2,562 Mile Romance

17 de octubre 2016

Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia

This past week was October Recess - a full 10 days sans students (with 2 professional development days interrupting the middle of the week) - and my fantastic boyfriend Noah came to visit!  He was supposed to arrive late Friday night (7 de octubre), so I stayed up past my bedtime (I've been going to bed recently around 9 or 10 pm...one of the fine benefits of having to be at school at 6:30 am) to wait for the taxi to pick him up from the airport.  I was sleepy yet excited!

However, it turns out he missed his connection in Bogotá (not an uncommon experience) and the next flight wasn't until 6 am the following morning.  So, after chatting with him (until his phone died... Bogotá has got to get some outlets!) and making sure he had a safe place to sleep and a ticket for the morning flight, I re-ordered the taxi and went to sleep for a few hours.

Thankfully, he and the luggage all made it safely the next morning (8 de octubre)!  The taxi drove me there, waited for us, and drove us back, all for $50,000 pesos (let me know if you want his number, he's very reliable)!

Made it safe and sound! We're both more than a little bit sleep-deprived, but so happy!

So we went back to my place, and after meeting Lulo La Gatita and giving her a good pet, we went to go have some Santanderean breakfast at Tony's Desayuno.  After some arepas, jugo for me/granizado for Noah, and huevos, we were ready... to nap.

Later in the afternoon, after a day of napping and otherwise chilling, we headed out to find Jesus.  Or is that Jesús?  In any case, we took a taxi out to El Santísimo, the tallest statue of Jesus in Colombia, and depending on whether or not you count the height of the base, possibly the tallest statue of Jesus in the world (yes, taller than Christ the Redeemer).  El Santísimo is 33 m tall, 37 if you count the base.  Christ the Redeemer is 30 m tall, 38 if you count the base.  (Noah doesn't think the base should count.)

We took the teleférico up the mountain  - Noah felt like we were entering Jurassic Park.

 Once we got there, we took our obligatory selfies and walked up the steps to see Giant Jesus up close and in the flesh - err...stone.  He's quite a sight to behold, I gotta say.  Though the sun was out when got there, night quickly fell like a bad powerpoint presentation.  There was no sunset.  Only darkness.

This guy?

I hope I'm not acting holier-than-thou.

So it turns out you can go up and see the world from Jesus's point of view, so we paid another $5,000 to take the Jesus-vators up 40 meters to get a better look at Bucaramanga (because being on the top of a mountain wasn't high enough).

Not the way to heaven.

Hey everybody!

We spent some time up there admiring the view and wondering what the antennae on Jesus's middle finger and head are for (I think they control different messages for different people), and watched as some teens tried to break their way onto the roof of the observation deck (seriously, aren't you high up enough already?!) before we made our way back down.

After our descent, we caught a light show projected onto a fountain, which was actually pretty cool!  They synced up the music with the movements of the water and the colors and the images and it was just fantastic!

Not my video, but the only videos I took were less than 10 second Snapchats.  

You'll just have to come see it for yourself!

We ate dinner at a restaurant with a clear view of the Holy Armpit, and got to watch the light show a second time while we ate.  We then made our way back down the teleférico and back home to get a good night's sleep.

9 de octubre

Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia

The next day, we decided to walk around Floridablanca, in an area I'd been meaning to explore but hadn't yet had the chance.  We stumbled into a dimly-lit small-aisled market, with people selling everything from candles to fruit to meat to tools.  One vendor had an entire pig skin hanging out to dry.  After holding our noses for a while (all that raw meat doesn't smell great), we walked back out and continued our explorations.  We eventually ended up finding the Botanical Gardens (Jardin Botánico Eloy Valenzuela).  I had heard great things, so we went in!

There were of course many beautiful plants, but perhaps the most exciting thing (to me) was the wildlife!  They had an aviary FULL of beautiful parrots, a pond full of ducks, and of course TURTLES wandering everywhere free-range.

WHAAAT. Check out this dude.

After the botanical gardens, we went in search of Obleas, a traditional Santandarean snack that is essentially a wafer sandwich.  Traditionally, obleas are just filled with arequipe, a caramelly-dulce-de-leche sort of thing.  I ordered the Amor a Mil, which is filled with arequipe, cheese, guanabana, and strawberries.  It was tasty but didn't stay together well, so I ended up eating most of the fillings with a spoon.  Noah got the Amor de Tres, which is filled with arequipe, cream, and pear.  He really enjoyed it.  We then stumbled upon a town square with a market going on, where many people tried to get us to buy more obleas, ice cream, bracelets, or photos.  We declined and headed on home, quite pooped from our adventures.

10 de octubre

Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia

Unfortuantely I had to go to work on Monday, but afterwards Noah and I had a bunch of people over for dinner (homemade tacos!) and board games (thanks for sending me stuff Mom and Dad!).  Everyone had a great time and really enjoyed the tacos.  We finally got some spicy in our system!  (Spice is not very common here.)  After eating and chatting and vying for the cat's affection, we played a couple rounds of Sushi Go Party and Cards Against Humanity, and (to my knowledge anyway) everyone had a grand ol' time.

