Hi blockies!! I Miss you all!! Here is another update on my Colombian adventure.

But first, let me explain to you what exactly my work is. I have been working at ANSPE (La Agencia Nacional para la Superacion de la Pobreza Extrema, aka the National agency for the overcoming of extreme poverty). ANSPE’s job is to reduce extreme poverty, (duh) and they do so by sending 10,000 social workers around the country to report of the needs of the poor, and then finding/creating programs that meet those needs. I have been doing research, helping the agency with a couple of their projects (including a housing project and the Colombia branch of One Laptop Per Child) and working on some of their presentations. It’s interesting work, and it has been rewarding to work with one of the newest and most innovative government agencies in Colombia.

Now to my Cartagena trip!! (like 3 weeks ago, yikes). We went for 4 days (by plane), and it was amazing. Cartagena is by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever been too. It has beaches, yes, but the highlight is the Old town, which is one of the best preserved colonial towns in the Americas. Surrounded by a large fortress constructed in the 1600’s, the Old city makes you want to spend your life lazily strolling the colorful narrow streets, occasionally stopping at a café or shopping at a local store while people watching. It is absolutely gorgeous, and worth every minute.

We did various things while there, including walking around the Old city a lot, going to the beach, going snorkeling, visiting the numerous historical sites, and (of course) going to the Club Havana, which is where Hilary Clinton partied while she was here!!! It was absolutely amazing. Getting stopped by the police and being stripped searched for drugs, and following around prostitutes (NOT because we were interested, obviously, but because Sascha had a weird desire to document them on camera lol) made the trip even more fascinating.

The next weekend, we went rock climbing an hour away from Bogota, which was beautiful and another very challenging physical activity. We scaled over 80 feet of near-vertical rock wall, using only our hands and feet!

Last weekend we went to the Coffee Zone (eje Cafetero, about 9 hours away) which is a beautiful area. We visited a reserve that has some of the best bird watching in the world, saw an Andean bear, and went to the Valle del Cocoro, which has insanely beautiful cloud forest and an endangered palm tree which is the tallest palm tree in the world. Fortunately, there were no transportation problems on these trips haha.

This weekend we are heading to San Agustin, a 10 hour bus ride away. I cannot wait to tell you about it, as it has some of the best scenery in Colombia, and hundreds of carved heads (think Easter island) which were made 5,000 years ago by the Native Americans!

Both of these pics are from rock climbing.

I miss you all! Unfortunately, I have not been taking pictures with my own camera (because Sascha and Tony, the other Harvard students, take way better photos than me). That means that I don’t have many photos, and as soon as I get them from Sascha and Tony I’ll post them.

Love!