The last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind... finishing up school and getting ready for our summer in California.  Here is the Cliffs Notes version of the last few weeks...

This is an awesome slide at a school called Gimnasio Moderno.  It's about 10 blocks from our house and a great place to play on Sundays.

Linnea took ballet and had a little performance in May.

Linnea's first grade class did a play.   She was a rainbow...

   Father's Day in Cota

Our friend's family has a finca in Mesitas, about 2 hours from Bogota.  It's a working coffee farm, but the coffee part is more of a hobby these days than a necessity.  Here are some stages of the process...

Here was a coffee cat sitting on the edge of a big vat of beans waiting to go down the shoot.

There were about a dozen horses on the property and Linnea got to ride Luna every day.

Life at the finca...

Linnea and Sandy

Now we are back in California, gearing up for our summer vacation... hopefully we'll have some time for some posts...

No Wonder!

We are just finishing up our first "year" (school year, that is) in Bogota, and this just came out today.

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/economy/24532-bogota-is-53rd-mot-expensive-city-in-the-world.html

Bogota is the 53rd most expensive city in the world for ex-pats and 5th in South America.  Now I really can't complain...but living in a desirable city comes at a price.  Here are some of the conveniences we have enjoyed since moving here...

• Beautiful parks to stroll through on the weekend
• Ordering-in things like sushi, pad-thai, ice, beer, anything from the grocery story you want, a doctor, your prescription, and of course, pizza
•  An abundance of museums and restaurants
• Great local boutiques as well as recognizable brand name stores (when you need them)
• Inexpensive busses and taxis
• Great neighborhoods to stroll through from modern and new to the neighborhoods where "Bogota was born" where the buildings, cobblestone streets and architecture tell a story of long ago
• Great little towns to getaway to on the weekends

La Candelaria

              La Candelaria and Botero Museum




                                                                                                                                         

Near Lake Guatavita

But there are some things that we just can't seem to wrap our heads around...

•  a used car (that is pretty expensive) when the pica y placa restrictions mean that you can't drive your can 2 days a week (and it looks like it will be changing to 3 days a week) to counteract the terrible traffic
• The cost of eating out in the fancy restaurants (although we are finding lots of local joints in out neck of the woods) 
• The cost of our utilities
• Travel within the country by airplane

But these things that are less desirable are things that we can pass at this time in our life (well, I won't pass on utilities, but I just have to bite the bullet and pay them).  We really like it here and we'll continue to figure this city out and make it our home, for now.  It feels like this is a great time to be in Bogota and Colombia in general.  And the things we love are being outdoors, checking out and learning about Colombian culture and exploring the small towns and places off the beaten path.