It has been two months? Really?

I haven't written in a while.  A little because what is going here isn't that different from what everyone else does and a little because I have have been so busy trying to get settled into a non temporary state.  The last time I wrote, my mother was here and Ray was traveling.  Though I don't think I told to many people that he was gone.  But he had a 3 week stretch of being away and he enjoyed it very much.  Oh don't get me wrong, he didn't enjoy being away from us but he did enjoy going to visit my Grandpa in Miami and then also going to Lima Peru and Brasilia Brazil.  I know he has such a tough life.  He did bring us back things from Peru and promised next time he goes he will bring us!!  Brasilia, he said was very neat, and from all his accounts Brazil is just another entity all its own.   From what he tells me we will be going to all go there too.  But at the rate we are going in getting settled that won't be any time soon.

We've been pushed and pulled along the housing situation for 2 months now.  It is getting very old and I have to get use to being in this hotel for another 2 months.  They did tell us when we arrived to expect 2-4 months in a hotel.  Of course we are at the later end of that.  It is alright in some ways because our household goods will not arrive for another month.  So what is the point in moving into some place without our things!  Also what ever I end up will be nice, I mean I have made living in a hotel room an art form and we now call it home.  I have even started to entertain, well ok, if you call having 3 year olds over for mac'n'cheese entertaining!  But still.  The one great thing though is that I have a much better idea of where I want to be.  So we are moving forward with a couple of second tier options but I am on the hard hunt for EXACTLY what I want.  Even if I don't get what I want, I will make it a wonderful home and hey, by the time we actually move in we will have to move out a year later!

It just makes you realize how everything in life is temporary.   It is all a moment in time and I guess you just have to look for the positive in that moment.  I write it to remind myself to do it!  Seriously though what am I going to do when I have to clean for myself? :-D

Trifon did start school a couple of weeks ago and he is very much a changed child.  I couldn't have kept him home in the hotel room while waiting to find out where we were going to end up so I found him a nice Montessori program.  There is one lady there who speaks English but everyone else is Spanish only.     I also asked the school to make sure that everyone in Trifon's class is spanish only, just in case another english speaker be around.  I am a mean mommy that way.  But he seems to be adjusting very well and every day he comes home with a new word or phrase.  In fact yesterday he corrected my spanish as we walked.  He said "no mommy, it is BBuenos Dias, not benos dias".  Hey I am ok with that since I need all the help I can get.

I too started school.  Well spanish classes.  It is so very helpful and every day I am more and more confident in my ability to use the language.  I have so much respect for bilingual people.  Maybe some day I can call myself one of them.

So it has been two months almost exactly since we have moved here and I think about all that we have done in those two months. There is no reason to get frustrated by my current situation, because it has been amazing!  All the things we have accomplished as a family are amazing to me and I know we are blessed.

Love to you all!

Lindsay

"What is .... in Spanish mommy", Mira una niña rubio and other stories...

Funny enough, I predicated this week perfectly!  I didn't get out to see any more schools or look at to many more apartments but I did do  a lot of networking that really helped me understand the wholeness of the situation.  I am still holding out for the nice apartment in the hills, but, but...so I'm looking some more tomorrow.  


We all continue to learn our spanish as we struggle everyday to find the right words.  Trifon certainly enjoys asking what this or that means in his new language.  I spent 15 minutes trying to describe a bird to Senora Irma in english with funny sign language and all (yes imagine a 33 year old woman flipping around tweeting like a bird) before she finally realized I was talking about a "el Parajo" and not a "el arbol" or tree.  The things I do for my children.

The biggest adventure of my week is that my mother came Wednesday!  I've been running her around, re-doing some of the things that we love (like El Parque 93) and some new adventures to put in our bag, like the Salt Cathedral in Zipaquirá.  Either way we still love it here!  

 

The salt cathedral was amazing and it seems to always be a highlight of any visit to Colombia.  Included are a few pictures, and Trifon really enjoyed 'licking' the walls to taste the salt and getting to actually mine some of it!  We ate a truly typical Colombian restaurant with our driver (he is such a lifesaver).  You can see in the pictures the general lack of food safety but also of the obvious deliciousness that is the food here!

This last picture is been probably the other story of the week.  Georgia has been a star here.  Some one told me that (and I do believe it by my own observation) Colombia is a very homogenous society; dark hair and dark skin and dark eyes are prevalent.  So missy with her blonde blonde hair and bright large blue eyes gathers attention where ever she goes! 

