Planning to go to Anapoima!!

It was a lazy couple of days getting ready to travel out of the city for the weekend.  On Wednesday we had to go back to the private casa to get some paperwork stating that we are allowed to take Baby A out of the city.  Being we are in the court process there is a lot of paperwork we carry with us at all times being she is in our custody.  We had a low key day and headed to El corral for lunch after Isaac finished his school work.  It is spring break at school next week so he asked if he could work harder these next few days and then not have to do as much next week.  Sure! Great plan Bud!!  :-)  Pilar picked us up that afternoon to go to our meeting.  It was quick and we were able to talk to the director of the casa.   She was not aware which court we are in and we have been told that they are not telling people any longer.  SO we really don’t know and the director told us to just RELAX!!   We are trying to but it would be nice to know although it has always been speculation as to which court is good and which court is slow!! :-)

We are headed to a private club that our in country representative brought her children to for many years and she was able to make a reservation for us for a long weekend.  Diego had agreed to drive us out of the city and come back to pick us up.  Anapoima is about 2 hours outside of the city.  It is known for having some of the best weather in the country.  It is warm-80-90 and sunny.  The weather here is unpredictable these days so we are not sure if this will be the case.  It has been raining in the city every afternoon around 3 for about an hour or so.  Cecilia said this is not typical for this time of year.  Sounds like the weather in MN.  Not typical!! Isaac is excited as Cecilia told him that they have a beautiful pool!!

On Thursday we headed over to the mall to find some sandals as we did not come prepared for hot weather!  We went to TGI Fridays for lunch-a little taste of home! We like to go out for lunch to get us out and about and it costs about the same as if we were to eat at our hotel if we split things.  It is fun to taste new foods and visit new places but we also love having typical Colombian food for lunch too which Juanita is always excited to make for us.  We spent some time in the arcade at the mall again per Isaac’s request.  After we got back we packed up.  Being our hotel is not busy Katya was fine with us leaving all of our stuff in our room and won’t charge us while we are away.   Hotel Paris has truly become our home away from home!  We thought we would pack just a weekend bag but we forget how much stuff you need with a baby in tow! :-)

Friday am Diego picked us up around 9 am and we were off.  It took almost 1 hour just to get out of the city.  The city puts restrictions on times that people with certain license plate numbers can drive to try and control the traffic.  For example if the plate ends in an 8, you can drive on even days all day but if it ends in a 9 you can not drive during the hours of 6:30-9:30am and then again from 3-7pm on an even day.  Diego said that it is meant to try and get people to carpool, however people are smart and just own more cars with different plate numbers.  The restriction is lifted from 9:30-3.  You would think once the "rush hour" is over it would be OK, but really the traffic gets worse!  

Once out of the city it was a lot of driving in the mountains to get to the club.  The views were absolutely breathtaking at times.  It felt as if we were driving through a tropical area with mountains and very deep valleys.  There was bamboo everywhere, many flowers even along the road, lush green scenery, and many views of valleys in the mountains. There were fresh fruit stands everywhere with literally hundreds of mangos and many other types of fruit for sale.  Many tropical flowers in buckets for sale.  My camera was packed away so I will be sure to get some pictures on the way home as we will take the same way back.   In certain parts the road signs had the squiggley line as there were many turns and there were also many 90 degree turns going through the mountains.  No direct way to drive when going through mountainous areas.  Diego had us listening to his favorite Colombian music the entire ride!!

There were a lot of eye opening moments for Isaac (and for us) driving through some very impoverished areas.  He saw how many people on typical farms live with tin roofs, laundry hanging on the line, very thin cows tied out in the front yard, chickens roaming about, freshly butchered meat hanging in the window, and dogs that were very skinny.  He saw many houses built right along the edge of the land fill.  He has learned a lot about people living in impoverished areas who do not have a lot with our sponsor kids living in Africa and Haiti from World Vision and Compassion.  He has seen videos at church talking about the importance for clean water and how far people have to walk to get clean water.  He has learned about the importance for families to have a cow for milk, or chickens for eggs with our sponsor kids.  We talk a lot about being thankful for what we have and ways that we can help and be gracious to people.  It was a lot to take in and I am sure there will be many conversations to come.  

We arrived around noon and got settled in.  We checked out the pool and the restaurant. We are really looking forward to a great weekend!!  It is absolutely beautiful here with many views of the mountains and the valley.  We have a cabana which is like a very large room with 3 beds and a baby bed, a balcony and a bathroom.  I will post some pictures this weekend!! :-)

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT)