Happy Birthday Julian!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MI AMOR

Last week was Julian's birthday (32!! the opposite from my age!)-- on October 23/24. Yes, he has two dates, ask him sometime-- it's a fun story :)

On the 23rd we went out for dinner with our wonderful roommate Nereida and her parents, who are here visiting from Puerto Rico, and then did a little shopping. We had a really nice time together: Nereida's dad especially loved the chicken at the restaurant and would eat nothing else, and Nereida's mom (who is lactose intolerant) enjoyed a BIG bowl of lactose free ice cream!

On Friday we went out for dinner with friends to a restaurant called Caribbean Breeze which also has dancing later in the night. The food was good, and Julian was surprised with a birthday dessert. We were lucky to have the dance floor to ourselves (mainly because it was sticky...) and got to dance salsa rueda. Unfortunately, the DJ had a very large mix of genres, so there was a lot of 80s dancing, the electric slide and so on in addition to the Latin dancing that we had been
looking forward to.

*at dinner: Sarah, Herber, Corrie, Julian, me*

*Sarah, Julian, Herber*


*me, Jannett, Julian, Mustaq*

*excited*

*mmm cake!*

*the men: DeMonta, Herber, Julian, Mein, Mustaq (everyone is from a different country-- I love it)*


*the ladies (minus Jannett): Sarah, me, Zuzi, Corrie*

All in all it was a great time to spend with friends!! Happy Birthday Julian!

October in DC

This month has been full of working on my thesis, searching for jobs, a little wedding planning here and there, and a lot of fun. Although I really enjoyed living in Europe and traveling over the last year, it's nice to put away the suitcases and not buy plane tickets every three months.

Mom and Dad came to visit earlier this month, and although their trip was short, it was filled with a lot of nice memories. Mom and I went wedding dress shopping and bought a beautiful dress, we walked around the national mall, saw the WWII memorial, walked along the river basin, went to a live butterfly exhibit, ate at Union Station, etc. It was a fun-filled weekend!

*eating dinner at their hotel (Julian and I cooked)*

Last weekend Julian and I went hiking with a couple from Peru, Gio and Carlos. Julian knew them at Ohio University and they've been really wonderful friends here in DC. We spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Great Falls National Park:

Colombia!

Finally I've remembered to add more pictures from Colombia!
I've made two photo albums, which are linked

here

and

here

Please feel free to browse a small selection of my fabulous month in Colombia! I took so many pictures of fruit and flowers and people and different things that make Colombia so unique.

My experience was so wonderful mainly because the people that I met were so incredibly warm and welcoming. They didn't make fun of my Spanish, but overly complimented it and would encourage me to try again if they didn't understand me. Julian's friends all told me how great of a friend he has been to them, even after not seeing each other for almost 5 years.

We met cousin after cousin after cousin. I couldn't believe that his family was so big, until I learned that each parent had 7 siblings. 14 aunts and uncles make a lot of babies! There were even new cousins who Julian hadn't met before.

The food was very different-- lots of breads and dishes made from corn, lots of meat, and rice every day. Every day we would have an oatmeal drink called Avena (which I'm learning to make) and fresh fruit juices that have crippled me for life from drinking any kind of concentrated juice.

We were pampered. Julian's mom was so happy to have him home and to finally meet me, that we were a little spoiled... I have to say that I didn't mind at all, although I did want to help more. I was shooed out of the kitchen if I was trying to do dishes, so I learned to be sneaky to help as much as I was allowed.

I went on walks with Julian's mom, where we talked about Julian, God, love, family, and differences between Colombia and the US. It was such a blessing to have quality time alone with my Machita, who has such a sweet and fun disposition.

Julian's dad liked having me there too-- we ate lots of cookies together. He was very interested in sharing Colombian desserts with me (in part because he enjoys the desserts so much and it gave him an excuse to eat them). It was fun to hang out with him, and especially to see him interact with our nephew, Cristian, who he was always poking and teasing.

Cristian was especially kind to me and spoke very slowly, with lots of gestures, until I finally understood. We did tend to break things together... While we were playing with a volleyball we broke a lamp, and while we were at a friend's house we jumped on a trampoline and it ripped down the center. But other than that we had a lot of fun together.

Monica came home during the last few days I was there, which was a nice surprise because originally she was going to stay in the US longer, and I wouldn't see her because she was going to leave the US while I was in Greece. Although she was really busy with school, we still got a chance to go out in the city together and go to a salsa festival.

The only troublesome part of Colombia was my lack of independence. Because my Spanish isn't fluent, it was a bad idea to go off on my own, in case someone wanted to take advantage of my not understanding something. Towards the end, I was allowed to go around the neighborhood on my own, although I never stayed out for very long.

Those are just a few of the many experiences I had in Colombia. Next time we go, I look forward to having better Spanish (I hope!!) and being able to travel a bit so I can see more of the country. The people living in the large valley between the Andes mountains (where Cali and several other smaller cities are located) are incredibly warm and open to guests, and so friendly.