Weekend travels

Uno Problemo -

We have adopted an Ostrich!

more on this later!

Our weekend was very busy, and we got to enjoy more of Bucaramanga, the surrounding area, and most especially Jose, his family, and their truly inspirational hospitality.

On Saturday, Joyce was still fighting a cold, so she decided to hang out at the hotel all day. Eric, Jeferson, Diego, Jose and Sister Daniella visited a park in Bucaramanga where there were many water sculptures and fountains. However, Eric forgot to take the camera with him (he left it in the car), so sorry, no photos! However, Joyce does want to see this park, so we may have to take another trip there. Joyce won't forget the camera. This is not a formal park so much as it is a very tranquil area for business people to congregate/conduct business in a park like setting. The location is set on a hill with multiple routes for the water to cascade down into various pools, small rivers, and ponds. Each pond has a multitude of fish in them, of various sizes. The fish appeared to be Japanese Coy with the largest I would easily estimate at 24". All in all, I would not say this place was "authentic Colombian" as you could easily find a similiar corporate park at home just about anywhere.

After the park, we went to something truly "Colombian" - a horse parade. Yup - you got it, the entire parade consisted of nothing but horses! The festivities certainly rival that of the best tailgate parties of a Brewer, Badger, or Packer Game - complete with mucho, mucho alcohol. There were horse owners from all over the area - all with them simply parading up (and down) the road. The boys loved to see all of the horses. The Colombian Passion and Pride was evident throughout the entire parade. The Colombian Flag, colors, zest for life, and alcohol comsumption were displayed. Below are some photos from the parade.

Look at all the people! And this stretched for

many blocks in each direction!

The people simply parade their horses up the street!

Meeting and Greeting the entire way.

Please note: due to the proximity of the horses and the parade participants, the kids were on our (Papi, Jose, or Daniella) shoulders the entire time, that is until this guy pulled Diego off my shoulders and posed for a picture. I was not impressed until I realized his intentions were good, he was not THAT drunk, and was actually a pretty nice guy to pose for pictures with the kids. Diego was the first to "pose" with him, then Jeferson, then a mad rush of other people have their kids pics taken with him too. I bet he was there placing kids on and off the horse for 30 minutes, and that horse never moved except his head. They really are well trained.

You can sort of see Diego placed back onto my shoulders, and Jeferson taken off Jose's shoulders and placed on the horse. I was mildly surprised that Jeferson was not the lest bit scared - he is a bit shy of larger animals, but possibly because he was "above the horse" from the start. Either way, I was happy to see him not be afraid.
After this mad dash of people wanting their pics taken with this guy, I decided it was time to go. I was never really worried about the kids safety (AS LONG AS THEY WERE ON OUR SHOULDERS). I did see horses "acting up" a bit, but nothing very serious like kicking, rearing up, or even plowing into people - after all, I am positive the horses were not drunk.

After Mami saw the pics, I am not sure she was impressed that I had the kids in such close proximity to the horses, but my explanation of the shoulders ride would allow me to get kicked by the horse instead of the boys may have sufficed.

On Sunday, Jose's family picked us up and we drove into the mountains. Along the way, we stopped at a small stand alongside the road, where they were selling corn on the cob, and also a colombian food called Arepa. These are similar to pancakes, but are made with fine ground corn rather than flour, and taste like corn bread. They sandwich Conqueso (cheese) in between the pancakes, and fry it on a griddle. They are very tasty.

Next, we continued on to a church in the mountains where we attended mass. It was a very open and airy church, and seemed to be recently built. The mass was pretty much the same as our Catholic masses, but it was all in Spanish. After mass, the priest said a special prayer, and blessed our family. We did recognize the "Our Father" but could not understand the words.

Family photo in front of the church at the fountain.

After church, we went to a restaurant in the mountains, and had a delicious lunch. We ordered a large plate of meats and potatoes, that we all shared. The restaurant was very unique. We were told that this is true "Colombian Food". We have to say that since we have arrived in Bucaramanga, all of the food has been absolutely delicious.

This is the kitchen of the restaurant. When we first aproached the kitchen, the chef cut a small portion of meat right off the bone for us to try - it was so good we knew we were in for a treat!


This is a picture of the owner of the restaurant, and the chef (red shirt)! Notice all the meats either cooking, drying, or curing by the smoke of the fire. We had a few kinds of sausage (chorizo) that I can not pronounce or even pretend to spell, a few types of beef, some pork.

The owner was so hospitiable once he found out Eric was an American, but had a Colombia Lapel Pin on, he got a tour of his entire house, met all his family and several of his friends - He was like a rock star surrounded by all these people. All they wanted was to shake my hand and to speak English to them so they could hear it. I recited the prayer "Our Father" to them, and they stood in stunned silence until I was done, then they all gave the sign of the cross, erupted in laughter, more pats on the back and still more hand shakes. Eric even showed a little girl (about 7) that he could jump rope with her (for a few moments). Of course, more pats on the back, hand shakes, and laughter. The people here are inspirational!






This is a picture of the other grill manned by the owners son. Again, notice all the meat on the grill. Unfortunately, he missed all the rock star treatment. He started to walk with us towards the house, but his father sent him back to tend to the grills - Hey, someone has to do it!

Here is a picture of us all after eating, we are all quite full, and the food was so good, there was hardly a single morsel left.

After lunch, we visited another part of Club Campestra, which is the hotel we are staying at. This is a park and lake about 1 hour away, that all the guests can visit. The lake is manmade, but reminded us of our visits to the lakes in Northern Wisconsin. At the park, they had sailboats for kids, paddleboats, kayaks, a nice beach, childrens play area, trampolines, and a bar and restaurant. We just relaxed and enjoyed the park. Since it is situated higher in the mountains, it was very windy and rather chilly. However, that didn't stop the boys from going into the water. They loved the water and of course the sand on the beach. It made perfect roads for the hotwheel cars. The adults (excluding Eric!) just relaxed and enjoyed the day.
Below is a wall of geranium plants. I had never seen geraniums grow so large. They were absolutely gorgeous!


Eric also got to enjoy a horse ride at the park.


A spectacular view of a canyon in the mountains from the park.

Very Windy!!!

Eric loved this! He was like a kid with all of these toys.

Below are some photos of some fields where coffee is being grown. It went on for many acres. Here is a picture of the coffee plants and coffee beans.

We left the park around 6 PM and headed back to Bucaramanga. On the way back, we stopped to visit with relatives of Jose. As we have found with all of his family, they were very warm and welcoming. They absolutely adored Jeferson and Diego.

After this full day, we were back at the hotel. All of us were exhausted. At this point, we decided that Monday would be a quiet day for us, as we were so active over the weekend, and needed a day to rest!

Adios


E, J, D & J