Wherever is your heart...

Brandi Carlile, one of my favorite singers of all time, has a song called "Wherever is Your Heart." The chorus goes like this:

Wherever is your heart I call home

Wherever is your heart I call home

Though your feet may take you far from me, I know

Wherever is your heart I call home.

On days I feel "homesick" for family and friends, I blare this song in my headphones on my bike ride to school.  It grounds me and reminds me that home isn't a geographical place but a feeling, an awareness.  And so, it validates my ability to live away from the US and those we love most.

This past summer Aaron and I were pretty up in the air about whether we were going to move on to another country or head back to Minnesota.  It is a really difficult decision...we love our life abroad, but we also love all of those people who own a little piece of what we call home.  What's going on in the United States right now doesn't help either, and it's MUCH easier to ignore it all while living miles away.

I think it's time we found a way back home

You lose so many things you love as you grow.

That being said, we've officially decided to move back to Minnesota in July.  We dearly miss our community of friends and family. We miss seasons, hygge, and all the skiing and broomball that comes with winter (someone will need to remind us of this one in particular next February).  We miss efficiency. We miss drivers who use turning signals and follow traffic laws. And, honestly, we feel like instead of fleeing from the US, it's time we return to do what little we can to steer our country in another direction (shameless plug: if any of you have connections to teaching jobs, let us know!!).

Even up until yesterday, we (I) were still toying with the idea of sending resumes out to schools in Europe or the Middle East. This life abroad is addicting, and we are incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity. But after a long discussion, both of us feel like going back to the states is the right option for now in our life. I think this blog post is my way of affirming it is actually happening for me as I'm the one who needed most of the convincing...

But we are looking at this move as a way to see another country that has SO much to explore.  The US has many beautiful, alluring places to visit that we want to experience. I'm convinced that if Aaron set foot in Utah or Montana he wouldn't want to leave.  So, it's time that we discover what there is to see in our home country and uncover/celebrate all the good the US has even though it's getting a pretty bad reputation right now in the world.   We've made a pact that we can not leave the US again until we've collectively seen all 50 states.

30 states down, 20 to go!

We are excited, but we also know it's going to be very difficult to leave Colombia. I could go on and on about what we've learned living here.  This is a magical country full of wonderful people with a zest for life. So on that note, if any of you are thinking of visiting, you have 6 months! :)

The Language Lag

Even though we've lived here for 3 years, I'll admit our Spanish isn't as good as it could be.  We practiced a lot our first year and a half: took private lessons, watched TV in Spanish, and tried to have "15-minute Spanish sessions" where we could only speak Spanish to each other for 15 minutes.  Ya...needless to say, that didn't last but our Spanish did improve exponentially our first year. The next year, grad school interrupted our Spanish study as we spent our free time reading and writing papers all in English. Now, we mostly speak English in our day to day with our students, co-workers, and friends.  Honestly, our friends who have improved their Spanish the most are single and have Colombian boyfriends or girlfriends--that is absolutely the way to learn.  Aaron and I have toyed with the idea of getting "language exchange lovers" but decided it might actually be more hurtful than helpful. :)

Now, that being said, our Spanish HAS certainly improved.  Aaron and I are a pretty good Spanish team.  He is great at listening and understanding, where I am better at responding and using correct grammar. :)  However, when I, a textbook visual learner, listen to someone speaking Spanish, "The Language Lag" phenomena (as I've come to call it) is my mortal enemy.  It's that moment of panic and anxiety when I'm at the bank, doctor's office, parent teacher conferences, the grocery store, etc, etc, and the other person is speaking to me and I have absolutely NO clue what the hell they are saying.  In that moment, my heart begins to race, my throat tightens, and I can't even focus on what they are saying because I'm too busy "what if-ing" about not being able to understand what they're saying AND not being able to communicate exactly what I want to say.  Then, the person stops talking to me, stares expecting a response, and I look back at them, wide-eyed, smile, nod, and hope to God what they said isn't important (and of course it usually is). This awkward 3-5 second pause in between the heart palpitating panic and my verbal response is what I call "The Language Lag."

