Our way home

Yesterday we were up all night into the early morning hours, enjoying our last view of the beautiful city and remembering the great time we all had. We cooked up some quick eggs and headed out for the airport. Arriving at the airport we all began to reminisce about the trip and how we will miss the house, our time with the orphans and especially our dope tour guide Carlos. After getting on the plane and landing in Miami it was now time to go through dreaded customs.  As we made our way through the airport it was odd to see the airports directions in English, having been used to Spanish the entire trip.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until Antonio and Ben were pulled aside, never knew not shaving for a week made someone look that shady. Me and the others made it through security and bag check fairly easily but were unable to meet up with Ben and Antonio for another 2 hours at the gate. Antonio and Ben (with Ms. Gomez) arrived back at the gate, as if it wasn’t crazy already racing around was seemingly for nothing...our plane is delayed 2 hours. While waiting to return home Mrs Campbell and Mrs Gomez complimented some of the qualities they noticed about each of us on the trip. We appreciated what they learned about each of us.

We boarded the plane to soon find out we had another 3 hour delay ahead of us. We all walked off the plane grabbed some food and waited at the gate. The time felt as slow as ever as we all were desperately waiting to arrive home. At 7:15 we finally boarded for what we hoped a successful trip. At the flight touched ground in Boston,  it really began to hit us all of what a great time we had in Colombia, for me especially being my first time out of the country. I thank Mrs. Campbell and Mrs. Gomez for organizing a life changing experience for all of us.

Charlie Kaberry

Comuna 13, More Pablo and Our Goodbyes

Today was our final day in Colombia and we had the privilege to sleep in for an extra hour! We began our exciting day at the cable cars which is a form of transportation. We traveled through a very deprived area but at the top there were very nice condos for the Colombian National Soccer Team. The cable cars were built so that the people in the deprived areas did not have to travel two hours walking to work. 

The next portion of our day consisted of the graffiti tour in Comuna 13 which used to be the most dangerous city in Colombia. It used to have a death rate of 12,000 people a year and has improved greatly to only 700 a year. The graffiti came about when they wanted the city to be a less violent area and wanted to bring more positivity. They added art, music and dancing to draw people into the neighborhood since it had such a bad reputation. Also, the people from that area were being exposed to better opportunities while being able to share their talents.

We then drove to the spot of Pablo Escobar’s death. We learned that the reason Pablo was found was because he was on the phone with his son and the call got intercepted by the Colombian government which led them to his location. They then went to the scene and went to the wrong house. Pablo’s worker went to the market but never returned. Concerned, he opened the door leading to him blowing his cover. 

We learned that Pablo’s autopsy showed a bullet entering the right side of his ear which was not visible by the Colombian army at the scene. Also, the bullet was a 10 mL bullet and the government uses 40-65 mL bullets. Our guide Carlos (known to us as Los) educated us on the three myths of how people in Colombia believed Pablo died. One was that the Colombian Army shot him. Another was that the Pepe’s (army that worked against Pablo) killed him. Lastly, our guide strongly believes that he committed suicide due to the autopsy and the way he was running from the building he escaped. 

We then traveled to our final destination on the metro, the Viva Mall. The biggest mall in South America. We met our friends from Ninos del Sol to play in the arcade and took them to Frisby chicken for dinner. We then said our goodbyes to our friends and our loving, passionate, amazing tour guide Carlos. It was an emotional farewell at the mall and back at the Foundation receiving our goodbyes and appreciation.  The owners of the orphanage thanked us for our financial donation and told us to please keep in touch.

- Emily 

Coffee tour and Santa Fe.

