Wedding in Wisco

So I am a terrible sister. I only took one picture of my sister's wedding last weekend, and its on my Colombian cell phone and I have no idea how to get it off. Hopefully, others will start posting pics on Facebook that I can steal, or the photographer will get some ready to go. Here wedding was absolutely beautiful and was an absolutely wonderful day. I don't think we could have had better weather or that her two boys could have been any cuter in their tuxes. If I'm able to get some pics from somewhere, I'll post them soon!

Oh, good store bought salsa, how I miss you....

We are really sucking this year about posting regularly- sorry about that, loyal blog followers. The truth is, we really haven't gone out and seen much of what this beautiful country/city have to offer yet. We've been lazy; I apologize. We've been busy with school; I realize no excuse. Yes or yes (to use a favorite Paraguayan phrase) we are doing something next weekend around the city so we WILL have something to post about.

In the meantime, I will tell you one of my living abroad woes- the lack of good Mexican food. In Paraguay, it was basically non-existent. I made better Mexican food at home with my Penzey's spice mixes than the Mexican restaurant. I was hoping, since we were coming father north, and with Bogota being known for their restaurant scene, that good Mexican food would be available.

So far, nothing. We have eaten at two different restaurants, and they have been nothing to write home about. Salt and salt, and a splash of heat with no flavor is what we've found. There are two or three more restaurants we are going to try; I've been told they are better, but I'm not holding my breath.

Colombians are not a big fan of heat or spice in their food. Now, I don't like to breathe fire or anything, but a little kick every once in a while would be nice. Having flavor to food would be nice as well. Items labeled picante here, would be considered mild in the U.S.

Anyway, I resorted to making my own salsa in Paraguay since the ones available were not to my liking. However, since I would like chips and salsa to be my easy, go-to snack, whipping up a batch of salsa isn't what I want to do when I want an easy snack. I was hoping to find some good salsa here. In Bogota, I have found three different brands of locally made salsas. Only one so far has been acceptable. Just barely passable. For some odd reason, all the salsas are sweet. I'm not sure why you would add sugar to salsa, but that's what they do here.

And, as much as I hate to say it, the tortilla chips from Paraguay are better than the ones here. I actually resorted to making my own tortilla chips last weekend when I had some people over to watch True Blood (very easy, yet time consuming since I only have on baking sheet- just cut up some corn tortillas, spray with a little cooking spray and sprinkle with seasoned salt, or whatever other flavorings you would like; then bake for about 12-15 minutes).

Wish us luck when we try the other restaurants!

U20 World Cup Final Part 2

Remember the guy in the Utilikilt from Part 1 of the U20 Final post (if not, click here to read Part 1)? Well he and a bunch of other guys were hanging around the stadium to help coordinate the World Cup Closing Show which was probably the most elaborate show I have ever seen in person. Here are a few pictures of some of the performers getting ready, and then since pictures can't really do justice to the performance I have included a few videos (the first 2 are mine and the 3rd is what was shown on TV here) to give you an idea of what it was like.

After that amazing spectacle, the crowd was buzzing in anticipation of the game. The crowd went wild as the teams came out. If you look closely at the picture below you can see the WC trophy on a pedestal just behind the Brazil flag.

The teams were greeted by some dignitaries and while the national anthems of both Brazil and Portugal were playing I was able to get this pic of two of the more important ones: to the far left of the suits is FIFA President Sepp Blatter (if there was ever someone Colombians hoped the FARC would kidnap...) and just to the right of him is the President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos.

Just like the 3rd place match, this game started with a bang as both teams scored goals in the first 10 minutes. The picture below is actually of the ball on its way in for Brazil's first goal (look just to the left of Portuguese player #15)!

A few more action shots from the game here.

This Brazilian, named Oscar (for those of you not familiar with soccer, Brazil wears yellow jerseys even though yellow is only a very small part of their flag and many Brazilians stars tend to go by one name and it apparently doesn't matter if it is their last or first name), was the star of the game as he scored all 3 of Brazil's goals including a nice rebound finish to tie the game at 2 and send it into extra time, and then an amazing chip shot to win it about 10 minutes before we would have headed to penalty kicks. The crowd absolutely exploded after that last goal as it was so unexpected, beautiful, and important in that it decided the game. I can't even describe the sound of the whole crowd gasping and then screaming their heads off all at the same time.

It was an incredible day of soccer (9 goals in 2 matches!) and an amazing experience overall as Brazil won a very even and entertaining match 3 -2 and celebrated their championship on the field to the delight of the pro-Brazil crowd. (Interestingly, the Colombians were cheering and even chanting at times for France to win the 3rd place game since Mexico had knocked the host nation out of the event).

After the game, the guys (from left to right:Bob, Zach, and Adam... in a Carlos Valderrama wig) and I hopped in a cab and grabbed a burger at El Corral Gormet to finish off what has been my best day so far in Colombia. If the real WC is anything like this, I can't wait to see a game!

