Zoo Closed.........So Plan B............

Kenny called Maria Teresa from FANA this morning to check on our status with the courts. Could it be sentencia today? No, not today. Maria Teresa updated us that our paperwork is now back in the hands of the judge and now we are just waiting for him to sign (this could take up to 10 days). So since there would be no signing today, Patricia (Jorge's wife) picked us up to head to the zoo. At least that's where we thought we were going. So after about a forty five minute ride we pulled up to the entrance of the zoo only to find out it was closed. There is some problem with the private bus transportation system going on right now in Bogota, so alot of the workers of the zoo weren't able to get to work today and the zoo had to close. So we went to plan b. The Salt Cathedral of Zipaquira was also on our list of things to do and it was only a few minute drive from the zoo. So Luke will have to see the zoo another time and we were off to the Salt Cathedral. We stopped for lunch first at a really neat restaurant (the first two pictures) and had a great meal. When we were finished it started to rain. It's funny how things work out because walking around the zoo in the rain would not have been good. Well I have to be honest. We heard a lot about the Salt Cathedral from other FANA families but I never really grasped all that it really is. My account may be a bit off, but this is what I took away from our tour. Many, many years ago there was salt water in this particular area. When the water dried up salt was later discovered here and the mining of it began. Since mining is such a dangerous job and the Colombian people are very religious (I think about 85% of the people are Catholic), the miners began to build alters and places they could worship and pray in the mines. And now the Salt Cathedral is the number one tourist wonder in Colombia. It was really amazing to see. It is actually an underground mine (I think you begin at about 2600 meters above sea level and end at about 20 meters above sea level). The entire thing, walls, ceiling, floor is all salt. They say Colombia has enough salt for the next 500 years. The first part of the tour you walk through is the stations of the cross. Each station is depicted so beautifully and carved completely out of salt. It was such an appropriate time to visit since it is Lent. The next part is the cathedral itself, which holds mass each Sunday. The large cross you see in the pictures is carved out of the salt walls and the alter, made of salt (obviously) is placed so beautifully in front of it. You can also see in the pictures Michelangelo's "creation" redone in salt by two Colombian artists. This was pretty neat because this time last year we saw the original work of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel when we were Italy. The third part of the tour was the convention center, where we stopped to watch a 3-D movie about the Cathedral (hence the funny glasses). So I guess what was to be a day at the zoo ended up being a great day touring the Salt Cathedral. When we got home Luke took a quick nap. He is about 90% back to himself I think, although he still has a bit of a cough. Tonight we headed over to Betty's place to say goodbye to the Kuligowski's. It was funny, but when we first arrived Luke looked around the room and I think realized where he was. Both times we left Luke since we received him he was at Betty's place. I think he put it all together and thought we were leaving again and immediately he started to cry ( and he rarely cries for no reason). And Lauren and Helena took one look at us and thought we were taking their parents away again and Lauren kept saying "mommy please take your shoes off." I guess they all didn't want us to leave. We're really glad we had the chance to meet Susan and Mark and their two beautiful girls and are thankful we were able to spend some time with them. They are a really great family and we are so glad for them that they are able to head home tomorrow. (Safe travels to you guys) We wish them all the best. So we said our goodbyes and once we got the cab driver to understand where we were going, we headed back to the apartment. Luke did such a sweet thing when we got back and I know my words can't even begin to describe just how sweet it was. I was rocking him to sleep and he spit up all over my shirt (not the sweet part). So I went to change and Kenny took over rocking him to sleep. When I can back, Luke gently touched Kenny's face with one hand and then reached to pull me in closer to the two of them. He cuddled with the two of us together like this for a bit, almost as if he was saying how happy he is with the two of us and how loved he feels. It was a really great moment. We are such a blessed family.