Damn is it amazing. Its nothing like any of us had imagined that a Latin American town could look and feel like. Its an old Spanish Colonial town with 2 big fortresses and 2 big walls encircling the old part of the city. Most of the walls remain and you can walk on top of them (no railings of course) and there´s a couple of cafes perched on top overlooking the ocean; perfect sunset viewing spots. The rest of old town is full of plazas with flower draped balconies and outdoor cafes. Most of the buildings are 400+ years old.
We´ve spent a full week here and could easily spend 3 more. Under the advice of a few different set of friends, on night we went on a Chivas. Basically, it´s a party/tour bus... all you can drink alcohol, musicians on board, and a 4 hour driving tour of the city. We bought maracas and another indigenous percussion instrument that looked similar from something I remember from kindergarten music. We made a lot of noise, drank a lot of booze, and thought it was weird that everyone else on the bus was much older than we are. I think the grandma behind us snoozed the entire time.
Last weekend was Los Dias de Amor y Amistad... basically Valentines Day. I made dinner for the boys and a few others from the hostel including Adam´s lady friend, Cecelia, and we tried the finest Colombian wine available at the market. I don´t recommend it, but the Chilean varieties (including boxed Chilean wines) were quite nice. After dinner she was serenaded by Glenn, on Adam´s behalf with a rendition of Simon and Garfunkel´s ¨Cecelia.¨ The music took over the night and before long Glenn and Adam had a crowd of 10+ people all singing along. The most memorable was, Casper, the incredibly drunk German. He was so hammered that he screamed everything and was so bad, he made my singing seem angelic.
Eating and drinking in Cartegena has been unusual. There is such a price spectrum its incredible. Our favorite place is a hole in the wall local´s place near our hotel. We pretty much eat the same thing there twice a day. Some sort of chicken based soup with potato and plantains followed by the chicken, rice, beans or lentils, and ¨salad.¨ Its ridiculously cheap, about 2 dollars for all of that. Other than that place, though, eating out can get quite expensive and there aren´t many places we´ve found that fall somewhere in the middle, but we have had some great meals, seafood especially. Alcohol, beer included, is across the board expensive. Its difficult to find beers for under $2, most cost $3 and mixed drinks are as expensive or more expensive than Manhattan Beach. Coffee has been a bit strange as well, there´s plenty of instant coffee to be had, in our hotel, and sold on the streets, but real coffee is more difficult to find and $3 or so a cup. Maybe its primarily an export like the other thing Colombia is famous for?
We just got back from 2 days and 1 night on an island, Playa Blanca. It was rustic, no running water or electricity, but it was just stunning. The water was warm and turquoise. Bathing involved going swimming. At one end of the beach the was the edge of a coral reef, with really beautiful fish, interesting corals, and other stuff that I had no idea what it was. For meals, we ate freshly caught fish and lobster. Soooooo good. We slept in hammocks and at night drank with a few locals around a candle inside of a plastic milk carton. Glenn and Adam played guitar and the rest of us sang along. Around midnight we went skinny dipping and the phosphorescence in the water lit up as we moved about. The moon was bright and the stars brighter. We must have spend hours searching for constellations none of us really knew well enough to actually find. The night pretty much ended when we drank the last beer available. I wish we were able to stay longer. I could easily stay for a week.
We´re back in Cartagena now, but leave for Guatemala tomorrow evening. We´re planning on going back to Antigua for a night, then over to Lake Atitlan, until we have to come back to LA Sunday night.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Under the advice of my lawyer (cont)
None of us will ever ride in a Fiat again.
