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History & Gold

Time has certainly slowed down. There really hasn't been too much to post since our visit to San Mauricio. The kids seemed to enjoy that but were completely over it by the time we were ready to leave. And, at this point, we are all ready to go home. There is also a holiday today which is delaying things a bit. Our paperwork is on the judges desk and we were told that Sentencia will be later this week. I still go to bed early to call it another day done. I miss my family at home and Angie and Camilo are ready to get on with their life.

Yesterday (Sunday) we made a trip to the Museo del Oro (Gold Museum.) Since I'm trying to stay on some sort of budget I decided to brave any crowds and go on the free day which is Sunday. We got there and the lines were so long out of the front door and didn't appear to be moving so, we decided to walk. The area was really cool and full of history. We walked down a couple of blocks and there was a square with a statue in the middle of it. On one side wa a church with Mass in process and everything was decorated because of Corpus Christi. We were feeding the pigeons some corn (obviously not my idea) and Angie took off with the camera telling us to follow. Here the national band was marching down in front of the church. They went past, came back and stopped in front of the it. The church was lined with guardsmen and there was this throne, alter, float thingy (sorry,I'm not familiar) that was held by some more guards. We then waited for the processional but, it seemed like there were going to be a while yet so we ended up walking away.

We then walked down a few more blocks (in the street though since there were blocked to traffic) and happened upon the President's house. It seemed so weird to me for it to be so close and so much downtown. We snapped some pictures then Angie pointed to a small historical museum in an old home/headquarters for General Santander a big historical figure in Colombia.

We walked through, snapped some pictures and walked some more. We then found the Iglesia Santa Clara museum that was an old church converted into a museum and took some more pictures. I have to say that it was absolutely beautiful. We decided that we were hungry and turned around to go back toward the Gold Museum to the McDonalds. We stopped at a few artesenal stores and bought a few more souvenirs (and a new umbrella since one of ours is shot)and braved the McDonalds frenzy. If you thought that McDonalds n the U.S. was crazy during busy times you should try a Bogotanian one- they are always in close quarters and very busy. At any rate we got our lunch.

After lunch we headed over to the Gold Museum and found that the the line was long but, not as long and appeared to be moving so we jumped in. We probably waited about five minutes and then endured the crowds in the museum. The museum is beautiful and very nice. We didn't see all of it because of the crowds but we saw enough to call it an experience and take some pictures. I got a latte and we then went over to another artensenal/souvenir area bought a couple more things and left. We lucked out and happened upon a taxi that was dropping someone off right at the museum and grabbed it.

The day overall was a really good one. We absorbed some history, got some pictures to reflect on and enjoyed the culture. There were two major things that came to me yesterday. Number one is that sometimes the best times are the ones that are not planned and just happen. We had plans to go to the museum but ended up with so much more. The second thing that came to me was that Bogota, Colombia is starting to look "normal" to me. In other words, I am starting to recognize the different areas and neighborhoods as we drive by in taxi's. And things look familiar and are no longer so foriegn to me. The homes, businesses and surroundings are normal for me now. I really need to get home.......

Just Pictures

Moving On

We lost internet over the weekend! This made for a particularly bad time.

First of all i will start with Thursday and Parque Jaime Duque which is a combo of a zoo and a theme park that was created by the first pilot in Colombia. His name may or may not have been Jaime Duque- I never really got the full grasp of it. However, we had a great time and really it is a nice park with lots of animals arranged very nicely. We got great pictures and video of the lions. Mehli will love it!! The theme park part was also nice and had a worldly theme. There was an area tht depicted the Seven Wonders of the World and a replica of the Taj Mahal that had international replica's of the lieks of Michelangelo and Colombian art work portraying the history. Beautiful place. there were also a few rides for the kiddos.

Friday we went to visit Angie's school and friends as their three week vacation is begining. She had a nice time. Since we live next to a really nice school I was not prepared for he school. I didn't go inside and we forgot the camera but, it was sad to me. this is definately where the girls on the "other side of town" go to school. It had the glass shards on top of the wall that surrounded it. It was on this dirt road that made me nervous and I ws suprised by the whole thng. We then caught a taxi and went howm which is when we started having problems with the internet. Luckily I finished all of my work earlier in the week.

Vivanna visited Saturday morning with her son Daniel. He is an adorable baby with such a good temperment and Vivanna seems to be doing a good job with him. they all seemed to enjoy her visit even though the weather was bad and we had no internet. I was in a definate funk and was feeling that things were not right at home and I couldn't communicate with anyone. I then found out late Sunday that our Jeep broke down at Alanna's school when Jim went to take her back and is still down there. So now we have to take care of that issue with still thousands of dollars hanging out there in cost for our return. Needless to say this is stressful to both of us right now so send poistive thoughts our way. To make things more complicated I have AAA in my name but, I am in Colombia and cannot get to Athens, Ohio to get the free tow. Just keep swimming, just keep simming.... If I were home I could also get some extra hours in but, I am not. So after we took Vivanna back to where she was staying, we came back to find our internet was back on which was good but, it woudl have been nice for the kids to Skype with Paula since no one knows if they will all be together again.

