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.