Feliz cumpleaños to Jerry

Alright alright, so it was Jerry's birthday more than a week ago. Happy birthday, mi amor! It's been a great week, but I'm paying for internet (no free wifi where we are now) so I'll just sum it up as follows, with more details to come:

- A night out to the local microbrewery + art show with new Colombian friends.
- A night out on the town with our new housemates and lots of French people for Jerry's bday.
- Friday night and Saturday morning services at the local Lubavitch synagogue, where the women talked on their cell phones and the rabbi had to hush the men from chatting during the Torah reading. I wore my tallit while sitting on the balcony Saturday morning and didn't get any grief except for a funny look from the rebbetzin. The rabbi has been really nice to us, but not sure yet what we'll do for the High Holidays. We still have to check out the Conservative synagogue when we get back to Bogota.
- Our first "onces" (pronounced ohn-sehs) with Myriam, my Aunt Sheila's friend from way back. Las onces is the Colombian version of afternoon tea, but with hot chocolate, arepas (DC friends - think Colombian version of a pupusa), bread, and cheese.
- Vacation in Girardot with Luis & his family, including an adorable 20-month old (which made me so excited to be an aunt soon! And no, we're not going to have kids any time soon).
- A few days in Villa de Leyva, just a few hours from Bogota, which included hiking in the middle of nowhere through people's backyards, and getting caught in the rain while it's thundering.
- A couple days back in Bogota, including a visit to Ciudad Bolivar, commonly known as the worst/poorest part of the city. There will be a longer blog post about that.
- And now we're in el Eje Cafetero, the coffee region. The bus ride over here yesterday took 10 hours, most of which we slept, but the hours we were awake had breathtaking scenery. I love the Andes mountains. If you're afraid of heights, don't have a window seat when riding through this area. Imagine the green of the Appalachians plus the jaggedness of the Rockies, but add in palm trees, farms that are practically vertical, and a bus driver that likes to pass big trucks around a switchback.

Also, the main reason you should one day come to Colombia is because they sell cut-up mangoes on every street corner. Plus freshly squeezed orange juice. I'll finally eat something besides Cheerios every morning for breakfast. Oh, and the people are wonderful. We definitely picked the right country.

Traveling now until September 1 when our apartment opens up. Life is grand.