Last post about Colombia? Doubtful.

So after dinner Friday night, we went back to the apartment we were staying at and talked to some of the guys that were on the men's team. The men's team had a ton of people, quite unlike the women's team and just like players here, everyone had a nickname. We went to bed not too much later because we had a game bright and early the next day, at 7 a.m. Yes, it was as bad as it sounds.

I set my alarm for 6 a.m. to give us plenty of time to change and hit the beach. Unfortunately Marta and I were woken up prompty at 5:15 to everyone else in the apartment yelling excessively about nothing. No one realized how loud they were being, so Marta and just rubbed our bleary eyes and started getting ready. At least it was nice and lesiurely getting ready. That morning, we played a team called Arenosa which basically translates to sandy. Anyways, they pretty much wrecked us, given that they had a full line of subs and we had no subs. The positive thing is that this game was early enough in the day that we didn't have to deal with the sand/air/temperature being crazy hot. The sand was easily the worst part. It was burning hot, like nothing I've felt. I played our afternoon game in socks, and it was still unbearable.

Anyways, here are some pictures of the beach. The beach was beautiful, and there were quite a few of very pretty hotels and whatnot located right on the beach. There are lots of shade tents everywhere because the sun really is so harsh and there is pretty much no shade anywhere otherwise. There were lots of boats out on the ocean everyday we were there, and tons of people in the water, trying to escape from the sun. From the beach, looking inland, you could see the Sierra Nevada mountains which extend all the way to the northern coast on the Atlantic Ocean side and all the way south to the Andes. In some ways you might say I saw a little bit of the Andes, although it's technically an outcropping of montains that aren't really the Andes. Whatevs, one day I'll see them.

After that game, Marta and I went to this little stand where they had arepa con huevo, which is a fried egg arepa, and is delicious. I wasn't hungry (I had Froot Loops for breakfast) and so I just hung out, but there were two younger guys there who were talking to me and Marta. They kept saying I was beautiful and whatnot, and were really surprised to hear that I spoke Spanish. They were kind of hard for me to understand, because they weren't very close to me and did not speak slowly at all. By the end of the snack, one of them was telling me that he liked me very much and that he would watch me at a later game.

After our morning snack, we watched the boys play (they lost) and then headed back to the apartment. I changed into my bathing suit and headed to the pool for a bit. Then back to the apartment for leftovers from the night before. There, everyone got into a nice healthy discussion about frisbee, led by Marta, who was explaining a bunch of different plays, including Swedish/Johnson and horizontal stacks. Then, we had to head back out into the sweltering summer heat for our second game. For this game, the sand was really hot and we had to wear socks, which still wasn't anywhere near enough protection from the heat. On the line before we pulled, everyone would dig little holes to stick their feet so they could keep their feet from getting too hot. Later in the weekend, we would see teams sit down and pull their feet up when a disc went O.B. or if there was a discussion about a foul call. It was that hot. We won our second game pretty easily. We had two subs, but didn't use them much at all. I think each of us sat maybe one point.

After that game, Marta's cousin Rey came and visited from Barranquilla. We went to get some fish to eat from a little stand near the beach. Marta and I ended up splitting a whole fish (head and bones and fins and all) which was fried and absolutely delicious. The meal also came with patacones, which a flattened, fried green plantains, and arroz con coco, which is coconut rice. Patacones are freakin' delicious, one of the best things I ate in Colombia (although everything was fantastic) and the coconut rice was really sweet, like desert. We also had fresh lemonade poured out of this ridiculous big jug (it was like those plastic containers/barrels of pretzels you get from BJs or Costco haha) and it was AMAZING. SOOOOOOO good. Best lemonade I'd ever had in my entire life. It was nice and tart and that alone was enough to make me want to move to Colombia. Seriously.

