Week 23: Setting off on an adventure

Not ready. Second draft (after the first one got deleted, there was a concept flaw...). 

8:00

 I am now at the airport, waiting for my flight to Santa Marta, after a tough week of uncertainty, with Yoala in Costa Rica, Michael sick, Mati super annoying, and I’m irritated and down. But there were also good things this week, and this week is behind me, and I'm on my way to an adventure alone, excited and a little scared, recalling the last time I traveled alone in South America, how much courage it took then and how much courage it requires today. I think about the brave Yoala who has been managing like this in her daily life for six months, flying around the continent with a passport between her teeth

I thought of a new concept for this post, a serialized column, as I move along, we'll see how it goes

Elections and local politics, a Sabbath trip, uncertainty, a pool, uncertainty, earth meditation, a 30-hour adventure

Elections and a bit of local politics

I am flying on election day in Colombia, when a travel warning for foreigners was issued - stay at home due to fears of riots. The elections seem critical to everyone, with the current president running again. A president considered populist, corrupt, crazy, and extreme according to the educated and affluent half, who see a great urgency to remove him and restore sanity and personal security. The other half, the rural people from the many peripheries, and the residents of the capital believe that for the first time there is someone representing them and acting for their benefit. Sounds familiar, but with some differences

This is his first term, he is a socialist in the only country in South America that has never voted left in the past and has always been controlled by the local aristocracy, despite having the highest level of inequality on the continent, both in income and especially in property. He initiated drastic tax reforms that, if fully passed, might even drive us away from here. The rich and the middle class, comparable to our own in the country, feel that the ground is shaking beneath them. As one of the mothers at school said, he raised the minimum wage and I can’t afford two housekeepers anymore...


Sabbath Trip

On Sunday, just before Yoala flies, we went on a 15 km hike in the forest next to Ritiro - the largest town in the area. The hike was organized by David, our yoga teacher, who conducts hikes once every week or two. We set off with a group of about seven of our age (the kids who really didn't want to come, complained that they were the only kids). For the first time we spent significant time with English-speaking Colombians and talked the whole way, shared a bit about Israel and listened intently to their personal history and Colombia's history in general. I thought to myself that I felt uncomfortable having written that Colombia did not captivate us; it created a misleading impression. Colombia is super fascinating and beautiful, the people are similar to us in many ways, and the experience might have been even more captivating if it weren't for the difficulties of the children and my tough feelings about school.

Taking off

At the beginning of the trip, Michael complained nonstop that he didn’t want to be there, why did we bring them, he was suffering, and slowly began to work himself into a hyperventilation until he started crying. Just before there was no way back, we sent the kids with David in the car and continued alone, on a path that suddenly became super difficult. We met them again after two hours of ups and downs, splashing in the stream and quite satisfied. Michael got into the freezing water with the declared intention of getting sick and not having to go to school. It worked for him - he stayed home all week with a sore throat

One of the people traveling with us said he was marking 26 years since his wife was murdered. When their son was Ofri's age, his wife was kidnapped, suffocated to death, and found discarded somewhere. He fled with his son to New York and lived there for four years until he had to leave and return to Colombia

Another woman told how Medellín changed during her lifetime from the most dangerous place in the world to one of the most sought-after places for immigration in South America and the world. She shared the historical events that transpired, the power groups that controlled over the years - militias, cartels, private armies of the wealthy, and a non-functional state in the middle. Until they managed to unite forces through two peace agreements and disarmament, the first with the wealthy and the second with the militias and cartels. She spoke about how drugs came with foreigners in the seventies just when the socialist militias were looking for funding for their activities against the government of the wealthy, and everything exploded in everyone’s faces. As a child, she remembers that they could close the road to Ritiro at any moment, kidnap 15 people, and disappear

We talked about our lack of fear and theirs, after years of living under terror, about national post-trauma. She told that when friends from Spain came to visit her, they were scared every time they saw soldiers, while for her, soldiers are like our sons... They say thank you when they check your IDs, ask how they are doing, and even offer them food


Uncertainty

Since they canceled my flight, I've been searching for alternative flights. I didn’t want to buy tickets with foreign companies while still waiting for a refund on the previous flight (and the options had greatly decreased). A flight from Madrid via El Al makes the event unreasonably expensive. All that's left is to wait for the last minute and hope for the best. But meanwhile, a few other things happened

Mati's flight to Washington - to meet his friend Adam, who has been living there for four years, turned from a simple and relatively cheap event into a super expensive and nearly impossible one due to a policy change by some airlines regarding flights without adult supervision. At this stage, Mati is also waiting and hoping for the best

In July, we are supposed to be with Yoala in Costa Rica, at the peak of the planting season. She received budget approval to fly us there and fund our stay (while we are paying rent in Colombia), so she can closely supervise the ineffective manager of the site in Costa Rica and actually manage the event in his place. Yoala's mother already changed her ticket to return to Israel via Costa Rica, and my parents changed their route to start from Costa Rica, but the company suddenly announced a spending freeze. No approvals to spend money at HQ until further notice due to the cancellation of some planned investments (the butterfly effect of Silicon Valley alignment with Trump's anti-global warming agenda)
Bottom line, our flight to Costa Rica is on hold until further notice, so it’s unclear what ticket to buy for me and Mati, if at all

And the main course, when Yoala landed in Costa Rica, a flurry of rumors rolled in - the company is going to shut down, or at least all the branches except for the one in Costa Rica, the founding CEO is about to be fired. We start speculating - either they will fire Yoala because her role in Colombia as the overall manager of all branches is no longer relevant, or they will force her to move to Costa Rica to replace the ineffective manager (what they kindly asked her to do a month ago, then less kindly). Yoala buried herself in the office all week, bummed and frustrated, worked around the clock, while HQ told her nothing except... tomorrow there’s a crucial meeting... the next day a decision meeting with investors, and a lingering scent of time.

The day before her departure, she managed to sign a contract with their two main contractor-partners in Costa Rica, after a half year of hardships. A momentary feeling of success despite all the obstacles continually coming from all directions

Just before takeoff, she received a phone call from her employee - the branch manager in Mexico: Tim, the CEO, just called me. He told me that on Monday they will officially announce that the branch in Mexico is closing and ordered me to buy a ticket for Monday to Costa Rica, to come and replace the manager there

Wtf

So what is happening with us? What is happening with the company? Are we going to Costa Rica? Returning home? Three months' notice? Maybe Yoala should resign? Ahhhhh... the dishwasher will keep waiting

10:30