Weekend Recap: procrastination, three crosses & tea obsession

Back in the swing of things in Cali, I have been enjoying a weekend of rest that didn't include living out of a suitcase. As much as I love to travel, there is something fabulous about having a room and a home. Here's how I spent my first weekend back in Cali:

Friday

• Nap time after school - Friday afternoon naps are actually God's gift to teachers I think.
• A trip to the local amusement park, located about 5 minutes from my apartment. Picture outdoor rides and vendors not unlike the state fair, with an entrance shaped like a giant cat's mouth. Oh and the cat lights up green at night. So off we went to see what the River View amusement park of Cali had in store for us. We rode the roller coaster, spider, dark ride (not nearly as scary as it sounds...in fact kind of lame) and others before finishing with something entitled the Kamikaze. The Kamikaze is something like the Pirate Ship back home, and basically looks like this picture, more or less. We spun around in a circle way too many times and all felt a little queasy by the time we were back on solid ground. At that point we decided to call it a night.

Saturday

• Woke up early enough to catch up on blogging and write four posts before 10 am!
• Thought about lesson planning...thought about how long it had been since I had to lesson plan...and proceeded to do everything possible in the house before getting down to work. In this time I managed to hang some pictures in my room, hang up a map of Cali in our living room, do all the dishes, change some light bulbs, organize our tool drawer, organize the back closet and all of our plastic bags, put away all my travel stuff, and last but not least, create a tea drawer in our kitchen! Steph & I both drink tea every single morning and our boxes of tea are all over our food shelves, so we decided to create an easy-to-access tea drawer with everything in one simple location. The final product sort of makes us appear to be tea addicts, but really it's just because we have brought so many types of tea back from the US, so we have an abundant supply. I LOVE it! :) At least there are some benefits to full-blown procrastination...

Drawer o' tea!

• Roommate trip to the grocery store for essentials - including more light bulbs, hangers, and a full length mirror.
• Had some friends over for an Italian fiesta of red wine, bruschetta, and pasta. A perfect night with good friends and delicious food! I feel so lucky to be able to entertain such good company.

Sunday

• Set the alarm for 8 am on Sunday (yikes!) and met up with some other teachers to hike up to the Three Crosses (Tres Cruces) that overlook Cali. I have been wanting to do this hike since I got to Cali, but the trail is difficult to find if you haven't been there and I didn't know how difficult the hike would be. Well....after the jungle excursion I figured it couldn't be that bad. I got to sleep in my own bed (not a hammock!) and make my own breakfast before hiking, and put on clean clothes! It was a whole different hiking experience. :) The hike actually only takes an hour and a half to get to the top so it really did seem like a piece of cake after Ciudad Perdida. The hike provided a great chance to see other friends and hear about everyone's break...as well as bask in our return to Cali's heat. I am excited now that I know the trail to follow and can do it again whenever I want! :)

Beginning the hike from the road.

Overlooking Cali at the start of the hike.

Hiking Girls! Me, Lori, Angie, Hana, Amy and Martha.

On the way up to the 3 crosses.

We're here!

Our new friend Martin, who happily befriended us in English on the way down the mountain.

Finishing the trail...

All in all a pretty productive weekend...despite my desperate attempts at the contrary. :) Happy MLK Day tomorrow to all my stateside friends!