Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Yo soy enferma!


The kitchen.


The view of the living room and dinning room.


The living room of the apartmento.

I've been sick the last couple of days. I was fine Sunday evening when I got back from my little adventure in the mountains. But Monday morning I woke up with a stuffy nose, extremely sore and dry throat, and a headache. I stayed in all day, which was a bummer. I just felt like poo! I haven't been getting a whole lot of sleep at night because I've been sleeping in the last couple of days since I didn't feel well. I think I finally fell asleep about 2:30 or 3 AM Colombia time.

But Dad woke me up early, I got a shower, and I'm feeling a little bit better. I'm still really sore from Sunday (I feel abs forming!) and I'm coughing a lot. So please pray for me that God will restore my energy and health.

I'm trying to practice my spanish--somewhat. It hasn't been very successful. I'm just scared to talk because of my southern accent and I've forgotten a lot of verbs and tenses. Needless to say I try to listen in on the conversation and follow along. Sometimes I can, other times I have no clue what is going on. I'm just really struggling--I'm such an outcast. But an outcast can be good. I guess...

I've currently been reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. It's about nonreligious thoughts on Christianity. He's talked about how we use Christianity and sometimes we just go through the "verbateum" of speaking about Christ. Before we judge and look at others for doing wrong, we need to look at ourselves. I was just recently reading about Change in our lives. At the end of the chapter, he talks about Paul. Paul had no questions about what God wanted from him. Because of this, he was beaten one day, imprisioned the next, and released to be only beaten again. But yet, he never asked God why. He understood the earth was fallen. He understood that mankind could not save itself--we need to be rescued. We need to trust God. And follow Him. It's a huge responsibility though. It's not easy to trust, especially when you've been hurt and trusted someone, only to find out you've been betrayed. But God wants to preserve us and rescue us--I am wanted by God. Kinda of cool uh?

Today we have quite a busy day. We're going to eat breakfast with some family. Then we're going to eat lunch at the University with Cata. And then we're invited to dinner somewhere else. I'm gonna get fat! "Welcome to the entertaining life of Medellin!" as my father said.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

They call me Jane and that place was so good to eat at it's not worth going back there again.

I haven't had time to upload or blog because we've been so busy so here a few pictures to describe the last 3 days!


This was the view from the airplane. It really wasn't that bad of a flight. And customs going out and in were fine too.


This is Medellin at night from my grandfather's apartment. It's amazing. What a view to wake up to in the morning.


My orchids that some distant family brought as a welcome gift (they heard it was my favorite flower--can you see why??) And they smelled beautiful!

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The view from the "country club." You can see the club, golf course, tennis courts, the city, and the mountains. Incredible.


One of the bakeries. Delish!


One of the pasteries I "sampled."


All the cousins about to go zipping through a canopy through the "jungles of Medellin."


Me coming in from my first cable ride. I crashed into the tree. Pretty funny.


If you look closely, you can see me coming in. That was our last cable line and it was a mile long. Amazing view of the top of the trees.


What can I say? I repelled down a tree like a big girl! I can do anything! I am Jane!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Departure: T minus 7 hours

What an exhausting day. Where to begin?

Mom, Dad,and myself headed into Jacksonville for the day and evening. We ran some random errands around town (that of course included Stein-Mart and a really cute pair of flip flops) and Firehouse Subs. Then we ran errands with Pila. That was an adventure but we had fun!

I thought I was already "packed." Turns out, Dad and I had to take out HALF our clothes because 1)our suitcases were over the 50 lb weight limit and 2)Pila said so. Dad and I were limited to 8 pairs of underwear each. I snuck in an extra 3 pairs because you know sometimes you go through 2 pairs of underwear a day! Or I do atleast. But no worries, we do have a washer and dryer at the apartment. Thank the Lord. So I'll be washing underwear every 5 days pretty much!

Our packing turned into 3 hours. I was so frustrated. Dad was frustrated (some of his shirts were "too loud" and "not allowed in the apartment" according to Pila). We got everything situated (hopefully). Then tomorrow morning, we're off to Miami!

We're leaving Jax at 5 AM to drive to Miami, which will put us there at about 12:30. Our flight leaves out of Miami at 4:00 (our time) and we'll land in Colombia at 7:00 (our time). They are an hour behind us so it'll really be 8:00. Not too bad, I don't guess. Just a long day.

