Cartagena, Day ??

Not too much to say about today. Sorry to be so boring, but we are on “vacation.” The days are starting to run together. Sometimes it seems like time is flying here in Colombia, and the next moment it seems like we have been here forever.

We had to eat breakfast outside again because the hotel is still fairly crowded. The birds were still there, mooching food off of used plates. They are pretty aggressive too. One even flew up and sat on the empty chair next to me for a bit. I guess i wasn't eating fast enough. We saw Luke II and his family at breakfast. Poor kid can’t get a break. I guess he got out yesterday and was sunburned so badly that he got some pretty bad blisters on his back. You could tell he was walking a little gingerly trying not to move the top portion of his body. He was going to the doctor today to see if he could get some medicine so they wouldn’t become infected. I thought that might seem a little extreme but he does have that fair English complexion.

After breakfast, I checked into the aquarium, but it seems that it is an all-day trip. It’s on an island and the boat leaves at 8:00 a.m., returning at about 4:00 p.m. There is no way the ninos could go that long without a nap. So, we have nixed that idea. Maybe on our next trip to Chicago, we will take them to the Shed Aquarium.

With no aquarium to visit, that pretty much left the pool as far as things to do. When we left KC, we brought with us a pair of inflatable “water wings” in case we did go swimming somewhere. However, in the move from KC to Bogota and Bogota to Cartagena, they got lost somewhere. So, we ended up purchasing a new set. Maria had the first go at them and, once she learned to trust that she wouldn’t go underwater while wearing them, she did great. Then we tried out Andres, who probably adapted even more quickly than Maria. By the end of the afternoon, we had purchased two sets of “water wings” and both kids we jumping into the water without us having to catch them right away. At about the same time their little heads went under, we’d grab them and yank them out. They also like to just float around a bit and were much more confident going into different areas of the pool. They did great and had a blast. Luke, by the way, is a total fish and I think he must be a pretty good swimmer for his age (he’s had lessons every summer since he was in diapers). I am sure that after a summer of going to the pool with him they will both be fine swimmers by fall.

In the pool, we met another family from the States. Jim, and his twin boys were from Boca Raton, FL. His wife was originally from Medellin. While their boys get to speak Spanish in the house, they didn’t speak much anywhere else. Their mom was taking them to Medellin for a month to see family and let them work on their Spanish. I can’t remember the mom’s name (between catching little bodies jumping into the pool from all directions and taking turns down the water slide, I didn't speak to her much), but she came over after a bit and talked to us too. They were real curious about our adoption and have a friend back home that is looking into adoption. Jim is originally from Pittsburg and a pretty big Penguins fan along with his boys. Naturally, we talked a bit about the Stanley Cup and how it was next to impossible to find the games anywhere on TV in Colombia. I guess Jim’s wife mentioned to Traci that they were looking into chartering a boat to take them and their family (they had some cousins there at the hotel with them) out to one of the islands for a day at the beach. She asked if we were interested in joining them. Again, with the required naps, I just don’t know if we could swing it. Plus, it is our last day in Cartagena and we have several arrangements to be made to get back into town (rides to and from airports, packing, etc.). They were really nice people. Too bad we met them on our second to last day here. Also, I am sure Jim’s wife would have been able to answer a lot of questions for us about the country.

We gave the ninos a light lunch and put them down for naps. That accomplished, I set out to find an ATM that would allow me some cash for the return trip. In Bogota, I was visiting the ATM at least every other day because we had to pay for everything, including lodging, in cash. However, in Cartagena, we’ve pretty much just been racking up everything on the credit card. There is an ATM here in the hotel, but it keeps spitting my card back at me with no $$$. It was about a mile hike to the closest ATM and I used it as an opportunity to explore a little. Interestingly, walking alone down the street (sans little kids and wife), I didn’t get mobbed by any of the vendors selling sunglasses and junk. By the way, where do these guys always get “Oakley” sunglasses? It is the same in Mexico. After withdrawing several thousands of pesos from a local ATM (trust me, it isn’t as much as it sounds), I stopped off at “Pollo Rapido” to get a little more sustainable lunch for myself, Luke and Traci. I picked up a couple burgers, fries (papas francescas) and a humongous hot dog for Luke. Traci wasn’t wild about the burger, but I thought it was pretty good. They even put a piece of ham on it, which I felt made it a true ham-burger. Luke’s dog was pretty good too. They hid some lettuce in the bun under the dog which Luke wasn’t too wild about, but he took it in stride.

In the early evening, my folks (who are living in my house while we are away, watching to dog and trying to embarrass me in front of the new neighbors) got together with Traci’s folks over at her dad’s and step-mom’s place on Lake Tapawingo. So, we got to Skype (online video chat) with all of them at once tonight. Maria and Andres love to talk to the “abuelos” on the computer. I think Luke does too as he usually tries to get most of the camera time. Anyway, it was a great time and I hope the weather held up enough so they could get out onto the boat.

Dinner was also fairly uneventful. Poor Maria spilled her Sprite in her chair and all over the floor. She cried a little but I explained it was no big deal – mami has spilled her drink at least twice before. In fact, when one of the workers brought out one of those yellow “Caution – wet floor” signs, I suggested that they just bring that out every night after we sit down. It would save people trouble of having to run and get it after the eventual spill.

We have one more night in Cartagena after this and then it is back to Bogota. Traci said she is going to miss all of the extra space we have here at the Hilton. Personally, I am kind of looking forward to getting back to the nice people at El Refugio (staff and guests). Also, I think there are more things for us to do in Bogota. The pool is fun, but even that gets a little old after a while (particularly when you actually have to be IN the pool the whole time and have small people crawling all over you).

We seem to be having a bit of a rough night in terms of sleeping for the kids. Luke, who fell asleep tonight in our bed right behind me, woke up and the next thing I knew he was standing next to me. He looked as though he had just had a bad dream. Turns out he was having a pretty bad case of homesickness. I laid him back down (in our bed) and we talked a bit. He misses his friends. We then talked about what a great adventure we are on and all of the stories he could tell them when he gets home. I don’t know if it helped but he eventually fell asleep again.

About 20 minutes later, Andres woke up crying for some reason. I flew into his room to find him just sitting in his crib. I gave him a little hug, a pat on the back and he was back asleep. Maria slept through the whole episode, but I have a feeling we are going to be dealing with some tired kids tomorrow. I showed her the picture of her sleeping in the chair last night. Apparently she has no recollection of that and thought it was funny.

Not too many pictures today. We’ll do better once we get back to Bogota.


"Skyping" with the family back home.


Traci and Maria - mami y hija at last. Maria loved her little yellow sweater.



Usually it is Luke making rediculous faces for the camera. It seems that Andres likes to do this too. Between the two of them, I think it is going to be hard to get any nice pictures of the five of us.


Caution - Jensen family eating.



Just the kids goofing around in our bed after dinner.