NINE!

We are now the proud owners of a nine year old boy.  

Smart as a whip

Skinny as a rail

Lover of Legos

Bike riding cool

Maker of jokes 

(What is the best way to fall and not hurt yourself? By falling asleep) 

Bookworm to the core

Discovering his inner artist

Sparkly-eyed little guy

Colombian Blog

i have been reading this Colombian travel and lifestyle blog for a few months now and read a post today I wanted to pass a long.  You can follow this blog too by checking it out from the list of blogs we follow on the right side of this page.  But I'll make it easier for you today by providing a link:

http://www.mantarayatravel.com/blog/return-to-my-roots-a-journey-back-to-the-land-i-long-ago-left

Weekend in Sasaima

We were invited to spend the weekend at a friend's finca last weekend.  Finca translates to farm, but it's no longer a working farm.  Think weekend house(s).  Years ago, the farm was a place for processing coffee.  In fact, the giant vat that once held millions of coffee beans on their way to become tasty coffee was turned into a lap pool.  

Only about and hour and a half or two hours from Bogota, it made for a easy escape.  We enjoyed the pool, the peaceful surroundings and of course a lot of eating.  The home was designed by our friend's father.  It sits above a raging river and much of the common living spaces are open to the elements.  Our bedrooms were completely enclosed to keep out mosquitos and other pesky bugs, but the walls could not keep out the sound of the roaring river.  It took a while to get used to the sound of the river at night, but by our 3rd night, we were able to sleep easily with the rushing water right outside.

Because of the warmth of the pool and the warm temperature at a lower elevation, we were in the pool all hours of the day and night.

Christmas in California

We spend a glorious 2 1/2 weeks in California for the winter break. We spent lots of time with our family and friends, saw the Pacific Ocean, celebrated Dempsey's birthday early with some friends and had a great New Year's Eve.

4 of the 6 cousins

New Year's Eve dinner

Dempsey's "not-birthday" party at Expedition Island

Mary's Pizza after the climbing, zipping and swinging.

Thanks to all our friends and family who helped make an awesome break!  Can't wait to see you all next summer!

December 6 - A Call for Peace

Last Tuesday, tens of thousands of Colombians protested across the nation to demand an end to half a century of guerrilla violence and kidnapping.  Colombians in the capital dressed in white and marched toward the capital's main square.  They held images of the murdered men and chanted "No more war! Yes to life, yes to peace."

President Juan Manuel Santos, who took office a little over a year ago, backed the march.   He faces increased pressure from Colombians to seek an end to the conflict that has killed tens of thousands over the decades. Santos has expressed willing to hold peace talks if the Marxist rebels stop kidnapping, cease attacks on civilians and the military, and lay down their weapons. 

While this was happening in Bogotá, my 5th grade students and I took a minute of silence as we  hiked up a sacred mountain in a nature sanctuary called Iguaque. We were on our 4 day trip that all grade levels participate in called Classroom Without Walls.  Back at school in Bogotá, all the students watched a video that was produced by our media department.  Featured in the video are teachers, members of our general service department, the student body president, and administrators.  If you don't understand the Spanish, just keep with it because the feeling of the message can be understood, no matter what language.  Also, there's English speakers at the end :)

CNG's call for peace in Colombia - December 6, 2011 from CNG_VIDEO on Vimeo.

Grandma's Cabin

When we went to Paipa over the Thanksgiving weekend, we were staying at our landlord's lake cabin.  She graciously offered it to us as a welcome gift when we arrived in Colombia.

The lake house

... then 180 degrees in the other direction...

Our bovine and feline friends.

The beds and furniture were covered with plastic when we arrived and the place needed to be aired out a bit, but in no time we were right at home.

The kid's favorite part of the house (other than the fire place) was the pass-through door from the kitchen to the living room where we played restaurant and passed endless cups of hot chocolate.

mmmmm coffee

Aguas Termales - Paipa

We spent the day at the hot springs in Paipa.  The whole "regime" took about 2 hours.  We had an attendant who had us move from hot pool to cold shower to bubbling jacuzzi to sauna and eventually to the mud.  The ferns to the right are planted in some old wood... it looked like a big hand.

Entrance to the hot springs

We baked like bricks in the sun until we were all cracked up.

 Drying...

We sat on this grassy area for about 20 minutes as our skin slowly started to look more like elephant skin than human skin.  Behind Linnea and I was the natural hot spring and in front of us (sorry, we should have taken a picture) was a field with cows in it and marshy, steamy hot springs.

Paipa! not Papaya

We spend our American Thanksgiving in a sweet little Colombian town called Paipa.  It was an easy 3 hour bus ride to this town of about 10,000 people.  It is known for its artisan cheeses and hot springs or aguas termales.  When we first arrived, we took a walk around the lake and discovered a plaza del toro.  We checked first to be sure there weren't any bulls in the ring, then we had our own bull-fighting fun.

Linnea, the patrton saint of bull fighters...

Fruit and veggies.............................. or tasty meats?

Being inconspicuous on the streets of Paipa... 

we got a lot of stares because there doesn't seem to be too many foreign tourists.  

Rotary International seemed to have commissioned for this great crocodile-looking statue to be created from bicycle sprockets, wrenches, random car parts, and other mechanic shop paraphernalia. It was situated along a pedestrian path at Lago Sochagota.  We discovered it on the way to the hot springs, which we will post pictures of soon.