Fin de Semana en San Gil

Everything is pretty much same old, same old, here in San Gil, but I don´t want to get in trouble for not writing on here enough.....

The spanish studying is going well I suppose, though always feels to progress slower than I´d like. Shaun, the owner of the hostel that I´m staying at, is letting me borrow a GIANT grammar book that should last me for the rest of life if I had the time, but I´m planning to get through it by January. So far 100 pages into 500 but that´s basically doing review of things I´ve already studied. I think I need to pull up my socks. There was a guy here a week or so ago who saw me studying from it and asked if he could exchange with me and asked "when are you going to be done with that?" Not exactly the brightest bulb.

During my time in Colombia, I have often been experiencing what I like to call a "500 peso blonde tax". It basically works out to about 25 cents, but I am starting to get very annoyed when that amount is inexplicably added onto the price of my bus tickets, ice cream, shampoo, etc. Since most of the shops don´t have price tags or fixed prices for things, it´s easy for them to charge foreigners more (the frequently accepted gringo discount) but for some reason I´ve been paying even 500 pesos more for things than a lot of my other tourist friends. So fast forward to a few nights ago when I went to buy a meat on a stick from a woman with a cart down in the square...... normally this delicious street meat costs 1500 pesos, but when I hand her a 10 000, I only get 8000 back. A price that she tells me is because December is getting busier and when there are more people in the square, she can charge a floating price. I am dubious, but don´t want to confront her so I let it go. Then the next day I go to buy another one (for a friend, I swear I am not turning into a grilled meat stick fanatic) and she gives me the price as 1500.... "I mean 2000". So NOW I confront her, asking if this relates to a 500 peso rubia tax, and she´s so sweet and embarrassed trying to explain that the cost really just relates to more tourism, so I start feeling guilty. Especially when this fact is confirmed by multiple locals I have asked about it since........ I guess I should be more careful when making assumptions about getting foreigner treatment.

I´ve been working now at the orphanage/social services children´s home for the last two weeks, and I love it. I can already tell it´s going to be so hard to leave at the end of the month. Right now Sarah and Ana (the two other volunteers) and I are trying to get things together to give them a nice Christmas, and to use some of our connections and resources to fix things at the orphanage. Sarah has already collected a bunch of money from her friends and family back home, and we were intending to buy each of the kids one new outfit and a pair of shoes (most of them only have a couple shirts and pants and 1 pair of sandals-new arrivals come in all the time from very broken homes, the streets, etc and most of the time have nothing but some ill-fitting clothes that the social worker has been kind enough to provide themself) plus some art supplies, educational materials, etc. But since we have been trying to organize that, the fridge in the kids´ home has completely broken down and we found out that the home where the older boys (10-18) live doesn´t even have a washing machine so they each spend a significant amount of time every day doing all the washing by hand. So... now we are going to replace the appliances, since they are both needed immediately, but that means we don´t even have enough to cover the costs of things we have already committed to buying.

So.... I know this is a very expensive time of year for everyone, and I don´t want to impose on any charity giving that you may already be invested in, but I did want to let you know about the pretty basic conditions these kids live with, and say that if anyone is able to contribute something to this cause, I would be so very grateful, and them even moreso. If you are interested and able to donate something (any amount would be appreciated!), please email me (sarah.gustin@gmail.com) or let me know via facebook, and I can direct you to the PayPal account that has been set up, as well as give you some more specific details regarding how the money will be spent, what the home and kids are like, etc.

Thanks so much everyone, and hope your mid-decembers aren´t too crazy!! much love,

Sarah

Back in San Gil...

Ok so already I've been falling behind on these, so my apologies. (ie. stop pestering me mom! haha)

So like I mentioned before, didn't love Cartagena at all. All my plans of staying there for a month or so to take spanish classes sort of flew out the window when it was obvious that while the walled old city was beautiful, it was also pretty seedy, very touristy, dirty, and it seemed like everyone was always after you for money or something. That, plus the fact that out of the 3 days I stayed there, it rained for pretty much 48 hours nonstop didn't help my impression of the place. The streets were constantly just filled with that stanky sewage water, and you had to either walk blocks out of your way or pay to cross via these rickety bridges they had lashed together out of scrap wood.

Spent a few days checking out the town though, getting muddy and dying of heat, but eventually left on thursday for further up along the coast, to Taganga. It's a small fishing village/suburb of a larger city called Santa Marta, but is much quieter although filled with backpackers and Colombian tourists. The people were much more chill than in Cartagena though, so I didn't mind that so much, and was able to enjoy a few days lounging on the beach, eating ceviche and getting a bit sunburnt/bug bitten. Well actually a LOT bug bitten. In fact, my ankles were starting to get so canklish and sore that I was having scary flashbacks to the days after the sandfly invasion in the bolivian jungle last year, when I couldn't wear shoes for like 2 weeks because my ankles were so sore. But luckily it didn't get quite that bad, and in fact, the bites are mostly gone now. More or less.

There were some cool people there, though a few token crazies as well. Met a guy who strangely is from a farm outside Chatham, and then just yesterday there was a guy here who grew up in Delaware and goes to King's at Western. Small world.

Anyhow, found a few others who were interested in going up to Parque Tayrona, so on Saturday we negotiated ourselves a boat to drive us the 2 hours and drop us off inside the park, thereby bypassing the dreaded entrance fee. It did mean that we had to suffer through those 2 hours of frightfully maniacal nautical maneuvres, sin life jackets, with giant waves and a speed only approached by nearby Colombian coke runners. Nevertheless, arrived safely, absolutely soaking wet, but the park itself was astounding and more than made up for the white knuckle ride. Talk about the stereotypical Caribbean paradise, it was absolutely gorgeous, and we got to sleep in hammocks in a small open cabana on a cliff overlooking the ocean. I hadn't really brought enough clothes, so it was a bit of a windy and cold night, but so beautiful I didn't even really mind. Just laid around on the beach for those two days, enjoying the views before hiking out through the forest, catching a series of 6 busses and eventually arriving here in San gil on Monday morning.

Since then, I've been doing a bit of spanish studying/reading in the mornings, and lately have been going to a nearby orphanage to volunteer with one of the other girls staying at the hostel. Pretty relaxed pace, but I am loving it, and I do think my spanish is improving. Maybe not as fast as at a school, but this was is definitely more economical and fun. Have some conflicting reports in the last couple days regarding the health unit job in may, as well as the volunteer post i'm trying to set up, but i'll get back to you on that one.........

Hope all is well and I'll try to give more in detail updates when I have time!!

Oh and Dad, what time is good to call on Saturday??

xo