This morning I asked the kids how they know Spanish, and Tiago said, "Because we went to Colombia." haha
Our whole purpose in traveling to Colombia this past summer was to help connect the kids to their heritage. They're young, but we hope that at least Tiago remembers experiences there. And we have lots of pictures and videos to remind them of things. So here goes detailed documentation to justify the fortune that we spent. :)
One note before jumping in-- the kids were at great ages for this trip! They're not in cribs, don't really need a stroller, eat "anything", and don't wear diapers. That gave us so much more flexibility, although I was still incredibly anxious about certain things before leaving. Traveling with kids is never super easy.
We stayed at the airport the night before our flight. We woke the kids up at 3:20 am to ride a shuttle. They were so excited and so well behaved. I crossed my fingers that was an indication of how the whole trip would go. Other travelers on the shuttle were smiling at these tiny, wide-eyed kids carrying their own backpacks while it was still dark outside. If I weren't laden down with kids and bags, I would have taken a picture. (That's true of several moments on this trip!)
The flights went well. Hyrum tried to convince Tiago during take-off that there were people running behind the plane pushing it. He laughed and laughed. Despite being nervous (he doesn't remember flying!) he was excited and as soon as we got in the air he said, "It looks like cotton candy!"
Like usual, airlines never put "gate-checked" stroller in the right spot, so during our layover in Florida I ended up running with the kids to our next gate, and stalling for Hyrum to get there (he was waiting for our stroller, which never came.) We barely made it, and I had to apologize to the kids for yelling at them to run faster.
I got Siena to fall asleep on the second flight. Does it get any better??
Colombia was playing in the World Cup when our plane landed, so Hyrum spent all of customs trying to get the game to come up on his phone. We finally made it through (by that point Mila and Tiago had fallen asleep in the stroller) and we stopped at the food court to finish watching the game. However, Tiago shortly woke up from all the yelling and freaked out. I think he was disoriented and tired, and it was super loud. I tried to take him for a walk, but he just kept screaming that he wanted to leave. I took the kids downstairs and bought them Dunkin Donuts. (Arequipe!) That helped significantly, but he still didn't want to be around the noise.
Our first stop after checking into our hotel was the park. The kids deserved it after a long travel day! It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and the playground was filled with kids and families. Besides a random (huge!) dog eating Tiago's donut, they had a blast. And our second stop was to get hot chocolate. Tiago said that was the thing he was most excited about in Colombia. (That kid LOVES hot chocolate.) The girls had a meltdown so I took them back early and Tiago and Hyrum stayed to enjoy the experience.
Our first full day in Colombia was perfect! We kicked off our trip in Turmeque. (That's the town where Hyrum's dad grew up. It's a few hours away from Bogota, deep in the countryside. Hyrum spent most holidays there growing up, plus all of fourth grade.) We wanted our kids to experience Colombia outside of big cities. Turmeque was perfect.
Hyrum has two aunts that live in the 'family house', which is connected to the Pharmacy his aunt owns. Hyrum and I haven't been there since 2011. It was fun to see... not much has changed. From the time we were dropped off, to the time our driver picked us up two days later, we just walked around town and played. No cars. Which is beautifully relaxing. Everything is close. We walked to the cemetery, bakery, cow fields, etc.
The house has a walled-in 'huerta' (garden area) in the back. It was kind of like a jungle last time we visited, but Tia Silvia has a person working there to clean things up. It looked really good and the kids loved exploring. Best of all, Tiago discovered the moras (blackberries) growing along the wall and ate as many as he could find. The gardener kept pointing him towards other areas of ripe berries and his face was stained purple.
One of the things our kids have talked about most since returning from Colombia are these ducks! There are three ducks that live in the backyard, but only two have names. Tia Silvia was trying to get them to come show off a trick (she lifts them up and they fly across the yard.). She kept banging a pot or something and yelling, "Matilda, Lorenzo!" The kids joined in and chased them around. We tried getting them to swim, but they weren't interested.
Then we sat at the patio to eat these fried balls of rice and fresh pineapple. Tiago was in heaven. There was a little girl there (a employee's daughter named Mailet, who the girls kept calling 'Violet") for them to talk to in Spanish (aided by Hyrum.)
