Story Time

“We wander for distraction, we travel for fulfillment.” -Hilaire Belloc    

     Well, my time in Bahia finally came to a close and I said my goodbyes to the life I had established in that town.  One last meal at my favorite empanada stand, one last swim in the ocean, and one last night drinking beer around the table chatting about whatever the wind blew our way.  Yeah, the last month had been good to me, but as with everything, it had to end.  The girls came out to Bahia for my final two nights and it was good to see their smiling faces and catch up on the last month of our lives.
     I was able to persuade them to make our next stop Puerto Lopez, my second favorite town on the coast.  Here we are, staying in the same hostel I was in a little over a month ago, and life is just as sweet.  Of all the new things I’ve experienced on this trip, the new people I’ve met, the places I’ve been, I don’t think I will find much that I enjoy as much as sitting and watching the sun stain the sky pink while it sinks into the ocean.
     I don’t think we have the next step of this journey planned yet, or maybe the girls have that figured out already, I don’t know.  What I do know is that we have ten days to get ourselves out of Ecuador and into Peru (our visa expires March 17th).
     Temporarily stationary, I find my mind wandering back on the last three months of my life.  The lessons I could only learn from this trip, and the self discovery you go through without even intending on it.  I was talking to my mom a few weeks back, when I was still volunteering at the hostel, and I told her that the fulfillment one gets from traveling is broken down into three parts: 5% self discovery, 15% new culture, and 80% the people you meet.  As a peer helper in high school we were taught to appreciate the saying “How can you judge someone if you haven’t heard their story?”  So true I have found those words.  Everyone has a story, not everyone’s story sticks with you as time passes.
     I look back at my story, making mental cliff notes for the next person who asks, and I have to say it’s pretty much perfect.  Not in the arrogant way of my whole life has been cars and money and whatever I want I get, not in the way that my story is better than yours, not even in the way of when I tell my story to people they will envy it, but in the way that whatever it was that lead up to this point in my life, it was plenty good enough for me to still have a smile on my face.  Perfect.  If I’m the main character then I have had one hell of a supporting cast up to this point.  It’s had ups and downs, twists and turns, just like anything you would read by Dickens, Twain, or Shakespeare.  How can anything be so bad if you still slap that smile on your face.  I have no idea what the future will hold, for any of us, I’ll just try and enjoy the ride.  Sooner or later the sun sets on everything only to rise again.  Sooner or later the plot will thicken.

Bogota

"One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple." -Jack Kerouac


     Sitting in a penthouse apartment over looking downtown Bogota I realize this isn't exactly "roughing it".  We lucked out with our stay in Bogota.  My older brother has a friend, Adam, that has been living in Bogota for the past four months, and he very graciously let us stay with him.  He had pizza ordered by the time we got here, took us to a few of his favorite eateries, let the girls sleep in his bed, made us dinner one night, and basically went above and beyond to make our stay the best it could be.

     Despite being 274 miles apart, it took us nearly 12 hours by bus to get from Medellin to Bogota.  There are no highways here.  Our bus weaved up a winding two lane road, surrounded by the most beautiful landscapes you can imagine, ignoring double yellow lines and passing trucks and other buses until at long last we arrived in Bogota.

     Bogota is Colombia's capital.  Home to almost 9 million people, it is the third highest capital city in South America (8,612 feet) behind La Paz and Quito.  This city was not made for someone 6 feet tall or above.  I have hit my head on a few over hanging signs, the roof of the taxi,  and struggled to squeeze in to some of the tables at cafe's.  I also seem to draw a lot of attention when we walk down the street, but that's more likely because I am a gringo.


     I'm would venture a guess that Colombia does not have 'smog tests' for vehicles.  We have been blasted with black billowing exhaust from countless buses and trucks.  Near the main roads the air is polluted which, mixed with the altitude, makes breathing a bit difficult.  Stepping into the less crowded areas the air clears up quickly.  It is surprising that the sky still manages to be a deep blue when the clouds part, rather than the ugly brown that stains the sky above Los Angeles.  


     The drivers in Colombia are crazy.  I don't mean that every so often one will dodge between trucks and cabs, almost hitting one.  Everyone is all over the road but we are yet to see an accident.  It is a controlled chaos on the roads.  I find that it is much less stressful not to pay attention to the driver and what is happening in front of you.


     Police presence is everywhere, but I think it is more for intimidation than anything else.  There are a few dodgy areas that Adam told us not to venture to at night.  He also advised to crack a window every time we enter a cab because on occasion cab drivers pump a gas through the vents that causes you to pass out.  Once unconscious they rob you and dump you on the road.  I have also heard a few horror stories about bus rides but I'll wait until we get to Ecuador before I share those... Don't want to jinx it.


     We leave Bogota on Friday and head west to the small town of Salento.  I find that I have become a voluntary PR rep for Colombia.  Is there crime? Sure, but what major city is 100% safe.  The people of Colombia are always so quick to help out.  They smile at me as I struggle to explain something in Spanish and then help me out with a quick game of charades.  That's pretty much all I have to share at this point.  The next step is, once again, relatively unknown.  If I do not have internet access then it may be a while until my next post so, just in case, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

This blog...

     This is my first blog so bear with me.  Let me just briefly explain what is going on here.  Myself and two of my friends (Jackie Blumenthal and Angelica Barrera) will be leaving December 4th to embark on a backpacking trip though out South America.  I will do my best to keep you up-to-date on what we are doing but I'm not sure how often I will have internet.

     

     The basics of the blog are at the TABS at the top of the screen (Home, About Me, Pictures, The Things I Carry, Here and There, Random Musings).  Most of them are self explanatory but just in case I will fill you in on each.  "Home" is the page you are on. Got it? Good.  "About Me" is a brief bio of me.  "Pictures" will be a page that I post the most exciting pictures that I take on my cheap 5 megapixel camera.... If I can figure out how to post them.  "The Things I Carry" is a list of everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, that I am taking with me. The purpose of that is to try and show you why I am wearing the same clothes in just about every picture.  "Here and There" is a place I will be writing what I miss the most about the USofA and what I would be doing if I were there and comparing it to what I am doing in South America.  "Random Musings" is basically if I have a thought that I absolutely have to share with you all, but it doesn't fit in any of the other categories.  Warning: When I say random I mean very very random.  You don't know how weird I am...

Apart from all that I will trying to do this trip in the cheapest manner possible.  I have already spent around $300 on immunizations and malaria tablets and close to the same amount on gear.  We leave at 10:55pm from LAX on the 4th, stop in Florida, then after a 4 hour lay-over we are off to Colombia.  I hope this blog is intriguing enough that you follow along!

PS If anyone knows how to get music to play on the blog I would love to know you're secret.