The awesome thing about moving to a different country and staying there longer than the length of a vacation is that there's room and time to repeat experiences. You can explore as much as Christopher Columbus but not feel bad when you determine your favorites- restaurants, nightclubs, Wednesday night plans - and going back a few times. Coming to the end of the journey here, I did a lot of repeating. Completely acceptable, and completely worth it.
It started with a Barranquilla-fan-favorite Chuzo. My friend Claire and I had done an assortment of things to share our experiences with prospective ISA Colombia exchange students. Between photo shoots, interviews, conferences, and surveys, ISA wanted to say thank you in the most appropriate and delicious way possible - free Colombian food and quality time with our program directors, Katherine and Gaby.
It started with a Barranquilla-fan-favorite Chuzo. My friend Claire and I had done an assortment of things to share our experiences with prospective ISA Colombia exchange students. Between photo shoots, interviews, conferences, and surveys, ISA wanted to say thank you in the most appropriate and delicious way possible - free Colombian food and quality time with our program directors, Katherine and Gaby.
This was a feel-good way to kick off my 12-day leave from my host family's home. They were in the United States with my host sister (Mari Paz) for her Bentley graduation. Meanwhile, I was sitting her in her country trying to secure the best internet connection to watch her graduate by means of Live Streaming. I'd say there's nothing that better defines "Cultural Exchange" than sitting here in Colombia while your host family is in your city, your university, eating at your favorite restaurants and going to all your favorite places. The great piece of all this is that Maria is doing a 5th year at Bentley, meaning that come next May, we will graduate on the same day. Our families will finally meet, and practice the few hilarious phrases they have learned in the other language! Not looking forward to leaving Colombia, but that reality will make this a bit easier.
Well into May, people were starting to leave, some with plans to continue traveling, some with plans to skip finals and head right home. The first of many Despedidas (Goodbye Parties) happened that night. We were sending off one of our favorites - Q. He's a South Korean exchange student with incredible vision, creativity, and purpose. His sweetness is just a plus! We gathered at our favorite place - La Casa de Sergio - to end his experience on a good, familiar note. We all enjoyed each other's company, took some great action-shots, and appreciated every moment with each of these excellent people, knowing they'd soon come to an end.
Well into May, people were starting to leave, some with plans to continue traveling, some with plans to skip finals and head right home. The first of many Despedidas (Goodbye Parties) happened that night. We were sending off one of our favorites - Q. He's a South Korean exchange student with incredible vision, creativity, and purpose. His sweetness is just a plus! We gathered at our favorite place - La Casa de Sergio - to end his experience on a good, familiar note. We all enjoyed each other's company, took some great action-shots, and appreciated every moment with each of these excellent people, knowing they'd soon come to an end.
Up until that point, throughout my host family's trip, I had been staying at Claire's house. The morning following the Despedida, we set out on two very different adventures. She was headed to Leticia (the Amazon Jungle) and I was headed to Tayrona (a large assortment of trees and bugs that travelers love) which I guess you could technically, with a good amount of imagination, consider the jungle. I'd spent the weekend there once before, but was willing to repeat this experience because this time, it was all different. We were doing the whole unorganized, make decisions as we go type of trip, and this time, I'd be traveling with 10 internationally hilarious and entertaining people. We had quite the squad, and I knew that if nothing else, this weekend would be memorable. We had 3 Mexicans, 3 Germans, 1 Estadounidense, 1 Canadian, 2 Colombians, and a Venezuelan, each ready to contribute to making this weekend one for the books (and the blogs.)
We hopped between random busses, cabs, and other strange forms of transportation in order to make it to the park or somewhere remotely close (an example of the whole cross-that-bridge-when-we-get-there strategy). In route, I took a moment to thank God for giving me a strong interest in marketing, so that I can see things like these underwear shaped logo displays on the bus seats and know "This is not ok." We used the bus ride to discuss how this could have possibly happened - some sick, practical joke because the owner had the money to do it? We may never know.
We arrived at the park, gallon water jugs and all, and had to do all the pre-Tayrona stuff: donate to the little girls dance troop fund, remove all plastic bags from our backpacks, redistribute the heavy items so we're dying in equal amounts on our hike, etc. We set out on the same hike that I'd done a few months previous. It was as hot and sweaty, but beautiful and enjoyable as expected.
We arrived at the park, gallon water jugs and all, and had to do all the pre-Tayrona stuff: donate to the little girls dance troop fund, remove all plastic bags from our backpacks, redistribute the heavy items so we're dying in equal amounts on our hike, etc. We set out on the same hike that I'd done a few months previous. It was as hot and sweaty, but beautiful and enjoyable as expected.
We sat down to enjoy the views and what I anticipated to be a nice snack. Everyone pulled out an elaborate assortment of canned food, and I was caught completely off-guard. When I questioned why they brought all of that, they said they all agreed to buy food before to last them the weekend. There was some form of miscommunication when I was receiving the "food plan" message a few days earlier, because I was under the impression we were just bringing snacks and then doing food there. Guess what I had in my backpack? Nothing but Oreos. Guess what I ate all weekend? Oreos. Guess what nickname I earned by the end of the weekend? Oreos. You'd be surprised how much you can learn from circumstances such as these.
