day 2

Ok, I promised a longer update, so here it is.

I don´t know if it was lack of sleep exactly, but after taking FOREVER at us customs at the border (apparently a german lady travelling on robert q with me was a suspicious character), we got to the airport around 1:30 and I whipped out the sleeping bag for an attempt at a nap. Didn´t get much sleep though, since the janitorial staff seemed fascinated by me, and one was actually so bold as to poke me with their mop.

Eventually the airline opened up for business around 4 and I got up, put my stuff away, and went to check my bag. Which is when I went to show my passport, and realized that my money belt was not in my bag........ actually it WAS in my sleeping bag, I had "hidden" it in there when I was sleeping, and forgotten about it. Brief moment of panic before I had to embarrassingly pull myself out of line, rip apart my sleeping bag and retrieve it. The staff thought I was nuts.

After that though, it was pretty much smooth sailing. The flights felt interminably long though, especially since the seats were so cramped together that I couldn´t even put my head down. I almost asked the teenage boy next to me if I could sleep on his lap, I was so exhausted. Got here just before 2pm, changed some money and taxied to the hostel, which is a fairly small but really nice place, lots of friendly locals working here. (currently enjoying una cerveza gratis, thanks to the owner)

Walked around a bit yesterday afternoon, to get a feel for the place, find a grocery store, etc. But then I went to bed around 7pm, and slept nearly straight to 9am this morning.

So I got up, actually had a lovely shower (i declined bathing yesterday afternoon, despite being grimy, because the water was frigid, and not even an uninterrupted stream, the water pressure was so crappy). And then today I did a bit of a walking tour. My hostel is on the edge of la candelaria, the most historical region of the city, that reminds me of the low buildings of much of Cusco (and lots of other cities for that matter). There was apparently a demonstration of some kind at plaza bolivar after I left, but I only had to get my bag searched to walk down the streets by the government buildings. It´s weird though, people are friendly but give me a wide swath for the most part, there are hardly ANY tourists here, and lots of the ones there are, are latino, from other parts of south america. One of the museums was closed today, so I´ll try tomorrow, but I spent a few hours at the Museo del Oro. The staff there kept telling me that there was a brochure downstairs that I could look at instead of writing things down, but I was actually using the dual spanish-english explanations to better my vocabulary. I think they thought I was crazy.

Had a nice view from the mirador at el parque de la independencia, for about 3 seconds, before being caught in a downpour. I hid under a tree for like an hour, hoping it would let up, but it didn´t really. And then I was pretty tired, so I walked back to the hostel, had some coffee, dried off, and am writing on here before I think I´m going for a short little nap so I can actually talk to ppl from the hostel tonight instead of passing out.

I think that´s about it...... prob leaving for the zona cafetera day after tomorrow (manizales, I think), and then medellin after that. (mom, that´s me keeping you informed of future plans :)

love u and talk soon