If you hold up your index, middle and ring fingers of your left hand and then fan them out, you can imagine the 3 Andean mountain ranges that cross Colombia. At the top of your middle finger is Medellin, at the middle knuckle of your index finger is Bogota, and at the base of your ring finger is Cali. They are in the mountains so they are more temperate, and have all the services of the big city (see the "Oliver" blog).In between the mountain ranges are the valleys where the weather is hot, humid, subject to flooding because of the big rivers and we have jungle animals like chiguiro (capybara),monkeys and deer.
So Palanquero is on the shores of the historic Magdalena River between Medellin and Bogota in the 2nd hottest place in Colombia (the hottest is 2 hours north in Berrancabermeja, made hotter by the petroleum processing there.
Palanquero is the most important fighter base, home of the Mirage and Kfir aircraft, and guards the most strategic bridge crossing the river. I worked with the pilots all week (more on that later) and I remembered how hard pilots work to become qualified and then expert in their aircraft. I thought how in Colombia they really are at war, and how many of them really do sacrifice their lives for their country (the "patria" expresses something more dear than just country.) This group of pilots is between 29 and 35 years old--many of them have very young families. I saw the safety officer who is also in training and also has additional duties, driving with his 2-year-old out on errands, and I felt a little sad for the heavy load they carry.
So I'm thinking on this, and I see the young wives. I met a couple of them and I thought how they are way out in the middle of nowhere, alone again, while the guys are working, (promising they will be home)....
I saw them staying busy with projects and playing with their little ones outside as the evening starts to cool.
Let me tell you, the only people who sacrifice more than our military men and women are their families.
All these memories came flooding back of my young married years with very young children, way out in Oklahoma, or New Mexico, and I remembered that I stayed busy at the time, but it grieved me unexpectedly when I saw these young families carrying such a load.
