Life in the New Year

It has been a while since I have written so I felt like I needed to do a short post. 

Diego and I brought in the New Year in true Colombian fashion at a friend's house.  There was lentil throwing, grape eating, dancing, and lots of music.  New Years is a big deal in Colombia so it felt like it was a block party with everyone in their open garages/driveways/streets partying together.  I didn't see any balls drop (not that I waited up for that in the US every year), but I did see a small hot air balloon (personless) catch on fire.  There are some great pics on facebook of the group trying to send a hot air balloon in the air, but the wind kept pushing the fire onto the actual balloon before they could get it up.

The following week was quite interesting with a beautiful wedding of two of our friends (fun, photoshopped pics on facebook) and the feria (fair) in town.  I learned that Colombians LOVE beauty queens.  They have a "Queen" for everything in Colombia....Queen of Coffee, Queen of Water, cities, states, and anything else you can think of.  The parades were pretty interesting....not quite as organized as I am used to, but still fun.  We saw one of the parades from the bus (in the opposite direction) because it couldn't really move anywhere.  People simply stopped their cars on the street to watch the parade....while blocking the traffic!!! LOL There was another "parade" which consisted of every person in Manizales (maybe all of Caldas) that had horses.  They all rode down the street....not the most diverse parade I have ever seen, but it says something culturally.  Diego's brother, Sergio, came to visit us during that time so he was able to see the firework show (pretty good) and some tennis matches for a tournament that was happening. 

On a more personal status update....I am feeling very happy and comfortable here. Like I said in an earlier post, I was pretty scared of my future here for 2 months from before Thanksgiving to Christmas.  Between frustrations with the apartment, my job, my body, the rain, and missing family it was really tough.  Of course, I still miss family at random times and would love visitors, but I feel like I found my niche here.  The weather has been great since New Years, I have a better idea of what is expected of me at work, and I have been working out religiously since Christmas. 

I think working out has especially helped my mood (or rather mood swings).  To be honest, I feel likes it's a "Dog Whisperer" thing.  If you wear out the dog, he get rid of the pent-up energy and laid back to get upset/obsessive about things--same thing for me.  Well....my dad always compared to raising kids to training dogs....I guess that has been passed on.  Anyway moving past the dog comparison, I am quite proud of myself for getting up every morning at 5:20 to go for a run before work.  It's been challenging with the altitude and some of the hills, but it gives me something to work on.  Diego doesn't run with me, but with the weather nice we go for long walks on the weekends (while listening to the Harry Potter audio-books hehehe).  So overall, I am just feeling much better.  I also want to point out the "Dancing with the Stars Workout Video" is a lot of fun and quite challenging at times (took me a while to get a lot of the foot work) so I highly recommend it to someone looking for something different to do in house while it's too cold outside or busy at the gym.

Anyway...enough about me!  Skype me or email me for updates about YOU!!!!