I had two doctor appointments this week. Now, usually, I can avoid "The Language Lag" in situations like this, at least when speaking to the receptionist, because I have context and know the check-in routine. But this time I had another problem: I had no idea if the doctor spoke English or not. For some reason, none of the people I spoke with knew. So, instead of sitting in the waiting room relieved that I was finally seeing a doctor and hopefully they would figure out what was going on, I was frantically typing my obscure symptoms into Google Translate.

I've learned to just laugh at myself, but this is the expat lifestyle. Things like going to the doctor or going to the bank require a Spanish vocabulary brushup while standing in line or sitting in the waiting room.

My notes I frantically wrote down in the waiting room of the doctor's office. 

Luckily this time the doctor spoke great English. I didn't have to use my note sheet, and there was no "Language Lag" to fear!  Living abroad and having these humbling experiences have made me so much more empathetic to immigrants and travelers who move/travel to a new country and don't know the language. Here are a couple things that I try to remember when I am speaking to others who may know some or very little English:

1. Speaking LOUDER doesn't work. If they can't understand you, repeating it louder will just cause more anxiety!!
2. Speaking sloooooower is wayyy less intimidating.
3. E-n-u-n-c-i-a-t-e!!
4. Use simple vocabulary.

(These might seem obvious, but I've had to ask people to do #2 and #4 many times!)

I remember sitting in Wells Fargo last summer in Minneapolis and saw two people turned away because the Spanish interpreter wasn't at that location that day.  It's frustrating!!  But hopefully, with a little bit of awareness and empathy, we can help others avoid the dreaded "Language Lag" and all the anxiety that comes with it. 

Happy 5 Years!

I stood in the mirror holding a glass of wine and a cup of coffee.  It was Friday after all and our usual bedtime is 7:30pm (right, teachers?). But tonight was our 5 year wedding anniversary, and I was told to prepare for a night out.

For those of you who know me, I absolutely LOVE surprises but almost always find them out.  What can I say? My inner planner and strong intuition are overpowering at times.  As a result, Aaron has never truly surprised me.  Seriously. I have always had some sort of inkling, but this time was different!

We left exactly at 7:00pm to grab a cab. But instead of turning right to the porterria, Aaron mentioned that Usma, our porterro, had shown him something up by our pool that I had to see.  It was raining, so I was a bit suspicious...

As we walked up the steps to the common area of our apartment complex, I heard a group of our friends scream, "Surprise!" I was a bit confused.  And then Aaron introduced to me to Wilbur, our new salsa instructor!  He was here to give all of us a salsa dancing lesson.  And, Wilbur will be coming to our house to give us private salsa lessons for the next 3 months! I was SO excited.

We had a blast dancing and giggling (okay, much more giggling). When the instructor scolded us for tight hips, all I could do was curse my white Lutheran heritage!  But by the end of the two hours, we were feeling a bit looser and more confident.

This is our 5 year wedding anniversary and celebration of 10 years together.  That's a long time!  Almost a 1/3 of our lifetimes! Dancing is a lot like loving.  Sometimes you're right in rhythm and other times you struggle to find the right beat. Sometimes your shoes glide over the floor while other times you trip over each other's feet. Forwards, backwards, sideways...always moving. In dancing, and in love, the most important thing is to keep on improving.

Here's to 10 more years dancing, loving, and improving together! 

A Day in the Sky

All the talk of this eclipse was making us quite jealous!  We wanted to see a piece of this eclipse pie (20% is what was being served in Cali) and so we set off into the mountains to find a viewing point above the city haze!

X-rays and welding masks were among the gadgets used to view the eclipse.

I didn't take a pic of the eclipse for fear of my Samsung phone's camera self-destructing. However, we were able to see 20% coverage pretty clearly.

Our post eclipse meal was fantastic thin crust pizza at La Pinera in Dapa, our favorite little restaurant tucked in a grove of white pines.  Then, we headed to "Loma del viento" which literally translates to "wind hill." August is considered windy season here in Cali, so people come and fly their kites on Sundays.  And I mean EVERYONE! It feels Kite Runneresque with kites fighting for airspace and even cutting each other's lines in the air!

It's a beautiful spot with a breathtaking view of Cali.  We had perfect kite flying weather! 

This kite made of garbage bags is going to have a denim tail!  Caleños sure get creative with kite creation! 