We watched some more games, bought the tournament shirt, and then headed back to the apartment to change and get ready to go out to El Rodadero. Before showering, Marta had me try on some of the dresses she brought to see if I could wear one because I was complaining about how I was running out of clothes (I didn't really realize how much I'd be sweating in a single day. Nothing was re-wearable). I ended up wearing this cute white dress seen in pictures below. So anyways, Rey, Marta, Chile, Mattias (chile's boyfriend, who is from Argentina) and I took a bus into town. El Rodadero is basically a more touristy area, with lots of shops, and a really really busy beach area. On the beach at night, people can rent chairs and sit out there and hire out musicians to come around and play in their little circle, kind of like mariachi bands, but with different style. All along the street that borders the beach there are food stands (like at fairs and stuff) that were selling things like pizza, maiz, chuzo, jugos, gaseosas, etc. You could get anything your little heart desired. We all walked along the beach and sampled different things. We sat in some chairs in front of one stand to eat, and these two people (soda sellers) got in abig fight over whose chairs we were using. We had to buy drinks from both of them to settle the issue. It was pretty ridiculous. We ran into one of those people who acts like a statue until you give them money and then they move. This guy's gimmick was to shake your hand but then suddenly "freeze" with your hand in his until you gave him more money. We shopped a bit, but didn't get anything. It was all really fun and laid back. I got to talk to the people there a little more, which was nice, because everyone on the teams had been talking about how quiet I was and they found it a little off-putting (did I blow anyone's mind about me being quiet? It seems a bit far-fetched, I know, but I was nervous to say the wrong thing in Spanish or whatever, which is dumb, but I couldn't help it). We took lots and lots of pictures of pretty much everything, including the sign for this restaurant that is a fairly popular fast-food chain that serves chicken. This was one of the very first things I saw when we got into Cartagena, from the window of our cab, and I couldn't help but laugh. I didn't see many mistranslations in Colombia, mostly because it was really uncommon for things to be translated at all. I couldn't help but think of bromances and what now. Let's see if you can spot the error. If you can't, perhaps it's time for you to go back to remedial English lessons...

Headed back to the apartment, went to the tourney party. It was dumb. Left to go back to the apartment. Apartment was locked, but the window was open. We all climbed in through the window. Rey left. Marta and I went to sleep.

The next morning, the boys had a game at 7 a.m. so we were up bright and early again.We watched the boys game. They won, but it was the last game of the weekend for them. Then we headed over to our cancha for our game. We picked up an extra girl, Vanessa, who was super clutch. We still lost, and I was really hurting. I tweaked my ankle a bit pulling after the second or third point. The team we played had 15 girls, and just ran like crazy, which was exhausting. Skills-wise, they weren't any better than we were, but we just couldn't run with them. That team had a bunch of really young girls (some as young as 9), but they were all serious ballers. I just wanted to take some of the older ones back to UF for FUEL. Most of them had nice throws and endurance like you wouldn't believe. During that whole game, the boys from the arepa place the day before were cheering for me. We walked by that stand after that game, and the one professed his love for me and kissed my hand, which was completely hilarious. I was very touched, but had to regretfully turn him down. :-)

We went straight to the ocean after our game and cooled off a bit there. Then we watched some men's games, namely a game with the team Marta played with in '05, Arena Roja. After the game, I traded my black FUEL jersey for one of their red jerseys. I was so amped about it. The guy I traded with was really nice. He gave my jersey to his girlfriend, which I think was nice, since the jerseys were pretty new for them, I think.

That's all for now. I think I can fit the rest of the vacation into just one more post... hopefully.

As an aside, Fourth of July came and went. Nothing too special. Thomas had a party. I brought a bunch of frisbee people. I had a lot of fun. My frisbee friends really had fun. My students really are that cool.

Craig came to visit. It was really nice. It was too short of a visit (48 hours? not even), but nice to see him either way. He was super stressed about China, but if it's any consolation, at least he knows he has a job, unlike me. I'm still waiting. I'm expecting to hear for sure in the next week or so. I'm practically dying of nerves. Hold my hand someone, anyone?

Colombia Continued!

