Usaquen

Usaquen….I love it. It is a neighborhood that used to be a standalone village at the base of the mountains in the northernmost part of Bogota. It is a fairly wealthy area with another nice mall Hacienda Santa Barbara but the mall itself is arranged on many levels not like stories or floors but like half levels and the indoor parts are intertwined with the outdoor alley-like areas. It’s very hard to describe but very intimate feeling and very beautiful. This IS where the upper crust of Bogota must live. However the mall is not the best part of Usaquen the flea market that they hold on their cobblestone streets every Sunday is what makes it. They also have indoor sections in a building that is adjacent to a church. The artesian and craftsmen have rows and rows of jewelry, woodcrafts, delicacies and textile materials to name a few. There are local artists that display their work and ethnically diverse displays. The prices vary but are reasonable for what you get. The feeling is very modern yet historical with the buildings that are etched into the mountainside. There are also so many restaurants that range from steakhouses to ethnic food like Thai and Chinese. The cost is reasonable and again the restaurants are for the most part converted from homes so you could have a tri-level restaurant like the one we visited En Fuerno. Overall Usaquen is a place I would like to go to every weekend. Love, love, loved it.
It also amazes me wherever I go in Bogota how resourceful people are. They find work where they can and they do it with pride. Sometimes it’s a little baffling as an American to comprehend but, yet it is so simple probably due to the lack of regulation on employment. For example there is a busy intersection near where I live (actually they are all busy) and every day there is an Afro-Colombian man with the front half of his head shaved that acts as a crossing guard. He has a little stop and go sign and everything but, I couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t dressed in a police or even any uniform whatsoever. Then I figured out that he has employed himself as a crossing guard. He has a bucket on each corner of the street he crosses people on and they throw money in as appreciation. Another example is the people who watch your car when it is parked on the street. They will make sure no one bothers your car and then expect small tokens for their “service.” Again they employ themselves. I’m sure they do not make a killing on this but they seem to live. I personally think that it’s better than living off the system and is probably out of necessity. But, I think that it is interesting and wonder if we were not so regulated here in the States if it would be easier to make a living. But, this is in stark contrast to the astonishing amount of regulation when it comes to police presence and security.

More pictures!

What now?

So Sentencia went very well on Thursday. In fact Carolina said that it was "perfect." They asked a lot of questions of Angia snd Camilo and basically how they felt about things and what their expectations are. ICBF is REALLY focused on establishing the family. They really discourage interraction with freinds from school, the orphanage etc. And how do you tell a 15 year old girl that she cannot talk with her friends? It's a sticky spot between establishing "bonds" (which we already have) and establishing respect for each others feelings between parent and child. Anyway all in all the Sentencia was really no big deal.

Yesterday was rainy and kind of overcast again and since we have a few trips planned for the coming weeks, We decided to go to the other side of town to the Colombian National Museum. We decided to take in our children's history and get some pictures and such for them to reflect on later. The Museum was very nice, architecturally beautiful and well organized. I think that Camilo got a little bit bored at the end but, I think everyone enjoyed it. It was very cheep to visit too. I would recommend especially to adoptive parents with "older" children.

After the museum we walked down the street and ate at Subway for lunch. They had less of a selction than the ones in the U.S. and wer definately more expensive but still, it was good. Then we walked down the street for a bit and even though Jim wanted to explore my overiding concern for catching a taxi was the catalyst for us to walk back toward the museum where I felt we had a better chance. It was getting to be rush hour there were obviously many people trying to hail cabs and I had this feeling that if we walked one block too far we could go from a "safe" area a sketchy area. I also wanted to ensure that we were back "home" before dark which seems to happen quickly here.

When we got home we did the usual Skyping and ordered another pizza from Red Box which was diappointing, even tough I specifically pointed to the tomato sauce it did NOT have any sauce on it, just cheese and peperonni AGAIN. And it was not cheep like close to $20 for one large pizza. Either I'm gonna take a shot at making my own or we have to find a new place.

Overall Bogota is nice, pollution and taxi rides aside, (I swear we get CO poisoning everytime we ride in one) in our area- Cuidad Salitre, there is a nice sense of community. We are getting to know one some of the people like Magda at the laundry-mat. I think I will be in culture shock when I go home and I'm not two blocks away from everything, there's not security or Police EVERYWHERE (and thank God for that) and calm traffic.

I think today will be a do nothing sort of day and tomorrow we will go to a flea market called La Fantana- they serve brunch so how bad can it be? Tuesday we are planning on the Salt Cathedral with Jorge and then Saturday I want to go to Hard Rock for an early Father's Day celebration before Jim leaves (I'm already freaking out about that.) We might try to hit a park somewhere in there too! Enjoy some pictures of The National Colombian Museum!

Sentencia!!!