Day 7: Having had enough of the country life with zero amenities (ie running water, coffee, and a/c), we decide that it would be a great idea to hire our cab to take us up the coast to a beach town about 100 kilometers north. We had romantic notions of a leisurely drive.... stopping at hidden beaches, having lunch over a scenic vista, etc. To bad we were in a Fiat. A really old Fiat. A really, really, really old Fiat. It should have occurred to at least one of us that the fume spewing car whose battery cables came disconnected every 20 or so miles that A: we´d suffer from asphyxiation B: our asses would never forgive us for sitting on seats with very present metal rods running through them C: Our now beloved taxi driver would grossly over charge us (after all, we did have a delightful dinner in his home with his entire family) and maybe most importantly D: that the old Fiat wouldn´t make it all the way to our destination. We mentally smacked ourselves for A-C and fortunately, D occurred in a big city where another cab was easy to come by, but the experience left us disillusioned and our trip hit its low point. The new cab driver tried to make a buck (as we learned they all do) and took us to a casa in the town we wanted go to. It was right next door to the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting place, (a sign?) and the man came out and tried to sell us on the place, but we were having none of it. Glenn was trying to turn him down nicely and kept repeating the Spanish equivalent of ´No thank you, we want to stay together tonight, and your prices aren´t any cheaper than the hotel.´ I was much saltier. We did end up splurging for a ´resort´ and stayed in a 2 room suite; 2 bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, private bathroom (with warm water), and balcony. Naturally, our room was quite a bit shabbier than the model that I toured. But, no matter, we were at a gorgeous white sand beach and were no long relying on locals for everything. We were suppose to meet our cab driver and our friend, Ivan, at a gas station at 10, but we had been gouged enough and stood them up like they were an ugly blind date. Nobody felt bad.
Adam: ¨hola, where did your ears go, perrito?¨
Day 8: Finally, a real beach day. After peso pizzas (10 ¢) , we made a beeline for the beach and stayed there until sunset. The water was turquoise, the sand was white, and Adam and I turned red. At the end of the day, we felt much better, and felt like we had finally figured out the ins and outs of the system. We headed back for the capital city that evening and were glad to be welcomed by friendly, familiar faces at what we now thought was our luxe casa from Day 1. We splurged on dinner and had the most delicious chicken in bitter orange sauce, rice, beans, salad, desserts, sangria, and to top it off, a fantastic cigar. It lifted our spirits and we were back in a good place. After dinner, we tried to go to a live music hall made famous by the likes of Cat Stevens, but it was unexpectedly closed so we opted for our neighborhood cafe featuring a 5 person band. Adam danced with the lead vocalist, well, maybe it would be more accurate to say that she danced with him, and then we joined in a congo line to end the evening.
Day 9: Our family arranged for a cab to come bright and early to take us to the airport. As our trip began, our trip ended appropriately with us getting screwed--again-- The cab ride was a $15 fare, but the cabbie insisted on $20, as our man at the casa confirmed, which meant that he was getting a $5 kick back. Perfect. We made it out of the country and after a stops in San Jose, Costa Rica and Bogota, Colubmia, we arrived to Cartejena, a Spanish Colonial town on the Carribean Coast of Columbia. Unfortunately, my luggage didn´t.
Day 9: Our family arranged for a cab to come bright and early to take us to the airport. As our trip began, our trip ended appropriately with us getting screwed--again-- The cab ride was a $15 fare, but the cabbie insisted on $20, as our man at the casa confirmed, which meant that he was getting a $5 kick back. Perfect. We made it out of the country and after a stops in San Jose, Costa Rica and Bogota, Colubmia, we arrived to Cartejena, a Spanish Colonial town on the Carribean Coast of Columbia. Unfortunately, my luggage didn´t.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Under the advice of my lawyer...
I won´t divuldge much about names or places we were for the last week or so. But here´s a taste:
Day 1: We arrived at our place around 1 ish in the morning and were greeted by the good looking half of a lesbian couple. Glenn and Adam were more than stoked, she was an actress and showed us some of her work (read: a few naked still from something she worked on). However, the gods were not with the boys and the water to their building was shut off so we were taken to another house. The new couple was incredibly nice and didn´t seem the least bit bothered by our late arrival or our decision to go out for our first of many mojitos, only to return at 5am. Our accomodations were relatively nice, 1 clean room with a/c in the downtown area.
Day 2: We decided to wander around the city and eventually ended up at a cafe by the sea sipping on coffee and enjoying the people and car watching. By far, our favorite person was this little old man wearing a newspaper hat. It was literally an oragami hat. So cute. We sought out some famous ice cream and after a long day of walking in the heat, it was perfection. Later that night, the boy found some nice local ladies to give them an impromptu dance lesson. Glenn and I ended the night around 5, but the night was young for Adam. By the time he returned to our place, not only had he sucessfully navigated the city while innebriated, he busted his ankle (he´s ok, just a nasty sprain) and broke through a locked door with his `Sholder.`
Day 3: We hopped on a bus and headed for the country. It was a sleepy little town where the primary mode of transportation (other than walking, of course) was by horse or horse and cart. Half the houses had one tethered outside and while we didn´t ride one, it sorta looked like fun. That night we checked out the bar scene, which was pretty much just 1 discotech and 1 bar that people went to after the disco closed. There was a benefit for someone so there was live music and lots of locals willing to give dance lessons in exchange for drinks. The boys had to borrow money as they quickly learned that it was easy to find yourself buying drinks for whole groups of people you don´t know. It was another late night.
