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I thought the whole idea behind No-Ad sunscreen was that 

they don't advertise...

YAY Linnea!

Shopping at the Parket

We walked a few blocks north on Saturday to a neighborhood market.  I think I'll call it the "parket" because it was a farmers market in the street next to a park.  So while we shopped for our new favorite fruits, eggs and veggies, the kids got to swing in the park.  Also, no trip to a park is complete without seeing a dog tied up somewhere.  But my favorite picture is below...

When it was time to pay, our pesos were totaled up using a laptop computer.

PINK!

Kids with street art

PTA Lunch Sounds Boring, but Read On...

Shortly after school started, we received and invitation for the PTA lunch.  One thinks of a PTA lunch and one things of a boring afternoon of finger sandwiches and "refreshments".  Well, our PTA lunch was anything but...

We traveled about an hour north of the city to Andres Carne de Res, a world famous (at least in the Latin American world) restaurant that is part steakhouse-part informal dinner theater-part found art gallery-part kid zone-and-part dance floor.  We arrived hungry and ready for lunch, not knowing that we were in for quite an experience.

Random actors would roam around the restaurant and have inaudible conversations, pray to ambiguous statues and be completely engrossed in their own world of ? 

Refreshing beverages 

Ceiling art that Rick Rozet would love.

The whole restaurant looks like this.  One of our local friends told us that this restaurant can accommodate 2,000 people on a busy weekend night.

In the kid area, they had rock climbing, stilt walking, mask making, carpentry (Linnea made a guitar), dancing, a puppet show, and face painting.  Linnea wanted the Colombian flag:  Gold for the vast amounts of gold found in its lands, blue for the shores that flank the north and west and red for the blood that flowed on the battlegrounds by the people who secured Colombia's freedom.

Even the path to the parking lot was decorated and entertaining.

Last Day of "Summer"

We are quickly approaching our first day of school, the mark of the end of summer.  Back home in Sonoma County, the naked ladies (amaryllis) would bloom and usher in the beginning of school, but there don't seem to be any naked ladies here.

If fact, it's hard to remember that it's still summer.  The daytime temperature hovers in the low to mid-60's F, and we have been layering to stay warm.  Also, living up the mountain tends to be colder than when go just 5 or so blocks down to the flatter parts.  So, today on our last day, we took an urban hike.  After leaving our house, we walked along the main road until we came to a stone path that lead to a swift running creek.  There seem to be a lot of these little creeks bringing water down from the mountain.  We followed the stone steps to a tunnel that took us underground to the other side of the road.  

We continued on, walking past brick apartment buildings that reached up 8 or 10 or more stories.  We eventually made it to a point where the new brick buildings meet up with a barrio.  Around Bogotá, you can see a mix of extremely expensive and modern high-rise apartment buildings and then little community of modestly built houses that people call the barrio.  These are places where people have established homes, often without paying for the land.  Because of a Colombian law, once the dwelling has been inhabited for 25 years, it is legally theirs.  Because the neighborhood that we live in has newer buildings and butts up right next to the mountain, there are pockets of these barrio communities that were here long before the developers saw the eastern part of the city as a desirable and lucrative area to build in. 

So, as we walked today, we could hear the barrio before we could see it.  There was a soccer game happening on the street, children sitting in doorways and people walking in the street.  And, of course, the horse, eating corn husks on the sidewalk.  We certainly see people walking the streets near our house, but the noises of the city we hear are more related to cars than voices.  I kind of like the sounds of the barrio better.

We continued walking and passed through a large park, then started to make our way back to our house.  We passed this impressive graffiti.

We made it back to the park closest to our house.  About two blocks long and one block wide, it serves as our route down to the commercial district.  The kids seem to gravitate to this old tree that serves as a bridge crossing another creek.

It's incredible to me that this beautiful park is surrounded by apartments on both sides.  As I was taking pictures, a city bus passed by as a reminder that we are still in a city of 8 million people despite the abundance of green spaces.

Our New Digs

We spent the day at work today... no students on campus yet, but beginning of the year meetings are in full swing.  We are setting up our rooms and learning the new systems and protocols.  I had a glimpse today of how busy we will be in a week from now when work really starts so I figured now was the time to get a post up with pictures of our new place.

The front of our building, where a Colombian flag was waving yesterday because of a national holiday.

Our kitchen

Dining room

Entryway and fireplace

Living room

The view from our living room window where we can see the courtyard and kids play area.

Adjustments in Baking and Other Things

My corn bread recipe needed a little tweaking tonight.  It called for baking powder, but we only had baking soda.  Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I learned to substitute baking soda for baking powder by decreasing the amount by three-quarters.  Then I had to fiddle with the recipe because we are now living at 8,500 feet.  OK... baking websites, don't fail me now... over 7,500 feet, add 3 to 4 tablespoons of extra liquid to the recipe and increase the baking temperature by 20 degrees Fahrenheit, but I had to then convert that to Celsius, which meant turning the dial a little past 200 degree Celsius.  The jury is still out as to whether or not the cornbread will turn out...

We now find ourselves living in Bogotá, Colombia.  Our life adjustments now include learning a city that has streets that run north to south (the calles) and east to west (the carreras).  We are adjusting to the freedom of walking a few blocks west to parks, restaurants, shops, and grocery stores.  We are learning the ropes at a new school where we will be starting on August 16.  Our ears are tilting toward the Colombian accent and pace of life.  We have already eased into a new community of friends, at this time mostly teachers at our new school, but  of course we look forward to the Colombian connections as well.

We arrived on July 27 and spent several days acclimating to our new neighborhood and to the altitude.  We then headed off to Villa de Leyva, a colonial city founded in 1572.  It is known for its white-washed buildings and cobblestone streets.  Not far from Villa de Leyva is Puente de Boyacá, which was the site of a pivotal battle between the armies of Simón Bolivar and Spanish troops, securing Colombia's independence on this day 192 years ago.

We spent 3 days in Villa de Leyva...

On the way, the beautiful countryside north of Bogotá.

Our hotel during our stay in Villa de Leyva.

 We hopped on two of these busses for a tour of the town.  Before we drove off, we were offered a beer or a "Cola y Pola", which was a beer cola.  Kind of sweet , like a watery coke.  Good to try it once, probably will never drink another one again.

Inside the Luis Alberto Acuña museum where his paintings, murals and sculptures filled the colonial-style mansion where he lived during the last years of his life.

Casa Museo de Luis Alberto Acuña

The Plaza Mayor is one of the biggest plazas in South America.

So you can see, we have been adjusting to a lot lately, and we are loving it!  More pictures to come of our home and neighborhood, Ciclovia, and our school.

Here's how the corn bread turned out... tasty!