Date: Wednesday - February 9.
Believe it or not, the is mid-week already (but who´s day- counting?). I´ve already finished most of my stuff at work and my suitcase and Sebastian´s are packed and ready to be put on an airplane. After thinking for two weeks about what "mommy" was going to be wearing on "meeting day" I decided I would go for confortable instead of stylish (read: scratch the high heels and skirt - after all, the occasion might involve some poop). I did however go to the hair dresser on the weekend and got myself a new haircut and nice redish highlights. Call me superficial but I am meeting my new man. :)
Gustavo on the other hand initially decided on Tuesday that he was going to pack everything friday evening. Just imagine my face... yeahhh right! So tonight I think I mentioned that I was going to "help" and choose what he would wear for a month. Read again: Pack his suitcase myself. He suddenly decided he did have some time to pack. Am I a good negotiator or what?!
North (Still)
Date: Thursday February 10.
Ok! my last day at work. I feel so so so lucky today!. I work with incredible people who not only have been super suportive of all this process, but have join us to celebrate Sebastian today.
First, some of my friends took me out for lunch. The menu: Dim Sum. Soooo good! I love Dim Sum, not only because it tastes great and it is healthy, but because being at a round table sharing food is so "family like". We had a great time and I thanked my friend Rebecca about 200 times for organizing.
Then, when we came back from lunch my whole floor got together to celebrate baby Sebastian with a piece of cake. I had to share a picture because is was so cute... it was actually hard to cut it into pieces.
But of course... I had to cut it after all... there was some pressure from my 25 or so colleages waiting for their afternoon sugar rush.
North (Still)
Date: Friday. February 11.
Nothing to report. A lot of activity... a lot of cleaning and running around. Nothing interesting besides the fact that I have no idea how I will manage to sleep tonight. Just way to excited.
South (Bogota - Colombia)
Date: Saturday. February 12
Yay! We`re finally here!!
BTW... for those of you wondering if I did sleep and just to calm any remaining doubts: No I didn´t. I kept waking up totally scared every 30 minutes thinking that the plane was going to leave without us. Not so fun stuff. However, adrenalin is a great thing because I wasn´t even tired this morning.
The day started at 4 am when we had to "weak up" (again) and get dressed. Then, our friend picked us up to drive us to the airport. Yes, she actually woke up as early as us. Did I mention I have great friends?. Anyway, after passports were properly checked and I had my morning starbucks we boarded the plane.
About the flights:
Calgary - Toronto : Big blur. I think the coffee didn´t work and the lack of sleep catched up with me. My brain knew that we were already on the plane... therefore there was no need to keep waking me up. I must have slept the entire 4 hours flight. So did Tavo.
Toronto - Bogota: I made friends with the kid sitting right next to me after we shared a banana I had packed for snack. I think his name is was Alejandro (like the song) and he was about 7. Just to be clear: He did say he was hungry after I started eating the banana and I did ask his mom if he could have the rest.
Anyway... after he watched all the cartoons in the TV I think he got really tired. "Are we there yet?"...- No - 15 min later... "now?".... - No -... 15 min later... "how about now?"... you get the idea.
And believe it or not I wasn´t bother by the kid. I actually thought it was kind of funny... now you can see how sleep deprived I still was.
One thing I did learn and this is out of share luck... (Take note, all of you traveling with a baby in Air Canada). The first row after first class in the Boeing 767, has holes in the wall in front of you, that allow to install a crib in it. You can ask for the crib if you are traveling with a baby. So in our way back... we´re definetely making a point of sitting in that row.
Next thing we know we´re landing in Bogota.
I must say the airport was crazy busy. There were people everywhere! It took us 1 hour to get to the inmigration officer after lining up for what it seemed to be forever. It was kind of cool thought. There were signs everywhere: Welcome to Colombia... Bienvenido a Colombia... (I got a picture but couldn´t download it from my cell phone) people around us reading "El Tiempo" ( which is kind of like the local Calgary Herald) and talking about familiar places and familiar foods.
Official temperature: 18 degrees but they felt like 30 something.
My mother in law was waiting for us at the airport. Big Hugs. Happy tears. Tonight´s dinner menu: Caldito de papa. (potato´s soup).
And just like that, we´re home.
North (er) - Bucaramanga - Colombia.
Date: Sunday. February 13.
At 11 am we were back at the airport boarding our flight Bogota - Bucaramanga. It´s a 45 minute flight which ends in a very small airport with a very short run way at the top of a mountain. Which means the pilot has to hit the breaks as soon as the wheel touches land and of course we all pray that the plane stops before the runway ends because there is a cliff at the end. I am of course exagerating a bit, but I have the "moral obligation" to make fun of whoever came up with the idea of building an airport at the top of a mountain. I mean, seriously? There is nothing boring about Colombia! : )
Anyway... the sky was clear today (which is weird because right now is pouring rain!) and I got to see my beloved mountains. I was almost surprised by them today, as if I had never seen them before. So beautiful, so green. So much green! Official Temperature: 27 C. But it feels like I´m melting.
Word of causion: Traveling from -10 to 27 C on a single week doesn´t leave much time for your body to adapt.
It is now 10:48 pm and I am as awake as I can be. We decided we´re leaving tomorrow to a country house in "La Mesa de los Santos" which is close to Bucaramanga. We´ll be leaving just Tavo the baby and me, for the first week to initiate the bonding and attaching process. We´ll be back in Bucaramanga next week. The news hasn´t gone very well with the grand-mas but this is what´s recommended by social workers and psicologists for the first couple of days with our baby and we have to do what´s best for him.
So tomorrow we meet our beautiful Sebastian at 12:00 am, we introduce him to the closest family and then we leave. I won´t be writing much in the next couple of days but I´ll make sure to send some pics as soon as I can. Wish us luck!!
I wanted to end with a list of things I wanted to say about Colombia:
- There is green everywhere!! Does any of you Colombian readers realize how incredibly beautiful nature is here?
- Jugo de Maracuya. Passion fruit juice , made out of the actual fruit, right there in front of your eyes... is the best juice in the entire world. And you can buy it at your local supermarket for less than 5 dollars. I think I totally overdose of this juice today. The lady at the counter was looking funny at me after the 3rd one.
- Suicidal motorcicles. Ok... seriously... not only do this people drive around cars and between them but they do so at crazy speeds. And there are thousands!
- Women. Women in Colombia are always very well groomed. Always wearing make up, carefully dressed and mostly with nice polished nails. Even in the supermarket. Even the lady who was making the Maracuya juice.
- Humidity. A reminder for me: You can fight your curls but they´ll always win. Yes... I was back to my lion king look as soon as I steped out of the plane in Bogota. Awwhhhh... so tomorrow I´ll give it another try (tools in hand: read blow dryer) to look decent for my man. :)
Luz M.
PS. Did I mention I am meeting baby Sebastian tomorrow? Is that incredible or what!
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