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!