Stay-Cation

In the states, I often heard of people going on a stay-cation where they would basically have a vacation in their own city & act like tourists.  We had our own stay-cation in Bogota this week, however, we didn't do any tourist things.  Our two goals:   Relax & Swim!

We were blessed by a friend who donated hotel points to us in order to have time away.  This was a great way to support us & we so appreciated the gift. The girls were so excited for the trip & Brook even had a countdown.  It's not often we get up excited about Monday mornings, but we sure did this week! After the girls finished school & we had our grilled cheese lunch, we got in a taxi & headed to the hotel.

The girls first time in a pool all summer & all smiles!! 

Within an hour of arriving, we all got in the pool. Keep in mind, the weather was 59 degrees at 3pm with sprinkling rain, but the obviously the outdoor pool was heated.  It actually felt really good, but was so cold once you stepped out of the water.  You basically had to keep your entire body in the water to stay warm.

Playing games in the pool

We got cleaned up & headed to the executive lounge for dinner.  No, we didn't even leave the hotel.  It was wonderful.

Brook's note :)

The next day after a delicious breakfast where I was able to taste some new juices, we finally left the hotel.

On another rainy day in Bogota, we walked about 20 blocks just to go the first ever Starbucks in Colombia.

This just opened in July & has 3 floors.

Isabella got a hot chocolate.

After lunch, the girls swam again.

And I was treated to a massage! 

That evening, we went to some team members home, who live close to the hotel,  for dinner.  It was a combination of a taxi ride & then a walk through the park, literally.

In no particular order, here are highlights from our 48 hours:

• Packing an overnight bag....it felt strangely good just to be packing to go somewhere
• Swimming....and in the cool & rain
• A/C....just the sound of blowing air & listening to it come on was refreshing
• North Americans......going to the lounge & seeing several people (4-6) who are from North America all in one room speaking English (it was the most we've seen in one place besides when we see our team)
• Executive lounge....being served in English & speaking what we'd like in English, & of course the good food & trying new things
• Massage.....the lady spoke Spanish, but thankfully, that didn't require too much speaking
• Darkness & quiet......with dark out shades, the room was so dark in the morning & we didn't wake up to car alarms or bus horns (we live near the highway)
• Restrooms......public restrooms with toilet seats, toilet paper in the stalls, & oh, free use of the bathroom & toilet paper

Thank you Hilton Bogota & to others for making this stay-cation so enjoyable!

Jumping Around (& a little food)

Part of Isabella's assignment of tennis classes is to practice each day with a jump rope.  Last week, I heard some noise outside, looked out the window & this is what I saw:

This is my favorite one!  

Just thought I'd go ahead & combine this food entry on today's blog since I'm on stay-cation & won't be blogging tomorrow.  We are having a great time & will blog later this week about our get-a-way.  Also, if you are interested in any of these recipes, follow me on Pinterest.

One of the foods Avery misses here in Colombia is sausage.  The sausage is very different here & they certainly don't have anything close to breakfast sausage.  Believe me, I've tried some packages that looked like sausage, but it was not.  I was glad to find a breakfast casserole recipe that simply called for bacon instead of sausage.  Of course, my picky girls don't eat this, but Avery & I enjoyed our breakfast this day I made this!

I've also been on a hunt for the best muffin recipe.  I've tried 3 or 4 recipes in the last 2 weeks.  I think this one could be my favorite.  My muffin tray only makes 6 muffins.  My oven here is very small, not a typical size oven, so only small pans will fit in it.

The streusel topping was probably the best part :)

And last but not least, I made a homemade key lime pie.  Pre-made crusts are not sold here, so I do make my own pie crust.  I saw some key lime juice at a specialty fruit store & it was my inspiration.  Avery said this may be my best key lime pie yet, including the ones I had made in the states  (and it is the first one I have made here).  I personally think it was delicious & am just thankful I can find condensed milk here, even if it does come in a bag.

New places

This city of Bogota is huge.  There are so many random places here & hidden things I am finding. Last Saturday, one of Clara's other students (whom we had never met) took us to a exercise/health facility.  Let me say this is no gym.  It was spread over a huge area.  It had 4 or 5 massive Olympic size swimming pools, 2 full size soccer fields, 4 tennis courts, 4 basketball courts, putt-putt, bowling, kids play areas, 2 or 3 restaurants, a library, an actual gym, classrooms for dance & aerobic classes, & buildings where music & art classes are offered.  It was an interesting place to see & is designated for employees of certain companies that pay into this organization.

First time for the girls seeing a swimming in pool in over 4 months....and they had on sweatshirts!

