A wrap up of our summer - June and July 2015

Welcome back to Arriaga's Adventures! I have taken some time off from posting as we got settled here in our new home. We arrived in Bogota at the end of July and things have been busy as we have all been getting used to our new city and home.

So a quick wrap up about our summer, in between leaving DC and arriving in Bogota. We left DC in mid-June and made our way towards Mississippi. We made a stop off in Chattanooga, TN to see some of the sites that Al and Sofia had been asking to see for several years. We spent the night in a Pullman Sleeper Car at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo Hotel. It was certainly an interesting experience! We visited Ruby Falls and Rock City and had a great time. Even Grover enjoyed his vacation in Chattanooga.

Inside the Pullman Car at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo

Inside the Pullman Car at the Chattanooga Choo-Choo

Ruby Falls

Rock City

Looks like Grover is enjoying a drink!

After leaving Chattanooga, we headed to Louisiana to visit some great friends that we made while in Cameroon. Dwayne and Kim Bailey and their four kids. We enjoyed a couple of days relaxing and hanging out with these amazing people.

We also got to swing by Gulfport, MS to see a whole flock of amazing people. Mark and Felica and the whole gang came out to say hello and wish us well on our next big adventure. Sofia also got to see her friends that she made while we were living in South Mississippi. Carmen and Madison are always willing to spend time with Sofia whenever we can make the time to get down to the Gulf Coast.

We finally made it to Philadelphia and got to see the family. Everyone made us feel at home and we enjoyed some quality time with my family. I don't have many pictures of our time in Philadelphia, but it was very relaxing and we enjoyed seeing everyone. After 10 days in Philadelphia, Alberto, Sofia and Grover travelled to Mexico to visit with his family.  

Sofia and sweet Henry Logan

I stayed behind in Mississippi to surprise Mom with a Girl Scout Reunion. Those of us who finished up our scouting days with Virginia as our troop leader planned a surprise reunion for her and we also celebrated her birthday. It was a great day and I am so glad that we got together to remember the amazing times we had as Girl Scouts and to thank our amazing leader.

I travelled to Mexico to reconnect with my family and we got to spend 2 weeks in San Luis Potosi. We spent some time at the Arriaga family swimming compound and a good time was had by all. 

We travelled to Rio Verde to see the Media Luna. It is a spring fed "pool" that is shaped like a half moon. The water is crystal clear but it is super cold. We also got to go to Tamasopo. Tamasopo is an amazing set of waterfalls and pools that you can swim in and enjoy nature at its finest. The water here was cold as well but we all had a great time. The 

Finally, after being on the road and on "vacation" for 6 weeks, it was time for us to travel to Bogota. We were looking forward to our new adventure and our new home and we were all ready to go. 

Well maybe after a nap!

Stay tuned for the next post where I will share some thoughts and photos from our first few weeks in Bogota!

Until next time....

January in Virginia

More snow, more snow here in Virginia. It is certainly not the major snow event here that the northeast is getting but it is cold and it is white. Here are a few snow pictures to make you glad that you are not here experiencing it. We have a forecast for more snow later in the week and let me tell you, it makes me more ready than ever to head closer to the equator. Stay warm and cozy wherever you are. We are trying to do the same.

Cars covered in snow

My bike on the balcony covered in snow.

The cemetery behind our apartment blanketed in snow.

Snow falling, so pretty, but so cold

And of course, you know that this wouldn't be an Arriaga blog post without at least one picture of Sofia. She is carrying on the family tradition and beating the streets to sell Girl Scout cookies. 

That's all for now, until next time...

An update...at long last

I realize that it has been a while since I shared any pictures or stories about our life here in Cameroon. We had a few events over the last couple of weeks that were photo worthy so a new blog post was a must. 

We are starting to think about our departure from Cameroon. It will be a busy few months while we sort through and sell some of our stuff. It is challenging to plan to have most of your things in storage for more than a year.Oh well, we signed up for this and we are really looking forward to our next big adventure.

Well, enough of that, on to the pictures.

Here are some good shots of Sofia just before Friday Night Live, the school talent show.

We also celebrated International Women's Day, Cameroonian style. We had the girl scouts march with us and as always, the clothing was something to see. It was much better this year than last, but honestly, that isn't saying much.

MY friend Angie and I. I really wish I had her hat!

Three different levels of Girl Scouts participated.
Daisy, Junior, and Brownie

Halloween in Cameroon 2013

It has been a while since I posted, this seems the constant litany every time I create a blog post. Honestly, I am not keeping our life here in Cameroon a secret. I am happy to share all the exciting details of our life with our family and friends, and the blogosphere at-large. But that is just it, most of life is simply not exciting. 

We work, Sofia goes to school, I cook dinner, Sofia does homework, Al fixes stuff, kills bugs, and plays his video game. That is the regular pattern of our life. It really isn't so different than the life you lead back in the USA, or elsewhere in the world. Yes, we have to be more creative with ingredients for cooking and yes, we worry about things like whether we will have water and how many times the generator will run today, but all in all, our life is pretty simple and boring.

This week, however, was Halloween. In the US, most people went trick-or-treating on Thursday evening. I hear that most of the country was soaked with rain and I am so sorry that the weather may have ruined the fun for lots of kids. Since Cameroon doesn't recognize Halloween, which is a decidedly American custom, we decided to have our Halloween fun on Friday night. This is just easier for everyone involved, since the kids don't need to be in bed early for school the next day. This is especially nice, since they ate a lot of candy.

Sofia and her friends had a great time trick-or-treating throughout the embassy. She and her daddy made excellent pirates! Arghhh, have a look at some great pictures.

Arghh mateys...where be your buried treasure?

My happy pirates

En guard

This is a face full of mischief!

Thar' she blows....

Pretty Pink Pirate

Halloween is fun with friends!

Sofia and her friend Rachel acting silly!

She looks so serious and so beautiful!

We had a great time with Halloween and when I was downloading the pictures, I found some others that I had taken previously. I will leave you with a few final shots of Sofia.

Until next time......