Monserrate

Monserrate is a small tourist village on the top of a mountain in Bogota. We took a flying cable car (the real name is escaping me) to the top. From there you can see all of Bogota. With a breathtaking view, we went into the old church and down the little streets where they sell overpriced souvenirs.



The view!


The Flying Cable Car:)


I saw something that looked like a scarf. I asked to try it on and it turned out being much bigger. And then of course I took a picture of it. I am such a gringa!







So when I was looking at these pictures, I realized how similar Pipe and Isa look. Same skin color and hair and facial expressions. They are certainly family.

Isabella!!!

In Bogota we met Isabella, Felipe's niece. She is the cutest thing in the world. We became good friends quickly thanks to a good game chase and a few good swings into there air. We got along so well.

Here she is wearing the pjs that I bought for her.

Bogota or BUST!

We decided to go to Bogota to visit Felipe's brother Javier and his two children. We took an 10 hour long bus ride but it was so great to see the country and the bus was very comfortable. It got to be a bit much by the end though. Mostly because they showed the worst movies in the world: Rambo 10, Something about Spartains (some spoof) and Vantage Point.


This face says "I'm so done with the bus"



And this one says "Don't worry, we only have nine hours left!"

Two very practical things

When I was in Cali I discovered that Colombia has some very good ideas.

#1 Bus stops
There are not any. You just stand on the street that the bus goes down and you motion to them like you would when you hail a cab and then it stops right in front of you. It is really much better in my opinion. No more waiting for the bus at the stop or having to memorize the hours for the bus. I really loved doing it. I would make sure we took busses everywhere we went so I could do all of the hailing.



#2 Plastic gloves
Some of the restaurants give you plastic gloves so that when you pick up your chicken etc you don't get your hands dirty. When I first saw someone with the gloves I did not know what to think. They did take some getting used to ie you need both hands to pick up your drink with them or else you spill and I once wiped my hands on a napkin even though I had the gloves on but after that I found them very useful. Something that I hope to see catch on in the states.

Felidia

One of the places that I was able to visit while I was in Colombia was Felidia. It is a small little village about an hour bus ride out of Cali.



The house there is so colorful. They bought it when Felipe's grandfather died because he left him money. They (Felipe and his 2 brothers) decided they would paint it. I think they did a pretty good job.






They have a guava tree in the front yard and these are pictures of me being eaten alive by the little flies (I went right in an put bug spray on) and I still have the marks to prove it.



It was worth it though because we got to drink delicious guava juice after!

CALI, CO.

For those of you who don't know, I went to Colombia this summer to visit Felipe and his family. The Colombian people are so warm and welcoming (we had dinner invitations almost everyday) that I felt so comfortable. The first couple days were nice and relaxing. Felipe and I went to a river in a little area called Pance. It was this park with tons of people swimming and running/walking and having fun together. Some of the pictures are from Pance and the others are from a dinner with some of the family's friends and then out and about in Cali.
More about what I ate to come....