melting in Cartagena

So tons has happened in the last week.......

Sunday to Tuesday I was still in Medellin, not doing a whole lot because every afternoon it would pour buckets. Sunday was nice though, and some of the guys from the hostel and I went to the football game, which is always fun. People are such diehard fans, it´s hard not to get into it.

Saw a bit more of the downtown, Botero park, the most beautiful mall I´ve ever seen inside a refurbished old governmental building or something. Gorgeous. Took the metrocable up over the city, which had some amazing views, and is actually kind of neat in that it is just part of the metro system, and connects lower income barrios with the centre so that people have more access to jobs and opportunities. Really neat idea. Actually, their subway system and a lot of infrastructure there is incredible, really modern- I guess that´s what millions in Pablo Escobar´s drug money will get you.........

Tuesday night it was another night bus to Bucaramanga, where I arrived early in the morning, mainly without incident (though a guy across the aisle insisted on playing target practice on my nostril with the antenna of his radio). From there, it´s another 3 hours south to get to San Gil, the adventure sport capital of Colombia. Actually now that I think about it, I pretty much failed on that count hahaha. (you should be happy mom, i didn´t violate any terms of my health insurance)

So got there around noon, walked around for a bit, got something to eat and attempted to nap. The city is pretty small, around 35000 people, and I absolutely loved it there. Sooooo much more my pace of life, vibrant little centre square where everyone in town goes to congregate, especially in the afternoons and evenings. The hostel was great too, small enough to know everyone and have it feel like home. Someone had told me that they thought it was the best gringo hostel in South America, and I have to say i would tend to agree. Not that I´m biased or anything, since my friend Joe is currently "working" there, if you can call it that haha.

It wasn´t too full either, so that´s why not many activities were happening. But I did get to see a lot fo the surrounding area. Thursday I went to this cute little village called Barichara is beautiful, up atop a canyon, beautiful colonial buildings, whitewashed facades etc. From there you can do a 9km hike to another even smaller village, through the canyon, on an original spanish pathway veiled with a moss hanging from trees that the locals call "old man´s beard".

Friday I tried to get some CIDA stuff arranged, without much success (calling the embassies doesn´t seem to be getting me anywhere really), so have now resorted to email before resigning myself to just figuring something out when I arrive in person. In the afternoon I was pretty annoyed/frustrated, so took the bus to a smaller village where you can walk for 45 minutes or so out to a swimming hole called El Pescaderito. Which should have warned me that there would be a shitload of fish, which there were. I was so hot though that I got over the creepiness of having them possibly touching me and it was actually quite refeshing.

Not nearly as nice as the next days´journey to Juan Curí waterfalls, which were SO nice. You hike up them a ways and then there are a few places where you can swim in the pool where the water comes down. a little chilly but sooooo awesome. Had tons of fun rock climbing around there, and could have stayed all afternoon if the cabbie hadn´t been waiting around impatiently for us to leave. (sidenote- first time I´ve ever been in a cab where he flips down a dvd player for us to watch a movie while we drive....... wonder how many million rides you have to give to afford one of those). And then yesterday night I got on a night bus here to Cartagena. Haven´t really looked around much yet, just showered and am doing a few errands, getting something to eat and then explore the city tomorrow I think. There´s also a mud volcano nearby that is supposed to be really cool. Still not sure if I´m going to choose to do language classes here- guess we´ll have to see what I think of the vibe tomorrow.

Anyhow, I´m about to die of hunger so that´s it for now, but love you guys and will check in soon!! Thanks for the comments/emails too!

xo