A Bit of Catch Up

So I’ve been fortunate enough to have a pretty incredible month of travel.  After Colombia I flew to Puerto Rico for a wedding, then New York City to see friends, then Chile to see my brother, and finally Brazil for the World Cup.  Here’s a little bit of what I’ve been up to.

From Colombia I flew to Puerto Rico for my friends’ Bobby and Maria’s wedding.  This was the first friend wedding I attended... it was awesome.  A group of friends coming together to celebrate love while sufficiently inebriated… what’s not to like?? Despite being officially part of the US I don’t think anyone will pretend that PR shares too many similarities to the continent besides the currency.  With the colorful buildings, relaxed attitude, and Spanish language, this felt much more like Cuba than California.  Still, it served as a nice transitional stage from Colombia to NYC.  

The wedding itself was beautiful.  Hosted at the Ritz Carlton under a cloud of palm trees at sunset, I can’t imagine a more perfect setting.  The ceremony was short yet magical, the food delicious, the music pleasantly Latin, and we were able to enjoy a few gifts courtesy of Fidel. I spent a full week in Puerto Rico and got to catch up with my old housemates and many friends I hadn’t seen in months.

But after the week it was time for NYC.  Because flights back to South America are weird, it was essentially the same price to return back south via JFK.  So I took advantage of the avionic oddity and stopped in Manhattan for a few days to see friends and restock on clothes, toiletries, etc.  The timing was perfect; I was able to see another group I hadn’t seen in months and catch a US-Turkey soccer friendly.

Another long weekend came to an end and it was time to return to Latin America.  I caught a redeye from New York to Santiago and took my first steps in Chile during a pleasant 6:30am sunrise.  Chile is currently in the dead of winter, and make no mistake it was quite chilly.  There was no snow, but a brisk 40 degrees wearing summer clothes marked the first time I had experienced legitimate frigidity in over a year.  

I rested a few days in the capital and took the bus an hour west to Valparaiso where my brother was studying for the semester.  His host family graciously took me in and I had a comfy floor bed to sleep on for a few days.  Valparaiso lies on essentially the exact latitude as San Francisco and it had an eerily similar feel - on the coast, chilly yet pleasant during the day, slightly edgy population, and fun nightlife.  

Brendy and I perused the Valparaiso streets, bars, and clubs, and even managed to cook a delicious quesadilla lunch for his host mom.  Time flew by and it was time to return to Santiago for my last few days in Chile.  I stumbled upon a wonderful hostel, La Chimba, where I made a few friends.  

One of the women that worked at the front desk even taught me to knit!

The world cup started during my stay. Quite simply, it is incredible.  I was fortunate enough to be in Chile for their Friday night game against Australia and their collective, tangible passion was a first for me.  All of South America is clearly passionate about their respective teams but Chile isn’t especially noteworthy for its soccer legacy. The country rioted in what was essentially a Seahawks versus Jaguars beat-down.  Tear gas was sprayed, the SWAT team was out, and everyone had a fucking amazing night. 

It was the perfect finish to my whirlwind tour through Chile.  I will undoubtedly be back at some point but I could not have scripted a better 10 days through the capital and port city.  The next night I embarked on a miserable Santiago > Lima > Sao Paulo > Fortaleza schlep.  The worst part?  My knitting needles weren’t allowed on carry-on.  Headlines that have never appeared anywhere: Terrorists hi-jack airplane wielding dull bamboo knitting needles.   

Colombia - An Unexpected 4 Months

When I started traveling back in October I had a loose plan in my head: after Bolivia and a quick return home for Thanksgiving, I'd fly to Colombia and start working my south spending about one month per country. A family trip to Cuba for Christmas moved that plan back by a few months, but when I arrived in Cartagena on January 24th I still believed I would be somewhere around Chile by now. My flight out of Medellin left May 21st, almost 4 months after arrival. How did that happen? I can point to 2 concrete reasons, with a third holistic cause.

First, I met Pete and the van - we roadtripped through the entirety of Colombia but skipped the Northern Coast, so there were a few parts of Colombia I still needed to see. But there is no way I go back to Colombia without number 2: I had planned to meet friends from home in Barranquilla for Carnival. I was all the way in Southern Ecuador before I flew back to Colombia and would have been fine to keep going with that travel family. So I spent Carnival with friends, figured I'd relax on the beach for a few days, head to Medellin for another few, maybe see the coffee country again, and be done with Colombia round 2 in about three weeks. The land of the lotus eaters and Paola's eco-farm had a different plan, and 3 weeks turned into 3 months.

