Dear friends and followers,
Time is really flying!! It is hard to believe that it is already 2017. I want to share with you a few special days I've experienced in Barranquilla since I last posted. Let's take a look...
1. "Participación de los jóvenes en la justicia social"
This was a World Council of Churches seminar on the Participation of Youth in Social Justice. I was part of a team that helped plan/organize the event and also had the opportunity to participate in this seminar. I was able to meet other youth from all over Latin America (and Jamaica) and engage in honest discussions about the church's role in social justice and the role of youth and young adults in church life. As my new friends and I worshiped together, prayed together, and discussed the theme of the seminar, I was struck by how quickly bonds of true friendship can be made. This was life-giving for me and I'm grateful for the experience.
2. Thanksgiving
November was quite an interesting month. For the first time, I was outside of the U.S. for Thanksgiving. Happily, I did not miss out on the holiday this year. Instead, I was able to celebrate with friends and my host family. Thanksgiving "day" ended up being a Thanksgiving "week" for me, since I had 3 different dinners with 3 groups of people who are dear to me. Those of you who have ever been around me on Thanksgiving know that I am a little obsessed with stuffing and eat at least half a plate full every Thanksgiving, without shame. I am proud to tell you that this year not only did I make stuffing by scratch, but that it was a pretty big hit. Who knew I could cook! ;) These celebrations were special to me, because I had the chance to share with my friends in Colombia a little bit about my culture on a U.S. national holiday (in other words, "I GOT TO FEED MY FRIENDS FOOD I REALLY LIKE AND THEY ENJOYED IT"). I also got to spend quality time with my fellow YAV and YAV coordinator, as well as some other friends, when we were cooking together. The highlight of the dinners for me was when, in a group, each of us shared what we were grateful for in 2016 and gave thanks to God together. #fellowship
(Shout out to Jair, friend and co-worker, for these pictures!)
(Photo cred to my fellow YAV, Ainsley Herrick!)
3. My Birthday
December 14th was the first birthday I have had apart from my triplet brother and sister. However, I had no time to be nostalgic or sad, because I was so busy and felt surrounded by love all day. My morning started with my host family singing "Feliz cumpleaños" to wake me up and the day just got better from there. While I did go to work on my birthday, my friends and co-workers made the day feel special. On Wednesdays, I typically go to a neighborhood in the city to help with a Bible study and just spend time in fellowship with people there. On this Wednesday, my co-worker surprised me with a joint birthday party (a friend in the neighborhood was also having a birthday), and we all ate wonderful food and listened to salsa music together while we talked. Let me tell you, there ain't no birthday like a Colombian birthday...a day chock full of celebration and warmth. What a blessing it was to celebrate with lovely friends!
4. New Year's Eve
Celebrating the New Year in Colombia was a blast. We had a lot of family time and great food. A cool tradition that I learned about is to take an empty suitcase and run down the street with it. The idea is that if you do this, you will travel sometime in the coming year! Something I really enjoy about being a YAV in Colombia is that I am part of a community here- and a big part of that is my home life with my host family. My host family Skyped my family in the U.S. to wish them a Happy New Year. I enjoyed translating (although occasionally I told my parents things in Spanish and my host family things in English by accident).
These are just a few examples of memorable days so far.
Thanks for reading this post! Thank you also for your love, support, and prayers. Please consider continuing to support my year of service financially by following this link: https://www.presbyterianmission.org/donate/E210352/.
Blessings,
Brittany