Cartagena

It's raining right now, the first real rain since i've been here. It's nice! I booked a ticket to Cartagena today. I leave tomorrow around 2pm. It's a 2 hour flight compared to a 12 hour bus ride. Plus it's safer I bet. Cartagena is supposed to be a beautiful city. It's one of the first port cities when Spain first came here. It's right on the coast on the Carribean ocean. I'm excited to be back by the water.

Today Fabian and Juliana took me out of the city to see some country side. There was beautiful green pastures with cows and the mountains were full of trees. They took my to a little city where there is a famous restaurant that all the tourists have to go to. It's called Audres carne de res, and has decoration all over the place from floor to ceiling. They even make up their own knicknacks to use and are so creative. I defineatly saw other americans in there, I almost wanted to walk around and just ask people where they were from and why they were visiting Colombia. The food was amazing!!! Steak and more steak! I even tried these pork skin/meat things. they were crunchy and just not too appealing, but apparently they are to crave! Ha. I at least tried it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! This is the second time i have celebrated Thanksgiving in an another country. First was in England in 2007, now in Bogota Colombia. It started off a nice day. I went for my second spanish class, then walked around the downtown area to find a museum from a local artist, Donacion Botero. Apparently he donated all his artwork and his private collection of various artists including Picasso. It was very intereseting. There were about 3 seperate museums all connected and free, so I walked around for a while.

I came back home to have lunch and try to study, but didn't work, so I went to the park for a bit. I decided I should go to the supermarket to see if I can get some 'traditional thanksgiving food' which took a while walking around. I finally just got a few slices of turkey, a bottle of wine, garlic and cookies. I made a thanksgiving meal for my 'roommates'of garlic mashed potatoes, browned slices of turkey, salad and toast. Then chocolate wafer cookies for dessert! Plus vino!!!

It turned out very good and they were happy to celebrate Thanksgiving for the first time! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your familes!

First Spanish lesson

So this morning i ventured out into the crazy world of Bogota to get on the Transmilanio once again to make it downtown, to find some womán's house where i was going to have my first spanish lesson. I had to walk around a little to find which street i was on, the don't really have street signs. Just a plaque on the corner of the building, well some buildings. I asked a few policia, and made it there fine! I had to take a quick test to see what i knew, it consided of naming the days of the week, months, numbers, and colors...Which i already knew ((also thanks to Hattie (my niece)as we would go over colors and numbers in our car rides)). So we started off from there. I had already learned most of what we went over, so it was a good review and everything makes sense now. I just have to actually start putting things into sentences and i'm on my way. I was able to barter the price of my lesson by offering to work on her shoulders and neck. She had mentioned her shouders hurt, so i told her what i did...that knocked off some of the price. Then she wanted me to work on her husband, so tomorrows session is discounted as well!!!

I came back to the apartment to get some food and to not think for awhile. Good ol tv. I had to comprehend what i just learned before i went to study it. After i was full and bored with tv, i went down the street to a cafe and studied for about 3 hours. I haven't done that in years...kind of odd.

I think i have a good concept, and i'm ready for tomorrow's class!

My 27th Birthday

Feliz Cumpleanos to me!!!That's happy birthday! Today i am 27..and i'm ready for what it has to bring. Apparently it is a big year within all the zodiac stuff and since i don't really understand it all, i'll just believe it.

Today started well, woke up! ha I had to cover my eyes with a shirt because i put away my eye cover things and can't find them now. I'm sleeping in the living room on a futon and there are no curtains on the windows, so it's very bright in the morning. I got ready then did some laundry. i decided last night that i should do something fun today. I figured i would master the Transmilanio (bus transportation)...and then head up to the top of the mountain to see the Cerro de Monserrate, which is a church that looks out over the city of Bogota. Juliana drew me a map of which buses i should take and how to get to the entrance of the monserrate.
Mind you, Bogota is a city of 8 million people, so getting on these buses was interesting, actually pretty simple after i figured it out. I got on the first bus fine, then after that i asked a cute young kid who was dressed in the military uniform about which was the next bus to take. he didn't speak any english, actually no one i talked to did, but somehow i was able to get by! So with his help, and the little i understood from what he said, i was able to make it to where i needed to be.

Right where i got off the bus, there was a little market of venders all selling cheap jewelery and bags, and whatnot. I walked around for a while and ran into some other americans who were on tour with Cats. Didn't really get into details before walking on. Finally i walked up a big hill, (glad i'm still in some sort of shape after rugby season, that this altitude and the hills aren't killing me) to get to the Monserrate...you take a tram ride up the side of the hill to the top, which was pretty cool...It was a cute little church at the top.! i walked around for a while and ran into an Australian couple. They were backpacking from S.America up through Central America, through the states to BC.

After about an hour, I rode back down the tram, decided to walk around a bit, but finally just got back on the Transmilanio to head back home. this time the buses were packed with people. ick. I asked again about which bus to take to get back home. At one point i thought i missed my stop and was so crammed with people that i just got off to get out. Which was fine, cause i jumped onto the next bus to get to calle 85, which was my stop! I went to the park for a while before going home to write and review some more spanish.. There were a bunch of cute kids playing, one kid was playing with bubbles and he was so funny, i started laughing. his parents or whoever looked at me, i tried to say cute, but forgot what cute was, so i just smiled...oops.

