DC Gems

Charlie on his new Charango. And yes - he picked out the outfit. The song is a new genre of music - made up words!

Diego took a few steps this week, but it seemed more like he momentarily forgot that he couldn't walk. No repeat performances so I'm not counting them as official first steps. However he does have an official first word: Hola! He LOVES to wave to people and say hola. He says hola for hello and goodbye. And he finally got teeth!! He has 2 teeth - one up top and one on the bottom.

Friday nights at the Yards park is my new favorite DC activity. We set up a picnic, play in the fountain, listen to music and DANCE! Here is a picture of what our cooler usually looks like: beer, breastmilk, apple juice and water....something for everyone! Here is also a video of Charlie dancing to the music with Aidan. I guess it isn't well known yet because it seems to be the only summer concert series where you can actually fit your entire butt on the ground.

Another gem is the aquatic garden lotus festival. I wasn't amazed by the empty ponds the first time I went, but when the flowers bloom it is beyond amazing. Huge lotus flowers - taller than me and with blooms bigger than my head - loom over as you walk along the paths. Charlie was more into the face painting and the lotus hat he made. Check it out - pretty cool!

I used to also like the Eden Center - little Vietnam - until this weekend. We returned to get Charlie's haircut and he cooperated so well knowing that a treat was on the other end of a haircut. Unfortunately the stylist didn't cooperate - or didn't understand me. I told him to just cut a little bit and before I knew it he cut off most of Charlie's hair. Carlos says you never let a male cut another male's hair. I didn't know the rule. Despite the terrible haircut we had a fun time picking out a treat for Charlie afterwards. We got him another microphone.

Sunday we attended a friend's Bolivian ceremony called Ch'alla. Oddly we went all the way to Bolivia but it was in NorthEast DC that we attended a typical Bolivian ritual! Our friends had their Quechua teacher come conduct the ceremony. It is a really nice ceremony that happens on the first friday of every month - people get together around a fire, give thanks and put different meaningful things into the fire. And of course it wouldn't a Bolivian ceremony without coca leaves and lots of food. I was less excited about sticking a coca leaf in my mouth but the quinoa that she made was excellent. I'm hoping to get her over here to teach us some more bolivian recipes.

Part II - Panama

After the family reunion we headed to Panama. I think I had low expectations but I loved it! I also wished that we has visited the country 10 years ago so that we could have invested! Panama City looks more modern than most American cities and the coast line near the capital is now riddled with fancy homes and increasingly nice hotels. We were too chicken to explore the depths of the country with the kids so we stayed at a resort like place 1.5 hours west of Panama City. We did get a quick tour of the city, the old town and the Panama Canal - which is way awesome. Here is the skyline of the city from the old town:

I was skeptical about our choice as we left Panama City and drove in the dark through increasingly dark, back, windy roads and there were no signs to be found. But upon arrival we were met with cool, scented towels to refresh ourselves from the ardous journey, a personal 'butler' and basically a beautiful empty resort. Although it was on the coast Charlie had no interest in the beach and we spent most of our time in the pool. Given that we were almost the only ones there the staff got to know us and fought over Diego's attention and even got Charlie to get over his shyness long enough to order drinks at the bar (jugo de pina was his favorite).

In addition to pool time Charlie got to ride a pony. It was so funny. He sat as stiff and serious as could be as they walked around the stables. It didn't seem to enjoy it much but I enjoyed watching it!

We did take a day trip to El Valle de Anton which is a town in a major crater. It is the most lush place I've ever been. We visited a zoo which had animals I've only read about like Tapirs, Agoutis and Poison Dart Frogs. The cutest were the monkeys which jumped on the staff's back and below is a picture of Charlie communicating with something like an ostrich.

This is my all time favorite picture - not because we look good (in fact we look terrible) - but because Charlie took it. I realized that we didn't have any pictures of Carlos and me so I asked Charlie if he could take a picture of us. He took his task seriously and I think he did a pretty good job!

Part I - Bolivia

We have logged a lot of miles in the last few weeks. Carlos joined me on a work trip to Chicago and then we left for the Vazquez family reunion in Bolivia and then a vacation in Panama. I was really worried about the travel to Bolivia - 5 hours to Panama, 5 hours lay-over in Panama and then a 5 hour plane ride to Bolivia, late night arrival in Santa Cruz and then another flight to get to Cochabamba. The bad news is that it ended up taking 2 days to get to Cochabamba! The good news is that the plane rides and layover weren't that bad. Based on the good advice from our yoga mom friends we put Diego in a car seat and let Charlie sit on our laps. Diego on the loose is hard to manage at this age - he wants to eat and touch everything and constantly move so the car seat was great. We snuck into a business class lounge in Panama which made the layover enjoyable. We enjoyed the free drinks, Charlie enjoyed the free snacks and Diego enjoyed watching the airplanes:

The day we got there was rainy and cold so I dressed the boys in adorable matching Adidas sweatsuits that our friend sent. The only problem was that Bolivia was playing Argentina in the Americas cup and my little boys in baby blue Argentina colors didn't go over well. Here is Diego in his suit:

Once we finally made it to Cochabamba we participated in the first-ever Vazquez family reunion. The evening started with a happy hour and films and pictures of the Vazquez family. Saturday included an outing to a nearby lake and then a dinner and music. In addition to us, family members came from all over Bolivia, Texas, Florida and Brazil. I don't have the official shots, but here we are on a bus heading to the lake:

In between family events we got to see friends from our past life in Cochabamba and visit favorite restaurants and shops. Well actually the 'shops' are more like stalls in the vast informal market called "La Cancha." The Cancha must take up 10 square blocks. It's massive and you can easily get lost inside. One block has shoes, another block has meat, another block has flowers....

When we went to the Cancha to find Charlie a Charango instrument we ended up in the middle of a wedding party. Here are some shots of the wedding and Charlie picking out his Charango.

The weather and pace of life was just as ideal as I remembered, but what once seemed like a perfect place to live now seemed like it didn't fit our lifestyle. I'm not sure if that is good or bad. With the kids I found myself worried about everything from food and water issues to road safety like crazy chicken buses and "trufis" (group cars that pack people in) and wondering what terrible things the coca issue would bring in another few years. I was the person I never imagined myself - Instead of eating anticucho (bbq'd cow heart) from street vendors I was constantly armed with 5 different types of wipes, hand sanitizers and bottles of water! I used to love the pervasive indigenous culture and customs and some of that did come through but I realized that I've become so ethnocentric that what I was seeing most was the dirt and germs rather than the special culture.

Overall it was really nice to go back and I wonder when we'll get a chance to go again...It's been almost 10 years since our last trip there.

Here is Charlie driving a remote controlled car in the plaza: