Tesoro, Metro Cable and Icky!

Brother Bonding at Tesoro

Blanca and I decided to "relive" our childhood by riding the Bumper Cars with Josh... it was lots of fun! We didn't realize how hard those things hit... Blanca bumped into us and Josh hit a tooth with the steering wheel... that was the end of the experience. Thank God, no blood or loss of teeth!

Josh poses at a fun spot.

One of the Metro Cable views of Medellin's suburbs.

It took alot for Frank and I to get on one of these again... the last time we did was in Glenwood Springs in Colorado. We got caught in a storm and had 60 mph winds while in one of these.... not fun. Being that it was a gorgeous, sunny day, we weren't too worried of that happening again. It was a gorgeous view.

Abuela bonds with the boys during the trip... Josh showed a bit of his "jealous" side on the railway when he insisted on sitting on my lap with Jonathan. Overall, he's been great with him but I think he is feeling a little jelousy at all of the attention Jonathan's getting. Poor baby, we're trying to spread the love!

Yesterday we went again to El Tesoro (the mall close by with the outdoor amusement park) with Frank and Blanca. We had a great time. Blanca and I got to go shopping and Josh was thrilled to get to play skee ball most of the afternoon with Daddy. Jonathan was just happy to stroll along and people watch. We took a Taxi to the mall early (around 11am) from the hotel. Unfortunately, our Taxi driver wasn't very nice... he scolded Blanca for closing the taxi door too hard and then scolded me because I needed to be "teaching my son NOT to walk on the seats to exit the taxi". Needless to say we took his taxi info and reported him to the Hotel staff... lucky for us, that's the ONLY rude taxi driver we've had after 2 weeks in Medellin.

We walked around a bit and then decided to eat lunch once again at the famous Crepes and Waffles. For lunch I fed Jonathan a small Mango baby food jar. I think this may have upset his tummy a bit. A little while later I hear the famous pushing and decide I need to change his diaper in the bathroom. When I opened that diaper I nearly died! It was everywhere! I'm not kidding! All over his clothes... everywhere. So, after saying a quick prayer... something like, "Dear Jesus, help me!" I stripped him and dunked him into the bathroom sink (lucky for me the bathroom was a personal bathroom... oh yeah, and it was the men's because the ladies was taken). With one elbow I would press the water knob... with the other soap up his little behind. He didn't much like the cold water but after a few minutes thought it was real fun. Lucky for me, I had brought a change of clothes... so I change him all up and then notice, I had it all over me too! My pants, my blouse... UGH! So, I sat him on the counter and then proceeded to TRY to clean myself off... it was so gross. When I finished, Blanca was coming up the stairs to try to help me... I gues I had taken too long (like 20 minutes) and Frankie was worried. Yeah, needless to say... it was the grossest experience ever. But, it did get me a new blouse so hey! All things in perspective. I was the brunt of all kinds of jokes all day... and rightly so... it was funny, after the fact.

Today we woke up and Gloria took us on a short tour of the Metro Cable. The Metro Cable is a suspended cable car system that transports people to Medellin's transit system so they can access jobs, stores, etc. in Medellin. Today was a holiday in the city so the railway we had to take to get to the metro cable was packed. People are so very friendly though... they see an older person or someone with a baby and they immediately offer their seat. We had to travel on the railway (similar to the MetroRail) to get to the Metro Cable. On the way there you could see very poor areas of the city... which run parallel to the Medellin River which is completely contaminated. You can tell because it's brown and smells like waste. It's so very sad to see how some people live. Shacks contstructed from scraps of metal... clothes hanging to dry on anything they can find and people roaming the streets. When we arrived at the Metro Cable system it got a little better. The cable cars take you up the mountain and you get a wonderful view of Medellin. Gloria, our tour guide told us that she likes to show adoptive families this side of Medellin so they can get the whole picture. I understand and appreciated that we were able to see it. You think of the families who are trying to make it... those who work hard, selling whatever they can on the streets. My heart goes out to them. It makes you once again remember how very thankful we are to be to our Lord who has blessed us with so much. So much we often take for granted.

The trip was short and we were back on the railway again, ready to head back to the hotel. The rest of the afternoon was very nice... we rested, relaxed and then all went to dinner with our good friends Frank, Marina, Max and Juan at San Carbon. We had an amazing time with delicious food and great friends. All in all, a good night.

I leave you with pics of our trip to Tesoro yesterday and some of the Metro Cable trip today. Tomorrow we say goodbye to the abuelos... I know both Josh and Jonathan will be sad to see them go... they've bonded with them very much on this trip. Thank you Abuelo and Abuela for coming to be with us! :)

May God bless you all... and keep you in His hands always... love, Sandy