I dragged my mom to the Science and Technology Museum.  It is a GREAT facility, but it is a general beating with sooooo many young children around.  Either way, Trifon really enjoyed it.  He figured out his brain is in his head, he got to go on a dinosaur dig and learn about electricity!  He LOVED it.  Georgia on the other hand got MOBBED by school aged Colombian children.  They were just fascinated by her hair color and other things (like us being Americans).  

It is an amazing place and it is our home.  It is remarkable the miracles that have happened here for our family.  The hotel, that takes our cats, only a few blocks away from the church.  My friend Jane only a few blocks away from me, also introduced me to the gym that Trifon goes to 4 days a week.  Every thing is with in easy walking distance and I am not alone at all.  God is great and I should not worry about any thing.  Just as my children scream for their milk even though I know I am going to give them a vanilla milk shake instead...that is what God has done for me.  

Love you all!  

Its like having a baby-

So if you have ever had a baby you know the feeling.  The first two weeks are a blur.  They third week you start getting disgusted and by the 4th week you realize that you have to get it together or you are going to go CRAZY!

It doesn't matter that you are in love with the little bundle.  It doesn't matter the excitement involved with the newness of the baby in your life, or the joy it certainly brings you, it is still a beating.  When you finally come out of the fog that is being a new parent you realize that this is your life and you have to go forward, joys and challenges together.

I am there...albeit my baby is my new home, Bogota.

I mean any move is stressful, no matter how positive it is for your future.  I can say now, an overseas move is doubly so.  Lucky for me I try and keep a that positive outlook in mind as I try and figure out how to do every day things.  

Maybe it started with my first home cooked meal, or finally organizing the toys, or just coming to terms with my new home (or as Rays says, my mother coming into town...ekkk clean!).  Either way we are moving forward.

I started off the week looking for a pre-school for Trifon.  As far as I can tell, pre-school here is a luxury only for the rich or somewhat affluent.  That being said, it seems that the few I have visited or read about make it all very very child centered, or Montessori.  Unfortunate for me, I just don't get it.  I know a lot of my educator friends out there will say it is good for a child to choose his/her interest and work a project to completion at the pace they desire, but I am a little more strict.

The good news is that Trifon will be going into an all spanish preschool.  No English spoken or taught.  We can do that at home.  The other good news is that it is still preschool and as my mom says, all they really do is color and paint with their hands.  So I am not overly worried about picking the 'right' one.  And finally it also seems that the schools that are more 'child centered'  are more expensive.  I won't be choosing that for me anyways, so I've just saved Ray some money!

If any of you are interested here is a link to the very Montessori school that Trifon is NOT going to:

http://plateroyyo.edu.co/

Making new friends has also been a big step forward for me! I have to thank my Koumbari Amy Smith (Trifon's Godmother) for putting me in touch with her little sorority sister, Jane!  She has been a blessing to me.  Jane has two little girls, almost the exact same age as my kids.  She also lives 5 blocks away from the hotel and has lived here for 1.5 years!  She had us over the other day for lunch and then we took the kids to a Gym.  Just like the states!  A picture included is Trifon partaking in the class.  He did great, considering the teacher spoke no English.  We are going to get signed up there for swim class too.  A short walk from our temporary home, the hotel.















Wednesday was Colombian independence day.  Ray had the day off.  We went out of town.  Up a ways is where they process all the milk into cheese and yougurts and deserts for Alpine.  They have a nice little store out in the country where you can buy yummy treats and cheap cheese.   There was also a great play ground and the weather was very pleasant.

We then went to eat at the most wonderful restaurant.  I am seriously going to have to do a whole blog on the food here.  I need to start taking pictures of what I'm eating.  Soon enough though!  Here is a picture of the view from our seats.

If most of you have been following my facebook then you already know we are in the process of trying to get an apartment that we found we love.  Now we are just waiting to get approved for a lease through the embassy.  It is a long and difficult process so there is no news yet.  It is the show stopper that I spoke of in an early post, the first apartment we saw.  It is a VERY large 2 bedroom, so plenty of room for guest.  There is a nice maids quarters that we will turn into my mom's room for when she comes and visits (right next to the washer and dryer and ironing board, so that when she wakes up at 3 am in the morning she will have something to do).  The views are spectacular and the front door is an elevator door!  But we can't sign a lease till the owner agrees and makes all the changes the security office may request.  So keep your fingers crossed for us!

Video of the apartment we want...

As you can see we are keeping very busy.  They had a great food festival in Parque Vilrey over the weekend that we went too.  Again, going to be part of my food blog.  We did that after we went to Unicentro, a large mall in town.  Pretty similar in set up to any American mall, but the eat street was far superior and they had few American stores (lots of brands though).  Lots of shoes.  Trifon has been a very good boy and his daddy gave him 10,000 pesos to spend.  He bought a whistle and is very proud of himself since he paid the lady from money out of his own pocket.  He even has saved some change up.  I wonder where he gets that from????

