the countdown is on

Everytime she looks at me- its as if she has a corn cob up her you-know-what. She's messing up the order of the entire apartment- empty milk cartons in the sink, chairs in disarray, kitchen towels in on the refrigerator instead of the stove, and I KNOW she peeps into my room-but the pained look she gives me is by far the worst. This, after a 2 week period without Karen and she brings her mom back with her from Barquisimeto. Karen is bad enough by herself to live with. She blabs and blabs and blabs while standing in front of the TV, or in front of whatever I am doing at the moment, even the computer keyboard if she has to. I was trying to listen to Alejandro Sanz on some stupid awards show the other night and she stood in front of me with her loud, shreiking laugh and bright shining mouth full of metal and rubber bands to tell me why she was laughing so hard. "Karen, I don't care"...but she just kept on. She was convinced I needed to know that while I didn't let this strange woman (her mother) in the apartment right away- her mom had a belly ache and needed to poop. She must have tried to explain this in every possible way she could think of... actions and all...but my response was only of disgust. she wanted to make sure I understood. I don't know how the girls who lived here before did it. This chick is crazy. Pretty sure I'm not the easiest person to live with either- ask ANY one of my roomates, but she's out of hand.

Ok, now that that's off my chest I feel better and am ready to continue with bigger and better things. I got hit by a car last weekend. While rushing out of the metro mass rush I pushed against someone dropping their cell phone into the gap- gone forever, they should've had a tighter grip. I broke my 5th pair of sandals while being here and went barefoot at the bar all night. I got caught up watching a Seinfeld marathon before Saturday night fever in the comfort of the San Ignacio bar beds and bean bags. Phil Collins even distracted me with a televised concert for at least an hour. (I didn't think I would ever admit such a thing, but it was a good show)
Now, I am just continuing to procrastinate. I am leaving soon for Colombia. When? When you ask? well, that's just it. I haven't gotten my ticket yet. I think I'll head out Friday night towards Barranquilla by bus. Can I get some advice from seasoned land travelers to Colombia or Colombians? I am debating going through Cucuta or Maracaibo on my way to Barranquilla, (Cartagena, Medellín, and Bogota.) I heard that Maracaibo is slightly more tricky with mostly jungle, guerrillas, and a super long line for checking passports. Cucuta on the other hand, I've heard has had some situations that has caused them to have a bad name. Anyone want to shoot me some advice before I solidify my ticket? I would greatly appreciate it!

I didn't get hurt by the car hit... it was really just a bump in which I threw myself onto the hood to make the driver feel bad. It worked, he looked worried. And the only bad thing about going barefoot at the bar was cleaning my dogs for 20 minutes each the next day. I'm considering a pedicure before moving on, it's like $2.50

For those of you not on nomadlife.org: if you have some time to check out this site, it's really something www.nomadlife.org I was unable to pull myself away from it a few days ago. Stories about smoking chimps, marriage festivals, and other crazy stuff appears here. (check out stories from the 26th) It's also a great place to get a first hand read about other places in the world. These people are all just like me only in different places and tell amazing stories.

The long awaited t-shirt of the day saying is: TAKE ME AWAY, SO SWEET, SO GOOD, COOKIE GIRLS