Santagueda, Easter, Diego's B-day, Parties!

Santagueda (Facebook Pics)

Over the Easter weekend, Diego and I decided that we needed to escape the dreary Manizales weather and explore a little bit....what we found was Santagueda.  While we got off to a lazy start, we immediately had a little adventure by taking a jeep to Santagueda.  That doesn't sound scary or adventurous, but the jeeps come from the rural areas surround Manizales to deliver loads of produce for the market, then give cheap rides to people from Manizales traveling to the local towns. Once we got to the "Granja" (place in the country), I immediately wanted to get in the pool because I couldn't believe how warm and sunny it was.  I forgot that Colombia is actually a tropical country!!!
Diego and I enjoyed the day in the sun and walking around the gardens and small pond....not to mention the most incredible food! It's exactly what we needed to get out of the dreary and cold Manizales weather!  On the way home it was even more of an adventure in the jeep. The jeep had a total of 13 people in it (if I remember correctly) and Diego and I decided that we didn't want to be cramped inside with no air so we sat in the back of the jeep....with one leg hanging out along with our heads!!! It was quite fun and I love doing things like that here because I could never do that in the US....makes me feel naughty! It was also a good workout, trying to keep my body in the jeep while it twisted and turned it's way back up the mountain to get to Manizales!!!

Easter Pics and Easter Videos
So after our lovely day in the country, I decided to make sure that Diego experienced a little bit of Easter traditions from the Santo family. I should point out that in Colombia, Holy Friday is celebrated more so than Easter Sunday and the Easter bunny does not exist at all! I should point out the Easter bunny tradition came from the Germans way back when to mix the pagan traditions (Ester- god of fertility, bunniess- really nice fertility) so it's understandable why that one didn't make it to Colombia.
Anyway, we had some small containers (not quite baskets but we work with what we have) that we filled with some candies (nice break from the diet) and hid for each other.  I have to admit that Diego kicked my butt!!! He went directly to where I hid it and then I gave it away by saying that he cheated. I, however, took 15 minutes to find mine (it was in the dryer full of clothes) because I forgot that we were using closed containers (that could be shoved between the clothes) rather than open baskets! The videos (in the link above) are quite funny--especially my desperation and Diego's triumph!

Diego's Birthday

Shortly after Easter came Diego's birthday!! I was excited because last year I missed his birthday so I wanted to make up for it this year. The weather helped out a lot, because after weeks of rain there were 2-3 gorgeous days before and on his birthday, so we tried to eat outside and soak up all the sun we could. We also went to a nearby restaurant that specializes in steaks which was absolutely delicious. Diego liked his new baseball cap that I got him and his stress ball so he doesn't make his funny stress face. I got him some new socks, but that didn't work out well because they were abnormally small!! I did get the right size (Diego says so) but the brand is really weird I guess! Hehehehe!

Mexican Party and Presence 1 Year Anniversary Party

 After Diego's birthday we had some more social events. First, as a celebration for a new apartment for one of the girls at work we had a Mexican night with the girls. It was like Mexican American food so I was still happy and I would like to point out that everyone was LOVING the taco dip. Some differences that I noticed is that people here don't do a "pot luck" party or an organized party where each person brings something, but rather normally it's customary to collect money from everyone and buy all the food and supplies at once. Not that one way is better than another, but I do feel like it's a little too much business when money is collected. However, at least this way is fair and no one person feels like they always give or do more for the group.

After the Mexican party, Presence (the company I worked for) had a grill out/party for the one year anniversary of the opening of the Manizales office. It was so much fun with the Kinect for XBox360 which is so much cooler than Wii for the record. We also had the most delicious beef and chorizo from the grill while we karaoked and drank. It wasn't too crazy for Diego and I, but it was fun and we won the prizes for the "Most Stressed Out" and "Best Karaoker," respectively.

All in all, at that point in time, things were going really well. Derby was a little hard to miss and Diego and I have both taken turns being US-sick, but overall we were still positive and we were super excited for our vacation which will be my next post in a few days followed by my birthday and apartment events.  Catch up with everyone soon!