Saturday
This morning I worked on videos while the kids watched Spanish Disney and the Dude and CC went to a cobbler to have his new sandal adjusted. The back strap kept sliding off. When they returned we loaded into the car, with Abuela – CC’s mom and drove just to the outskirts of town where her uncle, her father’s brother, lives.
As we left the city I noticed that several the hillsides near residences are terraced. The slope is so steep, definite a landslide risk. But each terrace has a cement trough along its length to help move the water down the hill without saturating the land.
CC’s uncle is a priest; he and his 2 sisters live in a breathtaking house built into the side of a hill. Abuelo has 5 siblings, 2 are deceased, and the remaining 3 live in this spectacular home. One of the sisters is developmentally disabled and remains in pre-speech toddler state. Once they were able, the brother and sister took her out of a living facility to live with them. The house has detailed wood paneled ceilings, stain glass sun lights and stain glass windows.
Tío (the priest uncle) has a small menagerie of animals. He has 3 dogs, a Collie, a yellow Lab and a black mutt. Three very loud parrots, a great big tortoise, and a cute monkey named Pépe. He raised Pépe and Freddy the tortoise from babyhood. I’m not sure about the other animals.
For lunch we had a very traditional Colombian meal called ????, or ‘tray’ translated. It consists of a large plate with different mounds of food, next to and on top of each other. There is rice, beans, fried plantains, assorted meats, arepas, sweet potato slices (baked) and cheese. It was good, but a challenge with the Little Dude. After that, as if it weren’t enough, we were served a refreshing milk soup/drink with cooked corn kernels and I’m not quite sure what else. It was very different than anything I’d eaten before, but I liked it. With the soup/drink came two sugared guava fruit jellies. Like a gummy candy. Then we had café and visited. There is something about Abuelo and Tio. The Little Dude just loves them! And they’ve been charmed by him as well.
CC’s phone began beeping; it was time to pick up the Dude’s sandals. So we said goodbye and left paradise.
Later, CC and I left the Dude and niños at home, watching a movie on Disney. We had some last minute errands to run. I got some more goodies for Little Mermaid’s class next year. CC was stocking up on Colombian brands of soap etc… to take home and use in the USA. We went to 3 different stores looking for her shampoo. Everywhere we went they only had the conditioner. What is weird, is they didn’t have ANY shampoo for her brand. ONLY the conditioners. When we got home her mom started calling places to see if they carried it. She must have called more than a dozen stores and NONE of them had it in stock. Very very strange…
We had a grilled chicken for dinner with potatoes and arepas. Almost an All-American meal! Some things are just universal.
Showing posts with label mountains. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mountains. Show all posts
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Cuidad y Campos
Thursday
This morning for breakfast we had Colombian chorizo (sausage), arepas, and bread. The sausage was different than any sausage I’ve had in the US. I think it might be beef sausage? Once we were all dressed and ready we headed out to visit the in-laws that invaded us the other day.
Manizales is beautiful because there are clusters of neighborhoods on the surrounding hills and mountains. Today we saw the natural beauty of Colombia. It was breathtaking. Rolling mountains; some so tall that the tops were covered with waves of clouds. Bamboo everywhere, I’d never seen bamboo growing before I moved here. And it grows throughout, covering hillsides with its soft heathery leaves. Then we drove through the coffee plantations. I didn’t get to see Juan Valdez but the plantes café were very cool.
It took us about an hour to get to the next city, Pereira. We stopped to shop at the mall. CC of course found 2 people she knew! I’m telling ya, we can’t even go to another CITY without her finding an old amigo. Maybe she should run for office! After several frustrating experiences I finally found a skirt and a pair of pants, capris actually, that fit my GRANDE American frame. I really needed some pants because I’ve been wearing the same skirt for 3 days. The housekeeper offered to launder our dirty clothes, so we gave them to her. No one in Manizales owns a dryer. Every house has an enclosed area with lines to hang laundry to dry. 3 days after the wash and my jeans still weren’t dry. It doesn’t help that it’s been raining every single day! My skirt that I’ve been donning is white and it is looking a little less white after 3 days of constant wear, particularly around los niños.
We stopped at a restaurant in the mall to eat lunch, the big meal of the day. I had some grilled meat, with a few fries scattered over smashed fried plantains. CC ate a bowl of assorted grilled meats mixed with rice. The Dude had some sort of thick stew with grilled meat and fries. Little Mermaid ate….a hot dog. Little Dude ate a few papas fritas (French fries) before he over turned the bowl onto the Dude’s lap – ketchup and all! The Dude was not happy. So I quickly ate my food and then took the kids for a walk. The Little Mermaid ate an ice cream cone earlier. Chocolate, of course. And she dripped it all over her dress, of course. So she changed into a skirt and shirt we bought. Then once CC and the Dude finished their meal, we went to find a new shirt for the Dude. He was covered in grease and ketchup.
Once the shopping was complete and the Dude had changed shirts we got the car, and drove to the next town, where the in-laws live, Carteagua. Cartagua is a small town, that is known for it’s sewing and textile industry. There were vespas and bicycles everywhere, like mosquitoes! And they seem to have to regard for their lives b/c they will cut right in front of a van or car without thinking twice. We also saw several horse drawn carts in the town, though I didn’t get a picture of one. Qué lastima!
