Special Metropolitan Witnessing: Gearing up

We received a couple of boxes the other day from the branch in Bogota. We were excited to see that they were the literature carts for special metropolitan witnessing! We definitely have some heavy traffic areas in our territory (like the metro stations and parks), so we'll be exited to see how it goes. The carts came disassembled with a set of assembly instructions.

So here we are getting started on putting the carts together.

Yes, each cart is at times a 2 man job, but there were no parts left over after all were assembled.

New display posters need to be printed each month to match up with the new magazines.

And here they are! Ready to go (minus some literature of course).

So in total, there are 4 Spanish and 2 English literature carts. They break down nicely for transportation and have a durable rain cover.

The first time our Spanish congregation used the carts, in one afternoon, they placed 80 pieces of literature! We can't wait to get started and we'll keep everyone updated with how they are working out.

Fruit Series: Pithaya (Dragon Fruit)

Hey! Check this out.

It's called a Pithaya, and it's delicious. In other countries, it's called a Dragon Fruit, and I'm sure they taste equally as delicious in those parts of the world as well. But how does one eat this fruit?

It's easy! Just cut it in half. 

The cool thing about this fruit, like many others, is that it comes with its own serving bowl. The taste is sweet and very refreshing. The seeds inside give this fruit a nice little texture.

For me, this fruit tastes outstanding and is one of my favorites, especially without a shirt.

Fruit Series: Rambutan

Steph and I have been on a new fruit kick and every time we go to the store, we sift through the produce section for things we haven't seen or tried before.

Here's an interesting one...it's called a "Rambutan". It's part of the lychee family and tastes pretty much the same as a lychee nut (very sweet). We were walking by one corner of the produce section and a we saw a man stocking these on a shelf and we asked him if we can try it.

At first sight, it looks pretty intimidating, and it looks like the taste is questionable. But after we tried the first one, we were hooked and we bought a small case of them.

Squeezing the outside of it with little effort, you crack it open...

... and reveal the fruit

Now it looks a little more appetizing. The soft juicy white flesh makes you want to jump right in a start chewing on it, but wait!!

Don't just bite into it like this guy. There is a nut on the inside and biting it full force may result in tooth loss (warranty not included).

So just eat around the nut and everything will be okay.

Just a little cleanup afterwards, but it's well worth the effort. 

Fruit Series: Uchuvas

As far as fruits go, Uchuvas are really little gems. They are also called in some other countries "ground cherries", and they are as delicious as cherries without the big pit in the middle. They are very versatile little fruits and can be eaten as-is for a quick no mess snack, or they taste great on different types of salads. We almost always have a fresh stock of these little things in our home.

The Uchuva can come in a little pod like this....

...but they are more commonly bought in bulk and pre-husked.

You might ask, "What flavor do they have?"

The answer is that they have a really unique flavor. Nothing else tastes like an Uchuva, and an Uchuva really tastes like nothing else.  So it does NOT have the flavor of whatever fruit I use to describe it. The first time I tried them at Parque Arví, I was shocked at how different and good they tasted.

Before they ripen, they have a really tangy flavor which some people enjoy. As they ripen, they develop a sweeter berry-like flavor.

There are little edible seeds on the inside which aren't a hassle at all (for those of you who don't like seeds). The inside is kind of meaty, so they are not as watery as a grape. 

I highly recommend trying this little fruit out if you ever get a chance. Hey! Why not try them out the next time you visit Colombia?

English Group Update

Great news! We just received some excellent news the other day from Bethel. The English group in Medellin is now listed on JW.org as an official group! There is still a lot of work to do, but it is a good stepping stone to becoming a congregation.

UPDATE: Starting in January, we will have a Congregation Bible Study and Theocratic Ministry School!

Assembly Hall Security

Each congregation in the city takes turns in providing volunteers for a security watch. Stephany and I were asked to cover the night shift a couple days ago. We were told to bring our own dinner, a warm jacket, and they would tell us the rest when we get there.

We arrived at the assembly hall a little before 8:00 PM to be greeted by our sisters who were finishing the shift before us. They explained a few things, showed us the security manual, and away they went. This little guard house would be our home for the night. 

The job really wasn't too difficult assuming we weren't under attack or being robbed or something. The job was pretty much to not let anybody in before calling and verifying with the assembly hall overseer. 

We knew it was going to be a long night, so I was able to use this uninterrupted time to prepare the talk for Sunday, and....

...Stephany was able to get some service time writing letters!

It's a small guard house but there is a tiny kitchen and a bathroom in there. They had everything we needed for the evening. Including Coffee!!

Around 2:00 AM or so, things started getting a little chilly, so we were glad the brothers told us to bring a warm coat and some snacks. Thankfully another brother recommended we bring movies, so we had a Netflix marathon for a few hours. 

They also recommended that we take turns sleeping. My turn never came... 

Thats OK though, it's a little hard to sleep in small plastic chairs anyway.

While we were there, the current district overseer in Medellin came to visit. He is a super nice brother from Mexico City and he moved here 32 years ago and knows the Colombian side of Stephany's family.

