Kären and Amanda go to Europe: Cars, Busses, Trains and Planes

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For the next few weeks, this blog will not be Adventures in Colombia... it will be about my travels in Europe!!! The school year ended a couple weeks ago so I packed up all my stuff, and flew home. But with just enough time to unpack and pack again for Europe. My brother is getting married in Bath, England in July. So, my best friend Amanda and I flew over early! We are spending a week in Paris, a week in London and then going to Bath for the wedding. Exciting!

We arrived in Paris today. So far it has been a lot of traveling... but we made it! I actually just had to look to see what day it is because it's been so crazy! We flew out of Seatac Wednesday morning and arrived in London Thursday morning. David and Hannah came to meet us at the airport with oyster cards for us to ride the tube. I'm learning British words, by the way. Okay, so I already knew that the subway was called the tube, but I did not know that you would need an oyster card to use it. Amanda and I also discovered you go to baggage reclaim, and instead of looking for an exit, you look for a way out sign.

Although we were exhausted from not really sleeping on the plane, we decided to try to stay up to try to get back on schedule. (London is 8 hours ahead of Seattle) I walked around with my cousins, and saw Big Ben, Westminister Abbey and the Thames. London is beautiful, and has lots of energy. It was funny how, even though it was definately London- it felt kind of... normal. Not foreign. I guess it's just a big contrast from being in Colombia where everything is sooo different from the US. The weather is just like Washington, too. Anyways, after we got back we were all invited to a barbeque with some of Hannah's friends. It was fun to meet people and put names with faces. Of course we stayed there later than we meant to, and we had to be up at a quarter to 4 to catch a bus and get to the train station. We missed the first bus, and ended up literally running to get checked in and on the train. But we made it!

We got into Paris, and took the subway to our hostel. When we went to check in though, they told us we couldn't check in until 4:00. So, no nap time yet! Tomorrow when we've gotten some sleep, we'll do more exploring. Today we went to a cafe for breakfast, walked around a little and saw some gardens. I love the wrought-iron balconies, the many cafes and the tree-lined sidewalks.

I'll try to keep updates, although the pictures will have to wait. But for now, I need to get some zzz's!

Jess and I at St. Margaret's church in London.

Learning the London Underground

Our tube stop in London and our metro stop in Paris.

Quick stop at Platform 9 3/4

No exit signs here.

Spending a day in Paris... with all our stuff.

In Le Jardin des Plantes

Cartagena

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As I'm wrapping up my Adventures in Colombia blog, I realize that I never posted any pictures from Cartagena. I only went there twice even though it was actually pretty close (about 2 hours away). My first weekend in Colombia, my mom, Dave, Elizabeth and I went to Cartagena. We all loved the bright colors, busy plazas and colonial architecture of old town. Built in the 1500's on the Caribbean, if Pirates of the Caribbean was real, it would have happened here. As in, there really were pirate attacks and stuff.... I thought we would have gone back more, but life happens, and often our weekends were filled with school stuff, or going to the beach, or we just decided to go somewhere new. Towards the end of the school year, Dave and I went back to Cartagena. This time we explored an old Spanish fortress complete with a system of tunnels! We also took a boat ride to a nearby beach, Playa Blanca.

A look at old town Cartagena

La plaza de los coches

Arranging sweets in el portal de los dulces.

Lots of windows with balconies and flowers.

Brightly adorned ladies sell fruit in a busy plaza- an icon of Cartagena.

Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas

A bird's eye view from the top of the fortress.

Canon stationed on top of the fort.

The system of tunnels within el Castillo.

Playa Blanca, a beach that lives up to its name.

Parque Tayrona

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Last weekend was the final 3-day weekend, so we decided the 3 amigos should go on one last trip. All of us had been to parts of Parque Tayrona, but none of us had been to the main park entrance. Which is kind of surprising considering all the wonderful things we've heard about it all year long. What is not surprising is that it was in fact, very wonderful!


We spent a night in Santa Marta. Always a good choice. Every time I go there I'm struck by how much more inviting, accessible and all around nicer it is than Barranquilla. It also always seems to be really hot, and this trip was no exception. We had breakfast on the waterfront, and it was already 98 degrees! Luckily, it was much cooler once we got to Parque Tayrona.

After a 2 hour walk through a very jungle-like forest, we arrived in Paradise. Literally, the place we stayed was called el paraiso. It was kind of like the camping version of a hostel. It had a restaurant, lockers, and tents and hammocks for rent. And it was on a spectularly beautiful beach. Even though I am ready to go home, ready to see my friends and family, ready to see evergreens again and wear a sweatshirt... it was hard to be in too much of a hurry to leave. Sunshine, a beautiful beach, good friends...

(pictures are from Elizabeth and Dave since I can't recharge my camera)

Fresh water stream on the beach= a good place to play.

Dave- hanging out with the Kogi.

Mmm... jugos.. I will definately miss the tropical juices.

Apparently bees like Maracuya juice too...

There he goes....

The bees also like the jam at breakfast...

...and the jam that spilled on the table.

I love that there is a chicken in the national park.

Ant crossing

This baby donkey was so cute! He looked like someone's favorite Eeyore.

Surfin'

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Elizabeth surfs, and her boyfriend Yoyi is an amazing surfer who also gives surf lessons. Yoyi has told me from the beginning of the year that he would give me a lesson whenever I wanted to try surfing. I’ve been pretty content to hang out on the beach watching. The idea of surfing seemed intimidating especially since I’d never even watched anyone surf before. Plus my sources told me surfing takes a significant amount of upper body strength, and I don’t have that. But after spending time on the tranquil Caribbean, watching Elizabeth surf and listening to her talk about surfing, I decided to go for it.

