Many people ask what life is like here in Colombia. My answer is usually something like, “hot and busy but fairly normal.” In an attempt to try to help you all, my family and friends see what life is like here I have decided to describe a typical day.
A typical Colombian native starts their day anywhere from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. Here on the farm our days usually start around 6 or 7 depending on the work scheduled and when kids wake up. Monday through Friday we are blessed to have a cook so we no longer have to start our day out in the kitchen. Instead of having to cook first thing in the morning I am able to clean up our rooms if I wasn’t able to get to it the night before. Cleaning our rooms consists of sweeping, moping and making sure the kids have all their stuff cleaned up. It also gives me some time to start laundry or at least get in line for the washing machine that we all share. We are so blessed to have the washing machine as it makes washing so much easier and quicker. After washing in the machine we line dry everything. We are in the rainy season right now so it sometimes takes the laundry a couple days to dry. If it is a sunny day the laundry dries much quicker, sometimes in just half a day. It is nice when you can hang it out to dry but right now a safer bet is to hang it in the “laundry room.”
School starts at 8:45 so the rest of the morning is spent helping the kids get fed and ready. We school our children and the children living here on the farm at home. It has been a process of figuring out what kind of structure works best and doing our best to implement it. It is still a work in progress but it is going well. After school is lunch and then the kids have free time to play and do their daily chore. Chores include things like sweeping, moping and dishes. While kids are doing these things there is time for more laundry, supervising play time, and sometimes email or other study. Evenings are a busy time with dinner, clean-up and a “quiet” time activity. The kids go to bed by 7:30 or 8:30 depending on their ages and the adults get some much needed quiet time.
Some miscellaneous information that you may be curious about is that we are blessed with clean water from a well and we have electricity, although we do lose power some days for most the day. We do not have hot water, air conditioning or carpet and we do not flush toilet paper.
Life here on the farm is anything but dull! Please pray with us as we work to fulfill God’s purposes here at El Nido. I hope this update helps you all catch a glimpse of what life is like here on the farm. I look forward to updating you soon on the other events of the past month in the newsletter. May all the glory be given to God.
Stacy