So today is Sentencia at our apartmento. This is the day we will be interrogated and the decision is made to make it final and send it to the courts or to stop the process (no way!) So today will be dedicated to cleaning and preparing food and such for their arrival.
Yesterday was a good day. We met with Carolina in the morning to get some documents notarized then went to a couple of local (down the block) shops to buy some produce. Then we came back to the apartment for a bit before going to Exito for some more groceries for today. I made the cream cheese fruit dip with cut fruit and the chocolate no-bake cookies but finding the specific ingredients was hard. I couldnot find the marshmallow fluff for the fruit dip and we could not find cocoa poweder for the cookies. So I bought marshmallows and melted them down then blended (no beater) with cream and sugar then added the cream cheese which worked out pretty well. I also found a recipe that used powdered chocolate mix instead of the powdered cocoa which also worked well. Camilo loved the cookies Angie is on the fence about them.
Angie and Camilo were very wound up in the evening. Angie stole Camilo's remote control and Camilo then took her journal, they were acting like typical siblings. They were laughing and playful. It was nice to see them just be natural. Angie also painted my nails a deep, dark red;-)
Mas bonita!

Monserratte

Monserratte is beautiful. We had a very nice day and thoroughly enjoyed it. We took a taxi through the other side of town which was a little bit scary- that is the Colombia that everyone warns about. It is in STARK contrast to the area we live in, there was no security, trash every where, grafitti etc. But when we got to the cable car station it was like another world again. We rode up to the mountain and when we reached the top it was very peaceful. The view is amazing and I think that Angie and Camilo really enjoyed sharing this with us. We ended up eating lunch at a really nice (and pricey) restaurant since the cafeteria was closed on Tuesdays. It was really nice though and Camilo ate so much food that I thought for sure he would hurl. We then went through this alley that had all kinds of souvenirs and such and again spent money. Eveything was reasonably priced so we couldn't resist. After all that we rode the cable car back down and took another taxi back home. I still can't get used to the driving in Bogota, it is downright frightening. We have decided that next time we will video tape a typical drive through the city to demonstrate. We then just did the usual Skyping of family and such. I miss them terribly!

Rain, rain...

Well I HAD a nice long post all ready to copy over to the blog and apparently it got erased. Things are going well I suppose. I am sick of the rain (today we got a break form it though) but it has really cramped my style. It also doesn't help the fact that I am so very, very homesick. I just want to go home and get on with our lives. Maybe it will get better but, it is what it is I suppose. Angie is doing much better as far as misisng her friends and such. They both seem like the playful kids we knew three years ago.

Our past few days have been spent going to Maloka ( science museum place) and watching the latsest Pirates movie in 3-D (and Spanish) and we went to the park and the usual shopping at the Mall Slitre Plaza. I think the people at Exito (think Walmart) know us by now. Unfortunately it is as the Gringo's who don't know a lick of Spanish and let the 15 year old handle their money that they know us by;-)

Anyway I will post about our great day at Monserratte tomorrow sometime as I am tired and a bit disgusted that I didn't save my original post. But please enjoy this video by Mr. Camilo himself!


Keep this in mind. Camilo is in the room alone. He asked to use the camera and off he went. He filmed it all as it happened. LOL

Day Two!

Yesterday was a little rougher. Angie is missing her friends and I think that the reality of leaving everything she knows hit her yesterday. She is smart and aware of reality, she knows that she will have a life with a family with us in the U.S. but, up to this point her life has been here in Colombia. Angie is very social and she is 15 regardless of the situation her friends are so important to her. I think if it wasn’t for her immense feeling of responsibility to Camilo she might reconsider leaving everyone she knows. Camilo is doing seemingly well. He is enjoying his own room and his own space. Since he is so shy anyway I think this is heaven for him. It’s just he, Angie, Jim and I. There is no sharing a huge room with bunk beds lined up, there is no open bathroom, he can eat when he’s hungry and most of all there is quiet.
My impression of San Mauricio (orphanage) was that the pictures did it justice. I believe the people there care for the children and do the best with what resources they have but, it is just sad. There are children everywhere and I don’t know how they keep track of them all. The facility itself is generally clean but with so many children and in such a small space it just seems substandard. This is not to dismiss all that Gloria (the director) has done. She is apparently a wealthy woman who puts her own money into San Mauricio- it is considered the best facility for these kids. She also will not kick out a child who has aged out of the system. They have, I would say, between 5-10 adults on campus who are disabled to several degrees. They live there and “help out.” I definitely do not want to see what the other orphanages look like!
It is raining today and I think the plan will be to go to Maloka which is right by Salitre Plaza mall. It is a science center/museum sort of thing. I believe they have an I-max theatre too. We need to get out of the apartment today and away from televisions, computers and any other technology and just do something fun.