Friday was probably one of our more boring days, if only because most of it was spent traveling. I woke up at nine, and Marta had already been out for nearly 2 hours working on getting her passport. She was supposed to call the hostel at 9:30 to let me know when she'd be back, so I had to hang around there a bit. I packed up a bit and went downstairs to use the internet. Around 10:15, she hadn't called yet, so I figured she'd be pretty busy. As such, I went back upstairs and finished packing and got ready to head out for some breakfast. When I got downstairs, the lady at the front desk told me that Marta had called and that she should be back soon. So, instead of breakfast, I hung out a bit more. She got there right around 10:30, passport in hand.

We called the bus place and had them reserve a spot for us on the 11 a.m. puerta a puerta bus to Santa Marta. This was the single most expensive thing I bought on the trip at just under 20 bucks (37000 pesos). We had breakfast at the same place I ate the day before.

Then we hit the road. The bus was nice. It had air conditioning (thank GOD) and was pretty roomy. I got the back row, aisle seat so I had plenty of leg room too! The bus ride was REALLLLLY long, and boring. They did have a t.v., and we watched The Changeling, the Angelina Jolie movie where her son gets kidnapped and then the LAPD replaces him with another kid who isn't hers. Unfortunately the sound was really low and, in the back of the bus, I couldn't hear parts. Luckily, there were Spanish subtitles, which I was pretty consistently able to translate.

The total trip was about four hours. We finally got to Santa Marta. Then we had to take a taxi to Bello Horizonte, which is a beach just a bit south of Santa Marta/el Rodadero. We got to the beach and found the tourney HQ, but Alfonso, the TD wasn't there. While we were waiting, we happened to see Mikey Marshall, Cathy's (from my frisbee team) brother, whom I know fairly well. It was crazy, and totally unexpected. Cathy's family is from Santa Marta, but we had no idea that her family would be there. Cathy was coming two weeks later, but the rest of her family was already there. It was just really crazy because Cathy obviously knew that Marta and I would be in Santa Marta for the tournament because we had told her about it, and she knew her brother would be there, yet she never told us, and we still managed to run into each other. Small world.

A bit later, we found the TD and our team captain, Chile. She was really nice, but we found out that they had already played their game for that day. We also found out that they only had 3 girls, plus two random pick-ups they found at the beach that day. So, the following day, we would be playing savage, pretty much. We went and watched the boys team from Maracaibo that came with our team. After that, we went back to the apartment that the teams were staying with and kind of made ourselves at home on the floor of the apartment on mattresses.


That night for dinner, we went into el Rodadero, and went to a restaurant called PailaNaki, which is "cocina fusion" whatever that means. Basically, it was this cute restaurant that serves dishes cooked primarily on the big open girll-top that is kind of like a japanese steakhouse without the show. Instead, there is just one, and tables all over, and a bar right in front of the cooktop. Marta and I naturally opted for the bar to watch the cooking. We each ordered rice dishes. Mine was rice, chicken, pork loin, veggies and chicharrón, which is basically like porkrinds, but more delicious. It's really common in Latin America, and is often served as a snack or part of other dishes. The cook was named Salvador and he was really nice. He knew a little English and he practiced it on me, and I got to practice my Spanish with him. That dinner was really fun, and the restaurant was really nice (easily the nicest we went to during the trip). We took several pictures of the place, which I've posted.
xoxo,
A

Back in the States

Well, Colombia was absolutely amazing. I wish I could have posted more after the second day, but I just didn't really have the opportunity to. A lot of the time I was too wiped out by our busy days or I just forgot to or didn't get to an internet cafe. I guess to start I should talk about Wednesday night.

We went to a bar down the street called Cafe Havana (it was Cuban-themed) where they had a live band. It was awesome! They were really quite good and we enjoyed that for a bit. The drinks were really expensive (7000 pesos/$3.50 for aguila beer) Here are some pictures of that (I still have to figure out how to get videos uploaded):


Anyhow, on Thursday, I had to spend the first half of the day by myself while Marta was out working on getting her cédula. I went next door to a little restaurant that was run by two young girls who I later found out were 17 and 19, which was pretty crazy. I ordered arepa con queso, una porcion de piña and café con leche. There was an adorable little family sitting next to me. They were British and had a son who was probably 4. The whole family speaks spanish, in addition to english, and the little boy cried out, "pero quiero miel" when the girls forgot to give him honey with his cereal and yogurt and fruit bowl. It was adorable because he was so little and it was so very unexpected. I met an older gentleman (now retired, probably about 60) who was from Germany and we carried on a conversation in Spanish over our breakfasts. It was very interesting being able to communicate with him all in Spanish. Neither he nor I were perfect, but we communicated quite effectively and I got to meet someone totally new and unexpectedly. Then I headed off to look around the city a bit by myself.

