Lot’s of things happening. Let’s see if we can hammer out some material:
Last week D-Rock and I went to Guatapé. If you’re following her on Instagram (@darakruv, @dara.the.explara) you’ll have seen some stunning pictures from the top of the rock, La Piedra, which was probably (but maybe not) the highlight of our trek. Other highlights included a tranquil day of sunning and swimming at a watering hole, a long conversation on an over-crowded bus with a very inebriated, but oh-so-lovable Colombiano, and a few hours of paintball in the ruins of one of Pablo Escobar’s “fincas.” Needless to say, the trip deserves it’s own post. note from the editor: I’ll get right on it *ahem*…
Friday marked our two week anniversary in Medellín (“Jake you remembered!!!”). Classes have been great so far and I am very impressed with the organization and quality of the program, so no complaints there. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out quite as well with our homestay family. It was lovely to practice Spanish with the fam and they were incredibly gracious and hospitable. The only issue was the cooking, which was consistently inedible. By the middle of the first week, I had convinced our host that, “We are very small humans and don’t need to eat a lot.” This at least reduced the amount of food we had to intersperse betwixt the rice. One night Dara grabbed a chunk of over-salted fish in her hand, dashed to the trash can, and slam dunked it before anyone was aware. So with a heavy heart and empty stomach, we decided to move into a new spot. Only our third in 18 days, not too shabby. Dara and I are sharing the apartment with a friend of a friend and the situation could not be better. It’s very close to our first apartment, which is a 5 minute walk from our school. And we now have two cats!!!!11!
I’d be lying if I said I was completely thrilled about these precocious little scamps. I can’t remember the last time I so seamlessly drifted between cooing affection and mindless rage (“FRANK IF YOU DON;T GET OFF THE COUNTER I’M GOING TO TOSS YOU OUT THE F@&%ING WINDOW”). Must’ve been during my hardcore Halo days (Lo Tres anyone?) And there’s cat hair. Everywhere. DEAR GOD IT’S EVERYWHERE.
In other news, I think my hubris regarding the weather must have ruffled some feathers upstairs because the big guy has delivered some truly impressive storms over the last week or so. That’s what I get for being cocky. There have been some incredible lightning storms but thankfully they usually give up in a few hours.
But I digress.
The beauty of our program is that you can start a new level every single Monday, so Dara and I decided to take a week off of class to review, reflect and explore. Because why go on a life changing excursion if you’re not going to sojourn around a bit?
Yesterday, we chose a place called Parque Arvi. Parque Arvi is one of the largest parks in Colombia, and the largest of it’s kind. People have been raving about it so we figured it’s about time to check it out. Ok full disclosure, we actually had planned to go on Monday and put together this great plan, went to bed early and woke up extra early to beat the traffic, only to realize it’s closed on Mondays. C’est la vie. Or así es la vida I guess. So we decided to go yesterday. Same plan, different day. Woke up extra early, packed lunch (Dara made sammiches with the normal amount of lettuce ffs), and hit the streets.
Getting there is a trip. You have to take the metro and two cable cars to get there which takes some time but affords some very pleasing sights. The first leg of the cable car passes over barrios that blanket the mountain side. Looking down you can see whole neighborhoods- the squeals of kids playing in the street, scores of people playing pick-up soccer, locals going about their day. As you ascend, the neighborhoods become more and more remote, slowly receding to reveal some scattered farms and eventually nothing but forest. Some people muse that the journey may actually be better than the actual park.
Which may have been the case for us… Do to some extenuating circumstances, our trip had to be amended a few times. Our master plan depended on the park’s bike share program, which was closed. So a friendly guide told us to check out the lake in the north, where we could rent a paddle boat and relax. But of course, that was over an hour away and buses weren’t running… so we settled for Aventura! Which sounded like a bast, with a ropes course, zip lines, canopy tours, etc. Of course when we arrived, there were 1000+ screaming kids between 10-15.
I will give the kids some credit, the are hilarious with their cat calling. Their method requires shouting whatever English they know at you, so I always get, “HELLO! My name it! MY NAME IS!!!” I respond in kind.
Needless to say we found a few nature walks and made the best of it. There is certainly another trip here in our future.
And speaking of exploring, we leave in an hour for the Pacific coast, a town called Bahiá Solano. More to come when I return.
Word of the day: Chévere. Colombianos way of saying “cool,” or “that is so dope.”
American Paisa 