it, which looks like the symbol for a lifeguard. Currently, I'm training to become a lifeguard for a summer camp beginning at the end of May. Pray for me as I embark on this journey, to help others and to follow Jesus wherever He leads in this life! 
Everywhere with Jesus is home to me. So I'm very excited, slightly nervous, and mostly thrilled about what lies ahead! 

>>Envia tu luz y tu verdad; estas me guiaran; me conduciran a tu santo monte, y a tus moradas. << 

Salmo 43: 3

"Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; let them bring me to Your holy hill and to Your tabernacle."