There was also this crazy guy that kept showing up on the security cameras from time to time. 

Eventually around 5:30 AM, the sun started coming up, and we felt the relief that we made it through the evening. Our replacements (three sisters) showed up around 7:30 and we left for home tired but happy. 

By the way, we recently had 5 bethelites from Wallkill pass through Medellin on their tour of Colombia. Their visit was really encouraging, and just what we needed. One of the brothers was also very kind and worked very hard to deliver a last minute talk on Sunday. We were feeling a little bummed out before their visit because we weren't able to go to the annual meeting or pick up a copy of the new Bible. But since these brothers work where they print the new Bibles, they were able to bring several copies down with them and surprised us with 2 of them! We love it! Thank you so much guys and you're welcome back anytime!

Our New Digs: Part 2

Hey Everybody! Sorry for not posting since forever. We went to the states for a month and got out of the swing of things.. Well get ready because we have a lot of catching up to do! We are still having a great time here and love the congregation and culture.

We spent 2 or 3 weeks in May searching for apartments around the city and surrounding suburbs. We knew we could get a lot more for what we were paying in Calasanaz. We had a few requirements: close to the Kingdom Hall,  cheaper rent than what we were paying in Calazanas, and a quiet safe area. The city is economically divided by stratas (or zones), level 1-6, with 1 being the cheapest for utilities and 6 being the most expensive.

It was pretty amazing how we found this place. After weeks and weeks of looking, we found several "winners" that we had brought to the point of signing the documents until a brother or sister warned us about something in the area. It was a very very frustrating process, but finally we ended up in an area that more than fit our needs!

Here's some shots of the place so you'll know what to expect when you come visit!

Living room

View Down the Hall to the bedrooms

Dining room/Kitchen / Don & Linda

Finally! Fresh air and trees!

We even have little birds and parrots in the trees in the morning. We had them trained for a while to eat our bananas that were going bad.

Kitchen: It's small, but it has all we need and more!

Guest Bedroom: Bienvenidos!

Master Bedroom

Master Bath

Rest of the Master Bedroom (Has since been decorated up). We made some Roman Curtains to homie it up a little. 

And it has a pool!!! These are good for cooling off after the long service days.

The view of the city at night is really pretty and mesmerizing. 

P.S. I wrote this post in June, but haven't posted it until now, October. I'll try to get an update with our little furnishing and stuff (or not)

Salento

This is part 4 of our Cali trip. The day after we went to coffee park we headed back to Cali, but we stopped by a little town called Salento in the department of Quindio. This was a really beautiful place to visit and a good place to buy some little souvenirs. We highly recommend visiting this place. 

The air in Salento was so fresh and a little chilly because it is in the mountains. Also, May is a rainy month.

You can see a little river down there in this picture and the one above.

Don't be fooled...the dog just wanted food. He sneaked up under Chris' arm.

We saw a few pretty nice cars around here.

These cars are Willy's (later known as Jeeps) are from around the WWII era, and they were used a lot to transport coffee beans after the war.  There were several parked around the town square serving coffee. You could also pay for a ride in some of them.

This main street had a lot of different little shops to visit. Somewhere near the end of the street were the best crepes on a stick we have ever had!

It took us a while to get through this area.

When we got to the top of the main road, we stopped to grab some lunch with a view.

I don't know what this is all about, but it's strangely beautiful.

Parque Nacional del Café

Hey everybody! This is part 3 of our trip to Cali. One of the must see places in Colombia is the Zona Cafetera where a large portion of the coffee in the country is grown. We went to an a theme park there called Parque Nacional del Café, or National Coffee Park.

We were welcomed to the park by a big smiley face guy.

Father daughter shot

This is probably the only theme park in the world that you wait in a line like Disney to go ride horses.

All I can say is the wet floor sign wasn't there because they cleaned...

Los Rápidos! Caution: You WILL get wet. You will be dry again in an hour though.

Go-Karts

Of course this place is all about the coffee and the plants were everywhere, so we got a little education on how  the whole process works.

The coffee beans starts out as a flower...

Then they turn into a cherry! They are picked off the tree when they are nice and red.

Inside the coffee cherry are two little beans. These beans are dried out, roasted and sent off  around the world. Did you know that the Colombian coffee is fully traceable from the time it's picked until its delivered? Check it out!

We did one of those dress up photo shoots, but they let us take some pictures on our own too. 

I don't know what Stephany was reading...

...but it definitely wasn't this sign.

It's pretty amazing how naturally this park was integrated into the surroundings. At times it didn't even feel like we were just walking through a jungle.

The Juan Valdez estate here was beautiful!

Could someone please tell me what kind of flower this is? 

While our focus here is on the English preaching work, we take time out once in a while to visit different places around here too. After all, most of the people we talk to are foreigners in this country too, so it always helps to open a conversation about what to do while they are visiting Colombia. We just had our circuit overseer visit this past week and things went very well! We are making a lot of progress in our group and we just had a Bible study qualify to become an unbaptized publisher! It's a rewarding feeling being able to work hard for Jehovah and work towards starting a new congregation. If you have ever considered serving where the need is great, DO IT!