Goodbyes

Josie has been a member of our family for two and a half years. We had a jar in the kitchen where the kids saved their change for a long time....hoping to add a dog to our family. While she was way more work than I had anticipated, she very quickly integrated into our family and we grew to love her very much. We came to the difficult decision not to take her to Bogota, and to give her to our good friends. They are so happy to have her, and have loved her almost her whole life as well. We have seen her almost everyday since the "transition brunch" and the reunions are so happy and heart warming. I hope she still remembers us when we come home from Colombia. It warms our heart to know she has been adopted by such a terrific family. You can see her puppy pictures here.

Spanish school

My dear friend Lu Ann organized a week-long Spanish camp in honor of my children leaving for Bogota. They played together, worked in learning stations, acted out verbs, and I think employed every possible type of learning strategy for the varied styles represented in the SIXTEEN children ages 2 through 11. Wow. What an amazing gift. If you want to see more pictures, you can look here.

Merry-go-round

everyone aboard on the merry-go-round some things will rise up so that others come down if the devil don't dance heaven won't shine it's a mighty thick haze and it's a pretty thin line if the faucet is tightened up the love won't flow if the love isn't bright enough the corn won't grow if the night isn't dark enough the moon won't glow

My Mother's New Year Prayer

I am trying to keep this one close to me, as I anticipate these changes and wrestle with fear and uncertainty.

"For all the possibilities ahead of us in this new year, make us thankful, O Lord. Give us wisdom, courage and discernment in the face of so much chaos, despair and fear. Help us to see how, in our circumstances, we can contribute toward peace, faith and love; and give us the will to translate our desires into actions."

A.m.e.n.

Goodbyes

Each day we say goodbye to something else. It has been slow and long, but we are grateful for the time it takes to release things, and the dear friends and lovely times we have had here in Kansas.

One of those goodbyes was to our "neighborhood school" Northridge, where I was an employee first, then Mom. Our children have enjoyed walking, biking, skateboarding, and rollar skating there for the last six years. We will miss this school dearly.

We celebrated the very last day with balloons on our bikes, a party at the park with whipped cream whiffle ball, and a "spray down" from the local fire department. It was glorious!

Commissioned

On April 19 our family had a beautiful commissioning service at Shalom Mennonite Church. We were humbled by the amount of support and love we felt from this community. It was holy. And Micah brought some humor as well (see snake on shoulder) Thank you Kristin for the photos.

Futbol en Colombia

It is most likely common knowledge that soccer (futbol) is the popular sport in Colombia. Many other sports are played from what I have read. However, soccer is king, and that is something about which I am very happy. Being a former player, coach, and all around enthusiast for the game, I feel a bit giddy when I think of how accessible the sport will be to me and my family while in Colombia.

I have done some preliminary searching of professional soccer clubs, especially for opportunities for youth development. I hope to have a post at some point dedicated solely to that topic. For now, I thought it might be interesting for others to learn a bit more about the sport in Colombia in general.

Honestly, prior to a few months ago, my only knowledge of soccer in Colombia was informed by stereotype (all latin americans love soccer) and bad press, such as the assassination of a Colombian team player after a tough World Cup loss a few tournaments ago. My only knowledge of any Colombian player was that of Carlos, "El Pibe", Valderrama:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Valderrama_(footballer)
and his signature bronze colored afro. I watched him play many times on television and always admired his skill in the midfield.

Colombia does have a professional league with many teams (maybe 20 or so in the first division) According to a few websites there are a couple of professional Colombian teams in Bogota that have a large following and a strong rivalry: Los Milionarios and Independiente de Sante Fe. Their websites (in spanish) are:
http://www.millonarios.com.co/
http://www.independientesantafe.com/

Apparently their are regular professional games at El Campin, the nacional stadium, each Wednesday evening and Sunday afternoon and tickets seem quite affordable. I believe this stadium is the home location for Los Millonarios. It just so happens we may live in fairly close proximity to the stadium.

It is recommended that we become educated on safety issues during games. Probably much like parental behavior at an American U10 soccer game! Seriously, I have seen some intense video of these games ( I am referring to the professional Colombian games...but I have seen parents get in a fist fight at a U10 game).

In time I suppose I'll have to decide on a team to follow. Such decisions. I have such a high regard for the game and ethos of soccer, in comparison to American football for example. I wonder how that will change after living in a country that places professional soccer players in the spotlight.