Monday

Yesterday, Monday, we went back to the school we painted on Saturday. They were so excited to see us. I met one of the little boys I had made friends with last year. As soon as he saw me, he ran and gave me a huge hug. I remembered him as well and hoped I would see him again whether he remembered me or not. Last year, all we did together was play a patty cake type game. So, the first thing we did together was play again. I played that game sooo much with him and others today that I burst a blood vessel in my finger.
Through this, I learned that simple acts of love can make such a significant impact on the lives of these children.
We did our 2 dramas then split up into the classrooms. My partner and I were in the 5th grade classroom. He has some Spanish and I have 4 years of Latin. So communicating was not easy especially since they were young as well. We told them about ourselves, our families, and a myriad of our favorite things. We worked on teaching English by having them tell us about their families and favorite things. We had some flashcards with English/Spanish verbs that we acted out. We sang head, shoulders, knees, and toes. We had a lot of fun, but I'm not sure if I have ever done anything as hard in my life. However, my Spanish vocabulary is rapidly growing.
After we all finished in the classrooms, the older kids went to the park to play while the younger kids stayed to watch our puppet performance. We have not practiced our puppets in a very long time. Also the script is recorded in Spanish. So we have to learn the timing of the recording and figure out what is being said. That performance of puppets was the worst attempt I have ever seen. We hardly fit behind our sheet, we couldn't hear the recording, and everyone missed their cues. But when we were finished the kids went up to the principal and told her how much they loved the puppets. By God alone could we have done what we did. Then it was time for the children to go home so they fed us lunch again.
We went with the mission to show love to the school, but every time we turned around they were loving us.
For the afternoon, we had plans to tour the Museum of Gold, do some shopping, and ride a cable car to the top of the mountain. However, the Museum of Gold was closed, so we had extra time for shopping. Then we rode to the top of the mountain where it started raining. We decided to call our buses early, eat dinner, and be back to the church with time for some basketball and worship band practice. Then, in the crazy Bogota traffic, our huge bus was almost cut off by a small car resulting in a small fender bender. We proceeded to sit on our bus for 2 hours, first waiting for the traffic police, then a second bus to take us away. We eventually made it to Crepes and Waffles, one of our favorite places to eat. We came home, read the letters from our TCS 6th grade prayer partners, and made it to bed by 1:30am.
A couple of prayer requests: we are leading a service tonight at a local church. Pray for our worship team that has not had adequate time to practice. We most likely will perform our dramas and two of our students will give a message. I am feeling a little under the weather. Don't forget to check out our Facebook fan page, "TCS loves Bogota." Feel free to leave comments. I'd love to hear from my supporters. Thanks, Elisabeth



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