Mi primera semana en Bogotá, Colombia!

       I have been informed (via my dear friends Allison & Kristin) that is has been two years since I wrote on my blog.  I will try to go back and fill in this gap; I was really busy! (No surprise there.)  But a few months ago I decided it was high time I get my spanish to where it should be and I bought a ticket I've been wanting to buy for years.  Since a week ago Saturday, my life has changed dramatically!  It's kind of sweet having no responsibilities...but it's only been a week, so maybe I'll be going crazy soon; but for now it's "chevere".

Here is an entry in my journal from the first night:

       "I left a spacious 8 bedroom mansion with 12 single roommates and came to a cozy 3 bedroom apartment up a flight of stairs with a warm mother, father, & 3 kids just my age.  I had experienced moments of the occasional slips in vocabulary or grammar, but now it's an exciting moment when I get an occasional full sentence out correctly.  My car at my leisure to 80 cents for bus rides...this is going to be a sweet experience!

       One concern I had was not being able to be funny for a while since I knew my spanish is rough (I know--my concerns are deep and somewhat disconcerting), but this fear was alleviated my very first night.  Though there were a few moments that passed because I was looking up words in the dictionary, I found that I know enough to throw out my typical Sam sass and get laughs from the whole family.  It is a great feeling when you can't even speak the language completely, but the little you know combined with your wit is enough to make the family you just met laugh and laugh.

       Last night as I drove to drop off my car before I went to the airport, it hit me "I'm going to be all alone...I'm not going to know a soul.  My phone is gone and it's just my spunky little self and God..."  Let me tell ya--that thought got me SO excited!  My heart filled with courage and I said out loud "Alright!  It's you and me God.  I'm really doing this, but it's just me and you!"  All the calmness washed away and I was drenched in the most electrifying current of anticipation for a new adventure!"

My sweet new casa:

My cute little room.  It's sweet because it's super easy for me to keep clean!

Andrés Felipe, Maria Eugenia, & myself on the stair with the family dogs.  I normally don't like small dogs, but the one I am holding is pregnant, so she's way chill.  I miss pets!

The Martinez Family:

Me, Jhonatan, Luz Marina, Alfonso, Andrés Felipe, & Maria Eugenia

(This week President Martinez walked in the door one day and called me Samantha Maria.  It stuck and now that is how I introduce myself.)

On Monday Hermana Martinez brought me to a different section of town for a little bit of history, fine dining, and shopping.

This was my first restaurant experience...I was pretty excited!

       Since we're on the topic of food I snapped a couple other pictures.  I have loved everything I have eaten so far.  (Arepas & Avena are my favorite!)

Hermana Martinez is a great cook and breakfast is always hot food because it's so cold in the morning.  (It's usually 46-64 degrees here...that might not seem cold to you, but remember--I'm a pansy.)

After the temple one day we went to Hermana Martinez' uncles home.  His wife gave ma so much food!  It might not look like it, but that is easily 2-3 times more then I eat!  That beautifully formed pile of rice & meat was over 2-3 inches tall.  Before we left she fed us two more times!  (Thankfully they were much smaller portions.)

One of my favorite things here is that everyone I have seen cook (whether they have a lot of money or a little) cook in these tin pitchers: hot chocolate, potatoes, meat, rice...they are sweet!

Day 4 inspired me to write the following:

A COUPLE THINGS I'VE LEARNED:
-In the desert at Anasazi I used rocks for toilet paper, in Colombia my toilet paper smells like flowers because you don't flush it.
-To be dehydrated when I go out.  At Anasazi I was taught to be hydrated ALL the time, and it was ok because the whole world (well with a certain distance from water and camp) was my bathroom.  Here I have to pay to use the bathroom and I get sweet little packets of toilet paper with puppy dog prints that also smell like flowers:

SOMETHING I'LL BE DOING DIFFERENT:
-I might have a new record for not shaving my legs.  I have gone a month before on a dare, I might hit 2 1/2 months while I am here.  I thought I took quick showers before, but I'm mastering the 3-5 min shower (which is not easy with long hair!)

A COUPLE THINGS I NOW UNDERSTAND:
-Why missionaries sometimes have a difficult time when they get home speaking their native language. (I have been trying so hard to think in spanish that by day three each time I wrote my parents I have to go slow because I keep trying to write in spanish).
-Why people wear long underwear.  Living off the Golf of Mexico and in Arizona my whole life I didn't know the joy of long underwear!