Papi asked if I cooked. HA! He said he had 2 cans of sardines from a year ago at the apartment. You know what that means? We're going to LA TIENDA! (the store) I'm not sure how I'm going to survive the next 3 1/2 weeks. I'll find something or if anything else, I might just lose a little bit of weight. Wouldn't that be nice? But then again, we thought I would lose weight in Venzuala when I went in 9th grade but I think I gained weight...

It's surreal that I'm going to Colombia. I was talking to Dad about it last night after our excursion to Barnes & Noble and this is a pretty big important trip. There's a lot of pressure to meet family, getting to know them and the bakeries. And p.s. My spanish Sucks. So that's going to be interesting. But mom bought me "Spanish on C.D." so I'm going to load them onto my iPod and maybe pick up a little bit here and there...

I'm just ready to be there! Thre are things in life that I wish I could bypass (such as the dating game--or the beginning at least) and one thing I wish I could bypass would be packing and traveling. I mean, I love traveling--don't get me wrong! Being on the plane and everything. But the stress and the headache. Our family makes such a simple task the most complicated thing! (i.e. Choosing where to eat for dinner: We started discussing it at 5. What time did we go? 8:30. Where did we go? Some random crap hispanic food where I ate steak with a fried egg. Yum). Anyways, not to complain...just venting!

I'm going to end it here. I'm super tired. And I want to get in the shower and finish reading my book. (The Nanny Diaries...great book. This is my 2nd book I'm on since Monday).

I'll try to update tomorrow on our travels. Papi says he has internet at the apartment but he said that he had it here at the house and Dad and I ended up hacking into the system so that he could use it. Crazy.

Pray for us. That's all I can say.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Hello Florida!


Look who I found! Amanda Nick!


Josh and I at the Brad Paisley Concert



Well, I'm in Florida! And just trying to enjoy the beach and sand before I venture off to Colombia on Thursday! Turns out we leave Thursday, not Wednesday like we orginally thought. Go figure.

This past weekend I spend sometime with Josh. I went up to Gastonia Saturday afternoon. We then went up to Charlotte and Concord for Brad Paisley's concert later on that night. Let me tell you, it was pretty amazing. I mean, right up there with Sister Hazel if I do say so myself. We were in a good section--good view, no drunks, no spilling beer--I was pretty content. Sunday, we just layed around at his mom's house. We grilled out and had some pretty amazing steaks. Probably the best meal I'll have for a long time.

And now I'm in Florida. At our beach house. Finding an internet connection down here is insane. My dad and I even went to Barnes and Nobles thinking we could pick up something there, but we couldn't. But we found out if you sit out on the edge of the deck you can get a little bit of a signal. I think dad and I are going to go into Jax tomorrow to Papi and Pila's house. Dad has to get work done and I gotta go through some things.

Anyways, I have to make this short. So sad. More later. I have some more thoughts to add but my battery is about to die, of course.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Here we go




I'll be honest. I'm not a big blogger fan. I mean, I admire those that do blog but I can never keep up with blogs. I don't even keep up with my checking account.

But with me taking off in less than 5 days to Colombia, South America I decided (and there has been requests) for me to blog so I can keep in touch with others and so that people at home can see what we do everyday because you know it's gonna be an adventure. And Mandy and Blake gave me a hand journal to write in also so I'm hoping that will motivate me even more to keep up on things.

It's Friday evening and Mom and Dad have already gone to bed. They're leaving for Charleston and Jax in the morning. I'm hitching a ride with Uncle Dave and Aunt Diane Monday to go down to the beach for a couple of days. And then Wednesday, the 25th, Dad, Papi and I myself leave for Colombia. Dad estimates if the weather is "good and decent with no smog" we should arrive in Colombia at the apartment around 11 pm. It's gonna be a long day.

But I'm excited. I don't show it, but I'm excited. Lord knows what Papi has planned for us. I know it involves some horseback riding, fancy dinners, THE FLOWER FESTIVAL/PARADE (that's what I'm REALLY excited about), hiking, touring, pictures, bakeries, and what not. Try packing for 3 weeks for all of that.


It's going to be a fun trip. Too bad I can't pack Allison B in my suitcase. We came close but maybe another fun trip!


Please keep me in your prayers! If you know anything about my grandfather and my dad, we're going to need guardian angels thats for sure. I'm not that nervous about flying--it's going through customs and something random happen to me because random is my middle name. And Dad sucks at going through customs. But alas, it'll be ok!

With me being the biggest quote fanatic, I'm going to leave on this quote.

We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries everyday with new experience and character. Henry David Thoreau