Another day at the Notaria 1

 Another day spent at the Notaria 1.   Leo liked to go with me, because it's right in the central part of downtown where a lot of tourists are targeted for pickpocketing, etc.  But eventually, I did go a couple of times myself because Leo just wasn't home enough.  The Notaria is in a colonial era building that is centuries old and the notary itself has existed since the 1500s.  Anyway, this time I went by myself AND I found an awesome reproduction pottery shop nearby where I bought pottery later on.

But yeah, the notary isn't what you would call up to date technology-wise.

We rode the bus together that particular day and so I had a bird's eye view of this cool car.

And we passed one of the universities that Leo attended before he moved to the States.  The end.

Nearby

Michael Jackson impersonator street performer, just a half block from our house. We usually had a street performer playing the violin just around the corner from our house every Friday afternoon, close enough we could hear it with the windows open.

There were the statue guys and transformers a couple times too.

I thought this old hacienda was so pretty. There was still horses in the field next to it.  Leo used to live around here as a kid and he was always turning old man on us when we drove through that area--"There was only fields here when I was a kid!" etc. 

The only Gatorade worth drinking and not available in the State.  SO sad!

The pretty corner by our house.

There are so many dog walkers in Bogotá.  At the Spanish school I attended, one of the teachers said that over 80% of Bogotanos had a pet dog. I completely believe it.  Outside the major hardware store (like Lowe's or Home Depot) there were dog crates you could keep your dog in while you shopped.  But most places (like the mall) you could just bring your dog in with you.  There was no such thing almost as a dogs not allowed.  Also at Pricesmart there was these short little hitching posts that you could tie your dog to to leave outside while you shopped.  

Roses delivered by motorbike. 

Crazy monkey children.  Efraim and Jubal lived in those trees every afternoon at the park while Nicolas played soccer.  Sometime Jubal would play soccer (he played goalie) but not nearly as much as he climbed trees. 

Oh, one time at the park, this guy had his soccer ball stuck in a tree (not these ones in the photos) super high up in the branches that were a long distance from the trunk.  He was trying to throw another soccer ball up to dislodge it, and finally I sent Nicolas home to get Sebastian, and Sebastian climbed the tree (about 15-20 ft up) and crawled a little ways out onto the limb, and then the guy passed him this 10 ft pole that was left by crew doing construction I think, and Sebastian managed to stretch that out the rest of the way to the end of the limb and knock the soccer ball loose.  There was a crowd old people by that point and they all cheered for him.   A few of the old ladies remembered us after that and would always say hi, even months later.

Zimza the Rat

Yeah, that is what you think it is.  A sewer rat crawled up through our toilet.  I don't think I'll ever like Flushed Away as much as I used to now.  I think because sometimes we'd flush little bits of leftover soups that we'd didn't want to save down that toilet.  Don't do that.  Learn from our mistake.  Anyway, Efraim found it sitting there.  So I promptly took a photo, slammed the door shut and shoved a towel against the gap by the floor to keep it in.  Then I proceeded to ask the door guard next door what to do, but discovered he wasn't from Bogotá and I couldn't understand him at all, so that wasn't helpful.  I walked to the nearby Carulla's to see if they had poison or a trap, but came up with nothing.  Then I called our bishop because I was desperate and didn't know what to do, and he said he would come in a bit and help get rid of it.  And after all this, I felt very foolish and decided to cowboy up,  so I had Sebastian help me catch it with his butterfly net and then I killed it with one of our exercise weights.  Ugh.  Definitely not a highlight of my life. 

The demise of Zimza

I posted on Facebook in real time and to my family to ask for advice and report that I might die, and as usual, my family was very helpful.

My husband said we could name her Zimza and let her move in with Elena, and most of my siblings said move back immediately and/or let Sebas catch it, and then Derek said we should let him cook dinner...awesome.

Kayli responded:

Farewell. I guess since I currently am in possession of your piano and camping stuff and canoes and trailer, and possession is 9/10s of ownership, I get to keep them all?

And my friend Allyson: Aw, cutie patootie rat had a sudden urge to weight lift not realizing he wasn't strong enough and so was smooshed.

Poor guy...lol

My kids were very disturbed and Nicolas got out his suitcase to start packing to go home to the States.  Poor kid. 

If nothing else, it gave us quite the story to tell.  

I guess Gloria had it right.  😂😂