Missing Colombia ~ Glad to Be Home

Returning from a trip is always bitter sweet for me. Many things I’m sad to say goodbye to, yet many things I’m sooo happy to be back to. So, a few thoughts since returning from Colombia (in no particular order).

I’ll miss …

1. Gorgeous weather! Bogotá has the most perfect weather with a year round average of 68 degrees (I realize this may seem cold to my Phoenix friends). Bright, sunny, warm days with showers in the early evenings to keep things green.

2. Delicious food. I really love Colombian food, particularly that the big meal of the day tends to be lunch so you're not left all bloated before bed time. Plus, all the fresh fruits you could ever want. Check out this site for some great pics and descriptions of typical Colombian comida (food).

3. Grandma Pepita’s juices. Jairo’s grandma Pepita makes the most delicious fresh fruit juices with fruits that are typical to Colombia … Lulo, Maracuya, Curuba …mmmm. She really could make a killing with her own juice store.

4. Family. Jairo’s family in Colombia is so kind and fun. Sad that we only see them every few years.

5. Peluquerias. Translated … beauty salons. These seem to be on every corner in the neighborhoods and the women take their trips to the salons seriously, visiting every 1-2 weeks to get nails done, hair cut and styled, etc. I always make sure to stop in and get a mani and a pedi … only $7 for both!

6. Panaderias. These little bakeries are also on every corner so walking around anywhere you can stop in and get some fresh bread or other little treats. Ethan’s favorite was Almojabana, a sweet roll made with corn meal, cheese, butter and eggs. Very yummy!

Some Almojabana.

7. Public transportation. Bogotá is such an easy place to get around. There is a lot more walking … why not, the weather is great, and you can always catch a bus, taxi, or take the Trasmilenio – a bus system that operates similar to a metro.

Glad we’re back because …

1. No more long plane rides … at least not soon. Ethan was a trooper with about 12 hours of air plane time each way. Plus he developed a bad case of diarrhea the morning we were heading home so we had many diaper changes on the plane. I packed extra in our carry-on just in case and we made it home with one to spare. Can’t say how happy I was to get off the plane last night. Halleluiah!

2. Glad to be back to my own bed and house. I can relax and let Ethan roam free around the house. No more worrying about him breaking other people’s stuff or cracking his head on all the tile floor and glass tables.

3. No more crazy driving. I swear I return from trips to Latin America with an ulcer from all the crazy driving. Driving in L.A. or New York is a treat in comparison.

4. Back to a schedule. The great thing about vacation is not having a schedule. But all the running around, staying out late & getting up early really wears on everyone, especially Ethan. He did great, but he was definitely in need of some regular nap and bed times.

5. Time to myself. I’m an introvert by nature and love time to myself. Everyone knows how it is on family vacations where there are people around all the time.

6. Open space. Bogotá and the surrounding area has a population of about 8 million people so you can imagine how crowded city life can be. We did get out of the city, which is gorgeous, but most of the time was spent in tight spaces and busy streets. At times I love the ability to go out and have people around all the time, but, as stated above, some times you want a bit more peace and quiet.

Landscape north of Bogota.

7. No more food guilt! As I mentioned above I love Colombian food, but we often received very large portions and we were always offered little extras between meals. Not wanting to offend, Jairo and I ate more than our usual share of food, yet we were still encouraged to eat more. I think if I stayed longer I would need to buy a new wardrobe before returning home.

Some pics of the trip coming soon ...

Bike Rides, Ice Climbing, Massages, & Children’s Museum

Again, I’ve been terrible at keeping up with this blog. I wish I could say it was because I’ve been out rubbing shoulders with big wigs, swamped with very important work, or busy redecorating the house for spring … but none is true. I really can’t say where the time has gone. I guess it just gets lost in changing Ethan, making breakfast, feeding Ethan, feeding the dog, cleaning up after eating, then changing Ethan again, laundry, making another meal, feeding Ethan again, cleaning up again …. the excitement never ends!

Luckily we’ve had a few nice days here and there to break out of the rut.

Here we decided to take a bike ride with Ethan and his bud Ryan. We had a beautiful ride along the Centennial Trail. The boys loved chatting it up as we went and shortly into the ride all was quiet … Ethan had finally conked out. As you can see, he was quite the space hog!

Jairo had an awesome opportunity to go ice climbing with some friends from church. They went up to Mt Baker and climbed a frozen water fall – Jairo doesn’t remember the exact name of the climb. Jairo loved the experience and came home with a battle wound where a piece of ice fell and cut his upper lip. Of course, this is a great way to talk about his latest outdoor expedition. Since he took a day with the boys, I had an equally wonderful day to myself. Jairo took an extra day off work and made an appointment for me to have a massage and then I went shopping in the evening. Ahhh the satisfaction of a little alone time relaxing and shopping.

Last, Ethan and I took a trip to The Children’s Museum of Seattle to explore the Curious George exhibit. We joined a few friends for the visit and really had a great time. Ethan was one busy little boy, just interested in everything that was there. The museum really had a ton of fun stuff to keep Ethan occupied. Ethan had a great time and was out like a light once we hit the car. I wish I could have joined him, I was pooped myself!