Boobies, Tortoises, and Iguanas...Oh my!

Going to the Galapagos was a bucket list trip for us. As a scientist, Aaron had always wanted to visit the birthplace of Darwin's theory of evolution and study the finches that inspired it. So, we headed there with a few friends and fellow science teachers for spring break 2017. We were definitely on a budget, so we decided to do a land trip rather than the more popular (and expensive) cruise trips. We called Isla Santa Cruz our "homebase" and booked trips from there.  It was definitely the more affordable and less seasick inducing way to go.

When we arrived at the airport on Isla Baltra, we paid our $100 entrance fee and then hopped on a bus to the ferry.  Isla Baltra is separated from Isla Santa Cruz by a short ferry ride. Then, we had the option of taking a taxi ($25) or a local bus ($2) into the town of Puerto Ayora.  We opted for the bus.

Fun fact: The airport on Isla Baltra is the first green airport in the world! Read more here.

View of the ferry from Isla Baltra to Isla Santa Cruz.

One of the best things about the town of Puerto Ayora is that it is extremely bike friendly with bike paths through downtown and along the coast. Once we arrived at our Airbnb (which included bicycles to use), we were off to explore the town and grab a fresh seafood lunch!

The BEST ceviche and patacones (fried plantains) I've ever had!

We didn't come to Galapagos with any set plans.  We heard that it was cheaper to book trips upon arrival, so we spent our first afternoon wandering the streets of Puerto Ayora at mid-day in search of excursions. It was HOT and super sunny, but we managed to find a few tour operators that weren't closed for an afternoon siesta.  We had heard that Isla Isabela was a must-see, so we booked a one night, 2-day trip for the next day.

On the water taxi taking us to our speed boat to Isla Isabela.

It took about 2.5 hours by speed boat to reach Isla Isabela from Isla Santa Cruz.  We saw manta rays jumping in front of our boat on the way! Because we booked a tour ($220), everything was included: speed boat from Isla Santa Cruz, hotel, lunches and dinner, kayaking/snorkeling tour, and the Volcan Sierra Negra/Volcan Chico hiking tour.  We usually are not big on tours when we travel (tours = $$$ and less flexibility) but almost everything is tour based in the Galapagos.

Kayaking to Las Tintoreras

Isla Isabela is one of the most volcanically active places in the world. Its beach is beautifully desolate.  The large, black volcanic rocks juxtaposed with the pure white sand and turquoise water was truly a sight to see. An absolute MUST DO if visiting Isla Isabela is the 10-mile roundtrip hike up to Volcan Sierra Negra and Volcan Chico.  It was one of the highlights of our whole trip.

Volcan Sierra Negra--the second largest caldera in the world!

Once back to Isla Santa Cruz, we visited a tortoise reserve, hiked to the breathtaking Tortuga Bay, did a day trip to Isla Santa Fe to swim with sea lions (and we saw a hammerhead shark!), geeked out about finches (okay, that was mostly Aaron), and relaxed.

Small Ground Finch

What we enjoyed the most about the Galapagos was the number of activities available!  From hiking volcanoes, snorkeling with sea lions, kayaking with boobies, eating seafood, relaxing on the beach, and biking around town...it was the perfect balance of activity and relaxation (we are not big beach vacation type people).  We would love to return and head to San Cristobal and its surrounding islands next time.

Here's a list of our favorite places and must-see sights:

Isla Santa Cruz

• Casa Hospedaje Cozy Galapagos, our Airbnb for the week, on Isla Santa Cruz.  Highly recommended for a group of 3-4 people! 
• La Garrapata has fantastic service and delicious seafood with affordable prices.  We went there for our friend's birthday on the last day and received free cake and ice cream! 
• Schawarma ??--a restaurant just off the main road.  $5 shawarmas are a delicious and cheap dinner! 
• Tortuga Bay is a gorgeous beach.  Walk there from Puerto Ayora or grab a water taxi at the dock. It's not always open for swimming but swim in the lagoon at the end of the beach.
• Las Grietas is a great place to snorkel, swim, and jump off cliffs without going on a tour.
• Reserva El Chato is a wonderful place to see giant Galapagos Tortoises in a "wild" setting.  We threw our bikes in the back of a cab from Puerto Ayora ($18 one way) and biked the (mostly downhill) 10 miles back into town! 
• Charles Darwin Research Center is an informative place to go on the first day in the Galapagos.  It offers background on the area and an introduction to the flora and fauna. 
• Isla Santa Fe was on a day trip tour we did.  The highlight of this trip is swimming with the sea lions! Book this trip from many of the tour operators in Puerto Ayora. 