I am so grateful for a temple so close to my house in Mesa!  It took us almost 2 hours on a packed bus to get to the temple in Bogotá.  Having learned the ordinances in spanish when I served in the Mesa temple is really paying off here!

Believe it or not my room is always clean...it's amazing what having time can do!  But this little guy is always on my nightstand.  My little luck charm, complements of Miss Aly Herred. (and yes, I know that is spelt wrong, but I like it better that way ;) ) 

This is the street I live on, and this is me running.  I am not in the shape I used to be, but this is my weekly Jog for Jamie in action:

A FEW MORE FUNNY THINGS:
       I  have been here for over a week and I am never offered water.  I knew that water is less commonly drunk in South America, but I didn't know it was NEVER.  For breakfast it is always hot chocolate, for lunch it is fresh pressed juice (which I LOVE), & for dinner it is either juice or soda of some sort...and sometimes hot chocolate.
       I have to make sure I take the right amount because I know I must always clean my plate.  Even though I take smaller portions, I still get fed a lot and so I have been exercising in my room daily so I will still be recognized when I get home and don't get swallowed by SamanthaMaria.  (Today The family put all the food by me and were teasing me to eat more, so I asked them "Why do you not want me to return to the states skinny?!" and they all laughed.  I said it wasn't a laughing matter for me & my future husband, and then we all laughed.)
       Friday was the first time that I didn't clean my plate, for lunch or dinner.  I just can't eat this much!  I don't know how missionaries do it!  I think the reason I couldn't eat all of my lunch was because I had a big plate of food AND a big bowl of lintels!  If only the young walkers on the trail could have seen my face when I saw these lentils!  I was SO excited.  And I gobbled them up; but if you've eaten lentils before then you know how filling they are!

Saturday I went to an institute activity and learned how to salsa dance better.  Here is Andrés and I all dolled up to go.  I am sporting my first pair of skinny jeans.  In a truly girly moment I broke down and bought 2 pairs 'because I needed them to go with my new boots'!

FUNNIEST STORIES OF THE WEEK:
       There have been some pretty funny moments with the family, but one of the best happened Friday morning.  I was talking with Hermana Martinez after breakfast and we were talking about the wash.  I said that I needed to buy some 'calcetines' (socks) because I had only brought two pair.  (It's important to note that I had been here for 7 days by this point.)  The conversation moved on and then got brought back up, and I said I just didn't think about bring more because I don't wear them often in Arizona.  This is when I found out that in Colombia 'celcetas' means underwear and they call socks 'medias'!  So she thought I only had two pairs of underwear, and it had been a week, and I hadn't done my wash yet!  We had a good laugh over that one.
       Tuesday was one of the best moments I've had of saying the wrong thing.  President Martinez asked me to pray (which I had done with the family several times already)--very basic prayers, but they work.  Well this time I was giving thanks for the safety we had that day, for the gospel, & for the food.  I went to bless the food...but I could not remember the word "bless, so I said "por favor puede que este comida que esta bien"--which is a very crude way of saying "please you(God) could that this food to be ok."  I said it fast because I didn't want to wait to think of the correct way to say it.  So I ended the prayer and President Martinez bursts out laughing and says "bendice" (the word 'bless'). We all had a hard laugh over my sad attempt to bless the food.  It was particularly funny because that day they had all been commenting on my spanish having improved greatly since I got here.

       I have already learned so much and I am loving my experience!  The family is so kind and very funny; it's been a pleasure living with them.  We'll see how busy I get, but I'm really trying to keep things chill so there should be a post each week.

Blog Backup

I started writing a Christmas letter for the first time this year to send to all my family and friends, and after multiple edits and still not getting it under two pages I realized it was best I just update my blog so those who are interested can come enjoy my comical/amazing life as they please. I say comical because I find myself quite comical...I crack myself up constantly, also I happen upon some very comical situations quite frequently. I say amazing not because I think I am so amazing, but because I truly have the most amazing things happen to me and I am surrounded by some of the most amazing people this world holds.

Total Sam Story!

