safe and sound
i have finally arrived in colombia after a long journey. i left nashville friday morning to go to colombus, ohio for my cousin hamy's 20th wedding anniversary party. we arrived there to find that this was the biggest family reunion in the last 15 years! out of the 50 people attending, only 12 were not family. the weather was beautiful and so were the guests.
sunday morning i left before the family brunch to fly to ecuador via miami. in miami i got to hang out with my friend stephanie for a coffee. even though it was so short, it was good to see her.
then i flew on to ecuador. carlos picked me up and we went to his aunt's place in quito. we repacked my stuff so that i wouldn't take it all to colombia. the next morning we left for the airport, again. when i checked in, they said there was a problem with my ticket. after 15 minutes of the supervisor running from office to office, the problem was solved and i got my boarding pass. there was no direct flight to cali so i had to go through the border town, tulcan. after a 25 minute flight we arrived in tulcan, deplaned, and got our passports stamped that we were leaving ecuador. we then turned around and reboarded the plane. tulcan is the smallest airport i've ever seen, even smaller than zanzibar for those of you who have been there.
i arrived in cali to find that there was no one to pick me up from the airport. so i waited. and waited. i tried calling the 2 numbers that i had and there was no answer. after waiting about 2 hours, i found a number of someone who lives in cali who took the same course that i'm taking. i called him, went to his place and we figured stuff out from there. everything was sorted out within an hour and i was at the apartment where i'll be staying for my time here. i'm living with a colombian woman, elizabeth, who has a couple extra rooms in her apartment. it's a nice set-up.
once i put my stuff down i went out with elizabeth, luisa (another girl who lives here), her boyfriend, her mother and stepdad. we went to see a couple things in town and then went out for dinner. once i got back home, i was exhausted and went straight to bed. a good end to a long day.
tuesday i had my first classes and it seems like things will go really well from here on.
i'll keep you posted on the rest of the happenings here. i would post some pictures but i think this internet cafe will have a hard enough time with posting this.
sunday morning i left before the family brunch to fly to ecuador via miami. in miami i got to hang out with my friend stephanie for a coffee. even though it was so short, it was good to see her.
then i flew on to ecuador. carlos picked me up and we went to his aunt's place in quito. we repacked my stuff so that i wouldn't take it all to colombia. the next morning we left for the airport, again. when i checked in, they said there was a problem with my ticket. after 15 minutes of the supervisor running from office to office, the problem was solved and i got my boarding pass. there was no direct flight to cali so i had to go through the border town, tulcan. after a 25 minute flight we arrived in tulcan, deplaned, and got our passports stamped that we were leaving ecuador. we then turned around and reboarded the plane. tulcan is the smallest airport i've ever seen, even smaller than zanzibar for those of you who have been there.
i arrived in cali to find that there was no one to pick me up from the airport. so i waited. and waited. i tried calling the 2 numbers that i had and there was no answer. after waiting about 2 hours, i found a number of someone who lives in cali who took the same course that i'm taking. i called him, went to his place and we figured stuff out from there. everything was sorted out within an hour and i was at the apartment where i'll be staying for my time here. i'm living with a colombian woman, elizabeth, who has a couple extra rooms in her apartment. it's a nice set-up.
once i put my stuff down i went out with elizabeth, luisa (another girl who lives here), her boyfriend, her mother and stepdad. we went to see a couple things in town and then went out for dinner. once i got back home, i was exhausted and went straight to bed. a good end to a long day.
tuesday i had my first classes and it seems like things will go really well from here on.
i'll keep you posted on the rest of the happenings here. i would post some pictures but i think this internet cafe will have a hard enough time with posting this.
posted by Solange at 16:00
2 Comments:
Joonie, I am happy to hear that you have safely arrived. Be careful of too many arepas (they go straight to your hips) and of that smooth rhythmed cumbia (those hips movement hypnothise men. Take full advantage of that delicious coffee, those dreamy beaches, that clear and sweet accent of the Colombians...and most of all of the lovely people that live in that country and are dying to hear about the Faith. You are VERY missed in the Holy Land. Can't wait to see you in Feb. Love you.
i can't believe you are there.
sniff, sniff.
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