I have heard it said that in these days of air travel our bodies can travel much faster than our spirits. My body travelled from the homely old Winnipeg airport (which I think I will miss when the new one is completed) to the glass cathedral of Toronto’s Terminal one at Pearson, to the bland immigration hall of Bogotá's international airport. Along the way, I started meeting my fellow travellers on this journey as they too arrived in Toronto. First I met Ed Wiebe, our MCC Canada representative and the one who started us on this journey. A short while later, Elaine Harder from Saskatchewan (who arrived in Toronto the previous evening) and Moses Moini, who just took over the work in Ontario walked into the international departures waiting room. Jenifer Mpungu (BC) and Mugasa Sammy (Alberta) found us as we sat in the food court a short time later. Orlando Vasquez from Alberta will join us Tuesday night.
Our day of travel was uneventful except for a delay in Toronto. We were scheduled to get to Bogotá by 8:00 pm, but we didn't arrive till about 11:00 pm. Ed had warned us of difficulties as we tried to get from the airport to our transportation, with people trying assaulting us with offers to carry our bags and take us in their vehicle, but it seemed relatively mild to me. On the flight from Toronto to Bogotá, I tried to spend some time to get my spirit to catch up with my body. I’m not sure how successful I was. We will see.
As we travelled from the airport to our hotel in the mini-bus that was hired for us, I caught a whiff of what I think was coal fires. It reminded me of Maseru, Lesotho, another high altitude capital city. I think I will probably be using my Southern African experience (for better or worse) as my touch stone for this experience.
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