Ultimately I think it comes down to this: Colombia is just a comfortable country. It's incredibly safe, you've got beaches, mountains, jungles, and everything in between, the infrastructure and amenities are comparable to home, and every place has its own version of awesome nightlife. Hell, after the World Cup I could potentially go back and spend another month in Cali salsa dancing, although my instinct right now tells me it is time to finally move on.

Without further preamble here is how Colombia fits into my country ratings. 4 months in a country certainly gives me way more insight into its inner workings than 3 weeks in one city like Veracruz, but I still like to compare. As a reference, I am comparing Colombia to Bolivia, Mexico, and Cuba.

Food: A typical Colombian meal consists of a soup, followed by some sort of meat, rice, beans, plantains, and shrubbery. Quality ranges from place to place but you pretty much know what to expect - its going to be decent but nothing amazing. Of course, I was here long enough to discover some gems... here are my top 3 places I dined at:

Brunch - Salento (American Cuisine): I covered this one in an earlier post but to summarize: awesome burgers, greasy breakfasts, delicious peanut butter chocolate brownies.

Baba Ganoush - Taganga (Mediterranean Cuisine) I only ate here once but had one of the best fillet mignons I've ever eaten. Coupled with a falafel appetizer and a chocolate brownie sundae for under $20 and this was the perfect place for a nice treat.

Crepes and Waffles - Medellin and Bogota (Crepes and Waffles Cuisine): I ate here the last 5 days I spent in Medellin. Crepes and Waffles only hires single mothers (the kind of discrimination I have no problem advocating for but would be shot down immediately in litigious USA) and only serves delicious food. My go to order would be the Mexican crepe with a Nutella waffle topped with vanilla ice cream.

Colombian food doesn't come close to Mexico but ranks way above Bolivia. The staple dishes probably tie with Cuba, but Colombia gets the edge because of variety and the above-mentioned winners. Ranking: 2nd

Snack: I'm not sure if Colombia has a definitive snack like Bolivia's salteña or Cuba's churros. I guess it would be empanadas, something that each country in Latin America produces its own version of, and Colombia's have been the worst I've had. The key to a good empanada is the crust and Colombia just didn't deliver on that front. If the arequipe filled-donut I discovered in Amaga was more widespread that might have rescued Colombia from its last place finish, but alas that is not to be. Ranking: Last

Climate: Colombia has just about every climate imaginable so its tough to compare. The coast is scorching, the mountains get a bit chilly, and Medellin is almost perfect. For the sake of fairness I'll compare the climates of the cities I spent the most time in - Medellin/Amaga get the nod for Colombia. I can't say enough about how perfect the weather is in Sucre and even the city of eternal spring couldn't dethrone the Bolivian Goliath. Medellin came close though - high 70's during the day and low 60's at night is pretty solid. Clouds and the slightest of humidities foiled Medellin's run at number 1; there weren't that many truly sunny days in Medellin and it usually rained a bit each afternoon. Ranking: 2nd.

Music: I never thought I would hear music that I despised more than 80s rock. Journey, Bon Jovi... really every song that was played over and over again in New England bars transported me to auditory hell. Then I heard Vallenato. I'd heard similar music before - it's the accordion heavy type of music that sounds similar to what you would hear on a Spanish radio station in the US - but what really killed me was the widespread pandemic. It was inescapable. I just don't understand, Salsa, Merengue, and Bachata sound so much better and have equally entertaining dances to go with them: why deviate from a good thing?? Obviously music taste is a personal decision and I've heard the same criticisms about the electronic music I like. I don't care, Vallenato simply isn't good. The real shame is that Colombia had the best anthem of the trip so far - it took quite the music genre to relegate a song to the basement whose chorus translates to: "tonight I will give you penis, penis, penis." Unfortunately for "Serrucho," Vallenato buried this category at the bottom of that monster pile of fertilizer I raked the other week. Ranking: Dead Fucking Last.

Drinks: The Colombian national spirit is called aguardiente or "guaro" for short. It's terrible. It's clear, tastes like licorice, and at 25% alcohol by volume you have to drink almost twice as much to get the same effect as rum. The major beers Aguila, Club Colombia, and Pilsen are your typical Latin American lagers that don't have any particular flavor. I did enjoy the two alternative beer brands - Bogota Beer Company and 3 Cordilleras, especially the 3 Cordilleras Mestizo brand that was Colombia's closest thing to an IPA. Cuba and its armada of rums takes poll position here and after that it's kind of a toss up. Mexico didn't really have a local spirit but I'd rather have no local one than either aguardiente or Bolivia's Singani. Ranking: 3rd, the Mestizo gives Colombia the edge over Bolivia.

