Well I finally got myself out of Tampa. For now.
I am in Bogota, Colombia visiting my lovely friends Melanie and Gus. Melanie and I met during my semester in Argentina, and she met Gus also in Argentina. The two of them currently reside in the coolest apartment I have ever seen. They are also two of my most favorite people in the world and here are some reasons why:
- Gus is Argentine, but lived in London for a few years. So he speaks English with a British accent which is confusing at first but really fabulous.
- Melanie and I went to Chile together for a few days once. We walked everywhere in terrible weather and still had the greatest time.
- They are letting me stay in their apartment for a week. And Gus’s only request was that I bring him a special zombie police action figure that he could only ship to places in the US.
My home for the next week.
So backing up to my arrival and that entire process. This was my first trip abroad by myself. And by that I mean without a program guiding me through the airport stuff. All I knew was either Gus or Melanie would be somewhere waiting for me.
I got to customs and for some reason that always makes me nervous. I know enough Spanish to be able to communicate all the necessary information but every time I speak to a customs official I just forget the entire language. Seriously, I had to ask for the English of “Turismo?”
Baggage claim is this vast room with huge belts and one side made of glass windows. People waiting to pick up their friends and family can’t enter the airport so they just line up against the windows, faces pressed to the glass and staring. The belt from my flight took forever to get going, so I exchanged some money (thousands of pesos to my name now) and scanned the crowds outside for my friends. I noticed one female with cool pants waving really hard at someone. I thought it must be nice to have friends waiting and waving at you. Then I realized the girl was MY friend, and she was waving at me!
I ran up to the glass and this is where things got awkward because, well, there was this glass barrier between us. So we just sat there waving at each other, unable to say anything except “OH MY GOD, HI!” really big with our mouths. I didn’t really know what to do next so I just wandered back over to the bags. Finally got mine and somehow made it through the crowds of people waiting outside to Melanie.
And here I am in her wonderful apartment. Close to the airport, and in the northern part of the city I guess. I haven’t done much besides eat a cool Colombian lunch made by the cleaning lady and take a nap. The altitude is getting me a little bit, so lots of water (the beer at lunch probably didn’t help).
“Ajiaco.” Corn was perfect.
Mom and Dad, so far so good. Thanks to everyone for the love and support. For the next several days I will be getting to know as much of this city as possible. Chau for now!
Roses for Rosa 