La Union

hey all

Currently, I am in Apartado after a long weekend of about 30 hrs of almost constant bus rides. I was accompanying a group of about 40 campesinos (rural folk) from the peace community (La Union and Cordoba) to Bogota. They are making this pilgramage to draw attention to their community with the hopes that that national attention will force the government to repspect the community´s borders and it´s desire to remain neutral in the conflict. (That means no police, army, paramilitary etc in or near their boarders.) As my first accompanyment experience, it was a good one. It reimforced that I am not a participant in anything the community organizes, but rather just a neutral observer. It was interesting to be able to drop generals´and colonols´names and thus treated with the respect at all of the military check points. Thuis respect, in turn, gives the poeple I am with the sense of security they need to feel like they can carry out the actions they have to carry out. In a nutshell, that is my role. Be with the communiyt members in anything that they do so that theyfeel like they have the freedom to act in the way they see fit.

Now I am sitting in Apartado watching the town burst with little kids in costume as they go from buisness to buisness trick or treating. I missed out on the adult haloween celebrations last night because I got to Medellin too late. Now Im hoping to be able to just grab a beer around the square and people watch before I head back to La Union (aka one of the towns in the peace community)

La Union is wonderful...no streets, no sidealks, about 20 housholds, as many chickens as kids and a sun that blisters. We are on the top of a small fountain in the the foothills of the Andes, so while it is hot and muggy, there is usually a nice breeze and a bit of cloud cover to shield from the sun. The people are timid and always behave as if I am fliritng with them, or they talk to me
as if spanish is my first language. Luckily, their version of bullshitting consists of lots of laughter, random noises and punches on the shoulder. While Im still not as comfortable as I need to be to be confident enough to make friendships, I am encouraged by the fact that my mere awkeardness is hilarous to everyone...needless to say, making them laughter leads to coffee which leads to food which , eventually, leads to god-parenting.

The houses FOR workers live in are actually much better than I imagined. There are no holes
in the walls, there are wooden floors, and indoor shower and toilet and we each get our own room. I have two windows, one that faces west and the other that faces the ´´street,´so I plan to spend a lot of my days like the old women in town...sitting with my head poking out the window, waiting for someone to acknolwedge my presence.

The guys I am working with are serious about the work, but balanced in their thinking and careful about what they say. They are eager to share their accumulated knowledge and, i think, see me a bit like a little kid in that I cutely find everything sooooooo cool.

The hike up here was brutal in that we have to clime a bunch of hills in 90 degree heat with 100 percent humidity. We had a donkey to carry our bags, but, while her name means Dove, the subborn ass was anything but dovely. Plus we couldnt seem to get our bags tied on right and
they kept sliding to one side, threatening to pull the poor donkey over a cliff and into the river on a couple occasions. In the end, I have never been so happy to be greeted by ten chickens , 6 dogs, 5 cats two horses, a pig and a cow, all grouped at the entrace of an assembalge of randomly organized, clapboard buildings.

I am anxious to get off the computer.
Here are some more pictures for you.

The office (below)













The family Room

The Shower (below) The back deck (below)

Landed in Bogota

I have made it to Bogota. My flight couldnt be easier and the reception couldnt have gone smoother. I am staying at the FOR apartment in a district of Bogota called "the chapinero." The apartment is nice and I am comfortable. The plan is to stay here a few days while I register with the DAS (similar to a CIA/FBI combo) get my I.D. and get my bank accounts set up. I will start my journey to the community on Saturday morning when I will take a bus to Medellin, stay over night, take another bus to San Jose de Apartado and then meet my horse for the walk up to the community. Finally, I have a horse.

Bogota is definitly a Latin American capital. It is sprawling, always active and saturated with exhaust from the millions of cars that run only on diesel. The streets are narrow and often in a state of serious disrepair, but drivers drive as if they are at the indy 500. Walk signals at cross walks mean nothing, and daring to cross a 4 lane main artery wherever you want is a common practice. The city, like most others Ive been to in South America, have an amazing ability to have a grey, soviet-style concrete skyscraper that looks about ready to fall right next to a house with moldy, spanish-style tile roofing right next to a glass office building that looks like Chicago's Trump tower with the added treat of color changes every 15 seconds. I havent gotten to do much of my own getting-to-know you yet, but from what I hear, Bogota has some beautiful parks, great night life, welcoming people and a public transportation system with a reliability that is among the highest of all Latin American cities.

The fact that I was woken up at 6 am by the garbage man pushing an empty metal dumpster over a street riddled with potholes right under my window means that I will have plenty of time to see the city today.

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that I have arrived safely and that I am comfortable.