Colombia

I am currently in Cucuta, Colombia. I dont really know how to work the punctuation on this computer so I will write a very grammatically incorrect blog entry. I left my apartment in Buenos Aires at 315AM on Sunday, the 12th (also know as Gail Amundsons birthday) and my cab driver was falling asleep during the 30 or 45 minute drive to the airport. I had to keep asking him weird questions or making awkward small talk to make sure he was still awake because I saw his eyes drooping in the rear view mirror. Once I got to the airport around 4AM I tried to check in but they ended up telling me that I needed a reservation number for my onward flight out of Colombia because you cant enter a foreign country without proof of onward travel. I then went to the internet cafe at the airport in order to access my email and my reservation number but the whole server was down so I had to call my host sister, Candelaria at 4AM and ask her to go into my email and text message me all of my flight information. Luckily she did it more than willingly and quickly, so there were no real problems. I was ready to board the plane and head through customs before they even opened the security zone at 5AM. I ended up waiting in the airport until 640AM when they boarded my flight to Bogota, Colombia. The whole time I was sitting across from a Nun in her full nun wear and trying to not fall asleep, as I did not sleep at all.

I made it to Bogota without any further complications and then had a ridiculously long layover before my flight left for Cucuta, my final destination. While I was waiting in the airport I was amused by the presence of a Dunkin Donuts and the fact that all of the Colombians bought big boxes of donuts to bring to their hometowns because I think the Dunkin Donuts in the airport may be the only one in Colombia. I also met a really nice family from Bogota ~ they were waiting for the flight for their two daughters to go visit family in Santa Marta, a beautiful coast town that I am going to have to come back to visit. Laura and her family were waiting for me in the airport when around 7 or 8PM I finalllllly made it to Cucuta. We went out to dinner and I was more than ready to go to sleep when we got home and I had gotten settled into my room.

Since then I have mostly just hung out with Laura and her family and friends. They are members of a much hugers version of the Saint Paul Tennis Club, it has 7 clay tennis courts, 2 connected pools and a golf course. Laura and I have played tennis three times and one day we even played doubles with some of her friends that we ran into while we were there. Swimming has also been nice too, but I am scared for my white person skin and getting any more sun as it is already bronzed to perfection and I am peeling in places that I didnt even get sunburnt. The food here is amazing and Lauras family has a housekeeper that cleans every day and makes our breakfast and lunch for us, so I have definitely been eating well. On Tuesday we made Hayacas, a Colombian tradition. They are like tamales wrapped in plantain leaves and filled with saffron rice, raisins, olives, capers, chicken, beef, and juicy sauces. They are something that everyone prepares together for Christmas adn then eats together.

Some interesting things that I have noticed... I am one of two natural blondes that I have seen in Colombia this week. Also, all of the motorcyclists wear reflective vests that have their license plate numbers on them in order to deter drive bys. Cucuta, where I am staying with Laura is really close to Venezuela, like I mentioned before. On Wednesday afternoon Laura, her mom Carolina and I all went to San Antonio, a town in Venezuela right across the border. We didnt need to show papers or anything to enter, we just had to drive on through. Not too much happened while we were there, we just went grocery shopping and bought some toiletries. Later that evening when I was with Laura and her friends driving around they just casually mentioned to me, oh hey, we are in Venezuela again, and it really surprised me how lax the border control is. I guess its really easy to cross unless Hugo Chavez goes on a whim and decides to close the border, and then all of the Colombians are stuck in Venezuela until he decides that they can leave again.

As far as the holidays go it is La Novena here right now, a celebration of the nine days before Christmas. It stated on Thursday and we sit downstairs by the lit up Nativity Scene, read from a little booklet (prayers) and then sing a song inviting Jesus into our souls. Its not taken too seriously in Lauras house but everyone does need to be present to pray. Ill leave it here for now and put up some pictures in the near future, although I havent taken too many. Un beso!