¡Estoy Enamorada!

I guess I left off on Sunday night pre-salsa dancing. Well, if you read back I was determined to find at least one person to dance with...and that I did. It turns out you really can't go out alone, but you must go as a pair, at least when hardly anyone goes out due to Semana Santa. I went out at 9:30, sat awhile watching the 5 couples dance who were the only people in the place, and moved on to the second of two places that had anyone at all. The best part is all the salsotecas in the centro closed at 10 pm!!! I went back to the hostal seriously depressed, but the owners told me that the places in a far south suburb are open until 6 a.m. and are more popular/professional. Well, I didn't want to pay the 30 some dollars for a roundtrip taxi. Just then, another viajero offered to go with me. I though "great! half the price", but he had a motorcyle! He's from Medellin heading for Quito, so I borrowed a helmet from the hostal owner(see, mom, I'm responsible) and off we went! It was great music, though the dancing was a little different (much fewer beloved spins and dips), but I had a blast! We had to return by 1 a.m. because he had to leave early in the morning, but it was a fantastic night that made me fall in love with Cali!

Monday I walked about Cali seeing all the sites and browsing all the artesanía, and it only took me 4.5 hours! There's simply nothing more to see! So although I would have loved to try dancing again, my dancing partner was long gone and I was off for Bogotá. I spent many hours in the terminal until the 9:30 bus came around, and instead of the 12 hours the guide says it takes, we arrived after only 9!


Tuesday: I squandered some time breakfasting in the terminal, guarded my bag there (couldn't enter hotel until 2 p.m.), and struck off for Maloka, el centro interactivo de ciencias y tecnología. The minute I stepped out of the terminal, I fell in love with the beautiful city of Bogotá! There's a huge park right nearby with paved and marked bike paths and beautiful bridges for cars and for pedestrians. I oriented myself, chatted with some nice ladies taking a morning stroll, got some more coffee and finally Maloka opened at 9 a.m. Upon entering, I almost cried, it was such a beautiful sight! The exhibits were amazingly interactive and well-presented, and there was a great balance between national issues and international perspective. I learned about environmental conservation, electrical wiring of homes, petroleum varieties and refineries, space, aircrafts, electricity and magnetism, the human body, electronic communication, y mucho más! The guidebook recommends to set aside 3 hours, but I spent 5 and didn't even see an omni-cine! The timing was perfect because I then walked the two blocks to the terminal and took the 30 minute bus to the centro which just happened to pass one block from my Hotel Internacional! I checked in, showered with HOT water (increíble!), and set off to conocer Bogotá. I just strolled about, bought some souvenirs (guess what, Katrina? You're in luck!), ate some local foods, and went back to the hotel around 7 p.m. I took a nap with the intention of waking up at 9:30, but I didn't wake up until 11 p.m.!

Fear not, though, I mustered up the energy to get all dolled up and head out for the 6 or so salsotecas in the centro. I walked a few blocks before one of the many, many policemen warned me to take a cab. So wisely, I did. (for the record: I have not once felt endangered here nor have I been mugged, attacked, or bothered in any way other than the 17,000 times I've heard "ojos lindos") Sadly, every single discoteca, salsa or otherwise, was closed! Semana Santa is REALLY not good for nightlife! Again, I could have paid 10 USD one way to the more popular places in the north, but I decided to save it for the next night.

Back at the hotel I planned out my route for the bike ride I planned to take the following day. I had seen a sign for bicycles and was super excited to ride the ciclorutas.


Wednesday: I awoke super early and well-rested, but it was raining. That was okay, because I had planned on doing the suggested historic walking tour before bike riding (to get a better tan, which I still have none of, by the way). I walked by 46 different sites, mainly museos and iglesias, but one was the house of the president and they are super strict about not letting you take pictures or even walk on the sidewalk on that side of the street. Interestingly enough, one of the palace guards (I probably talked with 8 of them in just 6 blocks) offered to accompany me throughout the city when his shift was over (there's a formal changing of the guard that happens every M,W,F at 5 p.m.). Anywho, that all took about 3 hours and I intended on actually going into the museums the next day, but it was still raining, so I didn't know what to do.