Later Fabian and Juliana and i went out for dinner. They asked what i wanted to eat and I said Paella!!! So they looked up a really good restaurant to take me too. The Sangria's were amazingly delicious. the Paella wasn't as good as i remembered from Barcelona, but still good. I also got a free chocolate/mint icecream for my birthday. The restaurant we went to is supposed to be famous. All the famous bull fighters have their pictures on the walls from when they ate their. Presidents and congressmen stop there frequently for lunch i guess.

Well, it was a nice day, now i'm full and ready for bed! Bueno noches!

Farmers Market

This morning Juliana woke me up to go to the farmers market that is in the park across the street from their place. It was loaded with people and how it works is they give you a basket that you just set on the floor and walk around getting all the food you want. Put it in the basket and when your finished, they carry it up for you and you pay. There were so many different types of fruits i have never seen before, it was crazy. We bought two baskets full of fruit and vegetables. It is all so delicious. Also, they don't use any chemicals so it's all so healthy. No need to check for Organic here.

It became such a beautiful day,so while juliana and fabian were working, i went back to the park and read my new book that i'm borrowing from Fabian. It's the Autobiography of Anthony kiedis, the lead singer of the Red Hot Chilie Pepers, one of my favorite bands. It unbelievable the life he has gone through so far, and i'm only to the point where he is maybe 19 years old??? Just crazy.

Anyway, Juliana joined me in the park again after we made lunch and fresh juice. It started to get chilly and we both had to go to the bathroom, so we walked up the park to the nearest coffee shop. She worked on her computer as I kept reading. Every once in a while i would give a little laugh for what i was ready and she would just laugh at me. I used my first two complete sentences to the waiter today...was a little nervous but i got over it. First was Donde es el bajo? Where's the bathroon. and Traigame la cuenta, por favor. Please bring me the check.
Nice,. i'm on my way to speaking spanish!!! haha

I guess tonight is one of Fabian's and Juliana's friends birthdays, so we are going to go to a Billiards place. (I was thinking, ok nice, pool.) well not really, they don't have pool. They play a game with only 3 balls and you use one to hit the other two. ok, I guess we will see how this game works tonight.

Arrival to Bogota, Colombia

Well, I finally made it to South America. I left Minneapolis at 7am on Nov. 18th, flew to Atlanta, then Orlando and sat for about 4 hours before boarding my last flight out of the country. Besides being a little scared, It was an enjoyable day. I had all the time in the world to get from one place to the next. I didn´t have to rush to catch my next flight or worry about anything. I actually took the time to breath and pay attention to my surroundings. I didn{t have to worry about the check list of 80 millions things going on in my head to get done. I was able to start a new book, sit and think about what i{m really doing, and yes, i even dropped a few tears here and there through out the day. My airplane seat partners probably thought i was crazy, but who cares.

I finally arrived in Bogota at 9:30pm (8:30 MN time) to go through customs, pick up my backpack, and go through security on last time with many Policia and a drug dog walking around. Outside of the airport were tons of people all waiting for who ever they were to pick up, all crushed up against a fence. I walked out hoping to find my friend Fabian right away, and because he is tall, I called out to him. And I immediately felt releived. We walked to his car, I met his girlfriend Juliana (very nice, and of course beautiful) and we were off. They took me to their friends restaurant for some good food and my first Colombian beer. Then Sleep!

I just have to add this because I thought it was funny. If you haven{t seen the movie Shrek, go rent it otherwise you won´t know what i´m talking about. At the airport i had to stand in many lines so i had to enter those rope things where you walk back and forth and back and forth until you got up to the front. At one point It reminded me of when shrek was going to see the king about all the fairyland creatures in his swamp. He got outside the castle and had to enter those ropes things to get in. There was only one person at the entrance wearing the Big head and when he saw Shrek he ran back and forth and bach and forth to get away...I just started laughing becuse I felt just like that (not the running away part, but watching myself moving back and forth for no particular reason) but what i really wanted to do was walk right through the middle, like shrek did. I believe at this time I was entering the line right before customs, so i quickly hid my smile after a quick laugh out loud. haha. IT´s those little things that just keep me going...or the fact that i watch too many little kids movies. But i love em anyway.

One Week

One week from today I will be arriving in Bogota, Colombia. It's a little scary to think about considering I have so much stuff to get done before I go. And because I really don't have much of a plan to start with. I'll spend a few days in Bogota with a friend and after that..who knows. This is where i'm trusting the universe to present opportunities and whatever feels right, is what i'll go with. However, in the back of my mind, i'm starting to get excited. I'm excited because i'm ready for a new challenge, a new adventure. I'm ready to go somewhere. And for some reason I just can't do things in a small way, I like to take the big jump. Like my friend Gale put it, 'i'm jumping of a cliff without being able to see the water below.' All I can do is laugh and say 'oh shit' But i'm going to do it anyway, because if I didn't, I wouldn't be doing myself justice. I'm going on this trip for myself, to live, have fun, and experience all that I can. Because that's what I do. I also want to thank all of you who have giving me encouragement and supported me in this decision. It really does mean a lot to have support behind such a crazy idea. It definitely shows i'm not the only one out there that would love to take this opportunity. So i'll try my best to keep you posted with stories of adventures that I come across. And, yes I promise i'll be as safe as I can.