During our time in Bogota, Colombia, we stayed with an amazing couple who used to go to Crossroads Bible Church in Panama. They were incredible hosts to show us the city and truly made our Colombia experience! They shared stories of how God had worked in their family, and it was so encouraging to hear what God was doing in Colombia now!
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| Colombian hats |
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| Hecho esta means "it is finished" from Revelation 21:6: | And he also said, "It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega--the
Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from
the springs of the water of life. |
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| Adriana took us to two Christian stores in Bogota. This one was so cute! |
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| Llama! |
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| Ajiaco: traditional Colombian soup with an empananda |
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| Super sweet arequipe or coconut/peanut filled candy |
They even won their World Cup match against the Ivory Coast. There was a huge Brazilian style drumline that danced their way through the mall, as a crowd of passionate Colombian soccer fans blasted their vuvuzelas in response. So much excitement!!
Entry from 6/20/14
This morning Adriana and Edgar dropped us off at the base of Monserrate. We took a funicular up the mountain, and it went almost completely straight up the track. I thought I'd be anxious, but the ride was smooth and calm, and, at its steepest, we were inside a long tunnel. They had fun music and a calming voice welcoming us to the top.
The view of Bogota was incredible! We were 3,127 meters above sea level!
I felt the altitude as we climbed the brick stairs up to the church. It was raining and windy, so we ducked into a restaurant and enjoyed arepas and chocolate. We huddled under sweaters and scarves as we hurried through the rain to take in the view of the city half covered in fog. Very different than Quito, which had thousands of houses spread among its green hills. Bogota has several taller business buildings and hotels in the North side and shorter homes/buildings in the South. In the distance, we saw smaller mountains, and the hill across from Monserrate had another large church.
On our way to the funicular, we realized there were statues of the 15 stages of the cross, so we retraced our steps and went to find all but three of the statues (which may have been further down the hill).
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| Christ has victory over death! |
We waited a long time in line for the funicular down the hill. When we finally reached the bottom of the hill, we were exhausted. We took a taxi to the Gold Museum--which houses South America's largest collection of Pre-Colombian gold--but mainly lounged around, took silly pictures and watched the museum's videos.
The strangest experience of all was when the museum guard wouldn't let a group of us pass by without checking out a "special exhibit." Instead, he ushered the crowd into a circular shaped room. We walked inside and didn't see much. The huge sliding doors closed, and the lights went dim. Suddenly, a low-pitched chanting started playing over the room's loudspeakers, and the noise reverberated around the room. At the same time, the lights flickered and illuminated the gold objects in the wall's giant display case.
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| Meeting the Incan king.. |
The gold shapes were interesting, but not enough to stand there and wonder what was happening for more than 3 minutes. When the exhibit doors finally slid open, we rushed out of there. The strangest exhibit I have ever visited!
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| Strange gold museum exhibit |
After shaking off that experience, we left the Gold Museum, where we had spent entirely too much time, and wandered the streets of Candelaria looking for a good lunch place. We caught more of the World Cup, and later reunited with our hosts for coffee at Juan Valdes.
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| La Candelaria square |
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| Last dinner together with our hosts at Crepes and Waffles |
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