Spending eight days with six Colombian children in the good ole US of A was more than an adventure. It was a reminder that not everyone has eaten a biscuit and not everyone has to love them.  It was a chance to make driving a fifteen passenger van look luxurious.  It was a time when […]

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FACT:  If a child drinks three containers of chocolate milk at lunch, there shall be vomit. FACT:  All gaseous type expulsions cease to be funny after midnight on the fifth day of travel. FACT:  Morning people are weirdos that should be locked up for life. FACT:  Wal-mart is a breeding ground for animalistic behavior. FACT:  […]

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I’m not cut out for this. I TEACH kids.  I don’t raise them. But this week, I’m in Knoxville, TN (Go Vols!) with six Colombian kids that forget to brush their hair (and teeth) and need to be tucked in and be reminded to eat lunch and told how much farther it is and to […]

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Dear loyal and early morning Readers, (ahem: Sum, Lou, Mama V, Annie, Deanna) I have not forgotten you.  I promise.  I’m just too busy to breathe. Send back up.  Or lots of chocolate. Love, Emily

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There are things about Colombia that have had to grow on me and things that I’m only just figuring out and things that I have a feeling will haunt me forever and I’m grateful for them all. Something in particular that seems to inhabit all of the above listed categories are phrases that I hear […]

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I’ve had lots of hard days in Colombia.  I’m woman enough to admit that. There was the Virus o’ Death and the time I made a scene in an airport. There was the apartment flood and the day my computer crashed.  Oh, and that one particular ride home from the valley when I nearly tossed […]

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Nicknames are a big deal in Colombia.  It’s a cultural phenomenon that I don’t particularly understand, but I’ve learned to embrace it. Husbands call their wives gorda and no one gets slapped and wives call their husbands viejo and no one’s ego is bruised.   Kids call each other by all sorts of monikers on the […]

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The finca where we stayed.  With four Colombian families.  That speak zero English.  Until they step into a frigid shower.  When the word s**t becomes universal. Standing next to a waterfall.  That we had to walk past a bear’s cave to find.  In the rain.  Through shin deep mud.  With a temperature of approximately 40 […]

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