trouble

Our MCC trip to Colombia in 2003 was supposed to be a War Taxes Learning trip, but it didn't apply to Colombia itself, which has a different tax system. Nobody seemed to realize this until we got down there. We were virtually locked in the hotel, whisked away to meetings morning to night, in churches, schools, meeting rooms, meetings, meetings, meetings.  We weren't even allowed to go outside to walk or exercise until I, representing the group, demanded a morning jogging hour, during which we had to be chaperoned.  I did like our trip to the U.S. Embassy.  Finally I demanded to go spend time with our sister church in Bucaramanga; they wanted to fly me up and back in one day.  I said, no, and stayed three days.

The next year I went by myself and spent a month in Bucaramanga.  I took buses and toured the countryside.  I walked the streets of Bogota at night by myself.

But that's me.  Anyway, as for institutional service trips, I much preferred the Presbyterian trips I took with Intercambio, working in Mayan villages in the Yucatan, building cinder block facilities and assisting with medical and dental treatment.  Hands on and hammocks.  I learned how to wire houses for electricity, too.

I still want to retire as some kind of MCC volunteer in Latin America, but I doubt if they'll have me after my Colombia experience.  I have a well-earned reputation as a trouble maker