When I got in my car accident 2 years ago and totaled poor Johnny I had to buy a replacement car fast. I got a beater that was running well, and didn't plan on keeping it this long. When I brought it to the mechanic over a smaller issue I asked them about some other problems I had been noticing, and half a day later they came back with a report of about $2500 worth of major issues (which I had a feeling were going on). From shot struts to warped drum brakes to some lightbulbs being out, I was not going to dump that much money into a 20 year old, 225,000 mile piece of work. I set to looking for a new car but after a couple of weeks got tired of looking at peoples "looks like new" dump cars that clearly had problems written all over them. I stopped for a few months, and then grew concerned of stranding myself somewhere in my car I started the search again. After a couple of weeks I got frustrated again, but called my dad for assistance. Within hours he e-mailed me a list of cars and the second one on the list I bought a day later. The following day I went out of down for four days, and then came home and worked from 6 AM to 7 PM, only getting home around 10. The next morning I thought I really needed to get my other car put on Craigslist, and even though I hadn't had the time to clean it out or wash or vacuum it I thought I would get those things down over the next weekend. The next night I checked my e-mail and to my surprise I had over 15 e-mails, 3 from the same guy. It was too late to call him back, so I called the next day. Long story short he came over, drove it with me, and offered me cash.

Lets look at a picture:

It was dark, so you couldn't tell the outside of the car was unwashed, but the inside was pretty bad. Between camping, hiking, and watching two little boys who are a mess, it gets pretty trashed. Add this to not having vacuumed it in a good year or so (maybe it was more recent...but not much more recent). Dust and dirt everywhere he wanted to buy it. I walked in the house with two arms full of empty water bottles that were stashed under my seats and my roommate Allison busted up. It took at least another trip like that! I had my emergency stuff in the trunk still. And I hadn't even notarized the title!

First person, 2 days after the post, 20 year old car, 225,000 miles, unnotarized title, dirty outside, messy inside...only Sam can/would sell a car like that! Haha

I love how comical my life is!

San Diego

I have a pretty small family (3 kids in my fam, dad has a brother with 3 kids, mom has two brothers with 2 kids each, and a sister with 9 kids), despite our few numbers somehow we managed sprawl across the whole US...seriously we are coast to coast, top to bottom. This made getting to know my cousins more difficult, but with dedicated parents it was still possible. The cousins we were closest with were my mom's sisters kids because they lived the closest...and, well, sisters stick together more. I have many fond memories of Aunt Beth and Uncle Jeff and their children, but keeping up with them all now is a challenge. My cousin Mary and her Husband, Ehren, live in San Diego. After Mary came to Phoenix a couple of times for business I finally got my act together and took them up on their offer to go visit them.

I have always loved Mary, and it was great fun getting to laugh about times past. I had only met Ehren once before, but was impressed by how fun loving he was. We all had Columbus day off, so I took the opportunity to go over. The whole trip was a delight! I enjoyed great conversations with them, they fed me some wonderful dishes, and we had a lot of laughs together. I love watching people interact, and I was so impressed by Mary and Ehren's relationship. I appreciated the excellent example they were to me of a strong and good marriage. Mary is due in January and I kept thinking about what a lucky baby he will be because he will have wonderful parents.

On Monday we went to Lego land, the first time for all of us. You might think that these places are only fun to bring children to...but they are actually more fun if you go with friends who are still like children...we all fit the bill for this! If only we could have captured the look on Ehren's face when he saw Darth Vader made out of small legos, priceless!

I couldn't help but to kiss this Italian pizza man with a sailors tattoo on his bicep and chest hair curling out of his wife-beater.

They even had chia pets! If you have not been to Lego land this alone might make it worth going.

Lego land also has rides, we could not resist the potato sack ride, and so Ehren, their friend, and I all set out to see who was fastest.

I was determined, despite my being small, to win the race...

...and determination here pays off!

Me, Mary, and Ehren.

Me making a wish with the witch at the wishing well.

I was in a sharks mouth! (Don't worry, no sharks were harmed in this construction of the lego shark.)

Ehren and I the morning I left. I love their hats!

Classy Party

I have some pretty awesome friends, it's true. They always come up with some pretty great ideas, and my old roommate, Amanda Kvavle's, idea was no exception. We had been talking about old movies and discovered we both love Doris Day. This spawned the idea to have a classy party. Plans were made, the date was set, and classiness resulted.

While the boys were off at the Priesthood session of General Conference we got all dolled up in the most hip 40's era dresses, shawls, shoes, hats, and other accessories. Down to Kiwanis Park we went with our croquette set and chilled bottles of IBC cream soda...very classy, I know.

Amanda, Allison, and I posing before the game.

(note the blue sky with a few white clouds)

Allison starting us off.

Amanda was the most classy with her white gloves.

Me being a poser as usual.

Al doing a better job at posing then me.

Al and me making a cheers for a friendly but competitive game...which I won.

Me, Amanda, and Allison looking very classy with our croquette clubs under an awesome, late season monsoon sky.

During the game an awesome storm started forming and by the end of our game the sky looked incredible!