Isla Isabela

• Volcan Sierra Negra and El Chico day hike is a MUST DO! The walk through El Chico is what I imagine Mars looks like! 
• Las Tintoreras is a short kayaking/snorkeling tour off the coast. Great place to see the infamous Blue-Footed Boobies and penguins.
• Los Tuneles is the best place for snorkeling and seeing wildlife on Isabela.  However, the highlight is the lava bridges--it's worth the price!

Visitors

A couple weeks ago our dear friends Ryan and Megan came to visit. It was a quick trip, but we packed a full Colombian experience into 5 days! I think the video below (on our new Go Pro) explains it all. :)

Hefstad Roadtrip 2016 Part Two: Termales del Ruiz to Medellin

Our trip from Termales del Ruiz took us northeast along highway 50.  This was honestly one of the most beautiful roads I've ever been on.  The thing about driving in Colombia is that most highways are two-lane, curvy roller coasters hugging mountainsides (and usually with people passing recklessly on every curve!).  This highway was much less busy than others we've driven, so it made the whole drive more enjoyable.  I would highly recommend this drive in anyone's Colombian road trip--as long as you have a reliable car. 😓

Now, to give some back story on Vanna Blanca (as she is so lovingly named).  You see, a few months after we got her, she started simply shutting off--like no fuel was getting to the engine.  We were usually able to sit and wait 10-15 minutes and she would be fine again, but we knew something was wrong.  We had her in for multiple "check-ups" but our mechanic claimed nothing was wrong.  However, this kept happening very inconsistently.  Mostly when it was raining (who knows why) or on longer drives.  Aaron was convinced it was the fuel pump, but our mechanic said the fuel pump was fine.  During the time leading up to our trip, she had been running great and we were hopeful. But, to be safe, 4 days before we took our trip Aaron had our mechanic replace the fuel pump completely because he was convinced that was the culprit of our driving woes. 

Fast forward to our trip: She had been running fantastic since we left Cali. But about 3.5 hours into our second day of driving, she started quitting--doing the same thing she had done before.  She quit at least 10 times before we arrived at Rio Claro Reserva Natural, our destination for the night.  At this point, we were so perturbed (and thankful that we actually made it to our destination) that we decided to just pitch our tent and forget about it for the night.  

Rio Claro is a natural reserve in between Medellin and Bogota.  It's a gorgeous, clear river which cuts through a canyon and is surrounded by jungle.  You can swim, tube, raft, and spelunk in the reserve. Unfortunately, the river was incredibly high and roaring when we were there, and we decided it wasn't safe to swim.  So, we spent our time drinking wine at our campsite and listening to the cacophony of tropical birds.  It cost 50,000 pesos for us to camp (and this includes entrance into the reserve).

Holding tight to a stalagmite at Rio Claro. 

The next morning we broke camp in the rain and awaited Vanna's fate. Sure enough, she quit right away.  So, we made it our goal to get to Doradal, a small town a few kilometers away and hope someone could help us.  We literally sputtered into a gas station and asked for help.  While a concerned semi-truck driver examined her, he said it had to be an electrical problem. So, he directed us to a local guy in town who specialized in electrical work on cars.  After barely making it to his shop, the camo clad shop owner replaced the tiny connecter between the fuel pump and the main power source.  10,000 pesos later (about $3) we were on our way!  

Coffee makes everything better. 

The van ran great.  We were on our way albeit hesitant.  And then, after about 40 minutes of driving, our dreams were smashed. Literally. But this time, it was WAY worse.  It was a game of constant stop and start...hoping we could get out of the construction zone with no shoulder just so we would have a shoulder to pull over to (and cry on).  We had no choice but to turn around.  We thought that if we could somehow make it back to Doradal, we could have an actual mechanic look at it.  Finally, we jerked into Doradal, back to the camo clad electrical man who told us to go down the street and find Julio, a local mechanic.  

