Back on the Grid

Had a wonderful time in Bolivar. Lots of pictures and posts to catch up on, but no internet access for last 3 days. Everybody is great, had a wonderful time, kids rode horses for 3 days. Details and photos to follow.

iPhone meets 100 year old farm

Adrian playing sega monkey ball on his iPhone in the kitchen of an old
farm I'm coffee country.

On the road to Bolivar

Four hour drive. Hung over, diarrea, sitting in the rear-facing seat,
sucking raw diesel fumes from the cement truck in front of us on the
curvy mountain road.

Family Reunion

Little family get-together at my aunt Beatriz's farm.  

- 4 aunts + families, which then included

- Oscar + 8 of his first cousins, and their families, which included

- 10 2nd cousins, 2 of which had kids which made

- 2 third cousins

add in husbands, boyfriends, mini-bus drivers (pictured at left, with Oscar) etc., and the total attendance was 43.

Truly stunning countryside -- at about 5,500 feet elevation, so imagine if you can a combination of lush tropical green with rich farmland and some pine trees thrown in for good measure.  Weeds that grow on the sides of dirt roads that wind past shacks bloom with gorgeous flowers.  

Tomorrow, thankfully, is a day of rest -- no day trips.  Phew.

full album here:  http://picasaweb.google.com/oscardario/Guarne

Santa Fe De Antioquia

Today we went to our friend´s "cabin" in Santa Fe De Antioquia, about 90 minutes from Medellin, where "cabin" is a beautiful colonial style (white stucco walls, open air patios, terra cotta tile roof) vacation home.

This is a very warm area that has recently become a very popular weekend getaway and vacation spot. "Recently" because a couple of years ago they completed a 5 kilometer tunnel straight through the mountains to the east of Medellin, which shaved a few hours off the drive.

After spending the day in the pool at our friend´s cabin, we went to the actual town of Santa Fe De Antioquia. The town was founded in 1541, and as you can tell was very cute and quaint and tourist friendly. We bought some knick knacks, and sat down for a drink at one of the tables out in the open plaza. We asked the waiter for something refreshing, and he brought us a pitcher of "refrescante" which could best be described as a beer sangria-- beer, sparkling soda (ginger ale?), and fruit. Sounds weird, but it was heaven.

Must note: we´ve logged a LOT of miles, both air and mini-bus, and the kids have been absolute delights. No whining, very little fighting, and Joaquin has been the most sturdy, unflappable 1 year old trooper in the history of family travel. Everybody, including their parents, has been amazed at how good the kids have been. We're very proud.

Full photo album here:  http://picasaweb.google.com/oscardario/SantaFeDeAntioquia

Los Balcones

Fantastic day at the farm of our friend Lucia (one of her farms, we are going to her other farm next week).

It is about 30 minutes north of Medellin, about 3000 feet elevation in the lush Andean mountains.

Nicolas and Adrian rode horses by themselves for the first time and had a blast (the pictures above show them with their cousins, but they also went solo). Betsy was the only one who was able to get the horse to a gallop.

The day was glorious, except for the third world traffic jam that we sat in on the way home. Nothing like sucking diesel fumes while motorcycles zipped around you with utter disregard for lanes or safety. The slums are ugly, the people are beautiful. Medellin is an incredibly vibrant city -- it has been very intereseting exposing the kids to such a different way of life. They are really enjoying the experience.

Full photo album here: http://picasaweb.google.com/oscardario/LosBalcones

(Ancestral) Home At Last

Finally arrived. Will spare you the details but let's just say that United Airlines didn´t make any friends.

It´s a beautiful day in Medellin. Here´s a map:

Hola, me gustaría compartir este vínculo de Google Maps contigo.
Vínculo: <http://maps.google.com/maps?q=6.244949,-75.592529&ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=x&ll=6.247339,-75.606521&spn=0.002362,0.003262&z=18&lci=lmc:panoramio>


In this part of Colombia, anyway, they don't have 4 traditional seasons like the Northern latitudes, they just have wet spells and dry spells, that they call winter and summer. As in, when it´s raining a while, they say "man, what a long winter" -- although in "winter" the temperature rarely drops below 70 degrees. Anyway, this most recent "winter" ended a few days ago -- I know because Alcides, the neighborhood grocer, announced to me this morning: "Winter is over". I´ll get around to the neighborhood grocer in a subsequent post.

We are consciously taking a day of rest, as we have several day trips planned for the next few days. Above are a few pictures of us and my dad at their house. Homes here are designed with natural air conditioning of open roofed atriums. The hammock in the atrium off the kitchen has already produced one nap, and I feel another one coming, although it may be the rum with lemonade we had with lunch that´s to blame.

Flying over the coast of Colombia, I think.

trying out the GPS feature on the iPhone 3g...they didn't say we couldn't use GPS on the plane, did they?

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.945679,-77.449539

Travel Hell

Weather delays, missed connections, cancelled flights, lost luggage...Day 1 was one for the Travel Woes Book of Records.  Adrian got to go in the cockpit of the United plane, though...

Thumderstorm blues.

Storms somewhere over the Midwest have us starting our trip with a 1
hour (and counting) delay parked on the Tarmac at sfo. Expecting to
miss our connecting flight in Dulles.

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