I have a maid.

Hello everyone! We FINALLY made it to Pereira, Colombia today. After lots of delays, lost luggage, confusion at the airport, and missed flights (due to Delta's staff, not us), we made it here. We were supposed to arrive yesterday, but we ended up spending the night in Atlanta. We caught a flight to Miami this morning, and then we flew to Pereira.

On the way to Pereira, we were able to see (from the air): Cuba, Jamaica, Cartagena, Medellin, and a great deal Colombian countryside. We flew on Avianca, which is Colombia's own airline, and it was fantastic. The plane was very new and had amenities I haven't ever seen before (like a jack for a USB stick, a touch screen for movies, and a coat hook!). It was a great flight, and we didn't have any problems.

The airport in P---- is very small. It only has one arrival area, and I'm fairly sure customs and border control had no idea what to do with us. We got through everything just fine (I even answered a question asked in Spanish without any help!). After we finished with border patrol, the baggage claim, and customs, we simply walked outside. There wasn't even a door! Andrea, one of the Colombian teachers from Camp Bear last summer, was waiting to pick us up.

Andrea drove us to the apartment where we are staying. The city itself seems crowded. We drove through very nice areas and some not-so-nice areas within a few feet of each other. In Pe----, the transportation method of choice is a taxi (or your own car), but there are also regular buses, the Megabus, and lots and lots of motorcycles. Apparently, P---- has such a problem with traffic that the city has instituted a law restricting when people can drive. Depending on the number with which your license plate starts, you cannot drive one day of the week. For example, on Mondays vehicles with license plates beginning with 0 or 1 cannot be on the road. (Of course, Andrea's vehicle began with a 1, so she actually had to borrow a car from a friend just to pick us up!) On the way to the apartment the car in front of us got into a fender bender. Andrea explained that those were normal, and we had to laugh as everyone honked their horns and negotiated how to get around the accident through by yelling through the car windows.



The place we are staying is unbelievable. It's in a nice apartment building up on the hill, in the nicest part of town. It's huge, and we have our own room. I've posted a picture of the living room and the hallway. I'll try to post more pictures tomorrow; the ones I have from tonight aren't very good. The apartment has 3 bedrooms, a living room, a study, a wide hallway, a dining room, a kitchen, and... the maid's quarters. We have a maid that lives with us! It's so strange! She has already been taking very good care of us, but it feels very weird to have someone constantly serving me. She is supposed to do the laundry, clean, and cook. Her name is D-ita, and she doesn't speak any English, but Warren does his best and we've been able to communicate a little bit. She showed us her room, which is really small, and we tried to get her to sit with us out in the living area, but she said no. I think we probably did something that was socially unacceptable, but it just feels to weird to have someone sitting in a little tiny space when we have such a large living area! Also, besides D-ita, we are the only ones living here right now. It is the principal's apartment, but she is in Buenos Aires this week. She also has a house in the country, so we aren't expecting to see her very much.

Other than that, there isn't much to say. We start working at LPV tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. Andrea is going to give us a ride tomorrow, but after that we get to ride the school bus with the kids!

The weather here is wonderful. Not humid, just warm. Andrea told us that it rains almost every day, but it's usually just a light rain that ends quickly.

I know this was really long! I apologize. Tomorrow, I'll try to get up some good pictures... especially of our view from this apartment. It's incredible!

Good night!