Cooler weather!

It has started raining here. It isn't really the rainy season yet, but we have had some very rainy nights. It is good because it cools it off in here but there has been some flooding in nearby Giron, the area between us and the farm. Also, the mountains we drive up to get up the Carlos' parent's house have mud and rock slides that sometimes block lanes of the road. It becomes a mess. I hope things are ok when the rainy season really starts.



You can see in the pictures, we used to have a clear babbling brook, but it has become a muddy rushing river. Look close for the brown river that you can see next to the top of the building and it snakes around. Also, you can see that the lake is about to overflow over the side.

I have talked before about how bad some drivers are here. No one follows the rules. So this next thing should not have surprised me. People here LOVE to park in reverse. Rarely do people park in the normal American way (drive in, and reverse out). Here, people like to park in reverse, then when it is time to leave, they just drive right out. I am not a fan but nevermind. So I was in a grocery parking lot and noticed that about half the people were parked my way. I was baffled. I had never seen so many people parked the way I like to park. Then I saw the signs. They translate to "please park in reverse". I guess once someone told people to park in reverse, all of a sudden, they were itching to park the other way!

There is one thing here that I have been missing. Hot showers. At home, I LOVE to take a hot hot shower. In my opinion, if I don't get out all blotchy, it's not a good shower. Here, though, a hot shower is not the same. Its so hot, so humid, and the only kind of shower that is refreshing and recharges the batteries is a cooler one. I don't know why this upsets me so much, but it does. I would much prefer a climate controlled house with a hot shower :) But oh well, I live close to the equator. I better get over it.

On another note- I am getting better with getting out and doing stuff on my own. I made a trip to the new mall today. I love going weekday mornings because it is so empty. Since it is new, it is always PACKED. Especially the new Exito grocery store. I prefer to shop when it isn't pure chaos. I have to say that being in Colombia has been good for me when it comes to shopping. As people who know me well know. I have a shopping issue. I may go so far as to say an addiction. I buy so much that I don't need, and that I subsequently don't use. When I go into a superstore, I leave buying much more than what I went in for. I am such an impulsive buyer. I have been stressing a lot here because I feel like I am spending a lot of money, so I buy a little less.. But in reality I spend less than I would in the US.The exchange rate varies, but it is about 1.850 pesos per dollar. When I go shopping though, for some reason I feel like is it more like 1.000. For example, this morning I spent about 360.000 pesos. In my head, I felt like I spent about $360, but in reality is it under $200. I think I feel like money goes too fast because I usually use cash. It is so different to watch the money leave my hands instead of using a card and you swipe it, and are on your way. Also, I have to ask Carlos for cash since I have no access to any. Since a lot of places don't take credit cards, you need to use cash. It is a way different way to live than I am used to. I can't think of any place in the US that doesn't take cards. Here though, a lot of places don't. One of those places is my "Starbucks". You are probably expecting me to say that I am talking about Juan Valdez. I am not. My fave coffee place here is El Gualilo.

The tipping point for me is the fact that when you buy a large frozen and blended coffee you get a reusable plastic cup! Also, they have light frozen coffees! For some reason, I prefer drinking out of a plastic cup at home than a glass. I have yet to find plastic cups that I like here until now!