Saludos desde Colombia!

Yes, I've made it safely thus far, first to Tulcán on the ecuadorian border, then to Popayán in Colombia, and I just arrived this afternoon to Cali. Plenty of good stories, lots of kindly old men taxi drivers whom I take every advantge of for free rides and dinner, dancing partner at a town festival/band play-off, and photographer in the Topiary garden/cemetary.



In Popayán this morning I attended mass and then was part of the Palm Sunday processional/parade, complete with a Policia Nacional band lead-in, then later a military band, and then a military school band, all surrounding the priest and two statues-on-boxes-carried-on-shoulders (interestingly enough, both of Jesus dead or dying, not triumphant in any sense). It kinda makes you think about the political situation when Jesus actually came in on donkey and most certainly not escorted by the local governmental police! So, for those of you who remember that Katrina, my mom, and I went to Christmas Eve mass, I believe I am officially a C&E Catholic!


Anyway, I wandered around the colonial town a bit, went to the many artisania fairs, bought lots of local foods (including empanadas pipián, which are filled with a peanuty filling!), and got a little sunburnt. I then took the very very hot busride to Cali where it is very very hot! The ice cold shower felt great and I just got back from dinner where I ate an arepa con pollo. Now, this was my first non-carb food since I left Quito, because Saturday's meal was coffee and bread, cookie, croissant, and bread and water. I just love all the panaderias! Today's meals were bread and coffee, chocolate bread, bread with guanábana filling, bread with piña filling, and now meat. I really shouldn't be allowed to choose my own meals!

Okay, well I missed out on salsa dancing last night because 1) there weren't any places/place open and 2) I was so incredibly tired that I went to bed at 11! But now I'm in the city renowned for its salseros and even though it's a Sunday night and virtually no one will be out, I'm gonna go find someone, even just one person, to spin me, dip me, and make me love Colombia even more than I already do!

Oh, the one thing I don't like about Cali is that they all have a very slurred, sloppy speech that makes me feel incompetant when I have to say "mande?" at least once, but usually twice! Ah well, it's good for me! Before the procession today in Popayán I had an entire audience of kids/adolescents that started with three girls and I chatting and ended with at least 6 more listening/watching the gringa with blue eyes talk!


The pictures are as follows: the river you walk over as you walk across the border; the awesome sculpted bushes in the Tulcán cemetary; the first Jesus statue proceeded by a woman carrying flowers and incence and the strets lined with people carrying palm branches and bush branches and branches ripped off of nearby trees; one of the streets in town; and a few of the kids who hung out with me/chatted with me before the procession.