Clubs/Nightlife:
"I'll take countries with amazing nightlife and rediculously attractive women for $200, Alex."
"This South American country..."
"What is Colombia?"
"Right again, Señor Reader."

Colombia certainly confirmed its reputation for wild nightlife and good looking women. I probably quadrupled the amount of lifetime sunrises I've ever seen over the past 4 months, and not all of those were for sunrise meditation on the farm. From the beach parties on the coast, to the major cities of Medellin and Bogota in the central highlands, to Cali's salsa clubs in the south, there was always something to do at night. For sheer volume and talent I can't deny the power of Colombia here. Ranking: First

                                 

Language/Slang: Colombia has a number of different accents and sounds. The coast has a Caribbean flavor, and speaks quickly and cuts off some of the last consonants. Medellin is famous for its sing-song "Paisa" cadence. Bogota speaks slowly and clearly. After Cuba anything was going to sound better and even the coast was much easier to understand. I still put Mexico ahead because of its slang but Colombia ties with Bolivia for clarity. Ranking: T-Second

Adventure: The amount of time I spent in Colombia compared to the rest of the countries skews this category more than any other. I did paragliding, jungle camping, cave exploring, a number of hikes, and the biggest adventure of all - Carnival. But aside from Carnival those are all activities that I can do in other places. Still, you can't argue with actual experiences and Colombia delivered. Ranking: First.

Something Random: This might be a cop out, but I think a spontaneous 3-week road trip through the entirety of Colombia qualifies as something random. The van feels like a lifetime ago but still resonates as one of the highlights of any trip I've experienced. Throughout the number adventures I've been lucky enough to be apart of I've learned to be open minded and spontaneous, but that kind of road trip with a stranger was not something I remotely considered when I drew up the South American playbook. With all due respect to zebras of Sucre, the van reigns king. Ranking: First, by a mile (1.6km for you Pete).

A Few Field Trips

We get weekends off on the farm so each Friday after lunch I've shipped out with a few of the other volunteers to some of the places in the surrounding area.

Guatepe: Guatepe is most famous for this monster rock:

It's about a 2 hour bus ride from Medellin so we decided to spend Friday night in the city before grabbing the bus early Saturday morning. We heard rumors of secret waterfalls so we devoted Saturday to searching for them. It took an hour and a half of jumping over fences, scaling the sides of riverbanks, and making a path where none existed but we finally made it.

We hiked the rock right after breakfast Sunday morning to miss the crowds. I'm not sure if I can agree with its self-proclaimed slogan as "the best view in the world," but it is certainly up there. The 734 steps to the top were well, well worth it.

Rio Claro: Rio Claro is a cool jungle reserve about 3 hours north of Medellin. The jungle still sits about 2000 feet above sea level so it wasn't too sweltering, especially with some serious tropical downpour. We camped there Friday and Saturday nights and fell asleep both nights to the soothing whisper of rain drops on canvas.

The highlight by far was a 3 hour-cave tour. We hiked about 45 minutes through the jungle to the mouth of a cave, turned the flashlights on, and started our nocturnal-aquatic adventure. Inside we followed the river down a series of small jumps and slides - sort of like canyoning except in the dark. The entire time we were bombarded by the howls of guacharos, these cave-birds that I first met in the jungles of Bolivia. The sound is terrifying, like a Tolkien creature mixed with a velociraptor, and the absence of sight only adds to the fear. Needless to say, that was an awesome 3 hours.

Bogota: The farm was closed for a week for Semana Santa and Paola's birthday so I took the opportunity to finally visit the capital. Sebastian from the tejo team Arlen/Sebastian lives in Bogota and he invited me to stay at his top-floor apartment. The view wasn't too bad.

This was actually one of my best Spanish experiences in Colombia. I went out with Sebastian and his university friends a few of the nights and got the full immersion of fast-paced conversation and slang. Bogota was also excellent for its medical services - my lifetime of fingernail biting finally caught up to me and one of my thumbs became infected. I found a nice clinic nearby, made an appointment for later that day, and had my antibiotics by early afternoon. With no insurance, total cost of the doctor's visit with antibiotics set me back a cool $35... that's probably what it would have cost in the states too, right?