Colómbia (Part 7)

I know that you are all waiting anxiously for more  posts about Colómbia and that you have been checking my blog many times a day to see if I have updated!  Okay, not really, but you get to see a few more posts because I’m addicted to taking pictures and we did a lot of cool things.

Tuesday was our last day and that morning we went to a salt mine in the town of Zipaquirá.  I’ll put that it a different post but these are some of the pics from the drive there and back.  It was about 45 minutes to the north of Bogotá.  I had never been there and it was beautiful country.  The first town we went through is called Chia.  I loved it.  I think that’s were I’d like to buy a house someday. 

 

These cows were outside a restaurant.  I guess it’s famous for the cows.

 

This cow was just in front of a house.  And it’s a real one.

More cows.

 

“Ma!  The cows are loose!” 

    “Well go get ‘em!”

Hehehe, they really were loose and the boy was chasing them down the side of the road!

 

My cute niece, Isabella.  She kept playing with Zach while he was sleeping.

                

 

More scenery.

Colómbia (Part 6)

 

On Monday, we rode the TransMilenio (their cool transportation system) into the downtown area and went souvenir shopping.  Carlos’ Dad took us to lunch at this really cool restaurant.  The food was really good (except for that rice stuffed in intestines thing).  It had paintings of fairy tale creatures and was in an old house because it had several different rooms. 

    

When we got back, the guys took the boys back to the apartment and Amy and I stayed at the mall and shopped (mostly window shopped!) without having to worry about kids and dads getting bored.  Thanks guys!

We also bought some Dunkin’ Donuts back to the apartment with us to share with everyone.

Colómbia-Funny stuff from Villavicencio I forgot….

It’s very hot and humid in Villavicencio and I don’t think that many people have hot water because it’s so hot!  The cold shower is a shocker in the morning but feels wonderful in the afternoon. 

The backyard of this house is more like an outside room with most of it covered and it all has tile and some beds, a hammock, etc.  There is also a huge wash basin and area for scrubbing clothes.  That’s where Carlos was bathed when he was little.  It’s also how the boys were bathed while we were there.  This is what they thought of it and the cold water.

 

Poor things!  It was actually pretty funny… and I’m sure that someday they will look at these pictures and laugh….

A great article

Click HERE to read this great article about a talk President Packer gave at Education Week.

Colómbia (Part 5b)

More at the finca…. Be sure to read the post before this one for the first part of the finca.

This is the outside.  Most of the building is open like this, but there are some bedrooms, bathrooms and a kitchen that are each enclosed, all with their doors opening  up to the open area.

 

D’Liz or Liz’s is the name of the finca

 

 

There is another building where those that run the finca everyday live.  Set apart a little from the main house is an outdoor cooking area.  This was part of our lunch.  Yummy! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have livestock (which we didn’t really see because they have a mean bull) and all sorts of animals, including this turkey:

 

Chacho (Fernando), who also has an amazing voice and performs publically quite often, had his group there singing for us.  Carlos had also requested that he sing to me for our anniversary, so here we are as I am being serenaded.

Another Aunt, Consuelo, performed a traditional dance with Chacho…

We had a great (and messy?) time!

We left for Bogotá that evening after we got back and got there around 10:00.  We had all thought we’d sleep a little but Jaiden decided to talk non-stop the entire way home.  He actually said some hilarious things that had us all rolling, so it was a fun trip.

Goodbye Villavicencio!

Colómbia (part 5a)

  

Sorry to bore y’all with more of Colombia… but I need to get this down while I remember it!

The ninth was Carlos’ grandma’s actual birthday but it was also our 7th  anniversary!

 

 

   We rode a chiva to one the Aunt’s fincas, which is kind-of like a ranch.  A lot of people have a house in the city and also a finca to which they go but don’t always live full time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each family wore a different colored shirt but we never did get the big group picture that we were going to……hmmm…..but we all did our own individual family pics!

Some of the flora and fauna around the finca.  And this was just in the immediate vicinity of the buildings because we couldn’t wander off to the river or other areas.  I guess there was a dangerous kind of snake at the river a few days before!