I was a little nervous about walking around by myself mostly because of how everyone stared at me and hooted and hollered regularly at my blonde hair, fair skin, long legs, and unusual height. I was nervous I'd be harassed by someone begging or something. You certainly can't deny that the street vendors target me as a tourist who they could sell their wares to. As such, I decided to stay relatively close to wear the hostel was. I took a big loop around some of the streets, pretty much. I walked down to a little plaza type place that Marta had told me about that had this big bright yellow church on one side with statues of three people walking in front. I sat there and read for a bit, just enjoying the open air and freedom. A donkey-drawn cart strolled by and I people watched a bit. Then I headed further west out to where the water is, and walked along the street where the water was. It was mostly boating waters and there wasn't much beach, but it was still nice walking. I didn't really know where I was, but I ended up walking up to where the Convention Center is and took some pictures of that and an old theater, the Tetro Cartagena, which was very pretty. Then I headed back down the street our hostel was on. I hung out there for a little bit, expecting Marta to be back soon for lunch.
It took longer than expected and I was getting really hungry so I decided to walk down to the corner store and try to get some bread or snack type things to hold me over till lunchtime. Right after I walked out, there was a guy in front of me walking who was staying at our hostel and he introduced himself. His name was Guillaume and he was from Quebec but had been in Colombia for a month studying geology for his master's degree, which is interesting, I suppose. He was looking for someplace to eat and wanted to go to Cafe del Mar, which Marta and I had seen earlier. I told him roughly where it was. We started talking and I ended up walking all the way there with him. Cafe del Mar is on the top of the wall that surrounds the historic part of the city (la ciudad murallada) and has a beautiful view of the city and of the water and surrounding area. Marta and I had hung out up there earlier. It turned out that Cafe del Mar was closed and we walked to la Plaza de Santo Domingo, which is a plaza with lots of restaurants, a sort of much smaller verison of the plaza mayor in madrid. It was touristy and significantly more expensive than anything else in Cartagena (20-30 thousand pesos, or 10-15 bucks)

I didn't eat anything because I knew I would be meeting up with Marta for lunch a little bit later. We walked back to the hostel and found Marta there. We went to Kokoriko for lunch/dinner/lunner/dinch/whatever you want to call it. Kokoriko is a fast-food chicken type place. It looks just like a fast food place when you walk in, but you sit down and someone comes and takes your order. But everything is surved in plastic throw away cups and with plastic forks and knives. It was weird. I had fried chicken, salad with corn carrots and peas and french fries. It was delicious.

Then we hung out a bit at our hostel and whatnot. We went to a panaderia and had bread for dinner. Guave and arequipe filled breads and cheese bread and we had postobon soda, which is a fruit soda that is super common in Colombia.

That evening we had one of our only other nights out of the entire trip. We went to a bar across the street above a hostel. We got mixed drinks at half price because the bartended had to make extras for a photographer to take pictures of for the bar's website. Since he had to make them and they weren't specifically for anyone, we got to get them for half price. We went to the bar with about a half dozen people from the hostel we were staying with. Most of them were Irish, but there were a couple Americans, and Australian or two, and a French girl in the mix. On the roof of the bar there was a sitting area that had beautiful views of the city and of Castillo de San Felipe, which was all lit up and looked really pretty. After that, we headed to the apartment of one of the american guys (Shawn). He was renting the apartment and it was right in the middle of la ciuded murallada, which was cool. We hung out there for a little bit, listening to lots of Michael Jackson (RIP) and then we headed home pretty early because marta had another early morning ahead of her the next day.