We swatted at horseflies, traded off who was carrying the jugs of water, and relived old memories as we continued our way through this "jungle". We found some amazing landscapes, and I learned a few important lessons about which fabrics turn see-through when you sweat. We finally agreed on where we were staying, so we hiked there and set up camp, and by set up camp, I mean empty the sand out of our shoes and claim our hammocks. We decided we were deserving of real food for a change, so we sat down at the camp ground's restaurant and ordered a meal. We filled the unreasonable 1.5 hour wait time gap with sober versions of incredibly fun drinking games from all over the globe. Cheers Governor, Beer Goggles, and Up Chickens were our favorites. We hit the beach at night, enjoyed the breeze and lack of mosquitos, but underestimated the strength of the current and got soaking wet while stargazing.
We slept well, ate breakfast (Oreos for me), and made our way towards Cabo San Juan. There the tents are plenty, the views are beautiful, and the sunburns are inevitable.
We slept well, ate breakfast (Oreos for me), and made our way towards Cabo San Juan. There the tents are plenty, the views are beautiful, and the sunburns are inevitable.
After a long, refreshing day at the beach, we headed back to our camp site for our second round of sober drinking games and pillow talk without the pillows. But first, we managed a photo shoot with the intriguingly large and artistic rock formation out front.
One last round of Oreos the next morning, and a few hour hike home. Throughout the hike we realized how many hilarious things had happened the night before. Between people's hammocks falling in the middle of the night to people backpacks being gone through by the random horse walking around camp, Tayrona Night 2 was a classic. After a few hours of hiking we reached civilization - an actually paved road. We all felt very accomplished. We had made it. We'd now just hop in the vans and take the 20 minute ride to the park entrance and be done with it. Jakob, who had kind of taken a leadership role in the group, made a bit of an executive decision that we were going to walk instead of take vans - continue the adventure. We went with it, but boy, it was TOUGH. Every curve in the road was a new sliver of hope that around the bend we'd see the park entrance. Many times in a row, we didn't. After about another hour of walking, someone shouted "Look!" While we all enthusiastically whipped our heads around thinking they had seen the finish line in front of us, they were actually looking up at a family of monkeys above us. We stood still and admired the skill with which they flung themselves from tree to tree. We laughed about how we certainly weren't in Leticia like Claire was, but the monkeys made the whole "jungle" thing more believable.
We soon reached the entrance. We paid the 80 cents to each call our respective currently-worried-woman and let them know we were safe. We bought some souvenirs, stocked up on water bottles, and made an action plan. All but 3 of us (me, Naomi & Jakob) decided to take cabs to the bus stop and the bus back to Barranquilla. Us 3, however, held out for the sake of adventure. We'd heard rumor that there was a bus that ran from where we were to where we were going, but it seemed like a distant reality, a bit of a lost cause. We flagged down every bus that passed, and none of them had any interest in taking us aboard. Finally, one sketchy bus came our way and had our name written all over it. We hung in there for the naps on the bus floor, the broken down engine, the blubbering baby, and then man who raised his eyebrows rapidly and repeatedly while he slept. We got back to Barranquilla and befriended some young people that were on our bus, realized how close to each other we all lived, and made the journey home together. We arrived at Naomi's door with empty stomachs, full bladders, and a million other basic needs to be filled. We filled them all and called it quits.
We snapped back into reality, finished our finals, and got ready to say our goodbyes. Yet another despedida, this time with the USA students only, our ISA family. We went to a really cool restaurant situated on the Magdalena River. The water is dirty, but it doesn't ruin the view. The food was delicious, and free! We did one final family photo shoot before saying goodbye, hoping this wouldn't be the last time our paths crossed.
We soon reached the entrance. We paid the 80 cents to each call our respective currently-worried-woman and let them know we were safe. We bought some souvenirs, stocked up on water bottles, and made an action plan. All but 3 of us (me, Naomi & Jakob) decided to take cabs to the bus stop and the bus back to Barranquilla. Us 3, however, held out for the sake of adventure. We'd heard rumor that there was a bus that ran from where we were to where we were going, but it seemed like a distant reality, a bit of a lost cause. We flagged down every bus that passed, and none of them had any interest in taking us aboard. Finally, one sketchy bus came our way and had our name written all over it. We hung in there for the naps on the bus floor, the broken down engine, the blubbering baby, and then man who raised his eyebrows rapidly and repeatedly while he slept. We got back to Barranquilla and befriended some young people that were on our bus, realized how close to each other we all lived, and made the journey home together. We arrived at Naomi's door with empty stomachs, full bladders, and a million other basic needs to be filled. We filled them all and called it quits.
We snapped back into reality, finished our finals, and got ready to say our goodbyes. Yet another despedida, this time with the USA students only, our ISA family. We went to a really cool restaurant situated on the Magdalena River. The water is dirty, but it doesn't ruin the view. The food was delicious, and free! We did one final family photo shoot before saying goodbye, hoping this wouldn't be the last time our paths crossed.
We wished many great friends and our second-to-last week in Colombia goodbye, and went on our separate ways, waiting to see what our individual last weeks had in store for us.