Today we woke up to Liam's regular "Rise and Grind!!". We got on the bus to go to a tour about how real coffee is made but before that we got breakfast. The group stopped at an open restaurant which was actually really good. We went throughout the 4 hour tour and learned that the three highest coffee producers are Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia. We also learned that Peru has the best quality of coffee in the world. Carlos our tour guide made us  pick coffee beans and taught us how real coffee is made and the coffee in the US is a lower quality and made to be addictive to make profit. Coffee in Colombia is healthy because it has many antioxidants. After dressing up in the typical Colombian coffee workers gear and trying coffee and listening to the full process.  He ranted about how coffee is the best thing in the world for two hours, and how the US has the most stomach cancer likely due to diet. We then went to the pool, the temperature was refreshing and we had fun playing in the water and soccer for a couple of hours. We then visited a small town named Santa Fe De Antioquia, we had ice cream and walked around taking pictures.  We left to on our two hour ride back home. When we thought our day couldn't get more eventful, we got home to our trash can completely scattered all around the floor. We quickly came to the conclusion that the neighbors dog must have intruded the house through the basements door being wide open and black fur on the ground. We finished cleaning and randomly started telling haunted stories to scare one another. as soon as the last story was told. Ms Gomez walked downstairs and noticed the washing machine broke and leaked soapy water all over the floor making us more scared. Tomorrow is our last day in Medellin, plans are to ride on funiculares (similiar to a lift when skiing) to see the city from above and do a graffiti tour. Lastly, we will meet up at a mall to play arcade games with Ninos del Sol and say our farewells.  Packing will then happen and our driver will pick us to head airport Tuesday early. .  

Antonio TopouzisCo

Flowers & The Surprise

Another day, another 7am wake up to chirping  birds and the occasional dog bark in the distance. Some people started their day with a hot shower while others preferred to snag a Bon Yurt (or peanut butter bread) to quench their hunger. Just when we thought the rain was over from the previous night’s storm, it started to pour again during our hour long drive to the town of Santa Elena. Our itinerary for the day consisted of a tour of a flower ranch, some time at a mall, and a surprise evening activity. In Medellin, the climate isn’t optimal for growing corn, rice, or other grains, but it is perfect for growing flowers. With these flowers, owners of flower farms are able to sell them and use them once a year in the Medellin flower festival. The flower festival in Medellin is an annual event where 220 flower farms participate in parades and flower arrangement activities. While 220 farms participate in this event, only 10 farms are open for tours. We arrived at one of these flower ranches at 9:45 and we were able to walk around a little before the presentation began. The paths throughout the rows of flowers were a little slippery and some of us may have slipped on the way down. While the owner of the ranch was speaking, cinnamon sugar teas were passed out to the audience. We learned that in the parade women carry 170 lb silleteras (Spanish word comes from the root silla, which means chair since originally they used them) or flower arrangements, on their backs, while men usually carry 220 lbs of these silleteras. During the parade, participants walk three miles with the flowers on their back. The flowers come in various vibrant colors through the method of dying their roots in order for the color to be absorbed through the stem and petals. After the presentation we were able to try on a 70 lb silleteras. At the ranch, or finca, we were able to try some authentic sweet corn arepas with cheese and some hot chocolate.

After our flower ranch tour, we set out for a nearby outdoor mall. Here, some of us exchanged more money in order to have more pesos to purchase items with. We had about three hours to eat lunch and shop at the mall. Some of us enjoyed a nice lunch from McDonalds or one of the many restaurants in the food court. We headed back to the house for a quick three hour break before heading to our surprise evening activity. The local soccer game that we were previously going to attend had been rescheduled due to preparations for the flower festival. At 8:00 tonight, we boarded the bus for the final time that day and headed out into the unknown. The only thing we knew about our venture was that it was mandatory to wear pants. With this vague clue, rumors began floating around about what we might end up doing that night. Everything from mechanical bull riding to late night mass were being discussed. Twenty minutes later we arrived to our destination. What looked like a fun, lively dinner place turned out to be a very unique restaurant. After ordering our food, horses and their riders began cantering and prancing throughout the venue. Our dinner was delicious, but the horses and singing performances were a perfect pairing to our meal. The dancing at the end was the best way to wrap up the night. Tonight was a fun, but tomorrow has many more things in store. We will be going on a coffee tour and to a swimming area.