We pulled up to the house and saw the whole gang, minus Sis. She had to work! The visit sort of turned out to be a cruel joke on the Little Mermaid. Shortly after we arrived, the family (kids and grandparents) were going on a 3 day holiday to Cali, 3 hours away. They left and took the Little Mermaid’s friend, CC’s niece, Izzy, with them. The Little Mermaid cried and cried. “Why didn’t they warn us that Izzy was going to leave after we got here?!” CC cried too, because she probably wouldn’t see her niece for a year. So the two sad sacks hugged and sat in a chair comforting each other. The Sister in Law dropped the vacationers a taxi station and returned with Little Dude’s girlfriend, the 14 month old baby. We visited a little bit and got a tour of the house.
After some milk and cookies we hit the road. We had a long drive back and it was already beginning to darken outside.
Los niños slept for a good bit of the ride. The sun set and it was as dark as a road in the Pennsylvania Mountains! I got a pretty good photo of Manizales at night. We’ll have tobsee how it turns out. About 30 minutes from home we stopped to eat b/c Little Mermaid was STARVING. She ordered a plain hamburger with fries, I had two mini empanadas and the Dude ate a sandwich. Little Dude danced to the music playing over the speakers and snacked on some fries.
We finally got home and after a quick greeting to Abuela we crashed! It was a great day, but a tiring one!
This morning for breakfast we had Colombian chorizo (sausage), arepas, and bread. The sausage was different than any sausage I’ve had in the US. I think it might be beef sausage? Once we were all dressed and ready we headed out to visit the in-laws that invaded us the other day.
Manizales is beautiful because there are clusters of neighborhoods on the surrounding hills and mountains. Today we saw the natural beauty of Colombia. It was breathtaking. Rolling mountains; some so tall that the tops were covered with waves of clouds. Bamboo everywhere, I’d never seen bamboo growing before I moved here. And it grows throughout, covering hillsides with its soft heathery leaves. Then we drove through the coffee plantations. I didn’t get to see Juan Valdez but the plantes café were very cool.
It took us about an hour to get to the next city, Pereira. We stopped to shop at the mall. CC of course found 2 people she knew! I’m telling ya, we can’t even go to another CITY without her finding an old amigo. Maybe she should run for office! After several frustrating experiences I finally found a skirt and a pair of pants, capris actually, that fit my GRANDE American frame. I really needed some pants because I’ve been wearing the same skirt for 3 days. The housekeeper offered to launder our dirty clothes, so we gave them to her. No one in Manizales owns a dryer. Every house has an enclosed area with lines to hang laundry to dry. 3 days after the wash and my jeans still weren’t dry. It doesn’t help that it’s been raining every single day! My skirt that I’ve been donning is white and it is looking a little less white after 3 days of constant wear, particularly around los niños.
We stopped at a restaurant in the mall to eat lunch, the big meal of the day. I had some grilled meat, with a few fries scattered over smashed fried plantains. CC ate a bowl of assorted grilled meats mixed with rice. The Dude had some sort of thick stew with grilled meat and fries. Little Mermaid ate….a hot dog. Little Dude ate a few papas fritas (French fries) before he over turned the bowl onto the Dude’s lap – ketchup and all! The Dude was not happy. So I quickly ate my food and then took the kids for a walk. The Little Mermaid ate an ice cream cone earlier. Chocolate, of course. And she dripped it all over her dress, of course. So she changed into a skirt and shirt we bought. Then once CC and the Dude finished their meal, we went to find a new shirt for the Dude. He was covered in grease and ketchup.
Once the shopping was complete and the Dude had changed shirts we got the car, and drove to the next town, where the in-laws live, Carteagua. Cartagua is a small town, that is known for it’s sewing and textile industry. There were vespas and bicycles everywhere, like mosquitoes! And they seem to have to regard for their lives b/c they will cut right in front of a van or car without thinking twice. We also saw several horse drawn carts in the town, though I didn’t get a picture of one. Qué lastima!
We pulled up to the house and saw the whole gang, minus Sis. She had to work! The visit sort of turned out to be a cruel joke on the Little Mermaid. Shortly after we arrived, the family (kids and grandparents) were going on a 3 day holiday to Cali, 3 hours away. They left and took the Little Mermaid’s friend, CC’s niece, Izzy, with them. The Little Mermaid cried and cried. “Why didn’t they warn us that Izzy was going to leave after we got here?!” CC cried too, because she probably wouldn’t see her niece for a year. So the two sad sacks hugged and sat in a chair comforting each other. The Sister in Law dropped the vacationers a taxi station and returned with Little Dude’s girlfriend, the 14 month old baby. We visited a little bit and got a tour of the house.
After some milk and cookies we hit the road. We had a long drive back and it was already beginning to darken outside.
Los niños slept for a good bit of the ride. The sun set and it was as dark as a road in the Pennsylvania Mountains! I got a pretty good photo of Manizales at night. We’ll have tobsee how it turns out. About 30 minutes from home we stopped to eat b/c Little Mermaid was STARVING. She ordered a plain hamburger with fries, I had two mini empanadas and the Dude ate a sandwich. Little Dude danced to the music playing over the speakers and snacked on some fries.
We finally got home and after a quick greeting to Abuela we crashed! It was a great day, but a tiring one!
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