I went by the place I had seen the sign, and it was to store a bike in their garage, not to rent one (no wonder it seemed so cheap!). After asking around, it turns out it is virtually impossible to rent a bike even though cycling is a HUGE sport because they are just so cheap to buy! Well, I wasn't about to drop $100 for one day, so I called many places that gave me the numbers for other places that didn't answer of didn't rent bikes...and finally I found one! It was pretty far to the north, and it cost $15 for the day, but I deemed it worthy, even though it was still drizzling. I had to do it today, though, because they were closing until Monday. I got to take the TranMilenio, the accordian bus that is super fast because it only makes limited stops and has it's own lane. Have I said before that I love public transit?! I arrived at 1 p.m. (I did have to walk about 10 blocks from the stop) and it was a place that sold imported (really nice) brands like Specialized. They outfitted me with a mountain bike, a helmet (which I, again,wore the entire ride--Colombian drivers are not to be reckoned with!), and a strap for my pants so it didn't get caught in the chain! How great is that?! They even filled up my water bottle for me! Well, the route that I had planned starting from the center no longer applied, and I hadn't actually brought the map, but I set off eager to ride the bike paths. I successfully found the humedal, a marsh/lake place, but then lost the path and rode on the road awhile, eventually finding the path near the centro. And then I could follow the plans again, except I never could find some of the streets. I probably spent 50% of my time on paths, 50% on roads, but it was fantastic! To give you an idea of how long I rode (really, I have no idea), I went between north/south streets, starting from calle 127 down to 26, up to 170 and back down to 127. East/west I went from avenida 30 to 80 to 7 and back to 30. But these were not direct routes because I had many errors of halfblocks, whole blocks, 10-block military complexes, etc. It never rained more than a drizzle, but the sun only shone for about a half hour of my 5.75 hour bike ride. It was perfect, though, and the freedom and speed of a bike and the long overdue physical exertion made me love Bogotá that much more! I arrived shortly before they closed, thanked them profusely, and caught the TransMilenio back home. I must confess, though, that even in my exhausted, wet and dirty state, the first thing I ate was a McDonalds ice cream cone. It's the first time I've eaten there in over 2 months, and it was good.

So, um, for all my plans on salsa dancing, I could barely stay awake, yet alone stand, to shower and change. But also, the outlook didn't look good for a Wednesday night, either. So sadly, I went to bed at 9:30 p.m.!

Thursday (today! can you believe I'm caught up?): I again woke insanely early and killed time before I thought museums and such would open. One thing I didn't realize is that today and tomorrow are public holidays. That explains why the bike shop wasn't going to be open. I jut thought it was a personal decision, but hardly anything was open except for religious-oriented places or restaurants. The Monserrate (a church on top of a mountain accessible by cable car or funicular train), however, opened two hours early so I ascended, and tried to take pics of the amazing view, even though it started to rain again! It was almost like a procession, or rather a religious pilgrimage (perigrinaje) because tons of other people were going up, too (remember: a day off work). It was really strange, though, in that a few people were really into the spiritual aspect, but everyone else was there for the street food, street vendors, and fair-like atmosphere. It kinda sickened me, actually. But upon descending, I then successfully made it into one of the museos I had planned on as well as 4 that are connected in the same block. I never made it to the Museo de Oro, the world renowned gold artifact museum. I guess I don't really mind, though, because I don't even like gold!

Bueno, I checked out by 1 p.m. but left my bag there while I wandered about the septimazo, a fair-like event stretching 20 some blocks between two main parks along 7th avenue. Also, because it was a holiday, they close that street in the morning for the ciclovía, an event that gathers all the local bikers to tour the city casually and safely. But again, nowhere to rent a bike. So I wandered, bought street food, sat in the parks and people-watched awhile, and then called it a day. So here I am in the bus terminal awaiting the 10:30 bus to Medellín. Yeah, I changed my plans a bit and am not going to Popayán for Good Friday because I wasn't that impressed by the procession and the hoards of people and vendors and all. I will be there for Easter Sunday, where I think they only have a childrens' reproduction or procession or something. But at least it's not a bus terminal, which was my biggest goal of this spring break. So I hate to leave this lovely capital city, but my 9 days in Colombia are over half over and I must conocer more of this wonderful country!

p.s. pics will come in 2 weeks when I'm not paying for my internet usage.