After a very classy dinner party the boys came over to watch Glass Bottom Boat featuring Ms. Doris Day, CLASSIC and classy, making it an essential part of our evening. Amanda brought old school, individual popcorn boxes--they were sweet! Side note: if you have never added Hot Tamales to your freshly popped butter popcorn you are missing out!

I love being an Auntie!

The same day that my nephew Carson was born my sister's sister-in-law had a little girl, Kaleigh Ann Kleiner. (she was born at 9PM on 09/09/09). I have the wonderful opportunity to go visit with her and her mama, Jenna, almost every week. These two little ones are the light of my life; when all else goes wrong and then I walk in their houses to see their faces light up, the world gets set right again!

Here are 9 month photos they took of the two of them. My sister and her husband were just so excited they kept him alive that long! They high-five each other all the time over keeping him alive.

Already drooling over girls...we'll have to talk about it being his cousin...

They are so cute! I hope they grow up to be the best of friends!

At 10 months old they bought him his first cowboy hat. He loves wearing it, especially when mama and daddy are wearing their cowboy hats too!

Over the summer Carson fell in love with the pool. He especially loves being thrown in the air, and Robin caught the perfect picture of me throwing him!

On their first birthdays we went shopping for their presents. My big grin is due to the fact that when both of them saw me they started reaching for me. Nothing thrills an auntie more then when the little ones she loves love her back!

Robin made giant cupcakes for each of them. Carson is protesting that it's not big enough! ;)

Kayleigh mows hers before we even lit the candle to sing!

My parents came into town to be here for Carson's first birthday. They took up to the botanical gardens, which were super cool. I tried to get a shot of Carson and my sister but he was too enthralled by the flower in his hand.

Getting a little dirt on his face while grandma sets up a garden for them.

Look at that face! I just love him!!!

For Jasons birthday I got him a new cowboy hat and Robin snapped this impromptu photo of them, I think it's my favorite shot of the two of them!

Carson from the time he could crawl moderately well learned to crawl out the dog door (they have three large dogs...hence the big doggie door). He loves being outside, so it's great that he can get out there on his own...but it cracks me up because it's so hick! I love it!

White Water Rafting Rocks!

I have been making plans for almost a year to go visit my grandpa Martin (my mothers father) and my great aunt Vi in Carson City, Nevada. After two tries and having to cancel the week of each time I finally was determined to go over the summer. Turns out that my best friend, Heidi Hydrick, grew up in the same neighborhood as them and she had plans to go visit her grandparents over the summer too; so we coincided our trips. Heidi is hard core in all of her outdoor skills; one which she has been doing since she was 7 is white water rafting--one of the higher things on my bucket list. Being that the American River in California is 2 hours from Carson City, we made plans to go rafting while we were there. The trip started out pretty rough for me. I had gotten maybe an hour of sleep the night before, and so I went about my Friday business and came home a couple of hours before my flight was to depart. With my bags ready to go I thought I'd take a quick half hour nap before my friend came to pick me up for the airport. Unfortunately I was so exhausted I didn't think to set an alarm. My friend had taken a business call and lost all track of time. When he got done he rushed to my house and frantically knocked on the door. I had assumed that when he got there the knocking would wake me, but it didn't. He didn't see me through the window so he went back to his car, but thought he'd better try one more time, so came back and rang the doorbell. To this I woke up and discovered that I had half an hour until my flight departed! Completely disoriented from lack of sleep/waking up from a deep sleep I stumbled to the door with my bags and we rushed to the airport in a panic. Luckily I live close, but still I only had 15 minutes when we arrived. You want to talk about stressed! I think I am usually pretty chill, but the panic had gripped me by this point. It was the last flight that night into Reno, I had already re-scheduled this trip two times before, and Heidi and I had plans to go rafting the next morning. I skycapped my luggage and sprinted to the security check, which was unfortunately busy...at least 100 or 150 people. I stood in line, with I'm sure a wild haze in my eyes, and fanned myself with my ticket and tried to remind myself to breath so I would calm down. The woman in front of me asked if I was ok and I told her my plane was taking off in 5 minutes. She told me to cut, but I protested that there were too many people to cut. She persisted and so I started muttering my excuse and passing people, about 50 people in a lady told me to just go over to the special needs line for the flight attendants and such. I got through security, booked it across the airport and was the last one on the plane. It didn't take off for at least 10 minutes after that, but I didn't care, I was so happy to be on it. I think I nearly gave myself a heart attack!

