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!

Our Town

Our town of Sebastopol is sometimes called quirky, eclectic or "out there". But we feel very at home here.  A nice little place to see the creativity of Sebastopol is on Florence Avenue.  There, an artist by the name of Patrick Amiot and his family have helped transform a normal city street into an art exhibition.  Here are some of our favorite sculptures on what our kids call "Sculpture Street".  Some are small (like the campers below) and some are as big as a car.  Enjoy!

Batman and Bat Man...                                                                     

Still Here (where ever here is)!

In our final weeks in Honduras, packing up and saying goodbye caused the priority of the blog to slip way down on the totem pole.  In short, we got rid of a bunch of stuff, said goodbye to school friends and city friends, gave a tearful goodbye to Yuliza and packed 10 suitcases/boxes and flew back to Northern California on June 4.

We bid a farewell to Honduras and all the amazing places we visited while in that part of the world.  We tip our hats to that country for being our jumping off point for overseas living, and what a jumping off point it was.  For anyone who has followed the news over the past couple of years, Honduras has not been the easiest place to live.  But we didn't move there for an easy life, we moved there for adventure!  On the 4 wheels of our trusty 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe, we traveled the country and beyond, racking up experiences that we will never forget.

Our awesome view on a cloudy morning.  Tegucigalpa was at its best at night with the twinkling lights down low in the city and making their way up the green mountains.

Dempsey's artwork was chosen for the end of the year art show.

Linnea with some kindergarten friends.

Now we bask in the glow of a beautiful California summer.  Bike riding, camping, a Music Festival, farmer's market, small town living and family and friends have filled us up.  

Dempsey went to "College for Kids" at the SRJC and built cool mechanical stuff out of Legos.

We went by ferry to the Colombian Consulate in San Francisco to get our visas sorted out before heading out for Bogotá.

We spent several days in MacKerricher State Park near Fort Bragg.  Here is Lake Cleone with the Pacific Ocean behind.

Glass booty at Glass Beach.

Bike riding in the campground.

We rode the Skunk Train to Northspur for a picnic lunch.

Our niece Katy brought her Notebook of Fun which provided activities for all the cousins.  This included  scavenger hunts, making peanut butter and seed bird feeders, reading stories, countless miles around the campground on bicycles, sand art, and making ice cream.  Above you see her ice cream ingredients and the kids with their bags of vanilla ice cream.  

We have two more weeks in Sebastopol until we fly out to Bogotá.  We will be living and working in the capital at a school.  Stay tuned if you're interested to see what life is like in Colombia!

Last/Random Images from Copan Ruinas

...Procession on Good Friday...

Someone loves mangos

Linnea and Nirmala in a TukTuk

Birds and an altar the kids made in front of our "home" in celebration of Viernes Santo.  That's Ernesto, our host.

 Last morning in Copan.

 ... our ride to the bus station...

 Pretty driveway

 Someone brought a gas oven to the river for the 3 day holiday of Semana Santa.

Field of tomatoes.