When in got dark, there was a laser light show with the fountains that was pretty good.

Weekends!

Happy Friday!  It's the weekend & we couldn't be more excited.  Why you ask?  Because, if you haven't heard me already say this....WE HAVE 2 WEEKS OFF FROM SPANISH CLASS!!!  Woo hoo! Now, don't get me wrong, I hope you know by now if you've read any blogs here that we are so incredibly thankful for our Spanish teacher, Clara. Class can be frustrated sometimes because we don't know things & we think very differently & structure our wording in sentences differently, but she is a huge help to me, as I've said many times before.  It is just amazing all the simple things I did back in the states that I cannot do here.

So, with our break from spanish, we are going to take a stay-cation in Bogota next week.  Pray for some warmer weather or basically sun on Monday-Wednesday next week so the girls can swim.  We are going to an outdoor pool, but of course it is heated.  If the sun doesn't come out during the day, temperatures are in the low 60's. If the sun does come out, it can range from the upper 60's to low 70's. Other than our stay-cation nights, the girls will be doing school each day & I have a growing list of projects to do.  I'm just looking forward to being a regular stay-at-home mom without having spanish class or homework.  Of course, we will still have to practice & review during this time.  Clara actually gave us a homework packet to do. No worries, it is not like we can escape Spanish here!

Here I am right after class ended on vacation began.  Clara was sweet to bring us all our favorite sucker here, which is basically like a Blow-Pop in the states, but is called something different here.

Back to the weekend....here are some highlights from last weekend:

I went to the candle store (no Michaels or Hobby Lobby here) & bought a candle in honor of the candlelight vigil in Memphis remembering the 37th anniversary of Elvis' death.  And, I needed some candles here!

Saturday, we had a kite day in the park near our house (not in our neighborhood) & it was an outreach to our church family & neighbors.  Above are some people we talked with who teach soccer in the park.  

Brook holding the kite string.

We did get a new kite for the day since our others didn't work.

This sweet lady is our pastor's mother-in-law.  She always tries to say "hello" & "how are you" in English to me on Sundays.  I think it is sweet how she tries to speak English, which is rare here, but especially for the older generation.

Isabella was trying to help her fly her kite, but they weren't having good luck with her kite.

Our kite finally was flying high in the sky thanks to Avery's hard work & perseverance. That's our kite in the sky!

Of course, there is the occasional knot in the string you have to deal with too.

Isabella was working on the knot, while Brook holds the kite, & you can see many other in the background flying their kites.

There was a bouncy jump inflatable that Brook enjoyed during the day too.

Happy Friday & hope you have a good weekend!

Language Study at Home

Language study is a part of every day life here. We don't have to walk out our door to have language study. It happens when we turn on the tv or radio...we hear Spanish.  We definitely hear Spanish at all times when we walk outside our door. We haven't been to a restaurant in 4 months where we have heard English from a waiter/waitress. We are thankful to have a teacher who helps us in so many ways.

Brook with Clara in the background.

Brook sat down where I normally sit during one of my lessons last week.  She put on my glasses & she started doing dictation with me & did great.  She did better than me!  I tend to leave out verbs, oh and prepositions & conjunctions too!

About 2 weeks ago, I had to write a paper on my brother & sister on their daily routines.  They were not grammatically correct, but still, I never thought I would be writing a paper in Spanish.  

My paper on John, otherwise known as Senor Juan

La Senora Lynn

And this morning for my homework to turn in today, I have to write about 3 friends.  Off to go write about some of you :).  

Que este bien & hasta luegea!

(Have a good day & see you later!)

Day out with Clara

We had another day out last week with Clara.  Our main goal was to go to Mail Boxes Etc. & learn how to set up a mail box to receive packages here & how to send mail.  There is no national postal system in Colombia.  We have received letters here, but as of now cannot receive packages because of high import taxes. With Mail Boxes Etc., we will pay monthly for a mail box here.  Then anything that is ordered off the internet or packages sent to us we can receive. As long as the value is not over $200, we only have to pay 10% of the declared price when the package arrives.  We will try to officially set this up in September.

On the way to the store, we passed by a park & stopped for some pictures.

I took no pictures at Mail Boxes Etc., but I did of this beautiful restaurant where we ate lunch.  It is called Jacques & is a French restaurant in Bogota.

It was beautiful inside.  More people did fill up these tables after I took this photo!

There is a display case of breads, quiches, sandwiches, & desserts.

Upstairs seating that looks very presidential to me

Family photo

And only someone whose father is an anatomy professor would take this picture!  We saw this skeleton in a store at the mall.  Sounds strange, but this was a store selling health products.