Day 4: After one of us recovered from a wicked hangover, we hired a man, Luis, to take us through the countryside and into some caves. The country was stunning.... Working farms manned with oxen, humble little homes, barns, and more animals than Glenn could take pictures of. We stopped in a little hut where a man and his wife made us a sugar cane juice and rum drink, then the old man rolled a cigar for each of us. It was surreal. We left the hut and headed for the caves, which would have been a law suit waiting to happen in the states, but there, everything was `tranquila.` In he far end of the caves was a fresh water pool and we all took a refreshing dip in the mineral water. We have pictures, but some will have to be photoshopped-- the water was perfectly clear. That night was pretty much a repeat of the one before and the one before that, only we made friends with a local, Ivan, who invited us to come with him the next day to a town without tourists. Seemed like a questionable idea at the time.
Day 5: But the next morning, it seemed like the thing to do. We were done with the town we were in and since we didn´t have any specific plans, we decided to take a chance. It was quite the adventure. We got a late start to the day and didn´t end up leaving in our hired Fiat taxi until quite late. We arrived at our desination and as promised, there were absolutely not tourists. I´m not even sure that they had even seen tourists. Never the less, after hold our breath, the taxi pulled up to a modest house, even for by their standards, it was well maintained, but didn´t have running water. The family we were staying with gave us the whole house for the duration of our stay, and they went and stayed with other family members. The 9 year old daughter, Omara, was a sweet as they come and enamored with my camera. (her pictures to follow at some point). It was too late to really do any real beach time, but we went anyways, sat on the pier, and Glenn and Adam played a lot of Hotel California and Let it Be-- the clear local favorites. It started raining after an hour or 2, lightly at first then quickly turned into a classic tropical rain storm and just dumped on us. We ran back to the taxi, but it was gone. While Ivan searched for our taxi driver we sat under someones porch. The nice family brought out extra chairs for us, which was key as it took Ivan a good hour and a half before he returned with the cabbie; at which point we were considering sleeping in an abandoned school bus. Thank god it didn´t come to that. When we finally got back to our house, the mom had dinner waiting-- chicken, rice, beans, and the best avacado ever. Or maybe I was just hungry.
Day 6: The cab driver said he knew a better beach and was willing to drive us and stay for the whole day, after which he invited us to his home where they slaughtered a pig for our dinner. We made sure that he wouldn´t disappear again, and agreed to go. It was a little different than promised. No white sand, dirty water, etc and having not found any coffee that morning, we were all a little grumpy. But, we made the best of it and things started to turn around after coffee and after we sat at a bar and Glenn and Adam entertained the locals with more renditions of Hotel California and Let it Be. Everyone was singing and a local borrowed Glenn´s guitar and played some local songs. Dinner was awesome. They literally butchered a whole pig and we ate incredibly well. Plantain chips, rice, beans, lots of pork, cucumber,and avacado. There were multiple more renditions of Hotel California and Let it be with the others joining in on the choruses. It ended up being a really good day, just very different than we could have imagined.
Glenn and Adam finally woke up from their 3 hour nap, and are telling me that it´s time to go explore Columbian nightlife, so the rest will have to wait.
Day 1: We arrived at our place around 1 ish in the morning and were greeted by the good looking half of a lesbian couple. Glenn and Adam were more than stoked, she was an actress and showed us some of her work (read: a few naked still from something she worked on). However, the gods were not with the boys and the water to their building was shut off so we were taken to another house. The new couple was incredibly nice and didn´t seem the least bit bothered by our late arrival or our decision to go out for our first of many mojitos, only to return at 5am. Our accomodations were relatively nice, 1 clean room with a/c in the downtown area.
Day 2: We decided to wander around the city and eventually ended up at a cafe by the sea sipping on coffee and enjoying the people and car watching. By far, our favorite person was this little old man wearing a newspaper hat. It was literally an oragami hat. So cute. We sought out some famous ice cream and after a long day of walking in the heat, it was perfection. Later that night, the boy found some nice local ladies to give them an impromptu dance lesson. Glenn and I ended the night around 5, but the night was young for Adam. By the time he returned to our place, not only had he sucessfully navigated the city while innebriated, he busted his ankle (he´s ok, just a nasty sprain) and broke through a locked door with his `Sholder.`
Day 3: We hopped on a bus and headed for the country. It was a sleepy little town where the primary mode of transportation (other than walking, of course) was by horse or horse and cart. Half the houses had one tethered outside and while we didn´t ride one, it sorta looked like fun. That night we checked out the bar scene, which was pretty much just 1 discotech and 1 bar that people went to after the disco closed. There was a benefit for someone so there was live music and lots of locals willing to give dance lessons in exchange for drinks. The boys had to borrow money as they quickly learned that it was easy to find yourself buying drinks for whole groups of people you don´t know. It was another late night.
Day 4: After one of us recovered from a wicked hangover, we hired a man, Luis, to take us through the countryside and into some caves. The country was stunning.... Working farms manned with oxen, humble little homes, barns, and more animals than Glenn could take pictures of. We stopped in a little hut where a man and his wife made us a sugar cane juice and rum drink, then the old man rolled a cigar for each of us. It was surreal. We left the hut and headed for the caves, which would have been a law suit waiting to happen in the states, but there, everything was `tranquila.` In he far end of the caves was a fresh water pool and we all took a refreshing dip in the mineral water. We have pictures, but some will have to be photoshopped-- the water was perfectly clear. That night was pretty much a repeat of the one before and the one before that, only we made friends with a local, Ivan, who invited us to come with him the next day to a town without tourists. Seemed like a questionable idea at the time.
Day 5: But the next morning, it seemed like the thing to do. We were done with the town we were in and since we didn´t have any specific plans, we decided to take a chance. It was quite the adventure. We got a late start to the day and didn´t end up leaving in our hired Fiat taxi until quite late. We arrived at our desination and as promised, there were absolutely not tourists. I´m not even sure that they had even seen tourists. Never the less, after hold our breath, the taxi pulled up to a modest house, even for by their standards, it was well maintained, but didn´t have running water. The family we were staying with gave us the whole house for the duration of our stay, and they went and stayed with other family members. The 9 year old daughter, Omara, was a sweet as they come and enamored with my camera. (her pictures to follow at some point). It was too late to really do any real beach time, but we went anyways, sat on the pier, and Glenn and Adam played a lot of Hotel California and Let it Be-- the clear local favorites. It started raining after an hour or 2, lightly at first then quickly turned into a classic tropical rain storm and just dumped on us. We ran back to the taxi, but it was gone. While Ivan searched for our taxi driver we sat under someones porch. The nice family brought out extra chairs for us, which was key as it took Ivan a good hour and a half before he returned with the cabbie; at which point we were considering sleeping in an abandoned school bus. Thank god it didn´t come to that. When we finally got back to our house, the mom had dinner waiting-- chicken, rice, beans, and the best avacado ever. Or maybe I was just hungry.
Day 6: The cab driver said he knew a better beach and was willing to drive us and stay for the whole day, after which he invited us to his home where they slaughtered a pig for our dinner. We made sure that he wouldn´t disappear again, and agreed to go. It was a little different than promised. No white sand, dirty water, etc and having not found any coffee that morning, we were all a little grumpy. But, we made the best of it and things started to turn around after coffee and after we sat at a bar and Glenn and Adam entertained the locals with more renditions of Hotel California and Let it Be. Everyone was singing and a local borrowed Glenn´s guitar and played some local songs. Dinner was awesome. They literally butchered a whole pig and we ate incredibly well. Plantain chips, rice, beans, lots of pork, cucumber,and avacado. There were multiple more renditions of Hotel California and Let it be with the others joining in on the choruses. It ended up being a really good day, just very different than we could have imagined.
Glenn and Adam finally woke up from their 3 hour nap, and are telling me that it´s time to go explore Columbian nightlife, so the rest will have to wait.
