Some bad news for all of you that a follow this blog. I, Ben am now in charge of keeping it updated. The spelling is guaranteed to be bad but likely better then the content.  

Yesterday at 5 am Crystal left for the airport and the USA.  As a lone man and child I have received sympathy and offers of help from everyone here. Everyone here at zuetana http://www.zuetana.co/ is very help full. I already miss Crystal a lot, I hope to be headed home in in 2 weeks. All the stars need to line up for this to happen but I am confidant it can happen! Please pray for it.

6/30/14  Grocery store, lunch at the mall and dinner at the BIG mall. We go to the mall to avoid going crazy stuck in this tiny apartment with a frustrated and board 3 year old. The language barrier is hard for both of us and is the source of most of the frustration. Boredom is lack of  toys and playmates.  It gets better everyday he learns very fast and repeats "Good Job" frequently. Tangent over. So Dinner at the big mall was at Crepes & Waffles http://crepesywaffles.com.co/. I was reminded of cheese cake factory buy the show and decadence of the menu. Very yummy stuff. I wish there were one in the USA. Here are some photos:

stroganoff crepes

Chicken crepes

Diego & his Sunday I am not sure he liked it.

7/1/14 Did just a little today. To the mall again and some new toys for Diego. Then we got "Chinese" lunch of fried rice french fries and fried chicken. It was good but not what I expected. Last a desert of an oblea (sorry I did not get a pic). Yum!! see here: http://eatyourworld.com/destinations/south_america/colombia/typical_foods/what_to_eat/oblea and here: http://www.bogota-dc.com/food/obleas.htm

Chinese lunch

New Toy!

Shower time. So cute!

 

Random

Who says that fry sauce is only a Utah thing?

Sunday

My sweet boy

Diego and I hung out and had breakfast this morning so that Ben could get some extra sleep. We attended church again this morning.  Everyone here is so kind and welcoming.  Diego did really well this week.  We had some new toys for him to play with and we brought M&M's to keep him quiet.  He only threw his toys twice and we were able to squelch his fits pretty fast.  After church, Diego played outside for a while, he loved splashing in the rain puddles.  We went upstairs and Ben made lunch while Diego and I played.  After lunch, it was time for a nap.  Ben put Diego down and he took a nap too.  I finished cleaning up and then I took a nap too.  I woke up to hearing Ben and Diego playing outside.  We had a very low key, relaxing day with lots of outside play time.  This is my last day in Bogota.  I will leave for the airport at about 5 o'clock tomorrow morning.  I'm glad that I have had some time with Ben and Diego and that we were able to see lots of the sights in Bogota.  I'm sad to leave Ben and Diego, but I can't wait to see my kids and to hug all of them.  I'm glad that I have been able to see so many neat things and to meet lots of new friends.  I think my only regret is that I didn't get to see the Bogota temple up close.  I saw it twice from the car, but it just isn't the same.  Oh well, I saw many beautiful things and had lots of fun and adventure.  I am glad to be on this journey with Ben and I am so grateful for Diego.  I can't wait to see him again and to introduce him to the rest of the family.  I'm going to keep praying that our judge will sign our decree soon and that Ben and Diego will come home soon.  I'm praying that I can find my way around the airport tomorrow by myself, in a foreign country where I don't speak the language.  Everything will work out just as it is supposed to. 

Oh what a night...

Saturday started off as a low key day.  We had breakfast and then headed to the market to do our grocery shopping.  It was game day here, so the streets were busy and filled with people selling jersey's and really loud horns.  After buying our groceries, we stopped and bought some jersey's for the kids.  We headed home and let Diego play outside for awhile.  Our friend Sarah said she wanted to head to La Candelaria again and check some more things out.  We walked to the market and tried to get a taxi.  It was hard to get a ride because the game was on and no one was around.  When Colombia plays it's like a ghost town.  There wasn't any traffic so we made it to the historic center pretty fast.  We walked to the Souvenir market across from the gold museum.  It was a fun market to look around and shop.  We spent over an hour shopping and spent plenty of money.  Ben really enjoyed haggling with the vendors.  Because the game was on, we were the only ones shopping.  The vendors were in the back of the market watching the game and if we looked at their items too long, they would come running to see if we wanted to buy anything.  We found all of the things that I wanted to take home which was great because it was my last day to get out and shop.  While we were finishing up the game ended and Colombia won.  The cheering was really loud, but then it calmed down and all of the vendors returned to their booths.  We ventured outside and the crowd was unbelievable.  There were people in the colors of the Colombian flag everywhere.  The cheering and horns were so loud and the streets were packed.  Ben got us some arepas and we sat in the rain and ate them trying to figure out how to get home.  The crowds were so thick it was crazy.  All of the taxis were full and when we requested one through Ben's app on his phone, it kept telling us that there weren't any available.  We walked with the crowds for a while trying to find a better place to catch a taxi.  It was dark and we were really starting to feel unsafe.  We finally found a shoe store that was open and kind of hung out there trying to stay safe.  There were drunk people everywhere and people partying it up.  Sarah even saw a guy waving a knife at a man on one of the bad buses while a man kicked him off.  Ben finally suggested that we take the Milenio bus home,

we were right near the bus stop.  The bus system here scares me to death.  They are so crowded and after the game they were crazy.  After an hour and a half of trying to get a taxi, we bit the bullet and bought bus tickets.  We tried to figure out which bus we should take.  Ben used his Spanglish/Portugese to ask for help.  We jumped on a bus and just as the bus accelerated and we were all leaning forward, the bus driver slammed on the brakes.  We went flying.  I flew into the pole and hand rail and have some nice bruises and soreness to show for it.  Ben went flying into me and the stroller, his glasses and hat were knocked off and we're pretty sure that he has whiplash.  He has numbness and tingling down both of his arms and pain in his hands.  Diego got flipped out of his stroller, but thankfully he caught himself with his arms and didn't get hurt.  Sarah got thrown around a bit and is sore today, but thankfully she and Majo are okay.  We got off the bus and then had a police officer help us to know which stop to get off at.  We took his advice and got on the right bus.  Thankfully the bus wasn't as crowded the rest of the way home, but it was bumpy and felt like riding a rollercoaster.  We made it to the stop the officer told us to get off at and we were still a ways from home.  We crossed the highway on the pedestrian bridge and luckily there was a taxi that had just dropped someone off.  He agreed to take us home.  Hallelujah!  We finally made it home, hungry, tired and sore.  I am so thankful that we were able to make it home safely.  Prayers were definitely answered last night. Lessons learned: don't go out during the soccer game and never ride the bus in Bogota.

truck full of people cheering and blowing horns

Ben and Diego hanging on for dear life

A Quick Update

I forgot to mention in my post the other day that our paperwork had been accepted by the courts to proceed with the adoption. We were assigned courthouse 21. The judge was very interested in our story and wants to meet Ben next week. Soraya said that our sentencia should come quickly, possibly as soon as the end of next week. Please pray for us that this is the case, because that would mean that Ben would be able to come home about 2 weeks after me.  Yay!!! This is all very exciting!

Freeday Friday

You have to buy toilet paper

Most public toilets don't have seats

It wouldn't be Colombia without random stray dogs

42 steps

Add caption

Sarah and Majo

Colombians don't believe in waiting their turn for pictures

Listening intently to the music

Entrance to Parque Jaime Duque

The closest we will get to seeing the Taj Mahal

Crane

yellow bird

One of many crosses in the Salt Cathedral

The Salt Cathedral from up top

Don't close your eyes

10 meter drop we had to walk over

Nativity scene

salt

statue of Mary, Joseph and Jesus after He was crucified

A perfectly clear and still pool of water

the creation of Adam

My treasure

Our kids always refer to Friday as Freeday, especially during the school year.  Fridays after school were free for the kids to do what they want and for us to have fun as a family.  Today was a free day for us, we didn't have any appointments or any places we had to be.  Our friend Sarah suggested taking a day trip to Zipaquira.  Soraya arranged for a driver and we were picked up this morning around 9.  Our driver was very good, and very nice.  He spoke pretty good Spanglish, at least good enough that we could understand most of what he said.  We drove out of Bogota and headed into what seemed like the country.  It was beautiful with lots of green everywhere and farms with cows.  We saw lots of green houses where they grow roses.  Fun fact: Colombia is the second largest exporter of fresh flowers in the world, they specialize in roses.  The kids slept in the car while we traveled to Zipaquira.  Our first stop was the Salt Cathedral.  It was a pretty amazing tourist trap.  The Salt Cathedral is located in an old salt mine.  The miners of long ago carved a sanctuary to say their daily prayers for safety before beginning their shift.  Eventually a cathedral was carved into the active mine, but due to safety issues it was closed.  In the 1990's it was rebuilt and turned into a very big cathedral.  As you walk in, there are the 14 stations of the cross, or the different stages of the atonement.  As you walk along, there are 14 different mini chapels with huge carved crosses.  After the 14 crosses, there is a large dome that was really cool to look at, then we continued down to where the other chapels were.  The largest one was huge with statues of angels and a enormous cross.  There was lots of symbolism within the cathedral relating to the Bible and other parts of the atonement.  It was very interesting and we had a very good tour guide who spoke English.  With a busy three year old, we missed a lot of the tour information.  The tour ended in a shopping area with lots of souvenir counters and a few other interesting things.  Ben bought Diego some popcorn which oddly enough didn't have salt on it.  I checked out the emeralds.  As mentioned in an earlier post, my birthstone is the emerald and I have always wanted an emerald ring.  Well, I looked and searched and looked some more.  I finally found a loose emerald that was exactly what I have always wanted.  Ben haggled with the lady and I now have a beautiful, certified emerald.  Hopefully one day we will have enough money to have it set in a ring.  I hated to spend that much money on something for myself, but I decided that it's a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Ben teased me about buying an emerald in a salt mine which was kind of funny.  After a much needed diaper change, we headed back out.  The way out of the mine was up 42 steep steps, which felt like about 142 steps.  We exited the mine huffing and puffing and starting to sweat.  After a few photo ops and funny things happening, we met our driver and he drove us into town for lunch.  He took us to a restaurant that served traditional Colombian foods with smoked meats.  We ordered a meal that all five of us shared.  They brought us Ajiaco soup which I really like, and a huge platter that was piled with three different meats, plantains, tamales, arepas, and potatoes.  Then they brought out a platter of chicken and yucca with some kind of sauce all over it.  It was very impressive.  We all ate until we were stuffed, even the kids ate great.  While we were eating, a local music group came in and performed some traditional Colombian music.  Diego was enthralled.  He loves music and he sat so still and kept pushing my face to look at the musicians.  The look on his face was pure joy.  After they played a song, they showed us their music CD's and we bought one for Diego.  Diego was one happy boy.  After lunch, we drug our stuffed selves back to the van.  Our final stop on our adventure was the Parque Jaime Duque.  The park was awesome.  It has life size replicas of historical buildings, sculptures and statues, along with some smaller amusement park rides.  They have a replica of the Taj Mahal and many other famous landmarks.  Diego and Majo slept through most of it, but they woke up enough for a few rides.  We didn't have much time to explore before the park would close.  We walked around the main fare and then we found a little boat ride for the kids.  It was the lamest ride I think I have ever been on.  There was no music, and there were some scenes from fairy tales with some totally cheap scenery.  We had to push our boat along by touching the walls because it got stuck a few times and was really slow.  The kids weren't too impressed either, so we headed over to the teacups, or should I say coffee cups, we are in coffee country.  We got spinning real good and Diego freaked out.  I held his hands and he was able to calm down and even enjoy the ride, a little.  When we left the ride, we had four minutes until the park closed, so we made our way back to the entrance.  My descriptions can't do this place justice, the pictures will have to speak for me.  After a long, fun filled day, we headed back to the van and our driver took us home.  Diego did really good today until the last 15 minutes of the ride home, then he lost it and cried the rest of the way home.  I am so proud of him, he was so good today.  That is until we got home.  I sat him on the sidewalk while we unloaded our things from the van.  We let Diego play outside for a few minutes to get some wiggles out. We met our new neighbors and then Diego and Majo got into it.  Majo was playing with a car that Diego wanted and so he reached out and pulled on a big chunk of her hair.  I got his hand out of her hair and after some apologies, we headed upstairs for pajamas.  Diego settled down and we played for a little while while Ben worked and then it was time for bed.  We Skyped with the kids, we talked more with the adults than the kids.  I think Skype is old news with them.  They say hi and then they take off to do their own thing.  Hopefully they will still want to see me in a few days.  3 more days!