"Food is love."

Well, to someone with a history similar to my adopted son, it's true. Food really is love. However, when I answered him saying, "No, it's not," he changed his mind and said, "Okay. Food is happiness."

I hoped to plan a quick trip to take Juan David to see his brother, Julian, in Colombia over spring break, but . . . it was a bit complicated. First, I'm still recovering from all we spent at Christmas, so we didn't have the money to go this early in the year. Second, we don't have his passport yet, and February flew right by me. Third, we would have had to get a special letter written up and signed at the consulate in Houston in order for me to bring him back home from Colombia without Mike being present. (Colombian law for Colombian citizens). So, we hope to make it work out this summer, if possible.

Plan B for spring break--use those Six Flags season passes and spend a few days riding rollercoasters.  But, it rained. Pretty much all week.

Plan C. Find a few small adventures for the week. Mom and son bonding time. We went to the movies, went out to eat, swam at my brother's house on the only sunny day, and took a little international tour with our meals. We started off at Fiesta, the international grocery store, telling Juan to pick what he wanted to eat for the week. Thus began quite a fun week. It's amazing how much I felt I bonded with him when we put the focus on food. Yes, to him, food spoke love.

Here are a few pics of our cuisine.

 Flan

 Colombian pasta with chicken that Juan made himself

Colombian cheese bread from the Colombian bakery

 Milhojas (one of Juan David's preferred Colombian desserts)

 Argentine mate (compliments of a Guatemalan friend)

 (Oh, the memories from Argentina. Love that culture.)

Little Colombian bananas (that was my daily breakfast smoothie--cucumbers, strawberries, blueberries and a mandarin orange)

 A vegetarian plate at the Colombian restaurant--beans, rice, fried egg, salad, avocado and fried plantains

 Picada from the Colombian restaurant--a little bit of everything with a special pink sauce for dipping

 El Portal--a Colombian restaurant/ bakery

 Traditional American--Cheeseburgers and onion rings

 Mexican bean and corn dip--with onions, tomatoes and cilantro added

 Colombian staples--Colombiana soda and arequipe (a delicious caramel dip that every Colombian keeps in their fridge)

Chinese rice with shrimp and chicken and egg rolls

Two especially bonding moments this week included watching this segment that aired on the news precisely while we ate together at the Colombian restaurant (a segment about helping the "children of the state" who are under government care in Colombia--children who are growing up just like he did.)

http://www.noticiasrcn.com/especialesrcn/los-hijos-del-estado

Then later in the week, we watched videos of his orphanage that people have posted online over the years, while he identified so many of his friends and even his sister. It was a special time for both of us.

We had a great week together, despite all our foiled plans.  Getting to swim in a heated pool with his cousins on our only sunny day helped, too. :)