Missionary Gas

For Christmas I was given a computer flight simulator programme. Although I haven't got past Lesson one, I do feel a certain degree of confidence at being able to take the controls of a plane. BA's threatened strike next Wednesday, which is our flight date to Colombia, has set me wondering if I ought to offer to help out. Despite a possible delay in arriving in Colombia, my work there goes on. This week was the start of the internet-teacher training course at the University of Bucaramanga. The University's Rector gave us a welcome, students started to tell each other who they were and the lecturer began to work out who are the slackers. It was all done by NTL's cable that comes into 7 Foxes Grove. The Seminary wants to teach its Masters degree partly by internet and that's why I'm learning about designing and teaching such courses. The difficulty of travelling in South America means internet learning is significant. Although when I get on to Flight Simulator Les

Ten days ago I Easyjetted to London and entered into the Latino world of the Colombian Consulate. It had taken 6 months to get to this stage and Ana Maria dealt with my application. Thin, early 40s and smartly dressed, at the start she was keen to know what I thought of Colombia. So I recounted the glories of the Caribbean and the culture of Bogota, and we were given our visas without a hitch. It struck me again what nationals hope for in us foreigners. It is that we appreciate their country and value its citizens. Those from developing nations suffer from a second-class citizen mentality. And also a sense of being wronged by the material avarice of the first world. The Peruvian Incas were robbed of their gold by the Spaniards, the Spanish were then robbed by the English, who in turn were robbed by the Dutch who spent it on footballers, pot and porn. While in London I visited what, to me, is the most impressive part of the metropolis, the Elgin Marbles. How these r