An Excursion!

Our second weekend in the country, we finally finished all our government paperwork, our shipped boxes have come in and we are nearing the end of getting our apartment organized; life seems to be coming together. The director of the school called us and invited us to go with them on an excursion to “hot country” (down the mountain) to some property that a family from the school owns and allows missionaries to spend the night, relax, swim in the lake and go boating/ skiing surrounded by mountains. We joyfully accepted the invite before life would become crazy with school work.

Destination: Prado, Colombia

We left early in the morning to avoid traffic and so we could have two full days on the lake.  We made it to the property and were settled in by lunch time. The other wonderful aspect of this weekend was the Colombian cook! She made fresh juice from different fruit like Mora (similar to a blackberry), Lulo (tastes similar to kiwi), and passion fruit. We learned that most Colombians do not eat the fruit but make it into a juice.  Soups are very popular, for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Usually, the soup will contain a meat (chicken or beef), potato, yucca, and cilantro. Other ingredients may include: corn on the cob, rice, avocado, and beans. The food is not spicy, but more “bland” due to the food being seasoned with the ingredients of the dish.

After lunch, we went for a swim in the warm, almost bath-like water, then lay in a hammock to read or take a nap- it was wonderful. By later afternoon, we were out on the water cruising around the lake and exploring different areas. But on the way back, we were in a bay and the full length of the lake away from where we were staying when the battery of the boat died!  The expression- “ up a creek without a paddle” was practically true, because we were so far from our location and we did not have a paddle! Instead, we used the skiis as paddles to get to a “nearby” home.  It took about an hour to row the distance and get battery a jump start!  Oh boy! What and adventure!  Needless to say, we had worked up an appetite for dinner (which was another amazing Colombian soup)!  We ate dinner in the dark so the mosquitos and other bugs would not be attracted to the light and as we gazed up at the clear sky, we could see so many stars twinkling in the sky.  Amazing, God’s handiwork- we realized it had been a long time since we had seen the stars like this due to the light pollution of the city or suburbs that prevented us from viewing the stars so clearly. While we sat under the star, we had such sweet fellowship with the director’s daughter and her friend (both college students), about discerned God’s will for our lives. I hope that we were an encouragement to these young adults as then try to discern career choices.

The next morning, after breakfast, a little reading in hammocks, the boat went out for the first round of skiing. It had been several years since we had gone skiing. The boat returned for lunch and a short break. We went for a quick swim and we were back out on the boat for round two of skiing.  By the time we came back in, we had to pack up, we ate a quick snack and were on our way. We stopped to see a small waterfall from a creek that feed into the lake. We climbed up and jumped off a big boulder into the lagoon. We were not able to stay long because it was getting dark and we needed to return before the mosquitoes would be out to feed on us.

Though we were only in Prado for 36 hours, it felt like we had rested for 3-4 days; it was wonderful. We came home with wonderful memories, and Marlayna and Elleazah came home with bed bug bites! We thank God for the generosity of this school family to provide a rest haven to ministry workers.