El Castillo de San Felipe

Coming up: the journey to Santa Marta, Rodadero, y Bello Horizonte, and the 7th annual Beach Ultimate Tournament in Santa Marta, Colombia.

xoxo,
A

Un dia de adventura

Today was a day of adventure indeed. We didn´t get to do too much sightseeing, in the traditional sense of the word, but we certainly saw some sights. Marta had to go to the gobernacion building in the walled part of the city to woek on getting her cedula and passport stuff straightened out. When we got to the gobernacion, we found out that she had to go get her photos taken at a little photo shop a few blocks down the road. We got the photos and then we had to go to this other government building... the registraduria? something like that.

It is just this little building hidden off the street several long blocks away. She went inside this little two-story building, hoping this would be the answer, but instead the guy at the entrance basically was no help. He took us upstairs and then took Marta into some room (I didn´t go, instead, I stayed outside the door, and got stared at by roughly 8 people who had never seen such a tall blonde pale giant before...). Marta came out of the room, dissapointed and frustrated as can be because they basically were like, no, this is no good, to her old cedula which we already knew because it had been CANCELLED. So, she had to go down to a banco and pay for the fee for a new cedula and then she went back and the guy again told her she had to go elsewhere... and by that he meant to a completely different part of Cartagena on the other side of town, behind a public library in some tiny building.

So, we decided to take a brief break from Cedula hunting and walked/took a bus to Bocagrande, a place that kind of jutts out into the ocean from the main part of Cartagena. It´s got lots of pretty beach space and a lot of taller buildings and touristy type places. we saw a blockbuster video and a McDonalds there. Also, puma store and quicksilver stores. We ate at a crepes place (Crepes & Waffles, it´s named) and it was DELICIOUS. We split a savory (mozz cheese, basil, fresh and dried tomatoes) and a sweet (nutella & banana, is there anything else) Also, chocolate milkshake! We walked along the beach a bit, went to a shopping market like publix. Then we took a taxi to this rando library that Marta had to go to for her cedula. There, the guys who were working at this little desk basically told her they had given out all the numbers to see people already (I gues it´s like the post office or the deli counter where you wait for your number to be called, except there is a limit to the number of people they can see in a single day. They did inform her, however, that ¨If you do something for me, I could do something for you¨, basically asking for a bribe to get her in.

She said no, so we caught a bus to this other place ou could go to do the same thing. On the way there, Two payasos (clowns) came into our bus and did a little routine and one had this horrible laugh that was like a indicator of a punch line. It was terrible sounding. We stopped at this little building, which was behind a gas station down this road where there were literally NO signs and you had to have telepathy to know it was there. We found it and went inside, and this guy gave her a number and we waited for her to be let in. While we were waiting some other people came in and sat and waited, I guess for the same thing Marta was waiting for. This one older lady started talking to marta and wanted to know how old I was and I told her 22, and she said I looked younger than that (should I be insulted or happy? At 22, I feel like its not a bad thing or a good thing) Then Marta got called and the lady talked to me. This other guy also asked how tall I was and I had to convert to cm which was hard to do on the fly from 75 inches. The older lady thought Marta was my mom, and I was like nope. We don´t look alike at all. She asked me what I was studying and whatnot. She thought Marta was learning English and I was learning Spanish. I was like, well not exactly. All of this was conducted in Spanish, mind you. :-) Anyways, the lady there wouldn´t complete her paperwork because she didn´t know her bloodtype. So Marta has to get some kind of bloodwork done or something.idk

A note about buses and driving in Colombia. People are crazy drivers. Our taxi driver rolled down his window and just started yelling at this guy who cut him off earlier and almost got us in an accident. It was crazy. There are so many sudden stops and intense horn honking. I wish I could just film a ride so you could have an idea about how crazy it is. Also, the buses are public, but they are all privately own, so basically they have no set routes or stops. You just kind of stand up when you want to be let off and they just pull over and stop very briefly for you to hop off. It´s about 50 cents to take a bus pretty much anywhere. Also, since all the buses are personally owned, they are all pimped out by their drivers. It´s crazy. For example, every bus has carpet on the dashboard and a special shift cover made of the same material. There are often lights (of the blue and red and yellow variety) that flash regularly. Also, images of the virgen carmen, the protector of drivers. Also, weird-ass curtains. It´s like a crazy version of pimp by bus.

