Paloquemao (1)

Time for some sightseeing in Bogotá: we went to Paloquemao market last weekend, which was amazing. A huge array of flowers, vegetables, fruit, legumes, meat, as well as all kind of miscellaneous household equipment from plastic cups to wooden spoons and coffeemakers. Prices are lower than at the supermarket and we brought back a massive amount of fruit and vegetables to stock up on our vitamins!

Olympic gold!

Mariana Pajón just won the second gold medal for Colombia in the history of the Olympic Games (BMX finals)! So far, the Colombian delegation's medal tally in the London Olympics stands at 1 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals, which is by far their best performance ever, equalling the total of eight medals the country had won in the past Olympic Games since 1984. Upon receiving her medal, Mariana was congratulated by President Santos, who thanked her for this achievement via telephone.

This is truly an historic event, considering the Colombian team doesn't even have professional BMX tracks to train on and lacks the financial and infrastructural conditions to prepare its athletes compared to many other countries. Congratulations to all Colombian athletes for making the unbelievable become reality!

Baby shower

My mother-in-law organized a baby shower for us last week and as gifts, all guests had been asked to buy diapers rather than baby clothes or toys. Incredible result: we ended up with a total of 1500 diapers!!! This should have us covered for the first six months - let's see :)

Milk

Though you can find milk in packs, it most commonly comes in bags here!

Mythbusting: Weather

So, what is it about the weather in Colombia? When I talk about Colombia back in Europe, pretty much everybody envies me for the hot, tropical climate the country enjoys. A lot of people who are not familiar with this country associate it with a life under palm trees on the beach, enjoying eternal sunshine and high temperatures.

Well, I would like to state that this is NOT the case, at least not in the capital Bogotá and many other regions. Yes, most of the country is in warm climate, there are places where temperatures don't drop below 30 degrees Celsius, there are plenty of hot and humid cities with beaches and palm trees along the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Colombia (which is, by the way, the only country in South America with access to these two seas), and there is no winter with snow and freezing temperatures.

Basically, what influences the temperatures, humidity and precipitation is the altitude, which can range from sea level up to 5775 meters. There are no seasonal variations and the weather stays the same pretty much all year round, wherever you are. Climate zones include deserts, tropical rain forest, savanna, and eternal glaciers, to mention but a few of the varieties. There are two rainy seasons during the year, called "invierno" or winter, around April and October.

Taking Bogotá as an example: the average temperature is a mere 15 degree Celsius, and can vary from 10 degrees at night to just above 20 degrees on very nice days, somehow comparable to September/October in France or Germany. Meaning you dress the same all year round, wearing long pants, long sleeves, and/or a light jacket every day. While they do get to wear warm sweaters, coats and even scarfs on cold days, Bogotanos never ever wear shorts or flip flops on warm days - only tourists do...!

There is no heating in Colombian houses in "tierra fría" (cold climate zone), which makes cold days appear even colder, more humid and quite uncomfortable. When I moved here four months ago, the rainy season happened to start and lasted for literally five or six weeks, making most days look something like this:

On very nice days, Bogotá looks more like this:

Back from Aruba

There is nothing like a few days of sun, sea, beach, and relaxing on Aruba, away from cold and noisy Bogotá... Especially as it was probably the last time before our other big adventure kicks off about 8 weeks from now :)

Goooooooooooooooooool!

I just love that moment - it's about the only thing I understand about soccer matches...!