U20 World Cup Final Part 1

One day last week I walked home from school with a friend who introduced me to a portero, or doorman, at an apartment building up the street because he sells bootleg movies out of the lobby. While we were looking through the movie selection, he asked us if we were giong to the World Cup final in a few days. One thing led to another and Adam, Zach, Bob and I ended up with tickets to the Under 20 World Cup Final on Saturday night. The final was between Brazil and Portugal but the tickets included the 3rd place game between France and Mexico so we headed down to the stadium for a marathon day of soccer entertainment!

A picture to prove that I had a ticket.

We had to go through 3 different security checkpoints outside the stadium.

It was raining when we got there so most fans were hanging out under the stands to stay dry before the games started.

I spotted this guy making an interesting choice in lower body attire (he turned out to be a technician for the closing show of the World Cup which took place between games... more on this in Part 2 of this post).

The teams listening to the national anthems before the 3rd place game in the rain.

Our seats were in the 6th row (the first 3 rows were unoccupied) about 20 yards from the corner post. This meant that once the rain slowed and the game started we were gloriously close to the action and were able to take some great pics of the game and festivities that went along with it.

This picture of me was only slightly down and over to the right from our seats.

World Cup mascot.

Mexico won the game 3 - 1 and provided us with an good game as a buildup for what was to come. Read part 2 of the World Cup Final post to find out what the guy in the Utilikilt did later.

Caught in the Rain!

A group of us are trying to get a running group going once or twice a week. Well, today, we left school and the sun was out and it was beautiful and warm. Well, when we were about 2 miles out, the sky opened up and began to downpour on us. There was lightning and some light hail, and by the time we got back to Amanda's apartment, we were soaked through to the skin! A hot shower, and some warm food and I'm feeling much better, but boy was that cold!!

Villa de Leyva

A few weeks ago, our school took all the new staff to a town about 4 hours outside of Bogota for orientation. Villa de Leyva is in the desert part of the country and was where the declaration of independence was signed for Colombia from Spain. We stayed at a beautiful hotel just outside of the main town, complete with its own chapel and wonderful grounds that we could walk around.
The first night there, the school brought the dance teachers from school and we had a dance party. Jesse chose not to participate and was our photographer instead.
Here's the view of the area from the hotel.
The main plaza of Villa de Leyva. We visited a few museums in the town including an archeological museum. The valley where the city is located was once undersea, and since its so dry, fossils have been preserved.
We got to take a chiva, or party bus, into town. This is something that is done a lot in Colombia- a chiva is rented and then people party while they are driven around an area. The school provided this for us, including a few drinks to enjoy on the way!
A highlight of the weekend was a fruit exhibition. We got to see and taste a bunch of the different exotic fruits that are available in Colombia.
One of the other middle school teachers has a place out in Villa de Leyva. She has invited us to join her sometime there and see more of the town. Hopefully, we will be able to take her up on her offer.

World Cup Under 20

For the past two weeks, the under 20 World Cup has been taking place in Colombia. This is the biggest sporting event ever held in Colombia, and after speaking with a few people who have been here for awhile, a lot of construction and prep work in the city was done in preparation. Colombia won their first few games, so they exited the group stage number one in their group. Jesse and I have watched the games, either at one of the thousands of bars in the area, or at home.

Last night was the first game of the elimination round, Colombia vs. Costa Rica. I was exhausted, so I thought going to bed early would be a good idea. Unfortunately for me, Colombia scored three times, which resulted in everyone in the neighborhood cheering; waking me up with each goal and at the end of the game. The next game is against Mexico on Saturday. I think I'll just stay up and watch that one.

New Apartment

Well we are slowly settling into our new apartment with all of the new stuff we have purchased over the past few days. The walls are becoming decorated (and soon a few will be painted) and we will post pictures once most of this process is completed. In the mean time, I thought I'd post this panoramic that I took from our terrace this morning.

To the left of the picture is the view we have over the city of Bogota (I know it's hard to see but if you look closely after clicking to make it larger you can see some mountains in the background which form the opposite side of the valley where the city sits) and to the right are the mountains on the east side of the city where the school is located. In a few hours we are off to Villa de Leyva for a retreat with the new teachers. Look for a post with more pics when we get back!

Whew!

After a whirlwind summer, we have made it to Bogota. We've started settling in to the apartment, which included two massive shopping sprees for random furniture, household goods and hangars! I feel like we haven't stopped moving since about two weeks before we left Paraguay, and there is no sign of it stopping anytime soon. Once the apartment is all put together, we'll post some pictures. But we made it, a little tired but we can blame that on the altitude right?

Asado

A while ago now, I spent one of the best Saturdays in Asuncion. My Spanish teacher, Maria Elena, invited me, Jesse, Danielle and her fiance Kagan to their house for an asado. Jesse, unfortunately, had a basketball game that day so he could go, so Danielle, Kagan, and I took the 18 bus out to the Jardin Botanico where Maria Elena came to pick us up to take her to her house. We had a wonderful time, just sitting, talking, and eating. Their yard made me incredibly jealous, as there were lemon, lime, orange, mandarin, grapefruit, mango, and papaya trees. The fresh squeezed mandarin juice was amazing! It was a simple afternoon, but one spent in a great, Paraguayan way. We hung out with Maria Elena, her parents, her husband, and her son, and really got to get to know some great people.