La Cena de Accion de Gracias

So, many of you know that Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. In fact, any holiday involving food is one of my favorites. So, the thought had crossed my mind that coming to Colombia for 3 months would mean no Thanksgiving this year...well, I was wrong! I was pleasantly surprised to find out Matt's family was going to host a Thanksgiving dinner for us and for Adriana and her husband as there would be 4 American visitors that day. YAY!!!

When they first told me about this, I agreed to make a pecan pie. Well, that was a flop. Not only could I not find all of the ingredients, pecans were $24 a pint! TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS!! WHAT?! I know they are imported, but that is craziness. So, I thought maybe I would make a cake (Keep in mind that I would need to borrow a kitchen and had very little time, so a cake from scratch was not possible). I finally found cake mix, but there was no icing anywhere...nada. Chocolate cake without icing? I'm going to say no.

My next thought was to head to the bakery section and buy something already made. I saw one pie. I had no idea what it was. I hadn't yet learned the translation of pie agraz. Whatever, it looked fruity on top...probably a safe bet. So, I bought it. It hadn't occurred to me that it might not taste very good until I brought it home to Matt and he asked me if I even knew what I had purchased. I laughed it off, but he was right. What if it was terrible? We looked up the translation for agraz, and it is the juice of unripe grapes. Hmmm....unripe grapes? We weren't so sure about this.

We finally made it to dinner, which was great! The turkey was perfect, the sides were delicious, and the company was so much fun. Most of Matt's family in Colombia were there. The house was full of laughter, singing, and dancing. Adriana explained to the family why Thanksgiving is celebrated in the US, and then we enjoyed our feast.

Then came the pie. For some reason, I was given the first piece. Matt looked at me with this "let's hope it's good" face as I took a bite. You can see my surprise when I discovered it wasn't bad at all...in fact, it was delicious! Whew...potential embarrassment averted.

So, what am I thankful for this year? A husband who makes me laugh everyday, all of the old and new members of my amazing family, the best friends a girl could ask for, the love of trying new things (like living in another country) that Matt and I share, AND that Pie Agraz is so tasty! THANK YOU!

What a Weekend!

Well, this past weekend was probably one of the busiest I've had in Bogota yet...and it was so much fun! Matt was away on another road trip, so I spent the weekend with his family again. It started off with a great surprise: Matt's cousin, Paola, and her husband and daughter came to visit from Florida! I always love hanging out with them and really enjoyed getting to spend more time with them. Friday night, we went out with several other cousins to a Mexican Mariachi bar. This was by far the best mariachi I've seen yet. Check out the video.

After a long night and sleeping in Felipe's living room floor (something I haven't done in ages and am way too old for), I had to get ready for another fiesta. Most of the family met up at Sonia's house for Felipe's birthday party. It was loud, full of food, and amazing fun!

Some of the Ariza ladies

Sunday was a good lazy day after church at Ligia's house, and then back to the hotel I went to await Matt's return. You would think 8 days would be nothing for us since he's gone for entire US baseball seasons, but it's funny how quickly I get used to seeing him everyday. When he arrived Monday we made a long awaited trip to Monserrate! We've been waiting for a day clear enough to go there for the entire month we've been here. The view was amazing, and it was definitely worth the wait.

Not even half of our home away from home

We had a VERY steep ride up the cable car.

 

 

 

Monserrate with some Christmas decorations

Our Latest Adventure

Matt and I recently had a fun few days. Aside from a few wins for the Aguilas and my designation as the official "chaperone" for visiting American wives and girlfriends, we did get a whole day of exploring without interruption! We slept in a bit, then headed to a soup restaurant for lunch which I've been dying to try for almost a month...only to find it didn't serve lunch for another 1/2 hour. No worries, we'll just head to our destination and find something to eat close by.

So, we headed to the area of town where Museo Nacional is located. In our search for food, we realized it was a holiday. Restaurant after restaurant was closed. We finally found a little cafe where we had coffee and some cheesy bread. Not quite lunch...fail. Then we go to Museo Nacional to find it was closed! EPIC FAIL. I didn't bother checking the schedule before heading out there. At least we got a pic.

 

Have no fear! We'll find our adventure yet. So, we wandered around and finally found Mercado de las Pulgas, a market Matt's mom suggested we visit where you can find anything from ethnic crafts to antiques. Aside from the rain and no umbrella, it rocked! We zigzagged through booths more than once before finally deciding on a treasure that wouldn't be too much trouble to bring back to the states: a 50-60 year old Bavaria Bogota beer crate. This thing could be used for a lot, but I think we'll plant herbs or something in it.

After the treasure hunt, we decided to keep strolling and actually made it to the old part of the city again. We decided to try this restaurant which had a sign outside that translated to "Best Ajiaco in the World"....well, if it's the best we had to try it! We went inside the crowded tiny restaurant, mouths watering over the pictures of food on the wall, and finally sat down to eat. We go to order and get this: NO AJIACO LEFT! WHAT?! None? Well, what else did they have? They were out of everything but spaghetti, tamales, and sancocho (another typical soup of the area). Well, we settled for the sancocho, which really was pretty delicious as well. I love how the soups here all come with a plate of rice and avocado. So, I guess it wasn't a failed dinner. You better believe I am going back later to try the ajiaco though!

