Hi there!
There hasn't been much going on here the last couple of days, so I really haven't had anything to write about. October is the rainiest month of the year in Colombia, so we've been hotel bound for the most part. Yesterday, Johnny, Manny and I went to the mall again. It was raining, so we put the rain cover on the stroller and headed out in our rain coats. We just did some walking in the mall, out of the rain. When we were heading back, the sun was out : ) We had lunch at 1969 pizza, which had great thick crust that Johnny just loved. I'm more of a thin and crispy girl, so Archies is still my favorite. When we got back to the hotel, Manny was a little fussy and seemed pretty gassy. (Just like his daddy) So we took it easy for the rest of the day.
This morning we went for a long walk and Manny has been down for a long nap this afternoon. He must have needed to catch up from yesterday's lack of napping. Johnny went for a power walk by himself and came back with stories of having to use the bathroom at Crepes and Waffles as it was an emergency! Then he said he "HAD" to buy an ice cream cone because he felt guilty about what he did to their bathroom! I wonder if that was the reason for his quick trip to the bathroom when he got back to the hotel. hmmm.
Since we haven't had much going on, we don't have any pictures to post. I do, however have some video of our fiesta in the kitchen the night we all cooked dinner for the staff. It was a great time! Enjoy!
Love, Dulcie, Johnny and Manny
Monday, October 6, 2008
Saturday, October 4, 2008
10/02/08 - 10/04/08
Good morning everyone!
Hope you are all enjoying the beautiful fall weather in MN. Since Johnny and I are missing the turning of the leaves, we would love to see some pictures of the fall scenes! You can email them to our msn email account: dulcieandjohnny@msn.com
On Friday we traveled to the Coloma Coffee Plantation with The Haydens and our wonderful tour guide, Freddy! It's a two hour drive from Bogota. We first drove up into the mountains, until we reached 10,000 ft. We then descended into the valley where there is a small town called Fusagasuga. The coffee plantation is located on the outskirts of this small town.
What a beautiful place! The entire plantation is filled with exotic flowers like orchids, and many we've never seen before. When we started to tour the gardens, a small puppy decided he would be our tour guide! He was so cute! He followed Ellie everywhere and let Manny pet him. We walked through the greenhouse, which is where they grow the seedlings. They can not be planted until they've matured. We then walked through the grove of coffee plants that had just been picked. They have two major seasons. (February/March and August/September) So we had just missed the major season and most of the ripe beans had been picked. All of the beans are picked by hand. Each year, they prune the trees so they stay at the ideal height for picking. We tasted a ripe bean, which is very sweet and didn't taste like coffee at all.
We then learned how they shell, rinse, dry and roast the coffee beans. They have two different processing sections. One is the old fashioned way of making coffee beans and the other is the modern way, which includes machinery. After our tour, we were able to sample the coffee as well as a tasty coffee liquor. Both were delicious! (Especially together) Johnny and I bought a sample of both to take home with us.
After our tour, we went back to Fusagasuga to eat lunch. The view was spectacular from our table! There are several open air huts where people dine. Salsa music played in the background. We had our choice of a traditional Colombian meal of meat, chicken or fish with fried plantanes, yucca and rice. We arrived back at the hotel about 8 hours after we left. It was a long day, but well worth the trip! I've posted two slide shows below. One contains only pictures of the flowers and vegetation at the coffee plantation. The other contains pictures of us on our tour and at lunch. Hope you enjoy!
Lots of Love,
Dulcie, Johnny and Manny
Hope you are all enjoying the beautiful fall weather in MN. Since Johnny and I are missing the turning of the leaves, we would love to see some pictures of the fall scenes! You can email them to our msn email account: dulcieandjohnny@msn.com
We sure have been busy here. Wednesday, we were scheduled to go to Monserrate, which is a mountain that is 10,341 ft above the sea level. We were going to take the aerial tramway to the summit. We left Manny with a babysitter, since we weren't sure how he would do up that high in elevation. I have to admit I was pretty freaked out as we were driving up into the higher elevation. Well, the weather did not cooperate and you really need to have a nice clear day to be able to see the view from the top. So, we decided we would reschedule for a clear day. We changed our plans at the last minute and decided to go to La Candelaria which is a historic neighborhood in downtown Bogotá, Colombia that dates back to the 15th Century!
The architecture of the old houses, churches and buildings is mostly Spanish Colonial. There are also several universities, libraries and museums. We visited The Bolívar Square (Spanish: Plaza de Bolívar) which is located in the heart of the historical area of Bogotá. In the center of the square is a statue of Simón Bolívar sculpted in 1846 by the Italian Pietro Tenerani, which was the first ever public monument in the city. There are vendors that sell bird food, so you can imagine the amount of pigeons! They would actually perch on peoples arms and eat out of their hands! I wasn't brave enough to try that, but we did get a picture of it.
On the northern side of the square is the Palace of Justice, a big modern building where the Supreme Court works. On the southern side of the square, is the National Capitol, which is the seat of the Colombian Congress. We were only able to spend a few hours there, but Johnny and I would love to go back and really explore! Here are some pics from our outing.
We spent Thursday walking to the Uni-Centro (A mall). We had lunch at Crepes and Waffles. Johnny and I both agreed, we like the desserts there, better than the food. We spent a couple hours walking around the mall, and then headed back to the hotel were we had a little R&R.
The architecture of the old houses, churches and buildings is mostly Spanish Colonial. There are also several universities, libraries and museums. We visited The Bolívar Square (Spanish: Plaza de Bolívar) which is located in the heart of the historical area of Bogotá. In the center of the square is a statue of Simón Bolívar sculpted in 1846 by the Italian Pietro Tenerani, which was the first ever public monument in the city. There are vendors that sell bird food, so you can imagine the amount of pigeons! They would actually perch on peoples arms and eat out of their hands! I wasn't brave enough to try that, but we did get a picture of it.
On the northern side of the square is the Palace of Justice, a big modern building where the Supreme Court works. On the southern side of the square, is the National Capitol, which is the seat of the Colombian Congress. We were only able to spend a few hours there, but Johnny and I would love to go back and really explore! Here are some pics from our outing.
We spent Thursday walking to the Uni-Centro (A mall). We had lunch at Crepes and Waffles. Johnny and I both agreed, we like the desserts there, better than the food. We spent a couple hours walking around the mall, and then headed back to the hotel were we had a little R&R.
On Friday we traveled to the Coloma Coffee Plantation with The Haydens and our wonderful tour guide, Freddy! It's a two hour drive from Bogota. We first drove up into the mountains, until we reached 10,000 ft. We then descended into the valley where there is a small town called Fusagasuga. The coffee plantation is located on the outskirts of this small town.
What a beautiful place! The entire plantation is filled with exotic flowers like orchids, and many we've never seen before. When we started to tour the gardens, a small puppy decided he would be our tour guide! He was so cute! He followed Ellie everywhere and let Manny pet him. We walked through the greenhouse, which is where they grow the seedlings. They can not be planted until they've matured. We then walked through the grove of coffee plants that had just been picked. They have two major seasons. (February/March and August/September) So we had just missed the major season and most of the ripe beans had been picked. All of the beans are picked by hand. Each year, they prune the trees so they stay at the ideal height for picking. We tasted a ripe bean, which is very sweet and didn't taste like coffee at all.
We then learned how they shell, rinse, dry and roast the coffee beans. They have two different processing sections. One is the old fashioned way of making coffee beans and the other is the modern way, which includes machinery. After our tour, we were able to sample the coffee as well as a tasty coffee liquor. Both were delicious! (Especially together) Johnny and I bought a sample of both to take home with us.
