home

not a bad view to be left with

I made it home safe, sound and in one piece! It's been a weird transition from cartagena to the NBC newsroom. I went from rafel nunez community to a station with the most advanced technology I've ever seen. Computers, cameras and tv screens as far as the eye can see! I picked up some chicfilla on my dinner break yesterday. There were no seats inside so I ate it in my car on the way back to the station. Sitting in traffic shoving fast food in my mouth I kind of had a "what am i doing here!" moment I should be in colombia helping the kids! But i really believe becoming the best journalist I can be is the best way for me to help people.

Things I'm already missing:

mangos

rad juices

coconut rice

my babies!

my CBOBers

maracuya

sloths!

and the kids the kids the kids the kids!

Things I am happy to have back:

DUNKIN DONUTS!

hot pressured showers

my bed

my family

bacteria free tap water

and moments to myself

last day in cartagena

we took a boat out to an island today
we snorkeled for about an hour then spent a few hours at an island. this trip has left me pretty exhausted and it was so nice to just relax on a beach. my back probably doesnt feel the same way since it's burned.


lunch. we also had plantains, coleslaw and delicious coconut rice.

the island was beautiful.

when we got back some of the older kids came over and we took them out for pizza.

i'll post more pictures from the island and tales of persistent vendors and children not wanting to go home tomorrow, but we have to be on the bus to the airport in 5 hours!

I loveeee everyone and cant wait to see you

not ready to leave

our dance
i just manned the music haha

in colombia they have bags of water

almost the last night here :(

graduation

i made it through most of graduation without crying, but then maria came to say goodbye. her eyes welled up and I started crying too. saying goodbye to eliza was terrible too. I also cried when i saw some of the older boy students crying. it's so hard saying goodbye to someone when you know you may never see them again. i want to give them the world and all i could give them was a polaroid and a bracelet.

elizabeth with her bracelet

before my eyes became a blurry red mess

her smile is adorable i dont know why she refuses to show it

my little babies graduating! haha

only plus of crying, my eyes always look super green after ( check out the hottie in the picture in the background. A+)

tasty orange and pineapple juice

i have more pictures from today but i feel drained and need a nap!

p.s. beach day tomorrow...el yeah!

last workshop day

today was the last day of workshops and graduation is tomorrow. I know im going to be crying tomorrow. I almost cried when maria asked me why i have to go back to Florida .

i took polaroids of eliza and maria to put in their graduation bags, and the ladies at the bakery in granitos saw. they really wanted a picture of them so in my horrific spanish i tried to explain that i didnt have a lot of film left and couldnt take one. i took a digtial though and they were just as excited as the kids to get their picture taken.

lots of birthdays on this trip. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AL-LI-SON!

i didnt have any cake though because i'm feeling a little sick again and threw up twice last night.

what maria got out of the CBOB workshops

granitos has futbol teams for the kids and they make sure they all get food and water before practices and games. it's so amazing how much the foundation does for the community. they take care of everyone from little babies to the elderly.

taken by miss Maria Jose

polaroids i'm giving my girls

this isnt my hotdog, cassandra got one today, but it looks exactly like the one i ate! there was no way i was going to try to tackle one of these bad boys today with my stomach a little on the fritz.

i had a mango for dinner instead.

i'm going to miss this!

pool day!

we took the kids to the pool today.i was sure someone was going to drown because 80 kids (not all could swim but all speaking spanish) in a pool with only 6 native speaker volunteers seems like absolute chaos. they all lived though and had tons of fun. i didnt bring my camera so use your imagination and picture a bunch of hyper colombian children excited to be out of their neighborhood climbing all over 20 volunteers. there were a couple moms there too, and another group of older kids not associated with the foundation getting swimming lessons. instead of swimming lessons it was pretty much just a bunch of 15 years old making out in the pool haha.

and since everyone loveeeees pictures here's a few i dont think i've posted. if they're repeats, forgive me, i'm normally delirious and exhausted by the time i get around to updating.

we got aguardiente on cinco de mayo. i was told it was like colombian tequila so i got pretty psyched, but what the person meant how tequila is what mexico is known for aguardiente is what colombia is known for. it had kind of minty-licorice-jager taste to it. it was good, but i'll take tequila any day.

when we got a tour of the rafel nunez community last tuesday we saw the house of this one woman who hase benefited from the granitos gardening program. the foundation helps them get gardens started so they can sell produce to hotels and feed their families

i love american products in other countries. and because of that love i decided to do a little throwback...

kebab ruffle chips from france!!