Friday, August 20, 2010

Day 44-Wednesday & Day 45

Day 44-
Last day in Colombia :(
We first went to the Embassy...Uncle was kind enough to let us sit in on some immigration interviews. They were really interesting, thanks!
Next, we went down to get pedicures and manicures for N,R, and Auntie, haircut for J.
Afterwards, we came home and finished packing and got ready to leave. When Uncle came home from work we went down to that pizza shop we went to before...the place with the huge slices ;)
We left "home" for the airport around 8pm. Our flight was at midnight. Everything went smoothly... We were very sad to leave :(
We have had such a great time here. Thank you, auntie and uncle, for putting up with us. We had an awesome summer...You went waaay out of your way to let us stay....We are truly grateful!

Day 45-
This morning at 5am we arrived in Houston. It was a loooong (almost sleepless) night. It was 6am by the time we got through immigration/customs. Mom was there to meet us. We had a 6 hr drive back home...Mom started out, then N, then R....each about 2 hrs. We stopped at ihop for breakfast....really good! Thanks mom. We got home and unpacked in a daze, we were all so very tired...
.:.arrival in Houston....so sleepy....:.
This has truly been the best summer ever....Thank you to everyone who made it so wonderful. :)

Day 43

Today we took a walk downtown. R got a Colombian dress (and was horrified to find out it was made in Peru!), and N&J found sunglasses they liked. We also got Avenas and Pandeyucca. Thank you! :)
We also took the cat (the one with spaying problems) back to the vet. To get restitched. Poor cat...
We spent the rest of the day packing...
Then in the evening we tried playing games....it kinda bored us though...so we decided to try playing Sardines! Oh such fun! :) We would take the elevator up and down, then go look for the one hiding in the dark. lol we were so loud I'm sure the neighbors thought something was wrong, or that we were creeps!

Day 42

Today was some Colombian holiday, so Uncle was home...I think it was a Catholic holiday...something about Mary....
In the afternoon we all went to play tennis at the Ambassadors house...seriously, it's like a mini white house, huuuge!
.:.How would you like to drive on this road?.:.

.:.beside the tennis courts.:.


Uncle: I can play air guitar better than you can!
N: Naaha! I can play it better than you!
Uncle: Well prove it!

I thought a phlabotomist had something to do with the ..... when I was little...
Fun memories ;)

Later, we played games. Uncle and J tried playing Uno starting with one card or all the cards... I think they were hyper.

Day 41-Sunday

This evening was Tatiana and Larry's wedding! They are two people we met at Ilarco...
It was a small outdoor wedding...The reception was right inside, at a hotel. Super pretty! Thanks for inviting us!
The wedding itself lasted 20 min...The flower girl threw flowers on the way out...they didn't throw the bouquet/garter, instead they played different types of games to get them.
We sat at a table with spanish speaking people...nobody spoke english, so we had an interesting time trying to communicate. :)

.:.the wedding.:.

.:.Reception.:.

.:.auntie and uncle were padrinos (not exactly sure on the definition, but I think they are like mentors.:.

.:.Tatiana.:.

.:.Tatiana and Larry.:.



.:.the padrinos, Tatiana, and Larry.:.

.:.reception.:.

.:.dessert.:.

Day 40

Remember the mountain we were going to hike, but couldn't? Well, we got up at 5:30am this morning to hike it. Attempt 2: fail.
Why? Because it was raining.....sigh...oh well...
We had Sabbath school at home and then went to Ilarco church.
That afternoon we went with Hands Of God Missionary Club (a mission of the Ilarco church youth) to a nursing home (only had like 6 ladies tho). We sang lots of songs with hand motions etc.(http://www.facebook.com/album.php?profile=1&id=698134358#!/group.php?gid=126026047423787&v=wall&ref=ts)
.:. some of the ladies singing i'm in right up right down right happy all the time...:.

.:.some of the group.:.

That evening Uncle and Auntie had to take out their sponserees or whatever they are called. Basically, when a new embassy worker arrives, a "sponser", or another embassy worker, is assigned to show them around, take them to shopping places, make sure their apartment is ready for them, etc...Uncle and Auntie took us with them...Thank you! We really enjoyed it. :)
Afterwards we walked down a "street" by the mall...We discovered this was a popular place Sat. nights for young people!

.:.a store by the mall.:.

.:.a restaurant full of people.:.

.:.the Italian restaurant we ate at.:.


.:.the Italian restaurant we ate at.:.

.:.people on the street.:.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Day 39

Today...hmmm...lets see...
Well we were busy trying to keep the cat, munchkin (the one that wasn't healing), calm, because she lost her stitches! We are hoping it will close up and heal up by itself...
Anyways, i think the most interesting thing today was walking past the bombing sight. Did any of you hear about the bomb?
Well, now you have all heard of it. It was about 10 blocks away from our "home"....
Mainly just shattered windows. Since we weren't home yet, we didn't get to hear it, but uncle was home yesterday morning and heard it.
.:.buildings near by.:.

We later went and got ice cream....since it was a rather warm day, it was really good! Thanks! :)



Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Day 38

well this morning, after we got packed, we visited a really old church. It had a beautiful courtyard!
After that we started heading home, but first we made a stop at Raquira, an artisan town. It was really cool!! So anyways, after that we continued on home....
.:.The church is made up of lots of fossils.:.

.:.R and the statue thingy.:.



.:.The courtyard of the church.:.

.:.Church courtyard.:.

.:.A bench.:.

.:.Native shoes.:.

.:.What a fray's bedroom would typically look like.:.

.:.Fray clothing.:.

.:.Horse shoes.:.

.:.Garden tools.:.


.:.Flowers.:.

.:.Flowers.:.

.:.Flowers.:.

.:.Raquira.:.

.:.Inside a church in Raquira.:.

.:.N in the traditional hat.:.

.:.R in the traditional hat.:.


.:.Ear-rings.:.

.:.Clothes for sale.:.

.:.An artisan store.:.

.:.The main road in Raquira.:.



.:.On the way home. The white headed one kept on trying to get out.:.

Day 37

ROAD TRIP!
This morning we headed out bright and early for Villa de Leyva, a small little tourist town. The drive was spectacular, seriously, once you get out of Bogota, the country is sooo pretty! Such green mountains, cute little houses....
So anyways, our first stop was at a dam which looked more like a lake. ;) Really pretty rest stop! :) When we got to villa de leyva we got settled in to our room for the night. We stayed at some christian camp. Then we went out to an ostrich farm, then just explored villa de leyva.
Something interesting--the nuns that live in this town have made a vow to never be seen. They live inside a church and have a business selling things. How do they sell without being seen? They have this black turning turning thing (kinda like a revolving door) where you can place things in it and then turn it.

.:.The Rest Stop.:.

.:.The Rest Stop - Overlooking The Water.:.

.:.N&R and Auntie by the lake.:.

.:.The Playground at the Rest Stop.:.

.:.Mountains along the drive.:.

.:.We drove through a memorial park that sits on the location of the battle fought by Simon Bolivar in the battle for Independence.:.

.:.A very common sight out of Bogota.:.

.:.See description on picture directly above.:.

.:.Colombia Countryside.:.

.:.More Countryside.:.

.:.Courtyard where we stayed.:.

.:.The view from our lodging.:.

.:.Caretakers boys playing on the swing.:.

.:.First stop of the day: Ostrich Farm.:.


.:.N feeding an ostrich -- which proceeded to peck her hand really hard.:.

.:R feeding the ostrich.:.

.:.J feeding the ostrich.:.

.:.Pretty weird feet...:.

.:.Ostrich.:.

.:.They mentioned that people are working on using ostrich cornea's for human transplants.:.

.:.Ostrich.:.

.:.Ponies.:.

.:.Horses.:.

.:.Water Buffalo.:.

.:.:Llama.:.

.:.It is sleeping.:.

.:.Baby.:.

.:.Goat -- See his tassels?.:.

.:.More goats lol.:.

.:.Moss on the trees.:.

.:.Second stop: Downtown Villa De Leyva.:.

.:.Church Steeple.:.

.:.Villa De Leyva.:.



.:.Some very loud girls in trucks :) .:.

.:.Villa De Leyva city square and the church.:.

.:.NRJ in front of the church and the city square.:.

.:.Inside the church.:.

.:.City square from the church side.:.

.:.For some reason there were a lot of teenagers around.:.

.:.A candle shop in Villa De Leyva.:.

.:.Corner food shop.:.

.:.Obleas - cheese, strawberry jam and some other stuff inside of wafers.:.

.:.The sign indicates that it is a flea market but when we ventured closer it looked more like an abandoned junkyard...:.

.:.Kids playing on the fountain.:.


.:.Sunset over the city square.:.

.:.Auntie's accommodations for the night.:.

.:.NRJ's accommodations for the night.:.

.:.The dining room.:.

.:.Part of the kitchen.:.

.:.N "playing" ping-pong.:.