Cartagena round 2

Happy Thanksgiving! I cant believe I'm not eating turkey today..or pumpkin pie.  Someone out there needs to save me a slice! Right now we are all sitting in a Cartagena airport waiting for our flight back to Bogota.  We spent three days and two nights here which I think was quite enough.  Poor Larry is/was sick, and he's been taking it easy for the past couple days.  I have a strong feeling that his tummy hurts from the cheese..which is unfortunate BECAUSE THEY PUT CHEESE IN EVERYTHING. Even chocolate milk. Not kidding. It's tasty too. 

Yesterday we went to the beach and learned to kite surf.  That's no easy feat.  I decided I wanted to practice on the sand and was wearing shorts.  Now I have a pretty nice booty short tan that runs right across my thighs.  Horizontal stripes do nothing for my figure.

  Larry was laughing his ass off at me because the sun here turns my skin black.   Not a golden undertone like in the states, I am dark, dark, dark brown.   

We recovered from the adventure and then rode a Chivas Rumba which is really just a large open air bus painted in clown colors and they have all you can drink rum mixed with grapefruit juice. Delish.  We rode around Cartagena with a live band and sang and danced wit them.   At one of the stops there was a guy who was taking donations to hold his sloth. OMG do I want one now.  That sloth was the cutest damn thing I've ever seen and all he wants to do is hug and cuddle.  He needs a little deodorant though, he kinda stunk.  

Larry was so sick, not drunk sick either..cheese sick, and we had to go home after the rumba bus because he needed to sleep. So our night ended a little early last night. 

  Today we got up early and it was a little overcast.  We ran into town to shop (duh) went to the beach and into the historical area.  This area has a city built of walls to protect them from the Pirates in the 1600s..it's actually what Pirates of the Caribbean (the ride)was based on..pretty cool.   It feels like captain Jack is going to come walking down the street and a woman is going to pop out of the second story window and shout "don't be chiiiiiiiiicken" (Disneyland reference)

So while we are out alone, in shorts..it rained. Not drizzled, not stormed, amazon jungle rained.  It was awesome.  We almost almost almost took a boat to a small island to play around, and couldn't make the takeoff time. That ended up working out in our favor because we would not have been able to get back because of the downpour.  It was so bad. 

The whole courtyard cleared out so fast. These storms come without a real warning..it just starts. So we got stuck under an eave. It would have been nice to be stuck in a cafe, but it didn't work out like that.  

Not the best pic, but whatever. 

We got stuck next to the town crazy, who took it upon himself to clean the streets (very kind) and the take a shower under the gutter waterfall. Not kidding. And we have it on video.  

When we stopped laughing and the rain stopped, I bought this guy a coconut, and we cheered together.  He was so much fun.  

Larry decided to celebrate Turkey day with a feast. 

Chicken nuggets taste the same here.  Funny he has to eat fast food in order to feel better.  Something is wrong with that.  

He is really enjoying his meal. Haha. Gods light shone on his McDonald's. 

The storm and humidity inspired a new look for me.  It's called the electrocution.  Like it? 

This picture was actually intended to show the LARGE cappuccino I ordered.  12 oz. haha. I almost ordered two! But the real star is obviously my great hair.  A little love for my locks from the equator.  

Now at the airport we just ate empanadas because they were made of flour and Larry can handle that, but not corn. (we think) I only ate half of mine and Larry ate the rest and the rest of my moms..so I hope this plane ride goes easy.  Cross our fingers for me. 

It's time to board now! Have a great holiday and we will be home soon! 

Good morning Cartagena

Larry has been sick since we got here. Apparently Colombians only eat bread and cheese..but because we generally live Paleo..poor little gringo Larry has had a rough time digesting. :( 

On Monday we spent the day viewing areas in Bogota, after our run in the center of town. I ran about 10k..but the coolest thing is that this park is filled with dogs, owners and dog walkers. The people of Bogota live in tiny apartments and for some reason have huge dogs.  Beautiful ones! And very single one of the 150 dogs I saw were so well behaved! There was a dog walker there with 14 large breed dogs all tied to each other and she took them  to the corner market and tied them to a pole where they patiently waited.  I was amazed.  On my run, dogs were lying in the middle of the grass, leash and collarless, waiting for their master to come back from the run.  No barking..I heard no barking! No leashes or gates in this park and it was surrounded on all sides by streets filled with traffic. All these rules that exist in the US but we are not any more civilized.  