After our tour, we went back to Fusagasuga to eat lunch. The view was spectacular from our table! There are several open air huts where people dine. Salsa music played in the background. We had our choice of a traditional Colombian meal of meat, chicken or fish with fried plantanes, yucca and rice. We arrived back at the hotel about 8 hours after we left. It was a long day, but well worth the trip! I've posted two slide shows below. One contains only pictures of the flowers and vegetation at the coffee plantation. The other contains pictures of us on our tour and at lunch. Hope you enjoy!
Lots of Love,
Dulcie, Johnny and Manny
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The strike is still on after 29 days
Tuesday, September 30th
Sorry, I'm still a day behind on posting. It's hard finding time to blog in between site seeing and Manny's schedule. Well, first off, wanted to fill everyone in on the strike situation. There have been many negotiation meetings and they have made no progress. Last week there was a meeting with the Colombian President, Uribe, where he offered to increase the government's original offer, but they did not accept his deal. They have another meeting scheduled for next week, and they want the government to triple their last offer, so who knows if they will get anywhere with the negotiations then. The only saving grace will be that if they do not accept an offer to end the strike, they will not get paid September's salary. That should be incentive enough. Also, Uribe is saying that if they do not end the strike, they will start firing people.
Sorry, I'm still a day behind on posting. It's hard finding time to blog in between site seeing and Manny's schedule. Well, first off, wanted to fill everyone in on the strike situation. There have been many negotiation meetings and they have made no progress. Last week there was a meeting with the Colombian President, Uribe, where he offered to increase the government's original offer, but they did not accept his deal. They have another meeting scheduled for next week, and they want the government to triple their last offer, so who knows if they will get anywhere with the negotiations then. The only saving grace will be that if they do not accept an offer to end the strike, they will not get paid September's salary. That should be incentive enough. Also, Uribe is saying that if they do not end the strike, they will start firing people.
Now on to the fun stuff! We visited the Orphanage (Los Pisingos) where Manny lived in his first three months. We first visited with the same woman who presented us with Manny on our second day in Bogota. She spent about thirty minutes telling us about Manny's birthmother. It was kind of sad story to hear and we hope someday, we will find the best way to tell him his story. Johnny and I will be keeping the information private until we can share it with him. Since it is his story, it will be up to him to share it with others, if he chooses to do so.
They gave us a picture of his birth mother and also an ultrasound picture of him! That was such a great surprise. After this, we went to the map of the U.S. and placed a pin in the map. Each pin represents a family that has adopted and where the pin is placed, indicates where the family is from. You should see all the pins placed in Minnesota. There is barely room for more! We then took a tour of the orphanage and got to see the nursery. There are currently 25 infants in the nursery! I truly hope that means more referrals coming soon! When we were outside the nursery, a woman who was Manny's main caregiver during his first three months came out to see him. When he saw her and heard her voice, he instantly lit up and started smiling and cooing. She took him in her arms and hugged him and talked to him for a couple of minutes, while he smiled. It was so great to see, because you realize how much he was loved before he came to us.
We also were able to see the toddler section of Pisingos and of course I wanted to take all them home with us! Johnny made friends with a little boy who was playing with a toy car and zooming it around on the floor. They were high fiving and the little boy then proceeded to follow us. We talked to the Director of the Orphanage, Carlos, and he was so kind and told us if there was anything we needed to feel free to contact him. While we were talking to him, several children came up to him, and he knew all of their names, and would ruffle their hair or talk to them. It really shows the level of care, even from the person who is in charge of the entire place!
After lunch we went for another walk and found a beautiful park filled with gardens and a playground. Check out the pictures.
P.S. - Since we haven't been getting many comments on our blog, we were thinking that it may be hard to figure out how to post a comment. Below each of our posts, we have a picture slide show or a video. Below that, there is a link that says 0 Comments. If you click on that, you can write us a note : ) We really look forward to those notes, as it keeps our spirits up when we get a little homesick. Thanks for checking in!
Love, Dulcie Johnny and Manny
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