After that, we took another bus back into El Centro. We went to El Exito, which is kind of like a walmart. I got some caramels and some gold havainas sandals. We got an arepa from a street vendor which was delicious and greasy. We got a bit turned around when we left and couldn´t find our way back immediately. We kind of wandered aimlessly, stopped in a bakery and got roscones (sp?) de guayaba which, paigey, you would adore.

Then we finally got back on track. We passed through the park that had monkeys, but we couldn´t find the monkeys. Instead, we saw a bunch of kids prepping for a skating competition. They were all wearing rollerblades and had these uniform type things from different schools and stuff. It was so cool and cute. Anyways, we were walking around the park and then headed back the hostel for showers and dinner. We went to this little restaurant around the corner a ways that had a lot fewer touristy people and Marta got soup and her soup had a chicken foot in it. No joke. Naturally, I took a photo, so that´ll be up later.

We took a picture of Casa Viena on our way home from dinner.

I have to figure out what I´m doing tomorrow. Marta has to get up early(8am) to find out what blood type she has at a doctors and go down to the cedula place. Hopefully I can find someone here at the hostel to hang out with and see some places. I don´t know, I just don´t really want to venture out on my own. Pretty much all day today EVERY guy that passed by stopped and stared or said something ridiculous, either all the english they knew or, if they knew no english, lots of spanish stuff. Often a guessing of the height (2 meters, I heard once, which is an overestimate). It was just a bit strange.

That´s all for now!

xoxo,
A

Day 2... the beginning

Delicious empanada and coffee for breakfast. Time to go exploring I suppose.

Last night, I slept pretty soundly although marta says that I was talking in my sleep. About bicycles or something. And I was peddling in my sleep. haha. whoops.

Anyways, today marta is gong to the gobernacion for her passport, and I will hang out somewhere... palacio de la inquisicion? Who knows really.

Last night a group of soldiers walked by our hostel. There were about a dozen of them, all toting very large guns. It was kind of surreal. There are a lot of police most everywhere, especially in the historic part of town, where all the tourists are. I suppose that's a pretty good thing, all things considered.

This morning alone, a dozen males have honked their horns or whistled at me. The sight of a tall blonde girl roaming the streets of Cartagena is too intriguing to pass up on. Nothing I hadn't experienced in Spain, although the volume is a bitter larger. In spain, there were a few blondes walking around. Here there aren't nearly as many. Hopefully I'll be able to get on later today and post again.

Hasta luego

xoxo,
A

En colombia!!

Marta and I made it to Colombia safe and sound. So far no huge hiccups, although it turns out marta has to get a new Colombian passport and Cedula tomorrow. That leaves me to explore a bit on my own, hopefully at the palacio de la inquisicion o lo que sea.

The plane flight was smooth, nothing crazy at all. Immigration went fine (not including Marta´s little passport snafu). Everyone in the immigration booths was wearing masks and rubber gloves, which was a bit intense. Swine flu pandemic fears are in the air I suppose. We exchanged out money and for about 2 dollars caught a taxi to where we thought we were staying, Casa Viena. Unfortunately, the website and photos had very little in common with the actual place. It was, in fact, pretty much a dump. We went across the street to an internet cafe to try to find other options. No real success, just a lot of hoping. We went back across the street to a little juice/smoothie stand and ask that lady where we could eat and if she knew of any hostels. Luckily, she was incredibly helpful on both accounts. We had lunch of arepas (con queso for me and con carne for marta) and the headed off to Hotel Marlin, where we are staying in a private room for 20,000 pesos/night, or roughly 10 dollars.

Already we´ve walked around a lot of the walled city, which is the historic part of the city. We went to a couple parks (there were little monkey like things EVERYWHERE) and got followed by a creepy homeless guy, and watched traditional dances in a plaza/parque area. We walked out to the wall and looked out over the ocean, which was super cool. I hope that tomorrow we can go to the Castillo and look around there and maybe hit up the beach...

