Part Four- Colombian Trip
There I am standing outside a pitch black building after 3 AM. Will this trip just keep going downhill? I am a very optimistic person, but at this point, it sure crossed my mind that sitting on the steps for another 4 hours isn’t my idea of fun. I’m tired, frustrated and thirsty. On the other hand, life is an adventure and it is a bit fun to wonder what lies behind the next turn. All in all, I felt pretty good. I got here. I escaped the land of zombies. The cab actually survived the trip. It’s a big win.
I decided to knock on the glass door. Glad I did. There was a doorman! He called up to the apartment, and in a few minutes, a sleepy person met me in the lobby. He welcomed me and took me up to my room. Gave me shower things (I am SURE it was more than routine. I must have been RIPE) and said: “in the morning”.
As beat as I was, I wanted that shower more. It was a HUGE relief. I felt so much better. I lay down, and a moment later it was 8 AM. They were surprised I got up but offered me breakfast, some freshly made juice (mango) and coffee. I took the juice and coffee. Still not hungry. Still vibrating. I was really feeling disoriented. I had never in all my travels spent so much time on a bus as I had just done. Not even close. If the entire trip was like the last bus, it would have been awesome. But those first buses kind of ruined it all. But hey… now I know. Any lesson is a good lesson.
I sat for a while, reviewing some clips I took and began writing. I did the first 3 parts at one sitting, over about 5 hours. The clips… so many! I realize in this situation, videos wouldn’t be happening for a while. But I continue taking them so I’ll have a lot of excellent shots.
I am staying at an Air B&B. The guy that handles it is Jammer (pronounced Hammer). He lives here with his dad, Javier. His sister, Janet lives here as well. Janet is an English teacher at a large institute. In fact, it is literally right across the street. Javier works in the government Judicial building. Not sure what he does. Jammer, well I don’t know. He just works with huge stacks of papers in the evening and goes to work during the day. He seems overworked and stressed. Janet is the only one that has a car, none of them need one. She has a nice new Mazda. Did I mention that gas is $10.50 a gallon here? It is insane. No one seems to know why since it is cheap the world over. You would think Venezuela or Ecuador both gas producers and both next door, would have a fire sale for them. It is something everyone here brings up in the first minute of conversation. As you can imagine it is killing the taxi drivers and bus owners.
Overall, prices (in general) are cheaper than Ecuador. More so than I thought. It is also extremely modern. When you walk the streets you see amazing progress since the 15 years I was here last. I will have detail on all this in some upcoming videos. I will do some direct comparison, both good and bad. (Bad is a bit harsh, there is no bad either way really. Perhaps good, better and best?)
Late that afternoon, Janet came home, the Dad dropped in and Jammer was home that day. They wanted to take me to a local favorite spot called Texas Burger. I’m in! Jammer had work to do so Janet and Javier and I walked up the steep hill about 4 blocks, turn right a block and it was across the road. I order churrasco (char-grilled steak). Good beef! It was delicious! I was torn between that and a burger. Janet and I talked about a million things as she would stop now and then to keep her dad in the convo. I could barely eat the dinner, so she took it home for me for later, and I and Javier went for a walk.
There is an amazing area full of shops and restaurants, with no cars allowed. It goes on maybe 8 blocks or more. Everything you can imagine is there. the streets around then, 7-8 PM, were packed. Couples, families, people out for a stroll, shopping or having dinner or coffee (many Cafes along the way) We end up at the main park, to see a big protest going on. This one was about education. there is a teacher strike. Its been two weeks ago and people are getting a bit annoyed with the strike.
I had to see the stark difference from 15 years ago. In those days more than 50% of the population was unemployed. Many towns were controlled by FARC, Narcos/criminals. Medellin was a mess. The area I am in now was the wild west. This is where I was shot at back then. People stayed in the home after 6 PM. Those were dangerous times. No one ever stopped dancing or partying, but it was in the house or within a close neighborhood mostly. Today, it is open, safe and free. To note the teachers striking, or in fact, see anyone complaining having lost sight of the massive improvement to life here just stood out to me. Isn’t that the nature of us humans? nothing is ever good enough, and what have you done lately? My thoughts aside, it was peaceful, in fact, fun. They played music and now and then break into a chant of “VIVA! VIVA! VIVA!. Good times. What else is there to do on a Wednesday evening?
We got back around 9:30 PM. I stayed up until around 1 AM, then hit it hard. I didn’t wake until 6:30 AM. I felt so much better!
