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Monday, April 14, 2008
Volunteering – Saciar #3
Today I went to a suburb called Paris, located near Maruchenga but higher up on the hill. Around here, the higher up you go, the more accentuated the poverty seems to be (as far as I’ve seen it’s usually the other way around…). Like the other places I visited, the…
Friday, April 11, 2008
Volunteering - Casa de la Chinca
La Casa de la Chinca is a non-profit organisation founded in 1961 with the aim of protecting girls and who have been abandoned by their families or whose life may be in danger. All the girls admitted to “La Chinca” are referred to by Read more...
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Volunteering - Saciar #2
Because Brechtje has her Spanish course, I will be by myself to do the volunteering work at Saciar for the next 2 weeks.
Today day I went to a suburb called Vallejuelos. Here, Saciar helps 155 children and 20 elderly people.
Vallejuelos is situated on the…
Volunteering - Saciar #1
This morning, after a ferocious cab ride and a couple of stops on the (very clean and modern!) metro, we arrived at Fundacion Saciar, where we met up with Beatriz Vega. She works there as a psychologist. Every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday morning from 8:15 to about 13:00 we will…
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Volunteering - Organisacion Saciar
Today we met with Beatriz from “Saciar”, a local food bank which distributes all donations it receives from industries in and around Medellin to other local organizations, which in turn distribute it to really poor families.
Saciar also runs a soup kitchen program where they offer breakfast and…
Sunday, April 06, 2008
City of Eternal Spring
It’s a lovely day outside, birds are singing, a nice breeze comes through the open windows, and everywhere we look it’s green with mountains in the background. We are in Medellin, city of eternal spring and our home for the coming 6 weeks. With rainy season in April. Haha, nice…
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Houston we have a problem!
We have a lift-off but it wasn’t smooth…
After a 1.5 hr delay out of Narita we were finally on our way to adventure. 11.5 hrs later we landed in Houston, to transfer to our flight to Bogota.
For reasons only known to Mr. Bush and…
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Colombia - Would you take the risk?
I found this fun clip about my home country. We are definitely taking the risk.
Make sure you watch it fully (or risk missing the point). Enjoy. 
…
Saturday, March 29, 2008
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Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Fun Facts About Colombia
- Colombia is the only South American country that has coast on both oceans, Pacific and Atlantic. It has a total landmass of roughly 1,140,000 square kilometers, which is about 27 times the size of the Netherlands.
- Colombia has the world’s greatest diversity of orchid species (3,500)…
Monday, March 17, 2008
About quepasa!
We are Manuel & Brechtje. Colombian/Dutch couple who met and reside in Japan.
quepasa! is a means of keeping our family and friends informed of our whereabouts, and a way to share our adventures as we set out to live our dreams.
After our wedding in…
quepasa!
As of today, this blog is officially launched! Check back regularly to see what we’re up to. Don’t be disappointed if there’s not more than a weekly update though.
Hey, after all we’ll be off on our honeymoon, spending our time mostly not behind computers! heh…
Thursday, March 13, 2008
19-day countdown
The tickets are paid, housesitter has been found, and spring is upon us. With a bit of luck we’ll be able to catch some cherryblossoms and do a small ‘hasta la vista’ hanami party, just before we leave!
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Today is the first day of the rest of our lives
Only about 5 weeks left before we’re of to South America. 
Lots of things to prepare, and work projects to manage.
Finally the ticket prices for april are coming in. I tried to make a booking using my…