Anyways, I think I´m gonna hit up a little food stand a couple places down and try to get a shower and sleep. My hostel has internet so maybe I will get to post more after all.

p.s. I tried some incredible sweet bread, pan con queso, and some frutas that are called something like marmoles...?

p.p.s It is SOOOO hot and humid.

T-minus 24 hours...

Tomorrow I leave for Colombia. I've got pretty much everything all packed up, with the exception of liquids and toiletries. Packing was fairly straightforward and simple, although I have NO idea exactly how using my new backpack will go. It's basically got just two spots for clothing, with openings at the top and bottom. It has a lot of other pockets that I'm using for little things (toiletries, socks, and wet wipes), but all my clothing is in one giant pocket that I'm nervous I'm going to have to dig through to find anything. Luckily, we're in the same place for a couple days at a time, so I should have the opportunity to keep organized.

I went to church on Sunday, which was, to say the least, an interesting experience. I haven't been to any church service since Christmas Eve, probably, and I've almost forgotten exactly how strange it can be. To tell the truth, I don't miss it. Rev. Richter gave a message about fathers, and I see where he was coming from, but I can't help but see where my opinions conflict with the church's. The idea of a male being the head of the family, and women submitting to their husbands. The idea of a husband and wife being the only way to restore American "morality". It was just a tough pill to swallow.

I saw the Michel's and Richard Smith, my old youth pastor who was in town with his youth group in Charlotte for a mission trip. It was nice to see all of them. They all seemed to be curious about what I was up to now that I've graduated and it was simultaneously nerve-wracking and invigorating to say, "you know what, I'm not sure exactly" and see the looks on their faces.

I am thrilled to be heading to Colombia. By this time tomorrow, I will be en route, about an hour from landing in Cartagena. I've been checking and double checking everything for my trip. So you know, I'm not bringing my laptop to Cartagena, and I probably won't be hitting up any internet cafes, so don't expect any updates until next Tuesday, June 30, when I return. I will be sure to take LOTS of pictures, and remember everything. I will try to write everything down the old-fashioned way so I don't forget.

xoxo,
A

Summertime is funtime.

So this weekend has been sunshine and poolside relaxing.

The Islands of Adventure trip with the ELI got canceled, so my Saturday suddenly freed up. I was pretty disappointed to not be going to IOA, because I've never been before (crazy, right?) but I did have a pretty relaxing day which was really nice.

I went to the mall in the morning to run some errands. I had a free VS panty coupon to cash in, a bunch of cards to buy for anniversaries, father's day, etc., plus I needed new lotion (rainkissed leaves from bath & body works is AMAZING), and a new pair of pants to wear to my interview because my old pair are too short. I'm also in the process of trying to find a shirt to wear underneath the jacket. So far, I'm not having much luck in that department.

Anyhow, the Sephora in the Oaks mall is open and I explored around there for a bit. OMG, it's so fabulous.

Then, I went to the Estates pool around 1:30 and hung out there till 5:30 or so. Played some pool volleyball & basketball. Pool basketball was fun until these random guys started playing that were SO sketchy and gross.

Today, hit up the pool for an hour or so, and more or less just hung out around the apartment. I am getting pretty tan, which is, I guess, exciting. So far I've avoided any real sunburns (knock on wood), but the summer has really only just begun. Hopefully by the time I get to Colombia, I'll be tan enough to sort of fit in, in spite of my blonde hair. ha.

All in all, a good weekend.

So, I leave for Colombia in 23 days. I need a backpack (like, a big one) for everything, since we'll be moving around a fair amount within Colombia, and I don't want to have to carry around a duffel bag or a suitcase. The problem is, I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. I've been on some websites, but I have no idea what siza bag I should get. Obviously, I want something that I'll be able to use a bunch, but it has to be small enough to be a carry-on. Any suggestions or knowledge would be greatly appreciated in that regard...

xoxo,
A