On the way there we stopped at an historical site, Puente De Boyaca.
It was at this location that the revolution for Colombian independence took a turn for Bolivar. The story goes that the Spanish and the Colombians came face to face with each other. The Colombians were on the top of the hill and the Spaniards on the bottom (never a good thing). Well, the not as militarily spiffy Colombians tied the tails of their horses together so that as they careened down the hill toward the Spaniards, they swept them off their feet, and not in a good way!
Now with the two opposing forces on either side of this little river, the Colombians had a bit more of an advantage as the Spaniards were all tuckered out from their earlier encounter.
And the rest, as they say, is history. I am sure our students will get about a 15 minute lecture on South American history somewhere in their eighth grade year.....
While I was pondering this horrible deficiency in our educational system, I played around the palm trees. :-)
Our first evening in the town, even before checking out our hotel, was spent at the vinca of the elementary school art teacher.
This is her husband with our beloved Maria Cristina
Wow! What a place! It belongs to his family and will stay in his family, probably forever. I fell in love with this place the moment we stepped out of the bus and saw the red and blue macaws fly over our heads.
It was like entering a fantasy land. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
This fruit is actually edible!! And yummy!
Oh, and we went for a walk on the property and I found two fossils. One was like an egg, inside of which you can find fossils of amenites. I also found a rock with fossils of leaves on it. They let me keep these, which is just one tiny example of these people's incredible generosity. Even though we were just supposed to stop by for a quick visit and then have dinner at the hotel, they served us drinks and food ~ all of which was delicious!
We stayed in a four-star hotel just outside where the service was out of this world. The people working there will do just about anything to insure that you have perfect stay.
We did some community building activities. We learned all about the fruits and veggies of Colombia. We learned all about the mission and vision of CNG. Very impressive and inspiring. I really love this school already! And of course, the whole while we were 'working' at the hotel, we were fed. And fed. And fed! In fact, we ate about every two hours. Meals, snacks, tastes. You know! LOL
And we took little trips into this historically preserved colonial village. Yup, that's a real live cowboy!
Apparently, August is kite flying month here because it's windy. When we made our way to the town square, which is cobbled with really, really big rocks!, we say families out with their kites. It was very romantic.
And here is the square at night. Just beautiful.
And we also danced! In fact, we are apparently the most 'lively' group of new hires they have had at CNG for quite awhile. Usually, after the local performers come to show off the local dances and try to get the gringos up to dance a bit, the gringos quickly rush back to their safe seats and then call it a night. Not us! We not only had several people try out the local, traditional dances, but afterwards, our new dance teacher, Jose Luis, put on some Salsa and Merengue (not sure of spelling) and we danced and danced and danced!!!!
We had so much fun! In fact, the last night we were there, I went to bed about midnight, woke up at 2:30 and still heard our group! And then in the morning, the last of them had to take up a collection to pay for a chair that got 'stepped through'! LOL Yup, we are a fun group!!! And best of all, the administration from CNG is fun as well. :-)
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