My niece, Marianna, who is 19 gave Larry and I a tour..we walked all day. And me in 4"wedges!  I'm addicted to cappuccinos and have taken the opportunity to try one in almost every coffee shop we've sen.  A girl has got to take in the area :) here they call coffee "Tinto" which means tinted.  And the craziest thing is that their Large is 12 oz! Which I think is the size of Starbucks tall, it might even be smaller.   And you STILL get looks when you order the large! The small is 9oz. 

I think Larry really might be Colombian.  The men here loooove to shop..and on our day long adventure, Larry saw a great opportunity to enhance his closet.  He almost bought a suit! The men here always look dressed up, if you are in jeans, you stand out. Everyone wears ties, dress shirts and slacks, or at last Polo shirts and khakis.  NO ONE WEARS FLIP FLOPS, ever! 

After our shopping extravaganza we stopped to have a Lychee martini and we all got a little tanked. They were really good, but strong. And then we headed over to El Corral For some American hamburgers and fries. So good! I had pesto and roasted red peppers in mine. 

Yesterday we took the shortest flight to Cartagena where I am writing you from now.  This is a small tourist town on the Caribbean side of Colombia.  It has a strong African influence and a party feel.  

This is the view from the airplane when we were landing.  

It's HOT here.  It was 90degrees yesterday and 100%humidity.  Stinking hot. But beautiful. All I want to eat here is fish. I had red snapper yesterday that was as thick as a rib eye. Yummy. 

We took a site seeing tour and learned all about the historical town here that has been around since 1600s. I have been taking a crazy amount if pictures..but can't post until I get back, sorry. 

Okay, I'm tired of writing and need to go on a run before Larry wakes up. We kitesurf today and take the Rumba Chiva (rum drinking and rumba dancing open air bus) after dinner. Here is a view from our room. 

Day 1 and 2 in Colombia

Well, we made it to BOGOTA! I have not had very much Internet connection since we've been here. But from now on, it should be very easy to update the blog.  

DAY 1: 

We left NV at nearly midnight.  I assumed that we would just go to sleep, and at first that was what we did, until we were woken up at 2in the morning to recieve hot grilled cheese sandwiches with ham inside.  I was not very interested in the midnight snack, but Larry was impressed and ate his and mine! I stayed awake nearly all night because of the excitement. 

We landed in MexicoCity at 6 their time, which was 4 our time.  We were feeling pretty rough from the ride and especially being in that stale air for sucha long time.  Mexico City is COLD. AndRAINY.  And they don't have heaters in the airport. We were originally set on leaving the airport to travel around, but no one in the airport, even the police, thought it was a good idea.  Apparently the town is far away, and you have to take a taxi in congested streets. So we opted out and hangout in a Starbucks for HOURS, 9 actually.  But we watched Dexter.  Alot of episodes.  

When it was finally time forums to board we looked over and saw these security guards...sleeping. In wheelchairs.  

We arrived to Bogota at 8pm their time.  It's nice here, a cool 60 degrees.  The town was dark so we didn't see the beauty until the next morning.   This night we sat around and talked (Larry listened) with my older brother, Jorge, Pia, his wife and their kids, my nieces Marianna and Luisa.  We tasted (alot) of the tequila we brought them, and the Fireball whisky courtesy of Las Vegas. They liked it! 

This view is from their balcony of their apartment in the morning.  This area is one of the nicer, more privileged areas in Bogota.  Class 5/6. In Colombia, the people's regions are categorized by their economic class.  Class 0 does not even have basic needs such as running water or electricity.  Class 6 is the highest class with graduates of the university living in modern buildings with maids, cars, private parking, etc.   Our family is very fortunate to live in this area. 

In the morning we were going to leave early and head to Jorge's country home en "La Finca Buena Vista", which translates to the Beautiful View Ranch.  it's a privilege for the people of Bogota to have a country home, because it is so congested in  Bogota, some families will buy Ranch Homes in little pueblos and own large lots of properties.  We headed to Jorge's Finca on Saturday. Buena Vista is beautiful.  The view is in fact one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It was stunning.   

My dads brothers and sisters came to visit the Ranch as well.  In all there were 19 of us.  I've been taking most of the pictures with my camera, but can only upload my iPad pics, so forgive me..I will post more once I get back to the us.  And I'll take more with the ipad.  

We spent the day lounging out in the hammock, picking fruit from trees and drinking aguardiente (and more tequila) 

Larry got to experience real Colombian living.  He wore the traditional farmers hats and helped my uncles pull Yucca roots from the ground.  He kept up with them drinking shots and followed most of our conversations. He has been a really good sport, I'm sure it hasn't been easy. 

 

Larry made great friends with my cousins kids, Santiago and Mateo who are 10 and 7.  The became so attached to him, we're clinging to him and they were speaking English and Spanish to each other.  They called him their new American Friend, and have him the nickname Chico Malo. Here is El Chico Malo learning how to play Colombian Hide and Seek.

We spent two days here and returned to Bogota tonight.  Tomorrow we spend the day in the city and then we leave for Cartagena with these two people in the morning! 

Over and Out!

Hello friends! 

Larry and I are sitting at the airport waiting for our flight to Colombia! Keep an eye on ths blog, I'm going to update as much as I possibly can..between food breaks! 

We are so pumped to explore the area, and see some family!,

First stop, Mexico City..then Bogotá! 

On our way!

I haven't updated this since we moved to Las Vegas.  Oops! We are having fun here, we just celebrated our one year in this city. It's actually quite nice and surprisingly conservative. I've met alot of great women that have become amazing friends. I love them alot and am so lucky to have found them. 

well, now the real reason for updating this outdated blog...

Larry and I leave for Colombia in two days!! So excited! Keep an eye out for updates from South America. 

Santa Barbara

I was born and raised in the OC- meaning Orange County- for those of you that don't watch shows based around teen angst. 
I moved here 10 years ago (Wow- TEN years ago)- If I hear one old lady joke, I swear on my Michael Kors shoes I will find an awful picture of you and post to Facebook, Don't tempt me. 

Living in Arizona has it's perks.. I should say the first is my husband and stepdaughter- but other than those two crazies, there's some fun stuff here. 
It's quite clear to me that my siblings make poor choices and they decided to move to places like San Francisco and Santa Barbara - haha- what could those cities possibly offer?!?!!

My Hubby surprised us with a weekend trip to see my sister as my school year ended. 
So Los Whiteys took off to Santa Barbara in the beginning of summer.. and it was Amazing..
Our goal was to relax, hang out with the bride and groom-to-be, and of course EAT. While we were there we listened to a reading from Dave Sedaris- who is by far my favorite Greek Gay from New York and we attempted to keep the kid out of the ocean.  Obviously, that was an impossible task.
 
These series of pictures were taken the day we were "only going to look at the ocean"  we were definitely NOT GOING TO GET IN IT.
Damn.
Score: Nadia 1, Parents 0

I just can't get enough of the hand holding pictures.

Benicio and Noli: Year 1.

You may remember that in December of 2009 I saved a doggy from being run over- and when I brought her home on that Friday afternoon, and called the Humane Society they politely told us that they were closed and to bring her in on Monday.  "
Okay, I can explain this to Larry- he won't mind- it's just until Monday." I said to myself.
I took her to the Vet that night and the vet said. "SHE'S PREGNANT" 
"I'm sorry.. what?"
"She's Pregnant, and she'll probably have her babies this weekend"
[Insert faint followed by a tequila shot before I have to explain all this to my husband, at the time- Fiance]

Well, she had puppies in my house, the next morning, on my new rug.
 Did I trigger some memories.. Remember that? I sure as hell do, because it almost cost me my marriage.. especially after the Humane Society said they couldn't take newborn puppies.. So i kept them- for 8 weeks.