After asking around, we found "Julio" and he said he could take a look.  Meanwhile, Aaron and I went to go get lunch and beers at the gas station next door.  For anyone that knows Aaron and I, we both handle frustrating situations in very different ways.  Aaron gets quiet and eats while I blabber and cry.  While we ate, Aaron ran back and forth to check on the van.  The guy said it had to be the fuel pump (even though we told him that it had been replaced just says before).  He said he was going to take it out and test it and see if it worked off the car.  Well, it turned out that the fuel pump didn't work at all.  Turns out our mechanic in Cali had put in a "refurbished" fuel pump which was basically crap.  So, Julio was going to try and get us a new one ASAP (which in Colombia time means 5 hours). It seemed every half an hour he said, "The motorbike with the fuel pump will be here in 30 minutes."  So, in true Colombia tranquilo style, we spent about 5 hours drinking beer at the gas station with Julio and his friend while waiting for the part to arrive.  We also played with Manuel, the 3 year old son of the woman running the gas station.  Aaron taught him how to count to 5 in Spanish and taught him how to make animal noises using an app on his phone.  

Aaron and Manuel

Waiting for Vanna's diagnosis.

By the time 5:30 rolled around, the part finally came! However, it started downpouring and getting dark.  Julio and his team installed the new fuel pump while Aaron held an umbrella over their work space and shined his headlamp in the right direction.  Needless to say, this wasn't your usual mechanic shop with a car lift or, ya know, a roof. 

At a round 7:00pm, we managed to find a hotel room for the night.  We were exhausted and frustrated.  I would say relieved, but even though the van was "fixed," we were extremely hesitant.  Our next stop was the Chicamocha canyon which was about 7 hours from where we were.  We were already about 12 hours from Cali, and if we kept driving north and something happened again with Vanna, it would be more even more disheartening and inconvenient. It just wouldn't be smart to keep driving further with such an unreliable vehicle.  Best case scenario was that we made it home with no problems and find out that the fuel pump was the actual issue.  Therefore, we made the decision to reroute our trip and head back toward Cali via Guatape and Medellin (both places Aaron had never been).  Guatape is known for its huge rock which had rock climbing, so even though our goal of climbing for 5 days in the Chicamocha canyon was over, we could still get some climbing in.  

***Fun Fact! Doradal, the small town where we were stranded, was the home of Pablo Escobar's enormous estate complete with a house, sculpture park, airport, go-cart racing track, and zoo with animals from all over the world including hippos, elephants, and giraffes!  Hacienda Napoles is now a theme park/hotel/zoo open to the public.

Thankfully, we made it to Guatape without a hitch! Vanna ran perfectly.  We found a great hostel to camp at in Guatape with our own private beach! Casa Encuentro was a bit expensive at 25,000/person per night for camping but included a delicious breakfast.

"Whiskey Before Breakfast" -- on the banjo and in the cup 

Campsite kitchen

Sunset view from our tent!

We hiked the BIG rock, El Penol, the first day there.  It's over 700 steps to the top.  The view of the lakes was beautiful even though it was a bit rainy.  But our main goal for staying in Guatape was climbing!  After hearing that the climbing was "closed," we went to find out for ourselves (as all true climbers do).  Sure enough, we hiked up to where the climbing was and there was what looked like a brand new sign basically saying no climbing.  There was also a barbed wire fence blocking the entire area. Our climbing hopes were crushed.

Posing in front of El Penol

We decided to spend Christmas Eve in Medellin and then drive back to Cali on Christmas day.  We enjoyed wandering the crowded streets of Medellin's center on Christmas Eve.  We sat in Botero Square and watched the parents waltz by with plastic wrapped bicycles and larger than life stuffed animals. Although Christmas Eve day was bustling, that evening was dead.  Christmas Eve is a family holiday and most Colombians gather at the homes of their families, so it was difficult to find any restaurant open. Therefore, we celebrated Christmas Eve in the best way possible: cheese, wine, and reruns of Indiana Jones on the TV.  New Christmas Eve tradition? Maybe. :)

Botero Square: Mango Micheladas

View of Medellin from the cable car.