China Duff J

The Giant Dwayne Johnson

Today we woke up bright and early to some freshly made pancakes. We then got on the bus for what we planned on being a 2 hour car ride. The ride ended up being 3 hours because of traffic and pit stops. We first arrived in a little town called La Replica that was full of little shops. We all shopped for a little bit then got a snack of empanadas and cheese bread. We then took a private boat around a lake that was made to produce energy. While on the lake we saw several homes that had belonged to Pablo Escobar and his family. 

We then headed over to a giant rock where we climbed 740 steps to get to the top. The view was amazing, and most of us took roughly 10 minutes to get to the top. By the time we got back down the giant rock, our legs were like jelly. After, we strolled around the town, Guatapé and went into small shops at the bottom of the rock. We then got lunch around 4:30 at a restaurant called El Portal. The town of Guatapé was full of colorful buildings and we walked around learning about some history of the town.  All of the buildings in this town have a stripe of some sort that goes across the building with a design below it. This detail makes the town stand out. The town is also well known for a parade that is held during Holy Week. At around 6:45 we left the town of Guatapé, and got home around 9:20. For dinner we made ourselves sandwiches and picked on what we had at the house. 

Tomorrow we have plans to go to visit a farm and learn about how the flower arrangements are made for the festival of flowers that is currently going on in Medellin.  We also will have a surprise dinner that we are wondering where and what it will entail.  

Kenzie

Escobar day and Orphanage.

After a day jam packed with activities, chapter three of seven here in Medellín has closed. Wake up call was a tad after 7:00 AM. Breakfast, again, was pretty simple, consisting of cereal and peanut butter toast. Shortly after showers and breakfast we took off for Pablo Escobar's tomb. Pablo Escobar, as you all know, is a notorious drug dealer from Colombia. His tomb is still one of the most visited tombs in the world, even 26 years after his death. His tomb, surrounded by his family members, was littered with bouquets of flowers brought to the tomb by people who love him. We also saw the tombs of people like Griselda Blanco, who was another drug lord from Colombia. Her nickname was the Black Widow, because she killed four of her husbands. We left Escobar's tomb at around 9:15 and headed to see his prison. Escobar convinced the Colombian government to allow him to build the prison for himself and to secure it with his own men. During his stay at this "prison" we learned that Escobar had the Rolling Stones perform for him, and he had the Colombian national soccer team play a game for him on the prison grounds. While at the prison, better known as the Catedral we had our first indulgence into the nature of Medellín which consisted of a hike on Pablo Escobars escape route which weaved through the jungle. We left Escobars prison a little bit before noon and departed for lunch at a restaurant called Rancherito. It served traditional Colombian dishes that were perfect after a busy morning. After lunch we left for the orphanage. We arrived there around three o'clock and would stay until about 6. The main activity of the day at the orphanage was painting a mural on the outside wall. Every kid, accompanied alongside one of us, picked one thing to draw. The mural took on a life of its own and by the end was blanketed with creative paintings by the children. We then headed home and prepared dinner for ourselves. We cooked pasta as a group. The night is being capped off, fittingly, with episodes of Narcos, a TV drama about Escobar. Tomorrow we will tour Guatapé on a boat and climb the famous rock which is about 740 steps to get to the top. 

Samuel R. 

All about Antonio

We woke up bright and early this morning at 7:00 and ate some breakfast which consisted of Zucarita's which is Colombia's form of Frosted Flakes. It was also Antonio's birthday and we celebrated that at midnight the night before when we all wished him a Happy Birthday. We were told we were heading to a tour in a close city about 30 minutes away but we ended up at a Paintball Place as a surprise for Antonio's birthday. We played around 6 rounds of paint ball and my team was the winning team more times than not. After that we went to the mall like our previous plans. Liam and I bought pants because no one in Colombia wears shorts and neither of us brought a pair. We need them for a future event that we do not know about yet. At the mall there was a flower festival that has been taking place since 1957. There were giant floating flowers that were shaped like butterflies and an amazing amount of flowers covering the ground.

Next we went to the Orphanage and we played many games. We played soccer and another game that required a lot of communication skills. The kids also had a chocolate cake for Antonio and all sang and celebrated with us.  At night we went to a burger restaurant and ate delicious hamburgers with live entertainment from the owner himself. Also we had fantastic attempts at Spanish Karaoke. . After we had his second cake and sang happy birthday for Antonio for the 3rd time and then started the drive home. We ended up getting back to the house around 10 at night and we were all extremely exhausted.

