My cousin from Bogota

 My second cousin, Andrea Cecilia Gomez Vera, lives in Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia’s capital city and also the largest one. She is the daughter of Alfredo Gomez Montero, first cousin of my mother, and Virgina Vera. They had to move there from Caracas because her parents are victims of political persecution by Venezuela's current government.
Bogota is located at 2,625 meters above sea level, so it has a cool mountain climate throughout the year. It also has an estimated population of about 8,500,000 inhabitants, figuring in the 30th largest city of the world. This city is known for its tasty hot chocolate and its high cultural level. Because Bogota contains multiple universities, libraries and public art work - the law requires that all buildings in downtown Bogota must have a work of art on its front - is also known as the "Athens of South America"

 

Costa Rica: Pura Vida!

My Great-Grandfather Guillermo Cordido Rodriguez was a landowner, a widower and Governor of the state of Yaracuy, Venezuela, during the dictatorship of Marcos Perez Jimenez. When this government fell in 1858, my Great-Grandfather was stripped of all his goods and exile in Costa Rica with his three younger daughters. There, he married a local lady, Leticia, and have two daughters, Mariantonieta and Soraya, my Great-Aunts, whom I haven’t had the pleasure to meet yet.

They both live with their families in San José, the capital of the beautiful Central American country where they were born: Costa Rica. Its tropical climate and variety of beaches, at both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, make this country a tropical paradise that I hope to visit someday, and say as the local say when they’re enjoying: Pura Vida!

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DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE



Don’t drink and drive.  How many times we’ve heard this phrase. So many that sounds hollow, until tragedy touches you close…

Recently something happened. Something t hat shouldn’t have happened. One of my father’s first cousins was killed in a tragic accident. Early on a sunny Sunday morning on his beloved city of Coro, located in Falcon, Venezuela, Jose Angel Garcia Cordido was biking with a group he organized among neighbors, patients and family, when fate stoke him in the shape of a drunk  police man.   

On his early forties he was not only a husband and father of two. Uncle Jose was a recognized Cardiologist, an active leader on his community, with social sensitivity and a generous heart. 



Jose Angel

Drinking and  driving doesn’t only affect the driver. It’s hard to measure how many lives, how many families a drunk driver can affect with this irresponsible behavior.



Full House

So most of my family has decided to come spend Christmas in my house. Tuesday, the first bit arrived, one of my mom’s sister with my adorable little cousin, she’s ten months old. Later, after winter break starts tree more of my mom’s sister, along with 11 cousins will be arriving. My house only has tree rooms. Well figure out how to fit when they get here I guess.  It’ll be fun.

ice cream

Maria Cristina also sends me these ice cream recipes

 

Vanilla ice cream.

1 can of condensed milk, 1 can of evaporated milk, 1 can water

2 eggs Vanilla extract

Condensed milk is mixed with water, is put in the vanilla, beaten egg yolks and evaporated milk pot. Place it in the freezer until medium-hard. Then this is removed and mixed with the 2 egg well beaten, mix it and place in freezer until is very cold.
Chocolate ice cream.

Same as above but adding a mixture of chocolate made in this way: melt 6 tablets of chocolate in ½ cup water, and when you lower the fire  put 1 tablespoon butter and mix it with evaporated milk is added to that.

 

Gomez descendance

Maria Cristina from the Sucre Eduardo side (correspondent to Luciani Eduardo) 

Maria Cristina recently send me an e-mail in reference to one of my first post Match.com in the 20^th century, she corrected me in some historic errors.

 She said that Juancho Gomez actually died on June 29, 1923, not 1935, on the same year as Juan Vicente. He was also the governor, and first vice-president. He was very dedicated to his position and in following his brother’s rule.

Something on Calagary

My aunt Cecilia, one of my mom's four sisters, lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, since 2006.Today she wanted to share her favorite landmarks of the city: Calgary's Plus 15 System and Calgary Tower.

Calgary Plus 15 is a system of bridges and walkways located 15 feet above the ground that communicate the most important buildings in downtown Calgary. This public skywalk was designed to protect pedestrians from inclement weather during the long Canadian winter and to help reduce street’s crowding.  Plus 15 has 57 bridges and extends for 16 km, the equivalent in length to more than 159 football fields placed end-to-end. Plus 15 System was designed and built in the late 60's.

The Calgary Tower, originally Husky Tower, is an observatory located in Downtown Calgary, which rises 191 meters (626 feet) above street level.  It was built as a tribute to Canada's centennial.  Officially opened in 1968, it is a contemporary construction - and also is connected - with Plus 15 System. In 1988 a large natural gas-fired cauldron was constructed on its top, in which the Olympic flame shined during Calgary's Winter Olympics. This torch is nowadays lit only on special occasions, including Canada Day; recently was ignited during the Vancouver’s Olympic Games in 2010, celebrated again in Canada.

In the top's lower level it’s found the observation deck, which has a glass rotunda added in 1999, and a glass floor extension added on 2005. (When standing on the glass, one can look straight down on 9th Avenue South and Centre Street). On the upper level it counts with a souvenir shop and a revolving restaurant that could complete a 360 degree turn in 45 minutes, having the better views of Downtown Calgary.