COLOMBIA--- my drug of choice is...

Coffee. Maybe because “café” is always café con leche and not the straight mud which my Mom drinks… but I’m not making excuses for myself. I drank it. I actually sought it out. Some days I had 2 cups. Friday I bought a small bag of beans covered with chocolate. It said 12 units on the box, so I thought- no problem, I can’t get too wired off of 12 chocolate covered beans. Well, there had to be more than 60 or 70 of those little buggers because by the time I ran into Meow Man I was jumping out of my skin. I guess the 12 units was how many individual bags were in the box. Oops. (I’m looking for them everywhere now)
Summing up Colombia (it’s with an O!)…it is truly a country of extremes. Extreme weather for one- unbearable heat concentrated on the coast, namely Barranquilla, Cartagena, and Santa Marta; and then there’s brrrrrrr Bogota, which I am surprised and thrilled that I didn’t get sick after a week with sniffling Paola. Security is another- sometimes taxi drivers will back up into oncoming traffic (namely fast buses), in some areas it is awfully dangerous with guerrilla lurking and keeping everyone in fear-taking over cities and throwing families into the street… and other areas it couldn’t be safer- with security guards everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE, friendly, peaceful commoners that would do almost anything for you and drivers for the most part are super cautious. Food is the 3rd extreme which I will name. It can be incredibly bland or super duper picante. Also some streets you will find only native food and restaurants, and the next will be commercially covered with Dunkin’Donuts, Dominos, McDonalds, KFC….but definitely no Star Bucks. Wealth is a given in all countries, but in Colombia it’s SO extreme. Brilliant, gargantuan homes in the hills and mountains and just a few mountains away are the millions and millions of barrios stuck one to another, and of course the people in the street that have nothing- sometimes entire families as I mentioned above. Drinks are worth mentioning, namely because you can find the best hot drinks here with coffee and hot chocolate, but the cold ones are scheit. One night we even got microwaved lemonade, maybe the waitress thought it would make it better? I don’t know. Diet manzana isn’t my thing and the beer, well I don’t know that South America is good with the whole beer thing. People is my last mention of extremes. You can find some real darkies and white, white, whiteys with radiant green and blue eyes. Some aren’t worth a glance and … well many make one turn in awe of their beauty. Some people mentioned to me that Medellin has the most beautiful girls in the world. Blah blah blah, yeah they were cute, but come on, everywhere I go- there are supposedly “the most beautiful girls in the world” Ukraine, Czech Republic, Hungary, Venezuela, and now specifically Medellin, Colombia. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t give a rip about all this chit chat about beautiful girls, I am much more interested in where the most beautiful of the opposite sex reside. Colombia has lotsJ About bums, well they have their extremes too- you have the smart Colombian bums and the dumb ones, the old ones, the young ones, the quiet ones, the loud ones, the grateful ones, the ones that snarl at you even if you give them something. I shared a picture of the bum family- they sort of had a home though, on the top of that wagon. I also saw a few that were all too young to be on the street. One whose image will forever stay in my mind is a little boy, about 7 or 8. He was walking-fast-down the street with a carrying bag strapped across his chest, and a short, sturdy walking stick. He was on a mission and definitely wasn’t headed home to get warm and cozy under a blanket- I could tell, that just didn’t exist for him. See, now if I was a bum in Colombia, specifically Bogota, I would gather up all my money just to get a ticket to bum somewhere warm. I watched them building fires at night and snuggling close to one another on the cold pavement… One more extreme with people (1-color/beauty 2-bums) is the workers. 90 year old workers 9 year old workers, probably younger ..and older. Both ages will be on the street selling pieces of gum or candies, coming onto the buses and singing for money, anything to make a buck. The place we went on Sunday, the kids basically ran the place. Their was a little girl in the bathroom collecting the coins, a boy kept the fire going for the soup and meats, he also wiped the tables at the restaurant, another little girl helped her sister serve the food to wherever the people wanted to eat it- near a campsite, by the lake, on the mountain. Ok, so you get the idea, it’s an extreme place.
I went to many museums while I was in my 2nd country in S.A: Botero Museum, National Museum, Gold Museum, Maloka (science), and I definitely found out something about myself and museums. I don’t like them unless they have a foto exhibition. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see some stuff, gold is cool, and statues, etc. but once you throw history into the mix- I’m bored out of my gourd. Whereas I can spend hours in one room full of photographs, I love them. I visited the salt mines outside of Bogota, where there is a extraordinary underground cathedral made of salt. It is enormous, with the stations of the cross outlining the church itself through deep curvy tunnels. I went on a mountain hike with Paola and her co-workers and saw one of Colombia´s natural lakes and a superb view. I learned that the tall grass that I passed by on my way to Bogota wasn´t grass at all, it was sugar cane- tall, tall sugar cane. I love the juice! I didn’t go to many beaches however, I have to attribute my ever-fading tan to that. 21 days in passionate Colombia- only 4 in a hotel. Thanks to lovely Lilibeth in Barranquilla, Joel (Kansas trainee) in Santa Marta, Kelly in Medellin and my dear friend Paola (who also showed me, the technology deficient, how to put links in my blog!) in Bogota who put up with me for a full week! Thanks for showing me your country and cities- you did a fine job and I shall return someday!!!!

Differences from Venezuela:
People walk in crosswalks
Buses have a much sharper braking system
Driving isn’t an Olympic sport
Taxis are metered
Shower water (in Bogota) is warm!!!!
Water is drinkable (in Medellin and Bogota)
Less walkers- still lots, but considerably less
Hot dog stands are less prevalent (a pro and con late at night)
Chicha doesn’t have sprinkles
Winter jackets are worn outside bus trips
Mountains are always in sight… ok, that might be the same
Maids, I love them- especially Luzmeri in Barranquilla. I’ll come back her someday...ok, she’s already taken, but she’d be my choice for sure.