Catching Up!

Now that we have internet at home, we can post more frequently. So, here are some photos and stories that have been left out until now.

Here is a picture of Luz Estella and me. This picture was taken from our kitchen window, from where we can see down into their kitchen below, as they have the open air style kind of place. I was down there heating up rolls for thanksgiving dinner in their toaster oven. Luz Estella is our very sweet landlord.

Here is Aureliano in our washing machine, wondering why we are so mean to him sometimes.

On Halloween night, Clayton and I (well mostly clayton, i bought bread and cut it) cooked dinner for Luz Estella and her family, who live downstairs from us. With her lives 2 of her 8 brothers, her husband, son, and sometimes her mother. The smiley guy closest to the camera is the "family lawyer" who was pretty drunk when we got there. Clayt made some curried chicken, rice, a garbanzo beans dish (spicy!) and brought a bottle of wild turkey whiskey to share, which was polished off quickly!

These are some indigenous Colombians, in town for a protest march (for the rights of displaced people). Here they are checking out some souvenir jewelry.

This is a really pretty church in the downtown part of the city.

In the park, on the day of the march. You could absolutely see a difference in how these people looked compared to the people we usually see in the city. It felt like a big picnic to us, everyone was just sitting, lounging in the park peacefully, waiting for President Uribe to show up to begin dialogue.

The day of the protest was really hot, and most of the people in attendance had been walking for over a week to get there. Here you can see how crowded it was, and the vendors lined up selling cold drinks and sweets.

A mango tree! (we think...)

There is interesting grafitti all over the place down here. This wall is near our place, and kind of fun to look at.

Clayton and Aureliano in one of the bigger parks in the downtown area. Sundays are our days to get out and about, so we usually take the puppy for a long walk, giving all of us some much needed exercise.

This is a HUGE tree in one of the parks, with strange roots that come down from the branches. Apparently we aren't the only ones impressed by it, as they have lights installed around it. It must look a little spooky at night...

Seems like every time we're out on a walk, we spot some new birds.

Another bird, this kind we see all over the place.

Another common sight in the park are the lines of ants. The lines come down the trees, across the park and up another tree, carrying big bits of leaves. I love to watch them marching along, so often and so many of them that there are literally "ant paths" worn into the grass.

One benefit of living somewhere tropical is that things grow easily here. So, abundance means low prices! Long stem roses like these cost about 7 dollars for a dozen. I get roses from Clayton all the time now! :)

Here is our friend Juan Carlos with Clayton, goofing off. Colombians are pretty fun-loving people!

People here are so relaxed, and there never needs to be an excuse to make a party. We were coming back from dinner and were invited to join Luz Estella and her friends on the patio for some drinks. Her husband, Gerardo, busted out the guitar, everyone sang loudly, and had a good time. Singing in key not required.

A view of everyone from the smaller patio on the top floor.

Our Christmas break is coming in 2 weeks, and Clayt and I have been talking about maybe going to Ecuador for a week or two! December is a really big month for Colombians as well, with a lot of different holidays and celebrations, so we'll be sure to keep you all posted on the festivities!