Chiva (aka Party Bus)

The night before my cousin Victoria went back to Seattle her family put together a trip to go see the "Alumbrados" or the Christmas lights around Medellin. We all got there at about 7pm. There was a big group of us.

We drove by the river first and saw all the decorations by the river.

Then we went to Itaguii.

Sabaneta.

Envigado.

The whole trip was fun. Extremely exhausting and the benches where we sat were so tiny that no one's butt fit onto it so our butts were tired.
Some Chiva's are more party bus than ours was. Some have dance floors and poles. Ours had great music and alcohol. I didn't drink anything, but seeing my family happy and dancing was fun. Now we didn't need a dance floor or a pole. One, none of us would use the pole (thank God!) and two, they danced in their seats or at stop lights/signs.

The night was a success but we were ready to go home.

El Castillo ("The Castle")

One morning my aunt decided that we were going to see a touristy thing. I was not so excited, but brought my camera nonetheless. The place is called El Castillo and let me tell you, this place is beyond beautiful. I don't think its possible to take a bad photo there.

We had a tour of the place and the story behind it is sad but its nice to know it was created with love. The father built the house for his daughter. He was the founder of one of the first fabric factories here in Colombia. The castle is a French Gothic Medieval style castle that was built in the 1930's.

Gothic because of the design of the towers and medeival for the oval shape of the doors and windows.

Many of the paintings, furniture, and sculptures were brought to Colombia from Europe (mainly France, but there is also some German and Spanish art pieces). The father and the mother slept in seperate bedrooms that were connected by a single door. In the father's room there was a balcony, romeo and juliet style, that faced the garden.

And the father had a library. One of those cool circular one's that is lined floor to ceiling with books and it had a circular staircase leading to another balcony. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside or else I would have posted one of that room. I told my aunt that I had always dreamed of a room like that.

The gardens were another piece of art. Like I said, the entire museum was so photographic. So here go all my pictures.



The view of the garden from the entrance to El Castillo



Me at the top of the fountain stairs

Garden

Courtyard

The stairs in the courtyard

Me at the beginning of the fountain with a view of Medellin in the background

Steps of El Castillo

Christmas 2010

So here to do some back tracking. I left LAX at 1am on the 24th of December. I sat next to the sweetest couple that was retiring to Ecuador. The lady was so sweet and kept asking about my life and my plans. She even woke me up for the meals and the snacks (there goes my sleep right, no she was really sweet and I really appreciated it). They even invited me to Ecuador if I got bored in Colombia. Anyway we exchanged emails so that I can let them know what I decide on Grad School. We parted in Panama with a "Merry Christmas" and a "Good luck!"

Well I arrived in Colombia on December 24th at 12:10pm. Festivities here are ON the 24th. I though, "Hey! What a great idea to get there in time to celebrate Christmas!" WRONG. I landed and couldnt find my baggage recipt to show that it was really mine, geez what a nightmare. Never EVER lose the baggage recipt! I got to customs and they opened everything, asked me questions about it all and then they let me go. Thank goodness my aunt and uncle were waiting for me at the gate (with flowers <3) and we went for lunch (yummy frijoles).

Side note: they told me it was cold so I was in winter boots and a sweatshirt. It was hot.
We then went to another aunt's (Tia Pieti) house in La Ceja. There I tried to sleep, but being Tamayo's "quiet" is not in our vocabulary. So there went my sleep. First was dancing and chatting up with family (since I havent been here in about 1.5-2 years).

 

Then was dinner, followed by the Novena (Christmas prayer), and lastly presents. Presents were HILARIOUS. My cousin Tata and my Tia Angela modeled every piece of clothing and tested out every gift. While my uncle kept singing the same song over and over. My cousins kids, Nicolas and Antonia, were the ones who handed out the gifts to everyone.

Festivities lasted until about 1 am, which would make it over 24 hours that I had descent sleep. So I was looking forward (oh so much) to sleeping in a nice comfy bed. I go to my bed only to find that my cousin passed out there, so where do I get to sleep? On the floor. The nice comfy wood floor. In a room of about 10 people. (Snore, Snore, Talk, Fart) Oh yea! I totally enjoyed that night's sleep (sarcasm). The next morning we stayed at my Tia Pieti's house for a Sancocho (soup) lunch. Then we all went home (finally!!). I went with my Tia Angela and Tio Fernando because this is my home when I come here :). The next week we did some really cool sight seeing, but that's another post...

First Post

Well, my title isn't creative or witty, but it's true nonetheless.
I have been extremely lucky this year. I finished college in December and flew to Colombia for Christmas. I'm here until the end of February, then in May I get to go to Ireland for an Internship (!!!!). I am very greatful to my family for giving me the opportunities I have had and for always supporting my decisions.

Back to February (when I get back to the US). You know what bothers me... When people ask when I am comming back. I mean I love that people want to know, but only if they are genuinely interested. I have had people asking me who I havent spoken to in over a month (I mean it is a 3rd world country, but we still have internet, it's just slow) or who I really don't talk to anymore. It's more that I know even when I get back there won't be a "Hey! Welcome back!" For that matter of fact, there won't even be a "Hey!" Whatever, just my rant.

On a side note, I love comma's (,). Don't get annoyed if I over-use them or put them where they aren't necessary :)

I think I'll end this post with a picture of sopmethine I've done in Colombia so far.
This is a "Chiva" the whole family piled onto/in it to look at Christmas lights around the city. Let's just say it's like their version of a party bus. Some Chiva's have dance floors and poles in them so that people can dance. And of course alcohol.

That's the end of my first post. Congrats to me!