Botanical Garden

This weekend we are in Ville de Leva (pictures to come soon) but earlier this week we went to the Botanical Garden in Bogota. I must say that I really enjoyed it. Right now they have an exhibit on butterflies of Colombia where you go into a special part of the greenhouse and hundreds of butterflies are flying around you. They also have dozens of varieties of orchids there, but unfortunately most of them bloom here around December. Despite the orchids not being in bloom, we did enjoy the rose gardens and many other exotic plants and flowers.

Hope you enjoy the photos,

Kurt

Guatavita

This was by far my favorite day trip so far, including our last trip here as well! As always it is great to get out in to the countryside, seeing the farmers work their fields of potatoes. Breathe in the fresh cool air. It is not as lush or green this time around. This region is in a terrible drought. I think they must all be praying for the rains to come!

Freddy is a great tour guide and friend. We hiked up to the first view of the lake. Lucy was a total trooper. She walked most of the way with Kurt helping her along the way if she needed a break. There were lots of breaks! For those of you that have been before, the walk is about as high as Monserrate, around 10,000 feet. We went with our friend Tracy and her son Ty. Ty and Mateo are only 3 weeks apart. It was time to feed the babies by the time we reached the top so we plopped ourselves down to listen to Freddy tell us the Legend of el Dorado. Quite an interesting story of the indegenious peoples worshipping the lake, offering gold sacrifices, complete with Spainards draining the lake 9 feet to look for and plunder said gold.

We then went into the town of Guatavita for some lunch. Freddy took us to a fabulous restaurant where we all enjoyed the 4 food groups;) Kurt had the trout, Freddy had the chicken, Tracy ate the steak and I enjoyed the rabbit! So tasty in a tangy garlic sauce. Tastes like Grouse:)

The town of Guatavita is quaint. All the buildings are white with red tile roofs. There are many steep red brick stairs leading to all the shops and houses.

I've finally had some time to organize and download our pics. I'm hopeful that I can back track and put up some slideshows week by week of our stay. I know we haven't been posting enough pictures for all of you.

Smooch
PK

la Candelaria

The internet is so fussy here. Our Skype is pretty sporadic at best. The spell check doesn't work on our blog and sometimes it won't let us post pics. Sigh.... I guess we're a little too dependent on technology these days. How did we ever survive without the internet;)

Saturday we went to la Candaleria with the Parmers. We had a delicious lunch from a restaurant that specializes in food from Cali. Que rico! After lunch we headed over to Bolivar Plaza. They have a display there now. Ants are crawling on the side of one of the buildings. They represent the displaced peoples living here in Bogota that have had to leave their homes and land to get away from the FARC and paramilitaries.

The church was also open which is a rarity I guess. It is enormous, not to mention breathtaking! We happen to be lucky enough to see the changing of the guard at the presidential palace as well.

Today we had Bandeja Paisa for lunch at the hotel. The staff really outdid themselves.

Tomorrow we're going to the town of Guatavita to see the Legend of el Dorado.

I'm truly in heaven...

Smooch
PK

Sunday Markets - So much shopping, so little time and money

My dear friend Adriana was kind enough to go to the Sunday Markets with me. I thoroughly enjoyed our time together without kids. Thank you Kurt! I am amazed at my restraint. I came back to the hotel with my backpack only half full:) I have my eye on a few things and of course I need to go to hotel la Fontana as well. But I have to tell you the dollar is not going as far as the last time we were here:( Good for the Colombians but bad for my shopping addiction! While my bargaining skills are a little better, they are not as willing to barter. But many thanks to Adriana who helped me!

Anapoima....what a relaxing getaway! Hansa tours now (or maybe they always have) rents houses/apartments all over Colombia. Check it out at www.hansatours.com We went with another family from Wed - Fri last week. It was only about a 2 hr drive and the scenery is breathtaking! It is quite the ride down the mountain! The fresh air and weather was awesome. And the pool....that was a lifesaver. Lucy only came out to eat, go to the bathroom and sleep. My little fishy. We really needed the quiet time away as a family. The hotel is great but ohhhh so busy. Katia, the owner, told me that she's had to turn away four of her reservations. Mateo is thriving! He ate like a little piggy and now officially has a tiny double chin and elbow dimples! He went swimming in the pool and now even has a little tan. Kurt is back to being the whitest member of our family.

Today is a down day and then we're going to Guatavita for the day with some other families from the hotel. We're still figuring out our Villa de lleva trip with the Agudelos this weekend, how many nights. It is a 4 hr drive so we'd like to go for more than one night.