Next we decide to go visit a church/museum nearby...guess what...CLOSED. Then, we decide to check out another market we passed on our way to dinner...only to find it was nothing but used books. The entire market was used books. Not what we had in mind. 

I have to admit that despite continuous obstacles to our plans, the day was a lot of fun. I love just walking around with Matt and seeing what might happen. That's just like us...no plans and things always seem to work out no matter what. Oh, and we finally bought an umbrella!

Free Exhibits Rock!

Matt hunting for a treasure

Yesterday, Matt and I had another great day of sightseeing. We headed to the old part of the city again to hunt down some treasures at Pasaje Rivas, one of the oldest markets in the city, and then see some of Fernando Botero's works at Museo Botero. The market was full of baskets, kitchenware, bags, hammocks, jewlery, and all things kitchy for the tourists. All in all, it was interesting. We did find a treasure...some bowls for all the ajiaco we plan to make when we return home.

After dodging the rain by ducking into some more shops and getting coffee from a guy on the sidewalk dressed like an exterminator, we headed over to Museo Botero. The building was beautiful and so was the art. I am more a fan of Botero's sculptures than his paintings, but all of it was definitely interesting to see. Part of the museum was also full of pieces donated by Botero himself: pieces by Picasso, Degas, Matisse, the list goes on and on. His collection was quite impressive.

Botero - Caminando Cerca al Rio

Botero - La Pareja

Cloudy view of the mountain from the courtyard of the museum

Looking into the museum's courtyard

After the Botero exhibits we walked through the building and discovered it was connected to another museum with more FREE exhibits! We saw a coin collection with various machines used to make Colombian pesos throughout the centuries. Then we headed into a general collection with several Colombian artists I had not heard of but enjoyed discovering. Then, we saw two temporary exhibits: Mexican Pop Art and works by Man Ray! The Mexican pop art might have been my favorite of the day.

Seeing the Sights

Tomorrow is officially 3 weeks in Colombia, and we finally did our first sightseeing together. Matt works constantly. It's made doing things together difficult, especially since his weekday games now begin at 1pm instead of 5pm. The bus leaves the hotel at 9am, and he doesn't get home until after dark. Not too many sights to see when it's dark outside. He is supposed to have Mondays and Thursdays off, but they are filled with either a practice or leaving early for a road trip. Poor guy isn't getting to do anything other than work.

SO, this past Thursday's half day of our own was great! We went to an older area of the city and began our tour of Museo del Oro. 4 floors of ancient native gold and 1 exhibition of Chinese dragons. There was more gold than I've ever seen in my life. It divided the collection by regions and purposes for the pieces. They were so detailed, and it's hard to believe they are as old as they are. The Chinese pieces were even older, dating back to thousands of years B.C. (no pics allowed of those though).

After the museum, we headed to Plaza de Bolivar. It was a cloudy day, so our pics aren't the best. The plaza is named after Simon Bolivar, a military and political leader who led much of Latin America to independence. The plaza is surrounded by the Palace of Justice where the Supreme Court works, the National Capitol which is the seat of the Colombian Congress, the Lievano building that serves as the seat for Bogota's mayor, and the Cathedral built in the early 1800s. They were also setting up Christmas decorations! I can't wait to go back and see everything lit for the holidays.

After the plaza, we ventured around the palace and took some pics of doors, where guards proceeded to stop Matt and tell him he has to have permission to take pictures of anything surrounding the palace. It was a door...at the Musuem of Archaeology. We weren't even taking pics of the palace! At least we snagged one.

Next we came across Santuario de Nuestra Señora del Carmen. We couldn't go in, but it was a nice building to see anyway.

It was a short visit to historic Bogota, but at least we got a taste of more to come! Now, I am off to Tia Ligia's house while Matt is away. Chao!

Halloween Fun and a Win for Las Aguilas!

While Matt was away on his first road trip to Baranquilla for four days, I spent a lot of time with his family and saw so much more of the city. I'm finding really pretty areas I like that make it seem more than just any other city. My weekend was full of lunches, meeting new family, basketball games, church, cards, and an amazing Halloween party! I wore Matt's Abuelita's dress from Egypt, but after the ribbon was tied onto my head by his young cousin I decided I looked more like a Native American with an Egyptian painted onto my dress.

Paola, Carlos, Camilo, Sonia, and I just before we headed out for the party

 

 

In BIGGER news...Matt's team won their very first game yesterday!! The poor team has had bad luck at home with rain outs and broken lights, and they didn't win any games on their road trip. Yesterday was their first day back. It was slow at first. I honestly don't think the guys had woken up yet, but when the 6th inning hit and the sun peaked through the clouds they looked like a different team and took the win! The final score was 12-9! Go Aguilas!

Congrats!

Matt in the dugout

Very small crowd on a very rainy day