The kids at the food festival.


This next week, like I said above, is my move forward week.  I have plans with my new friends Jane and Cory (met her and her daughter at the embassy first week we where here).  My mom is coming in town for 2 weeks.  I am going to get Trifon signed up for swim and gym lessons and find him a pre-school, and of course keep you guys up to date on it all!

A Blessed week to each and everyone of you.  I love you all!

Lindsay

I have died and gone to Latin Heaven!

Another Sunday has arrived and we are had a busy week full of apartment hunting and security briefings from the embassy and learning more and more spanish!

I am finally starting to figure out Bogota a little, which means the more I look at apartments the more I realize where I am at and where I want to be.  It is like an big city.  We can get more square footage up in the hills, but it requires us to drive to things.  I guess I am getting a big ole mamma Jamma car for my personal use.  It will be nice to have the freedom, but it is a little intimidating to drive here.  I have driven in Greece, Ireland, Washington DC, Chicago and Cross Country a million times, but I don't think I will be driving with any confidence here for a while.  So I think I would prefer to live near the northern city center, close to the great parks here, the restaurants and grocery stores.  We just haven't found the right apartment in that area.  So tomorrow more searching will commence and I am going to have to be patient while I look and wait for the right place to come open.

We have a nice lady helping us out, her name is Irma, and the kids love her!  I love her too, but it has definitely made me think.  I mean how did I do it by myself.  I mean sometimes it feels like I am a slacking mother because of the fact I have her to help 3 days a week and I actually get to sit down.  But it is the standard here if you have any money and that is for full time help!  I have actually been told several times that since my children are so young that I should have 2 people to help me.  One to watch the kids and one to help me clean.  I keep saying, well what am I going to do then with all my time?  Anyways, Trifon has started to add Senora Irma to our evening prayers and Georgia wants her first if we are both around.  I still haven't reconciled all my feelings about this level of help in my family.  Especially when I did it all by myself while Ray was in Iraq for a year.  But it has been helpful. The intensity of apartment hunting I've been doing would be impossible without someone watching the kids at the hotel.

We have been settling down though and getting to know a lot of Ray's co-workers.  They are almost all Colombian.  They just work for the US government as foreign nationals.  They have been working in this office of the Corps of Engineers for over a decade now together and they are a family.  They have totally taken us in, had us to their homes and invited us to their parties!  Lucky for us they all speak beautiful English and are so open and helpful to us as we try to learn Spanish.  But they are so excited to share everything about their culture with us.  They are also very surprised we like the food and the music, that or they are just so anxious for us to like it they keep asking us.  But this is where I feel I've died and gone to Latin heaven!  The culture is so beautiful, open and rich (as most cultures are!).

  We went to one of Ray's coworkers 40th birthday party.  It was a large affair at a Cuba restaurant.  It was to start at 7, and we showed up a fashionable American 15 minutes late.  A hour later the party started and the drinks were poured freely until we ate at 930pm (oh, and the drinks were still being poured).  We left at midnight and it was still going strong!  Everyone again mentioned that we should have a live in nanny to help so we could party till the sun came up.  I don't know if that is ever going to happen!

We went to church again this Sunday.  It is nice to have a home away from home.  It keeps me balanced and grounded.   It was actually pretty full today and there were many children.  I don't think anyone there speaks English though and the priest gave a great sermon.  I just wish I could have understood it all.  I am pretty sure it had to do with practicing the Orthodox faith in the home so that you children know it or how a child practices to improve on something same with us practicing the faith.  Wether I understood it all or not, I think it is a good point!

So more apartment shopping tomorrow and I have my camera set up and ready to go, so I will do some house hunters international for ya'll!  Maybe you can help me pick!  God bless you all and have a great week!  Love
Lindsay

A week and a day-

Hello all!
We have been here a week and a day now and this is our 2nd official Saturday here.  I am trying to take it all in but some observations can be made without it being to quick a judgement.  Bogota is a city of contrast.  I am sure that is coming from my very suburban American point of view.  But when you have the busy very metropolitan city such as Bogota around you, the contrast of the horse and cart on the highway is striking! It is a common occurrence and even at night you can hear the horse and cart pass our hotel, right after the garbage truck finishes emptying its load.

It is a busy, noisy city and a few nights Trifon has been irritated by the dogs barking or the airplanes flying overhead.  But overall the noise hasn't bothered me.  For those of you that know me, I always seem to like a little background noise (my radio or tv on at all times).  I certainly don't feel like I missing anything with all the business going on!

We have been off to a few meetings at the Embassy and it is all pretty standard stuff.  Though the medical briefing mentioned that loss of appetite and fatigue are signs of altitude adjustment, both of which I think I am suffering from.  There is no malaria here in Bogota, but at lower elevations there is and prophylaxis recommended for 800meters and lower.

The kids like the Embassy, mostly because there is a very nice little playground with lots of dirt right outside of Ray's office.  The last time we where there there was another girl playing the same age as Trifon.  They having just arrived around the same time as us.  Trifon and the girl were fast friends.  I do believe that Trifon definitely was glad to play with someone who spoke English!

He is a little resistant to learning the language though.  My sponsor here is out of town for a while and has been kind enough to lend us her maid/nanny.  Of course Senora Irma speaks no English.  She has been immensely helpful and I certainly like her a lot.  Especially now that we are figuring out the communication issue (that is my Spanish is getting better and I love google translate!).  Anyways, I went out yesterday to start our apartment search and left the kids with her.  While Georgia barely speaks any intelligible words, I was most worried about Trifon.  She said he was very good and I think he understands her enough to not freak out.  Anyways, I think am thinking that once we get settled, I will look for a Spanish only Jardin (or preschool).

Of course the running joke in the family is that Trifon will have his southern Georgia accent, Georgia will speak with a Spanish accent.  She certainly will pick it up quickly.  In fact she has never said the word milk.  But 2 days ago she uttered the word "Leche".    What a great gift to give to my children, that of a second language.

We only saw 2 apartment yesterday and the first one was a show stopper.  In the nice part of town where a lot of embassy personal live.  Floor to ceiling windows for the length of the living area overlooking the city and the mountains.  The elevator opens to the foyer.  The master closet I could live in, with built in dressers and shoe racks in fine wood.  Brand new and never lived in, I could certainly make this first apartment work, if it weren't for one thing....it only has 2 bedrooms.  It is still large enough, but we will have to see.  I know lots of you plan on visiting so I really want to have that 3rd bedroom ready to go for you!
The second apartment was much larger but much much older and needed too much work.  In a busier part of town, it was definitely not something I would consider in the running.  So more searching next week.  I am almost ready to get settled!

Anyway, I should post more often so these things don't go on forever.  But I like to make sure I have something to talk about and then I end up talking too much as usual.  Love you all and have a great weekend!
Lindsay

Sunday as it should be

So we have been here three whole days now, and as we get settled it is starting to sink in.  Well at least for me it is.  We went to the Embassy's 4th of July party yesterday, and while it was smaller than previous years (we were told) it was still a nice affair.  The kids especially liked the petting zoo and the bounce houses.  There was free McDonald's too!

It was my first time on any American Embassy, and it seems like it is a rather large one.  I met many people who have young children and are in the same situation as us.  It is nice and I think that people really start 'families' here.  That is, they depend on each other and take newcomers in with welcome arms.

We went out with some of Ray's new co-workers last night after the embassy party.  We went to....wait for it....TGIFriday's.  Yes I know, but I guess it is a pretty popular place over here even if it is a dying restaurant in the states.  The area that this and many of the other popular restaurants are in is just BEAUTIFUL.  There was a great park that we went to afterwards to let all the kids play.  There must have been 20 other families there, kids enjoying the outside, playing in the sand while the sun set.  It was a prefect end to a great day!

The family that we went out with last night is having a BBQ at their home outside the city.  They are Colombian but work for the Army Corps of Engineers and they have two children, older than ours.  I am looking forward to seeing the country side and let Trifon and Georgia run around the 'farm' (but I think it actually may be a farm).

They have really taken us in, in fact she is getting me some toys for my kids to play with till we get settled in our apartment with all of our toys and she is also lending me her double stroller (ours is also on its way).

Anyways, the biggest and best thing that has happened here is that we found the Greek Orthodox Church.  It is VERY close to our hotel and we scoped it out yesterday and thought we would see if it was open today.

We started our walk and I was skeptical that there would be a service today, but as we got closer I started to here the familiar tones of byzantine chant.  We walked in and it was as it should be.  The smells, the sounds, the sights.  This is why I love Orthodoxy!  You can walk into any Orthodox church in the world and be home!  This is exactly what I felt!  We were HOME!  This is OUR church!
The priest and the chanter had the MOST beautiful voices, and Trifon has been singing church songs since we left.  No choir, but the two of them made the church sound so full of the beautiful hymns.
There were about 17 people total there, more than I expected.  One other young family.  The service was in mainly Spanish with some Greek thrown in for good measure.  My Greek and Spanish are about on equal levels, so next week I will bring my liturgy book!
The kids took communion and the priest asked for Georgia's name in Spanish.  Then after she received communion he said "bravo pethalkimou" which loosely translated in my bad Greek mean good girl or doll or something like that....
We didn't stick around this Sunday to meet anyone, the kids are still out of sorts.  But with it being so close there is no excuse!  We are sure to go back next Sunday!  Blessed week to all!
Love Lindsay