HOT water is working.  

Benjamin

Day 2 Botero and more

      Today we woke up at around 7:00 am, which was a little hard to do with cold showers. The owner of our house hopefully should have that fixed by Wednesday. We made potato and egg tacos for breakfast, and right around 8 our driver Jaime picked us up. We took about a 20 minute drive to the middle of Medellin, where we would spend the next 4 hours on our city tour. First up was an old train station that was deactivate. We learned about an older president that Colombia had who owned much of the high ways, so he took a lot of the trains away. There was also a small model of the plaza that we were in, which included the train stations and many statues. After we walked to the Museo de Botero, a famous artist from Medellin.  He is the oldest living artist and world renowned.  The museum had a large of collection of his work which was very impressive.

      After taking the tour through the Museum we stopped at a typical local restaurant  named El Llanerito to eat lunch. There was a meat and potato spread, with some of the best lemonade I've ever had. Right after, we headed for the orphanage. Upon arrival, we started to unpack our suitcases and organized the clothes for the kids. After that we met the kids and started playing with them. We split up into teams and played soccer for about an hour. We had a small snack with the kids after. They gave us little cakes and sodas, and we got to learn more about them. After that, we got into groups again and started painting pictures with them. Around 6 pm, it was time to go back to the house. We made pasta and chorizo, and watched the first episode of Narcos. Tomorrow, we will be going to a famous mall named Santa Fe that will have an elaborate display of the festival of the flores which is a grand festival that started in Medellin in 1957.  In the afternoon we will go back to the orphanage I am unable to upload photos at the time, but will be updating soon. 

Nico

Finally in Colombia

Here is a timeline for our first day on our trip to Colombia...

3:21am- We all meet in Boston Logan Airport ready to embark on our trip to Medellin, Colombia.

4:06am- We take our first photo entering Logan Airport and move collectively as a group for the first time.

5:22am- We await our flight to Miami, Florida. Some of us grab an early breakfast, a few of us never went to sleep at all the previous night!

6:18am- We take off from Logan airport and head down to Miami, Florida.

9:47am- We land in Miami and begin a two hour layover until our next flight to Medellin, Colombia.

11:59am- We take off from Miami and finally begin our second and final flight to Medellin.

2:03pm- We finally land in Medellin, Colombia and are able to experience the beautiful country for the first time.

4:43pm- We arrive at our house for the week in Medellin, Colombia. The view is breathtaking!

5:30pm- We are able to get our first taste of life in Medellin as we visit the marketplace and buy groceries for the week.

7:07pm- We leave the marketplace and head to dinner.

7:24pm- We are finally able to grab dinner at a local chicken stop that had arepas as well in Medellin.

8:27pm- We disembark from dinner and head back to the house to rest up for the long, busy day tomorrow!  Tomorrow we will do a city tour from 8-2 with city views, museums.  then head to the orphanage to see them from 2-7 more less.

Unfortunately, I was not able to download the pictures for this post due to problems with the Wifi, however the pictures will be up as soon as possible. We are told they will be coming to work on the Wifi soon in order to gain a stronger signal. Thank you!

Liam Wholey

24 hours and some away

So excited about getting this international service trip started. 

Some things to remember and NOT forget:

1.  PASSPORT
2.  1 big piece of luggage for cargo (50 lbs), 1 carry on and backpack
3.  Any medication you need.
4.  $100 for financial donation for orphanage
5.  LSA ID card
6.  American Airlines Advantage #
7.  Remember that we have Washer and Dryer, DO NOT overpack.
8.  No expensive or sentimental jewelry.
9.  Bring a great attitude and be ready to be flexible, things will be different.
10.  See you at 3:30 am at terminal B American Airlines.
11.  Please have Patricia Gomez 843-324-6986 and Eliana Campbell 401-499-6287 on your cellular phones and that at least one of your parents has us on contacts as well.