Monday, September 3, 2007
New Plans
">The good thing about not having a set itinerary is that when you find out that a hurricane has a lock on your desired destinations, it´s easy to change your plans. Felix is headed right toward coastal Honduras and Belize so after evaluating our options, we´ve decided to leave Guatemala tomorrow and head to the cigar capital of the world for 1 week, after which we will depart for the beaches of Columbia. A little different that we expected, but we´re all stoked.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Quote Board
¨I can´t wait for my gay massage¨ Glenn
Glenn: ¨We should find a bongo drum¨
Marisa: ¨You can play my butt¨
** slaps a few beats out**
Glenn: ¨It has nice tone¨
Glenn: ¨We should find a bongo drum¨
Marisa: ¨You can play my butt¨
** slaps a few beats out**
Glenn: ¨It has nice tone¨
Antigua and Felix
After a 4 hour flight, not enough sleep, and exhaust filled taxi ride, we arrived in the Spanish colonial town of Antigua. Before we left, Adam booked us 2 nights at a hostel, which we all agreed was a great idea, especially considering that we arrived before 6am and would surely appreciate a bed right off the bat. However, our good feelings were tested when the cabbie got lost among the cobblestone streets and had to ask a local woman where the hotel ¨jUN-gle par-TEE¨ was located. Our tacky American asses cowered in shame in the backseat.
Other than its name, the Jungle Party Hostel, is pretty nice. We have our own room, but share a bathroom. The complimentary breakfast is tasty and more substantial than I need in the morning. I´ve become the dish of choice for the local mosquitoes. Adam and Glenn don´t need take their malaria pills when I´m around. Its only been 1 day and the little bastards have already found my ass crack. Bite count: Glenn = 0 Adam = 1 Marisa = 10
After napping for a few hours, we woke up and took care of business. 1. el banco 2. la farmacia
The boys had a recreational drug in mind but were a little hesitant to ask the pharmacist. So, as the designated wing woman, I stepped in, ¨Mis amigos necesitan ayuda. Tienes viagra?¨
The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the town. Its quite charming, with tile roofs, brightly colored store fronts, a picturesque central square complete with a fountain, and some ruins circa 1500. We experienced our first afternoon rain storm. The thunder and lightening were very cool, actually. Especially the lightning because each strike acted as back lighting to the volcano. It poured while we were in the supermercado and 10 minutes later the streets turned to rivers. The afternoon weather encouraged us test out the song books that Adam and Glenn put together. They both brought travel sized guitars that sound surprisingly good, much like my singing voice. Ok, so the guitars might sound a little better than my attempt at Radiohead´s ¨creep.¨
This morning we learned about our friend, Hurricane Felix. He´s a category 3, still growing, and headed directly towards us. So, we´re abandoning our plans to go on a volcano hike and to spend a few days in San Pedro on Lake Atitlan. This afternoon we´re looking into flights to Cuba as the hurricane track map indicates that the storm will stay south of the island. We should know our new itinerary soon.
More stories to come, I´m sure.
Besitos,
Marisa
Other than its name, the Jungle Party Hostel, is pretty nice. We have our own room, but share a bathroom. The complimentary breakfast is tasty and more substantial than I need in the morning. I´ve become the dish of choice for the local mosquitoes. Adam and Glenn don´t need take their malaria pills when I´m around. Its only been 1 day and the little bastards have already found my ass crack. Bite count: Glenn = 0 Adam = 1 Marisa = 10
After napping for a few hours, we woke up and took care of business. 1. el banco 2. la farmacia
The boys had a recreational drug in mind but were a little hesitant to ask the pharmacist. So, as the designated wing woman, I stepped in, ¨Mis amigos necesitan ayuda. Tienes viagra?¨
The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the town. Its quite charming, with tile roofs, brightly colored store fronts, a picturesque central square complete with a fountain, and some ruins circa 1500. We experienced our first afternoon rain storm. The thunder and lightening were very cool, actually. Especially the lightning because each strike acted as back lighting to the volcano. It poured while we were in the supermercado and 10 minutes later the streets turned to rivers. The afternoon weather encouraged us test out the song books that Adam and Glenn put together. They both brought travel sized guitars that sound surprisingly good, much like my singing voice. Ok, so the guitars might sound a little better than my attempt at Radiohead´s ¨creep.¨
This morning we learned about our friend, Hurricane Felix. He´s a category 3, still growing, and headed directly towards us. So, we´re abandoning our plans to go on a volcano hike and to spend a few days in San Pedro on Lake Atitlan. This afternoon we´re looking into flights to Cuba as the hurricane track map indicates that the storm will stay south of the island. We should know our new itinerary soon.
More stories to come, I´m sure.
Besitos,
Marisa
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