Photos & a Blast from the Past

Pictures tell great stories, don't they?

Fruits & vegetables are cheap here in Bogota.  We are thankful for that because other food at the grocery store is expensive.  I got all of this pictured above for under $5 USD!

This is an example of typical fruit/vegetable stores that are all over Bogota.  Anywhere you are, it seems like you are within walking distance of one of these stores.

Another thing that is cheap here are services, like a hair cut & manicures, for example.  Avery got a hair cut.  Meanwhile.....

The girls & I got manicures.  It was actually a good cultural experience to sit down with sweet ladies who speak no English & we speak very little Spanish to have this done.  We were able to tell them we have just moved here to work with a church.  They asked us a few questions about the church, so we were encouraged & told them we would be back.  

Brook was waiting her turn.

In case you are wondering, these manicures were $4.50 USD each.

We moved again this week & it gets chilly here.  While the weather is getting warmer in Memphis, I am wrapped up in a blanket.  It really gets cool at night when it is raining.

We walked to a restaurant nearby & had a great dinner.  It was another opportunity to learn some Spanish & meet locals.

We went to an area of town called Usaquen, which is a favorite place of both locals & missionaries here.

Notice anything similar here to the picture above?  I found this picture of Avery & I on the same bridge that was taken in November of 2009, 4 1/2 years ago!

Here are the girls with their Colombian friends on the playground in front of that bridge taken in 2009.

And here is Isabella & Brook on the same playground yesterday. 

Some sights from Usaquen....

And last but not least, Brook in her "Off to see the world" shirt in front of some cool art we found on the street.

Weekend in Review

I hope you all had a nice weekend.  Ours was full of busy days, so therefore tiring nights!  We get pretty tired come late afternoon, which has been our biggest adjustment to living in the high altitude.  We have enjoyed house sitting.  Our friends come back today, so I am planning on going to the grocery store today (first time alone) & making dinner for us all tonight. That will be my big Monday plans!

Friday afternoon, we spent time with Jorge & Ginny Enciso.  They are our Colombian friends who we came to visit here 4 years ago.  They greeted us at the airport here & have helped us out in our transition.

Isabella, Avery & Brook in a hammock

Matlilde, Brook, Maia, & Mattias

Me & Ginny with the beautiful Andes Mountains in the background

This is the tallest building in Bogota, but I don't remember the name. 

Up on the mountain in the distance is Monserrate, which is probably the most famous tourist attraction here.

Down the street from Jorge & Ginny's house there was a film crew filming a soap opera, which are very popular in this culture.

Gathering to pray before our meal at the Encisos 

This was our first authentic Colombian meal, Ajiaco soup, which is made with chicken, 3 types of potatoes, & corn.  We added rice & avocado to it as well & it was delicious!

The girls on the transmilenio, which is the public transportation bus, on our way back to our temporary home #2.

Saturday, we went to visit some other friends in the city & we went to the park & ate empanadas, another very Colombian food. 

We went to church Sunday here at Cristo Rey with another missionary couple.

We went to their home for lunch & spent the whole afternoon with them.  There are beautiful flowers here, which bloom year round due to the perfect climate.  Here is a picture of a Hibiscus plant & a Christmas poinsettia, which I had never seen as a tall plant before. 

Brook posing in front of the poinsettia

Here is an unusual cactus plant.

We played frisbee with the couple we spent the day with at a local park near their house.

That is Brook with our new missionary friend in the background.

The interesting thing about our time in this park is we met the first Americans we've seen here, unassociated with ministry or ministry contacts.  They all heard us talk & asked us where were we from. Those are honestly the first North Americans I've even seen outside our connections here.

Baby Steps

We are slowly beginning to make baby steps here. All is going well, but we've been here a week now. We are missing people back home, but doing well here too.  We've tried to speak Spanish to a few people, and it is just barely enough to get by, and by get by I mean to tell them we don't speak Spanish. We may understand one or two words they say.  We smile, hug & kiss (which is the Colombian greeting), & nod our heads.  It will come.  This weekend we will venture out on our own with public transportation.  We have several things planned for our weekend, so we are looking forward to them.  Here are a few pictures from our last 24 hours:

We had a relaxing night with our friends sitting by the fireplace.  Houses here have no air & no heat, but it really stays comfortable because of the outside temperature. 

Isabella said before we came she wants to learn how to play tennis.  She got a racquet here & was able to get some practice today.  There is a tennis court where we are staying & there is a guy who comes a lot to teach lessons.  Today they saw him outside & he motioned for the girls to join him.  He doesn't speak English, but he was still very helpful. 

Brook tried her hand at tennis too!

This is what is on tv here.....soccer.  It is everywhere here.

I went to the grocery store with the help of another missionary.  When you leave, you walk down an angled flat escalator.  The basket has magnetic wheels so it doesn't slide down the escalator.  I thought that was kind of neat.

I enjoyed a Coke Cola Light!

After a trip to the grocery store, I played it safe & made spaghetti tonight for my first cooked meal in Colombia.  I noticed where we are staying they had a jar of Ragu, so that was my inspiration!

Avery went to the bread store & picked up these cheesy bread sticks.  The bread is delicious & smells wonderful here.

This is the cheese I bought that the girls have found they like. It is expensive, but it hopefully will go a long way.

And this is a picture of a few other things I bought.  A lot of things come in bags....juices, condiments, & some milk.  Pictured is orange juice & grape juice in a bag, skim milk in a carton, & I found some greek yogurt.  In the background is a cantelope & avocado.  Fruits are very good here & I don't even know what most of them are.  One of these days I will get brave & try some!

Back to Bogota

This week we have begun the process of obtaining Colombian ID's, which they call cedulas.  This is a very important card.  You need it to use a credit card to pay for something.  You need it to secure housing, or anything related to that (utilities, cable, telephone, etc.).

The first step to obtaining a cedula is to have your blood work done.  This was the first time for the girls to have their blood drawn.  Overall, they did good. Isabella didn't scream, but we did see lots of tears for the first time since we've been here.

This is where we had the blood work done.  

Our scared faces before, except Avery.  He was braver than the rest of us!

We then had to get pictures made at a photo booth in a store at the mall.  Our dear friends, the Jesch's went with us to help us & translate.  We had a good lunch with them & appreciate their friendship so much.  It has been really sweet so far & they were a huge help before we even arrived.  Here is a picture of us with them after church Sunday.

Brook, Me, Esta, Mateo, Matt, Avery & Isabella

Tuesday, we went to pick up our blood work then headed to the Immigration Services office closer to downtown to actually apply for our cedulas. Another couple, one of our leaders, helped us here.  

Thankfully, it all went smooth & we have numbers now!

views of the mountains

The store you see to the left is a grocery store.  They have these all over the city.  Or well, the few areas I've been in anyway.  

We were walking here to find a place for lunch.  We need our water bottles with all the walking & sometimes the sun gets really hot, although the temperature is not.  Kind of strange!

We are going to house sit for the Jesch's this weekend. It will be nice to have some space on our own for a few days.  

This is the beautiful path to their door.

And this is where we will be for the weekend.

This is how we are sleeping now.  To the left, you see Brook & Isabella on the floor on a mattress.  Next to it, is the bed for Avery & I.  As you see, I step out of bed onto Isabella's mattress.  And stuff is pretty much everywhere.  I'd say we are ready for a little more space!  Overall, all is still good here with us & we are thankful to be staying healthy & for the hospitality we've been shown.