We are here in South America

So we arrived late last night.  The trip itself is where the adventure begins.  First thing is first, we have to thank Happi and Brian whom took us in after our household goods had moved.  They were our upstairs neighbors and without them letting us stay with them I am sure things would not have gone very well at all.  But we managed to get out the door with a total of 16 baggage type items and the whole family.  

When we arrived at the airport with a full load, I overheard people gasping at the sheer mass of luggage.  It took us over 30 minutes to get everything checked in and I thought for a moment, there is no way all of the luggage is going to make it there (one bag was sure to get lost).  We moved on to security, and thanks to another friend we had a heads up that we would have to remove the cats from their carrier  and walk them through the metal detector and send their carriers through the xray machine.  Ray got selected for advanced screening while holding our littlest cat, and Trifon had already made it through security as well.  He was unattended as Ray stood in the glass cage holding a cat waiting on someone to get to him.  I stood on the other end, waiting on Ray to get done to take Georgia so I could get the big cat out of the carrier.  The TSA, was very helpful though and we all got through and too our gate with time to spare.  

Trifon had a major meltdown on the plane to Atlanta and once on the ground had to be taken into the bathroom to calm down.  Ray said that he just cried on his shoulder for a while and then felt better.  I guess we forget how stressful this can be on kids and I think all the upheaval in Trifon's life just caught up to him.  We have been much more patient with him since and it is helping.  

Now the interesting thing I found was that the Bogota flight was at the very end of the international terminal in Atlanta.  There wasn't a shop or restaurant in sight.  I might be guessing that the South American flights are like the ugly stepchild of international travel.   But then again it could have just been that way this time!

We arrived into Bogota at 9pm, we had to exit the plane via steps and board a bus.  The airport was very busy and there were trams and cars and gas trucks going every which way.  There wasn't the organized lines on the tarmac for the bus that I am familiar with in other state side airports where you have to de-board this way and our bus made several close calls with tankers driving jet fuel to this plane or that.  

I love foreign airports, and it never takes you long to realize you aren't in America anymore once you get off that plane.  But this was for sure one of the most surreal experiences I've had.  Maybe it was because we had our whole family with us and it just isn't some other vacation.  The lines for immigration were long but we got to go into the special services line so it wasn't too bad.  They pretty much let us right through.  We had to pay a small fee for the cats and when we exited the airport for the outside there were barricades holding back a mass of people waiting for other passengers to exit.  John Heaton (the man Ray is replacing) and his assistant Adrianna where both waiting for us.  

Two huge Suburbans pulled up and we loaded them up and drove to the hotel.  Everything was set up for us when we arrived, it was heavenly to be escorted up to my room immediately with the kids and cats while Ray took care of a few things.  

Once we got the kids in bed and the cats set up, Ray handed me my cell phone that the embassy provided for me.  So I got to call my mom this morning and tell her this story already!  

Our room overlooks a park and you can see the hills (probably more accurately mountains, as Bogota already sits at close to 8,000 feet above sea level).  There is a playground in the park and Trifon ventured out there this morning and played.  He realizes that people don't speak English and he has already picked up a few things and is really trying to process it.  Georgia, though not mentioned much here, is doing great and happy as always.  I think it is easier in some ways for her, just happy to be with mommy and daddy than it is for Trifon.  

Other than that, our hotel is perfect.  Almost a small apartment with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a kitchen and living and eating areas.  The cats are totally settled in and it should be a good place to base our search for permanent housing as the weeks go on.

We went to the grocery store a little big ago.  Prices seem to be about the same as the states.  Though there are some ridiculous taxes on the bill.  We got some diapers and beer and other things and the bill came to about 160,000 pesos (about 90 dollars).  They don't have prepackaged lunch meats so I had to order at the deli.  I find myself saying gracias and si a lot...I think I need to learn more spanish. 

But this is the way you learn.  The maid came to the room today to bring a trash can for the kitchen.  I went online and figured out how to ask her that and I did.  But as always that is a mistake cause she comes up and starts going on about something and we just couldn't figure it out.  I know I will have so many more occasions when that happens.  Hopefully I will get settled enough to start taking some classes.

Ray is off to the embassy now and the kids are napping.  So thank you again to everyone who has kept us in their thoughts and prayers.  Our adventure has begun!