Our next stop was the market. Monday in Turmeque is market day. The normally 'empty' town was bustling with people from the surrounding area, and the streets were jammed up with trucks transporting fruits and vegetables. When I commented that the town looked busy, everyone scoffed, because apparently just a decade or two ago the market day was a BIG deal. Like people packed shoulder to shoulder.
Hyrum bought second lunch, and tricked me into trying blood sausage. Tiago played bar tender and kept pouring our cups of soda. They tried playing on a little (old school) playground, but the astro turf was wet and after they slipped a few times I called it quits.
We bought some produce. The kids ate these tiny bananas, which they held up to their ears like telephones. Hyrum showed them how to break a passion fruit open against his head. They ran free with airplane wings.
Hyrum's family lives on the south side of the main square. Diagonal from their house is the church, which the girls were anxious to explore. We visited 2 or 3 times while we were there. Tiago was fascinated with the statues of Christ on the cross, and the walls of the church are covered in Biblical paintings which I think date back to the 16th century but were only recently discovered and restored.
From the top of the church steps you can see out over the green valley.
Tia Miriam runs the pharmacy. So we spent time just hanging out in the store and on the bench outside. They brought out the old bread crust to feed pigeons on the street. The kids had a blast with that. There's a stray dog, who they call Luna, who they also brought scraps to. But when she tried to eat the breadcrumbs, everyone shoo'd her away. The kids spotted Luna around town a few times and she became a household name, just like Lorenzo and Matilda.
The one non-magical time was 7 pm. The kids were all exhausted, but disoriented. No one wanted to go to sleep. There was still noise around, and lights on, and they had a hard time falling asleep. And having an audience while you parent miserable children always increases the pressure. More so when people remember having their own well-behaved children. But that's life.
Here's the group at breakfast. Tia Silvia really spoiled the kids with hot chocolate. Every time Tiago devoured a cup, she rushed off to the kitchen to bring him more. He was really good at asking, "Mas choquito, por favor."
We stepped outside one morning and Hyrum saw a friend walking by. This is a friend from about 25 years ago, who no longer lives in Turmeque but happened to be visiting for the morning.
We started to walk to Hyrum's old school (which has been torn down.) The kids kept talking about seeing the destroyed school building (and asked if every crumbly building was the school.) But it started raining on us so we turned around. We took refuge in a bakery on the opposite side of the plaza. Family friends own it, so Hyrum and his aunt had a good time chatting while I tried to control the kids. Tiago had a dance party out in the rain.
Later in the day we went with Tia Silvia to the cemetery to show the kids. It's on the outskirts of town, on the top of a hill. Parts of it are very run down, but it's cool to show the kids where their relatives are buried.
It happened to be our 8th wedding anniversary, so we got a picture together. On the way back down the cobblestone street, Mila held my hand and sang me the ABC song.
A family friend invited us to eat at his hotel (about 2 minutes away, also on the main square) so the kids had a blast exploring and playing while we enjoyed a meal together. They played in the hammock and danced around the courtyard. They got their fair share of attention!
It was starting to cool down, and the kids were out playing in the plaza. They walked over to invite our kids to play. Tiago played it cool but you could tell he was exploding with excitement inside. As soon as we gave them the green light they ran like lightning. And Hyrum and I tried to nonchalantly keep an eye on them, while we really just wanted to watch their every move. It was adorable to see them playing. The kids were so nice to them. They played into the night, and eventually we had to pull them away.
We walked down the hill for Hyrum to say hi to one of his old teachers.
And of course, before bedtime, the kids got hot chocolate. (In these adorable, tiny tea cups.)
Just before loading into the van, the neighbor girls ran out to say goodbye. (They had played with our kids the night before.) They were adorable, and gave each of the kids a Colombia scarf. The girls spent the next few days talking about "my friends." When we asked Tiago what his favorite part was so far he said, "All of it." He was really sad when we left, to the point of tears. He told us he never wanted to leave.
As we drove back out of the green countryside, complete with bumpy dirt roads that twist and turn, we spotted pieces of a completely different lifestyle. One that involves more walking, live stock, and a lot of beautiful nature. I'm glad we could show our kids that side of Colombia. Because the rest of our trip involved much more traffic and skyscrapers.
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