Monday was another do nothing day and we just hung out but, today we will visit San Mauricio for the last time. I'm looking forward to it even though it is often sad. Have great day everyone and think good (ans speedy) thoughts for us!!

Hard Rock and Goodbye

Hard Rock and Saturday was great! We had a nice but expensive (twice as much as we would pay at a Hard Rock Cafe state-side) lunch and then bought some souvenirs. Jim got his t-shirt and a hat plus I picked a little something up for a work friend. We then walked around the area and went into a little mall. We could barely afford to be in there, really expensive stores. We have found that things like clothing and shoes (these Bogotanos LOVE shoes) are really expensive here. We then wandered around a bit looking for the Harley Davidson store and ended up asking for directions and had to go through this enclosed area of street shops (not really a mall but, yet it was.) These shops included the likes of Versace and Gucci again, couldn't even afford to be there. We ended up finding the Harley Davidson store which was nice but if you can't buy anything....We then caught a cab and went back to the apartment.

On Sunday it was just a hang out day again. We walked through the park next to us since they were having some kind of event but, the kids didn't really seem interested. So we went to an internet/copy place to print out Jim's boarding passes and make a few copies of things. We then went and had empanada's from this little street restaurant and they were to die for. I love Empanada's. I only tried the pollo (chicken) ones but I think Jim tried one of every kind. Then after that we had some helado (ice cream) from another shop. We then just relaxed the rest of the night.

Jim left the apartment about six in the morning on Monday. It wasn't the goodbye I had envisioned nor expected. It is really hard not having him here with us. I'm not afraid to be here without him, it's not that Angie and Camilo are so high maintenence that I need help, it's just that now I know time will stand still. I don't know if it will be three weeks, four, five? I miss my home. I miss my family there. And then I feel so guilty for feeling this way so strongly because we are takking Angie and Camilo from ther home. I try to stay busy (my apartment was spotless by nine yesterday morning) but, it's hard. I tracked Jim's progress throughout the day. We went to Salitre to do some shopping and ended up coming home with a 1000 piece puzzle to keep us (read "me") busy. And I made it through day one with Jim's absence. "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."

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I’ve been bad and have not kept up with the blog over the last few days. We have actually been really busy trying to fit in some fun stuff since Jim will be leaving early Monday morning. WE have also been blessed with great weather, very little rain and temperatures from the high 60’s to mid 70’s.
This past weekend was a holiday here (still do not know what the holiday was) and Monday no one had school or work it seemed. The weather was actually kind of hot and Jim and I both got a little bit of sunburn. We took the kids to the park adjacent to our complex and everyone else was there too. Angie and Camilo took turns on the swivel board and Jim got a work out kicking the soccer ball around with the kids. The downside is that Camilo now has his second boomerang (the first one Jim threw and it hit the sidewalk and broke) and it ended up in a tree for the second time this week. This was all to avoid taking someone out since there were so many people at the park. It did thunderstorm in the afternoon but, we were back at the apartment by then.
Tuesday was the Salt Cathedral in Zipaquira. This was absolutely amazing. Our tour guide Jorge did an amazing job of explaining the history and significance. There is literally a whole cathedral down in the still cultivated salt mine. The carvings out of salt were amazing resembling marble but when you shine light on it there is a translucent quality to it. Before the Salt Cathedral we went to a quant authentic café/bakery/restaurant that was to die for and very inexpensive. After the Cathedral we went to another restaurant in an old salt factory for lunch. The restaurant was very good and featured authentic Colombian food. I had the traditional potato and chicken soup again and enjoyed everything about the day. Angie and Camilo also seemed to enjoy the Cathedral and the food. Every day they just amaze me at their resilience. They seem very happy and relaxed at this point in time.
Wednesday was another do nothing day that was spent doing the usual trip to Exito and such. However, yesterday (Thursday) was Salitre Magico which is an amusement park. It is way smaller than anything we have in Ohio (even before Geauga Lake closed) but was reasonable and had the typical roller coasters and rides. Angie, Mehli and Tori will get along great at these sorts of things. Angie loves all the rides. She has NO FEAR. We also did a haunted house that was pretty scary. Camilo likes some of the rides but is not such a huge fan of some of the faster, more extreme ones nor was he feeling the haunted house. Again I think the kids had a great time there were a lot of laughs and happy memories. I can’t wait to take them to Cedar Point or Kings Island though, they will LOVE that. Right now enjoying a beautiful rainbow over Bogota!