well its been a while, Troubles, Thoughts and Travels

Happy couple

Hello all the people that read this... probably not too many... Anyways, I just came to share my troubles, thoughts, and travels. 
Since the last time I have posted, a lot has happened. First of all, Chapy and I traveled to several parts of Colombia, enjoyed several U 20 world cup games, found a place to live, he found a job and I'm still looking for volunteer work in Bogotá. 


Here is the scoop on the travel

Lion Fish, yep we saw one of these guys...

From Santa Marta, we decided to go to Parque Tayrona. Parque Tayrona is a national park on the beach near Santa Marta. it has really pristine beaches with waves in some and bays in others. We
went snorkeling and even got to see a lion fish, then it rained while
we were there. It poured so much that we had to cross a full on
river to leave the park. We spent 2 hours thinking about how to cross
the river with our luggage. Although it was a 3 hour hike in, you can take a donkey or horse. We also saw monkeys :) 

The first day in Tayrona we found our tent that we rented and then went swimming... in lots of beautiful beaches. We went swimming so much, that we pretty much didn't take any pictures until the rainy days. Well, our night in the tent was extremely difficult. It was so hot that we ended up fanning ourselves with my hat and his frisbee until we fell asleep. Then we kept waking up to find that it was a VERY hard floor. So we decided to ask for a cabaña for the next night. Here is a picture of it. 

This is not my picture, but that is what it looks like, and that cabaña on top of that rock is where we slept

The river, remember its fast moving. We came down from the rocks on the left

We enjoyed our little spot in this cabaña until the rains came that night.... We went down the little trail, and crossed the creek before it got too high to go eat dinner. On the way back though.... it had risen and we were up to our stomachs in fast moving water that had originally been ankle deep. Little did we know... the next day would be worse. We needed to leave that day because we had a reservation in hotel near the entrance of the park through a groupon. Here is a picture of the river we needed to cross. The next two nights were spent in the bella isla resort. We were with 4 other volunteer friends of mine. The resort itself was very abandoned with so many empty rooms that the other couple got a cabaña to themselves. We did enjoy the large pool. In fact that is pretty much all we did, among card games... We also chased some crabs, some frogs, avoided bats, it was all quite nice. Really though, it was. 

On our way out, we decided to go surfing at Costeño beach. chapy had never tried surfing before so he was quite excited. 

Then after that, we decided to go to La Guajira. A department (state) known for it´s desert and indigenous Wayyu people. We only had two nights (so we thought) but we were going to do it!

 La Guajira is the name of a department here (ie
state) that is in the desert region in the most northern points of
Colombia. The people who live there are called Waayu and have managed to maintain their culture and language while living with mostly full amenities. We slept in hammocks and only had electricity from 6-10pm. It was really interesting to get to Cabo de la Vela. We had to take a shared car to a city called Urirbia then get in the back of truck that carried all kinds of cargo to get to Cabo de la Vela. On the way back we had to get the same car at 4am. It carried people, goats, coolers, everything you could think of while crossing the desert. I sincerely felt like I was getting a tad bit of the illegal immigration experience. Cabo de la Vela had great lobster. It had all kinds of crabs and starfish in the very blue water. I was really happy with that impromptu trip. We stayed an extra night then went from Cabo de la vela to Cali in one day.

The ride in

Wayyu fence, pretty effective...

Wayyu housing

Yum

Giant star fish, maybe 1 sq foot

A Beach we got to after walking an hour in the desert. pretty awesome

From Cabo de la Vela, to Cali, in one day

This map makes it look like an easy trip, but let me break it down for you.

4am Ride in the back of a truck with goats to Uribia

630am Ride in a car to Rioacha

730 am Find a bus to Santa Marta

10 am take local bus from mamatoco to Santa Marta

once in Santa Marta, look for Claudia to get my stuff that Renee left for me

Take moto taxi to host family's, get stuff, re-pack and chat

take cab to the center because we are running late

take bus to airport

Bus doesnt go all the way to the airport, get off bus take moto taxi to airport

take a plane to Cali, but there is a layover in Bogotá

get to Cali

get picked up by Chapy´s dad 

Chapy´s dad hits a pot hole, blows a tire a block away from the apartment

fix tire, get home.

wasn't as simple as the map makes it look....

Meeting dad, enjoying Cali, dropping the bomb.

So we went to cali, wasn't much to do there, but we did go to a U 20 world cup game, spent some time with Chapy´s dad which was awkward (to be explained), and took lots of naps. 

So I got to meet Chapy´s dad. Thats nice, to get to know the family. In the first day, we went out to lunch with his dad and Chapy dropped the bomb, he´s not going back to Argentina, he is staying here, he is done there, he doesn't want to be far from me ever again in his life, and that his plan is to work then go to USA with me. Well everything Chapy´s dad said in response to that seemed supportive, but in the end, he is disappointed and very hurt. We actually haven't heard from him since we left Cali. 

We spent the rest of our time in Cali exploring, watching soccer, and napping. Here are some pictures. 

Off to drink coffee, where they grow it.

We left Cali and went to Pereira, where Chapy´s cousin lives. We saw another U20 game and then went to Salento. Salento was beautiful, a small town with lots of landscape. We arrived and took a coffee farm tour, drank some GREAT FRESH coffee. We were staying at a place called plantation house. It is owned by a British guy who is married to a Colombian (after he started his business) It is a beautiful little hostel. It also runs the coffee farm next door. We went on a horse back ride after the tour. We rode through this man´s property into the night. Wow, what a beautiful ride. At night, the fireflies came out and the sky was clear with stars. We were riding with no light. It was great. We ended the day by playing tejo. A nice game with flying heavy clay discs and gun powder. Unfortnatly we forgot our camera battery... So we have no pictures.

On to Bogotá, start the non-traveling portion

Well when we first arrived in Bogotá we were staying with Chapy´s mom. It was quite a squeeze in that apartment with 6 of us. I think we were there for 10 days before we found a furnished room to rent in a nice apartment. On the day we went to go see it, Chapy got a call (while in the apartment) for a job offer. 

He now works at a call center.

The odd thing is that I have been getting sick pretty often, but only since I went to Pereira (before the whole trip described here). I went to the doctor in Bogotá and I am almost better, but if I forget to take medicine, I get sick again. 

As for volunteering, I found a place I really like, but they only function for volunteers on the weekends. It is called Un Techo Para Mi Pais. What I like about it is they don't give anything away, they really wish to empower the people they help. I also went the YMCA here to check them out. I really liked their projects, but I didn´t like feeling judged. The woman asked me several times why Chapy didnt finish his degree and also told me that if I am not a Christian, I can work on the projects, but I cant be called a volunteer. I didn't like that, so I haven't gone back. Tomorrow, I am meeting with a girl from Habitat for Humanity and put out the word among people I have been able to connect with that I am looking to volunteer somewhere. 

Other than that, I have started dance classes at this great studio for hip hop and salsa. It's absolutely wonderful. I am so happy I am doing that. 

I was able to connect with a friend of my Latin American studies professor. My professor lived in Colombia for a year doing a Fulbright and got me in contact with his friend. The Colombian professor wants me to come to his class and talk about the style of upper education in the USA. He also said he was going to contact several people and see if there might be something I can do. I am very thankful for that connection. 

Bogotá from above