Well, two of the babies lucked out and went to live in SB with my sister and her BFF fo' life, and Man of Honor Extraordinaire, Jon.

Noli and Benicio are enjoying their life in Santa Barbara being spoiled, privately trained,.eating organic food and having limited mobility of their legs.

 On Saturday we took them out to the park and I managed to get a couple photo ops of them together. 

Noli- My sister and Future Bro in laws baby.

Benicio- Jon's Baby/Noli's Brother

Happy Family

Bestest Friends

Jon and Benicio

Noli playing dead.

I don't care how tough you are.. that's cute.

In Santa Barbara you can get a mango in a park! 

We spent some time going to visit the Biltmore Santa Barbara where Maritza and Travis' Wedding Extravaganza will be on New Years Eve- we walked down to look at the beach and of course Nadia just couldn't resist the oceans temptations. She got down to her skivvies- yes, she wears spiderman underwear.  (Listen, people- we are a modern family and we don't particularly care about societies gender roles)

Jon Wang was there to supply the entertainment, and throw seaweed at 4 year olds.

Shell Hunting

Larry is holding up a Jellyfish he found.

Honey, please don't throw me in the ocean. NO SERIOUSLY.

Yeah Yeah, the ocean is pretty- But look at my awesome hat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I smell a Christmas Card

It was awesome seeing my family, hopefully we'll be able to see them soon. 

Thanks Santa Barbara for having us.. here's a couple extra pics of some other fun stuff we did.

Smartass 1 and Smartass 2.

My sister is just too pretty!

What a handsome group of boys.

Someone was cold after the dip in the ocean.

This is where I had a heart attack.  He really drove her around in this.  AND we belted her to him using Travis' belt- which then gave Travis a complex.

Until Next Time Friends,  

Los Whiteys

Spring!

I love Spring.  We have been enjoying our two weeks of fantastic weather before hell exhales its fiery breath upon Arizona's streets. 

I spent my spring break freakily OCD cleaning my house, refurbishing furniture, making random crafts, and definitely not drinking too much. 

Here are my "new" chalk labeled jars.   I LOVE THEM.

 



Stephie bought me Flowers:)



Larry, Nadia, and I have been keeping active riding bikes, rock climbing and I've been running outside any chance I get. 

A couple weeks ago, our good friends Natalie and Francisco asked us to sub in Nadia on their Tee Ball team.  She finally got a chance to use her pink baseball glove she got on her 2nd birthday. 

Lil Sophia



Las Girls



Natalie showing Nadia how to Bat

After game Snack

The kids were adorable, and they looked like scattered ants on the field.  All the dads line the edges of the "field" (It's probably the size of our driveway) to make sure the kiddo's don't escape.  Larry did a really poor job of watching first base because he kept getting business calls on his bluetooth, so I took over. I was surprised how they asked me where they had to run EVERY TIME.  haha.   But it was all good.

The lil Nugget was sure excited to play, until some speedy boys kept beating her to the ball.  She threw a couple fits and felt bad for herself but after some coaching from Dad, she got over it pretty fast.  (*Note* Coaching from dad translates to threatening and bribing, yes you can do both at the same time, it's a skill you acquire through trial and error parenting)

The next day I had a deep desire to go rock climbing, so I dragged Los Whiteys with me.  Nadia was pretty awesome! She gets so frustrated and it's obvious she has her fathers competetive traits.  After a couple hours we were all beat, and walking around like we had rhumatoid arthritis in our hands, and it was time to go. 

*Tooting my own horn here*  I climbed a rope! I haven't climbed a rope in probably 15 years, but I've been lifting alot of weights and I am strong enough to lift myself up a huge rope! It was really empowering :)



Go Nadia Go!

Our good Friend Pavan got married- and our bestie Kelly flew out from Kentucky for the Traditional Sekh Indian Wedding.  Larry and I were amazed and in AWE of the beauty of Indian culture.  Pavans family was so welcoming, and offered their home  to us.  It was truly beautiful and we were very appreciative to share in the experience with them. 

Awful pic of us!



Reunited and it feeels so goooooooood.



Us and the beautiful bride at her Henna Party

We wish them both the best!