Our co-worker Diana and her friend wanted to learn to surf, so we all went to the beach together a few weeks ago. The sun was out, a great day to surf, although it was windy so the waves were a little rough. Yoyi had me practice standing up on the beach first and then we went out into the water. I attempted to stand up once, and didn’t make it. Not a big deal. As I went to pull the surf board back to me, a wave came and the surf board popped up and hit me on the nose! It hurt, but I was ready to try again. Or at least I thought I was, until Yoyi told me that I was bleeding. Apparently quite a bit! Later he told me that I had a bigote de sangre. So, my surfing attempt that day ended with me sitting on the beach holding ice cubes on my nose.

Another day with much smaller waves, another attempt…. Or rather many attempts…

Me, getting a lesson from Yoyi's friend Alex.

This involved a lot of me falling off...

Yeah, my knee shouldn't be on the surf board.

Well, if I can't stand, maybe I can kneel....

Success!!!

Misa and Mariachis at the Mall

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Today is Sunday and Mother's Day. I walked to church this morning, but found out that the second service had been canceled in order to have a special Mother's Day service with everyone. But I didn’t know that, so of course, I got there right when service was over. I decided to walk to the grocery store which is in a centro commercial. It’s a mall, and there’s usually hardly anyone there. But today when I walked in I heard music coming from upstairs, so I went to check it out.

The food court had been converted to a Mother’s Day mass! The tables had been moved aside and the chairs put into rows. The place was packed. All the chairs were taken. There are actually random events that are held at malls here pretty regularly. Not a whole lot at this mall, probably because not very many people go there in the first place. Although, I think they had a novena thing around Christmas time… and something for Valentine’s Day. But the idea of taking your mom to the mall for mass seemed really funny to me!

I watched people take communion and say some prayers… and then a mariachi band came! Why didn’t I bring my camera?! The mariachi band took their place up by the altar and began to play as the priest walked around sprinkling holy water on people in the “congregation.” Soon everyone, including the food court venders, was clapping along. After the mariachis finished, I had to wonder… would this Mother’s Day excursion include brunch at the Hamburger Corral? Or PikoRico? Maybe just some soft serve ice cream? Turns out most people probably had better things to do with the rest of their Mother’s Day because I only saw a handful of people get into lines for food.

Feliz Dia de las Madres!

Junior

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While Dave’s friend was visiting we went to a Junior game. Junior is Barranquilla’s futbol team, so of course, it is a huge deal here. Obviously, I’m not a sports person, but it seemed like something that should be done while I’m here. It was fun- lots of people in red and white striped shirts, lots of cheering and booing. Good times. Dave and Ben had to check their belts in at the beginning of the game which led to the belt situation. It was raining when we first got there and I think that might have been the coldest I’ve ever been outside in Barranquilla. But really, when I say cold, I mean not hot. I mean I was totally comfortable hanging out in shorts, flip-flops and a tank top.

Junior won the game. It was funny when it ended because it seemed pretty anti-climatic. They just stopped playing. I wasn’t even sure the game was over. The Junior fans all seemed upset about something, but Dave said they won the game. I don’t know, there wasn’t a score board. So here are my pictures. Just bear in mind that this is sports photography by me...

It's raining!

Here is Junior's mascot- Willie the Shark. He came to school a few months ago.

But Willie had to share the field with the pasta-advertising Muñeca and a giant hand.

There were venders selling yummy snacks like potato chips and plantain chips.

Even venders like to watch the game...

These first aid guys take head injury prevention seriously.

I'm still not sure why this section was called Bloke Central, but I love the sign. I think these really are the priorities for many Barranquilleros. God, my old lady and Junior.

Dave's friend Ben got to practice his Spanish while he was here, and sometimes he would ask some questions. Like when he saw this sign and wondered why it was talking about eggs. Little did he know that huevos doesn't always mean eggs... sometimes it means balls. So, no we don't have eggs, we have the balls to do it right!

Oh right, there were people playing soccer, too. :)

Oh, yeah... I live here

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This weekend one of Dave’s friends came to visit from Canada. So, it was a busy weekend. It was fun have someone visit even though it was one of Dave’s friends- not mine. It was definitely a reminder of the fact that I live here. I may be an extranjera, but I’m not a tourist. I’m not just traveling. This is my life. These are the people I hang out with, the food I eat, the places I like to go. I don’t know… it just feels reassuring. Particularly when I think about the fact that when I got here, I didn’t know anyone, I didn’t know the city, I didn’t know basic things like how to get internet or pay the bills. Besides, I realized as we were telling stories about Barranquilla and school- we have really great stories! It really has been a year of Adventures in Colombia! I’m sure no matter how long you live in another country there will always be things that are surprising or that don’t really make sense to you, but it’s nice to realize that I am settled into my life here.

It’s also good to know that there are only 26 more school days! After a long, hard school year, full of long, hard school days, I feel like I can breathe easier knowing the end is in sight. It’s time to start wrapping things up both in school and outside of school. What do I still want to do before I leave Colombia? Where do I want to go for the last 3 day weekend? I like these kinds of questions.

Elizabeth and Yoyi

Me and Fatima

Going dancing at La Troja- el mejor salsero

Dave and Fatima