Chiao!
PK

Anapoima

Here are some photos from our stay in Anapoima. Weather was a little cloudy but still about 82 degrees each day.

So Much to Do, So Little Time

This slideshow created with Smilebox

Since I have not posted anything but pictures yet (I been a bit lazy about writing this time), I thought I should finally take a little time to share a couple thoughts with everyone. So here is what has been on my mind for the first week and a half:

Family

It has been interesting to watch the new dynamics of our family unfold. Cooporation, frustration, exhaustion, negotiation, jealousy, happiness, love, joy, togetherness are just a few of the words I would use to describe how the new family unit functions. So far it seems to be working pretty well with just a few minor hic-ups along the way. Although, I will say that the remaining 10 hairs I had left on my head have fallen out as a result of all 4 of us sharing the same room for the last 14 days.

One final thought on family, it really is special to watch all of the families that are here with all their different adoption stories. There are people here from all over the world adopting babys, special needs children, and family groups. This afternoon Lucy and I played Play Dough with three boys who are being adopted by an older Italian couple. I can tell when I see them together playing, eating dinner, and doing learning activities with their new mom and dad that they are going to be a great family with a lot love to share between them. This is just one of many hopeful situations for both the children and the parents that I see here everyday. Please say a prayer for all of them.

Travel in Colombia

Now that we have met with the Defender of Minors we can travel around Colombia. This is what we have been doing or will likely be doing over the next few weeks while we wait for the OK to go home:

- Nemocon (were there this weekend, see pictures)
- Anapoima (leaving for there tomorrow)
- Guatavita (Next week, this is where the legend of El Dorado originates)
- Villa De Leva (two weekeds from now)
- Caratgena (week of the 23rd)

Hence the name of the post, "so much to do, so little time"

May God bless the children who are still waiting for their families,

Kurt

PS. Spell check is not working so please forgive any errors. Also, as I mentioned above we will be traveling this week without internet, so no new posts until this weekend . . . sorry.

Colombian food is a beautiful thing

Solid poops today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Juanita continues to impress me with her cooking abilities. The other day we had patacones. I already mentioned the sopa de ajiaco and now today she taught 4 of us Moms how to make empanadas! I LOVE Juanita!! Oh! And we went to el Corral yesterday for lunch for some amazing hamburgers. So I guess it's been the Triple Crown of foods this week.

I just really dig the comraderie of food here, in Latin America in general actually. Everyone gathers, chats, laughs, chops, mixes, gossips. Things are still homemade. It reminds me of growing up on our farm. We didn't have a lot of money growing up but we ALWAYS had good food. It makes me nostalgic. Also, my motto while in Colombia, "what doesn't taste good fried in oil?"

Lucy is terrific. As I've said before, there are lots of kids here which is great. It's like a built in babysitter but then all of a sudden a bomb goes off. You can tell they are trying to figure it all out, new siblings, new friends, new beds. In spite of it all, Lucy handles it so well. They all do really. Lucy is even going to the bathroom by herself, closing the door for privacy. I love it! It used to be such a power struggle to get her to go and now she is so independent.

Bedtimes around here are a crapshoot as you can imagine. Four people in one room, all needing different things. It had been ending in disaster most nights with Mateo going to sleep first, then expecting Lucy to calmly and quietly walk in and go to sleep which of course doesn't happen. She's exhausted from the day and comes in kicking and screaming yelling, "I want Josiah!" (her Buddy here) Therefore waking Mateo up and we start all over again. Then we're so exhausted we end up going to bed the same time the kids do. This is wayyyy too tempting for Lucy. "I want to sleep in your bed Momma. I love you Momma. I want a lolipop Popi." It was like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole night after night. Meanwhile we have this extra room that we're using for storage. Finally we figured out to get Mateo down. Bring him into the extra bedroom and THEN do Lucy's bedtime routine. It's been working like a charm except for tonight. Lucy might beg to differ;) Kurt went into our bedroom to check on Lucy and she had turned on all of the lights, had raided the frig and was kicked back on her bed, legs crossed enjoying a juicebox! How can you not laugh at that?

Mateo is doing soooo much better. When we brought him back to los Pisingos yesterday we weighed him and he gained 200 grams in spite of all that sickness! Shows you what a little love can do. He sat up unassisted with Kurt tonight. He's eating like a champ. Lots of bananas and rice cereal (no cork). He's discovered his voice and loves to use it now. And the smiles....the sweet smiles he gives me when our eyes meet.

I'm in love...

Smooch
PK