Arriving into Reno I got my bags and went to the rental car counter to be told that there weren't in cars in for the reservation I made. Still disoriented from the lack of sleep and near heart attack panic, I looked at him blankly without knowing what to say. He looked up from his screen and asked if I would be ok with a truck. Hallelujah! That's when the whole day turned right. I LOVE trucks. And there was not a happier girl in the world. I threw my bag in the back and off I went, windows down, country turned up, off to grandpa's house with a grin pasted across my face.

The next 5 days would have been wonderful anyways, but the truck sure helped! Here is my after our rafting trip in the beauty.

I have pathetically weak arms...ok that is an exaggeration, but my legs are where I build muscle, not my tiny little arms. However, in anticipation of this trip I had been doing push-ups 6 days a week for a couple months. The following couple of photo's are of my sad attempt to row. Contrary to my previous notion, rowing is NOT easy. First off it takes coordination, which apparently I have little of. Second it takes muscles, which I already knew I have none of.

Quick stop before the big rapids.

Ok, I would like to preface this look on my face by first saying that Heidi had spent the previous hours drilling in my head how important it was that I follow her every command, and that I paddle strong because she would need my help, and that I not flench but give it my all no matter what happened. Oh, and "above all not to fall out of the boat"!

(The following photo's were taken by professional photographers stationed near the bigger rapids...we weren't planning on purchasing them until we saw how priceless they were.)

Ya...I was a little concerned at this point.

(Note: you can double click and the picture expands. Some of the looks on my face are pretty amusing.)

This is snow melt, so even though it is August that is dang cold water!

We made it through the first rapid, here comes the second one which is significantly trickier. I was feeling a little more brave here.

This is my last breath.

Yep...that's me completely submerged!

This is where I boat was turning over on it's side. You can't tell, but only my leg is in the boat at this time. Fortunately I have some wicked determination and I was not going to let that river own me so I fought for all my might and pulled myself back in. Also notice the oar lock (the metal piece that is on the black part of the oar...ya, that's important that the oar stays in there so it is useful to row with).

Notice the oarlock is farther down on the oar...this is a bad thing. Also, you can see my sweet recovery.

The oarlock is precariously at the edge of the oar. Also Heidi i starting to loose it and fall out of the boat.

No, I was not really getting hit in the back of the head. Yes, it is a very bad thing that the oar is now completely out of the oarlock!

The only thing that saves Heidi here is the other oarlock, she had a wicked bruise from it.

Here is where I start to realize that I almost died...but didn't!

It has really hit me now that...at this moment I am caught in amazement, unaware that I almost lost my captain.

I turn to tell Heidi that I didn't let the river own me, but that it almost had. (Meanwhile people on the shore are cheering for us...seriously...they thought we were goners for sure!)

Reality still seeming surreal...

Then glory begins to enter my mind...

...and pure joy follows!

Bring on this next rapid, we got this!

But the water is still very cold!

Ya, white water rafting is AWESOME! Totally a new favorite hobby!

This is what I did much of the time when it wasn't high adventure...ah...I love to eat!

Here is the part of the story I'm ashamed of. So I didn't realize how long it was going to take us, I told them I'd be back by 6PM at the latest, and didn't end up home till well after 9PM. In fact, I didn't even have cell service until 7-ish. Apparently there had been a bad storm while we were gone and Aunt Vi and grandpa were worried sick because they couldn't get ahold of me. When I got home they asked how it was, and then asked some basic questions. "What town were you in?" "I don't know...Heidi just told me what highway to take and what road to get off on." "Whose house did you go to?" My sheepish response: "Um...grandma Hydrick?" "Well we didn't know where you were, and there was a big storm and we didn't have any information on who you were with or their address or number" AH MAN! I'm a horrible granddaughter! I've been living on my own so long I didn't even think to leave that kind of information.

Then I made them pizza for dinner Sunday night, and for the first time in my life I burnt the pizza crust!!! I realized while it was in the oven that I hadn't taken into account the elevation change, so I thought 'oh well, I'll just leave it in a little longer' Ya, bad idea. I don't know if they'll ever want me back again!

Grandpa, myself, and Aunt Vi next to their awesome tree that has a face on it.

Grandpa smiling!

A couple days after the rafting trip Heidi and I went for a hike and canoeing...except we ran out of time because we goofed off too much on our hike...so canoeing never really happened. :( Anyhow, this is fresh snow melt and it is the best water I've ever had! Cold and delicious! I couldn't get enough.

Heidi and I on a mountain I forget the name of...but it's across from Lake Tahoe...and we went to tall grass lake on it, SO beautiful!