11 de octubre

Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia

I had to go to work again on Tuesday, so Noah was left alone for much of the day once more.  Luckily, he became fast friends with Lulo and she enjoyed napping on him.  After work, Colombia was playing Uruguay, so Noah and I joined a few of the other teachers at a bar to watch the game.  We were told to meet at Saxo Pub (an Irish pub, I think), but it turns out Saxo was gone and Das Leben (a German pub) had taken its place.  So we were quite the worldly group I suppose.  It was a pretty exciting game, and the two teams ended up tying (empate).

12 de octubre

Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia

On Wednesday, we decided to adventure to downtown Bucaramanga and see what there is to see.  We walked around El Centro and bought some fruit from the market, and dodged all the people that were jumping out to try to get us to buy whatever they were hawking.  We saw a guy blowing glass on the street and watched him make a swan, which was pretty cool (and only $5,000!).  

You don't see that every day.

We checked out the painted hormigas, and Noah had his first Colombian hotdog!  ...He wasn't impressed and it may have also been his last Colombian hotdog.  Luckily, we also found a place with empanadas and big ol' fried potato balls full of stuff (Papas Rellenas), so the night ended on a good note.

13 de octubre

Floridablanca, Santander, Colombia

Thursday was Noah's last full day in Colombia, so we spent it mostly eating empanadas and doing other very Colombian experiences - drinking fresh juice, buying coffee and aguardiente, and drinking water out of a bag.

Not as easy as I make it seem.

Many things here are served in bags - water, milk, ketchup, jelly, mayonnaise...you name it.  More environmentally friendly!  We also tried the Colombian soda Pony Malta, which it turns out is disgusting (to my students who may be reading this, Noah says Dr Pepper is WAY better.  I don't even like Dr Pepper and it's way better than Pony Malta).

We had gotten word that a chiva trip was in the works, so we headed back down to Bucaramanga with a bag full of beer to make Noah's last night a great one.  There were only 11 of us, but we still had a BLAST!

We're adorable.

Our chiva tour took us up to a discoteca near the top of a mountain with a great view of the city below us.  It being a Thursday night, we were essentially the only people there, short of one elderly couple quietly sipping their beers.  We lit up the empty dance floor and had a great time before re-embarking and partying 'til the cows came home.


14 de octubre
Palonegro International Airport, Lebrija, Santander, Colombia

We woke up before the sun to catch the taxi to the airport for Noah's early-morning flight.  He was able to get in one last empanada at the airport, though, being airport food, it wasn't the greatest.  We had a mild freak-out when the departures board turned from en sala (turns out that means it's boarding time!) to cerrado while we were eating, but luckily all was okay at Bucaramanga's tiny airport and Noah made it on the plane and safely through all his connections.

Journey to the Center of a Cave: Where I lost my Sunglasses, but not my Dignity

17 de septiembre 2016
Cueva de los Aviones, San Vicente de Chucuri, Santander, Colombia

Work life is getting pretty busy down here, so my blog posts end up being pretty late.  I am about to tell you of my adventures on 4 de septiembre 2016.  At 3:30 in the morning, I grabbed a taxi to nearby Provenza, where I met up with a group called Caminantes de Santander (caminar = to walk, hike, so caminantes = hikers) for a trip to La Cueva de los Aviones, en San Vicente de Chucurí.  My coworker Nestor had gathered a group of us to go (the two of us along with Rosa Maria, Colleen, and Dan), and had told us that it was going to be a short hike to a waterfall, where we would picnic.  It would be muy tranquilo.

It was anything but tranquilo.

But we'll get to that later.  For now, it's 3:30am, we're on a (very full) coach bus, and we're traveling about 3 hours on little to no sleep.  For the most part, the journey was fairly uneventful, if very bumpy.

I did get to see the sunrise over the mountains from the bus!

At one point, the bus stopped, and we were told to get off.  We were all a little confused, as it did not seem like we had reached our destination at all.  Turns out the bus was having problems driving on such steep hills.

Our bus got stuck driving down the hill, hitting its front bumper on the cross-street.

Luckily, after a bit of work backing up and making sharp turns, the bus made it onto the next street.  We were only a few blocks from breakfast, so we walked there to eat.

Good morning San Vicente de Chucurí!

After a delicious traditional Colombian breakfast, we walked through town a bit to get back on the bus and onto the next leg of our adventure.  Along the way, our guides explained a bit about what to expect, but I was not able to follow most of it (I really need to learn Spanish).

We arrived at the top of a mountain, where we disembarked and were told to bring only what was truly necessary.  We changed into our swimsuits and hiking clothes, grabbed our water bottles, and left our bags at a little farm.  We were ready to go.

The hike began by walking down a very steep switch-back path.  Along the way, I made some friends, and we chatted about our lives and tried not to fall.  There were some expert hikers who helped me out along the way, teaching me different methods, or having me put a hand on their shoulder for stability.  We made it down the mountain and out of the sun into the tree cover.  After a bit more hiking (more level and easier), we made it to our first waterfall.

Time for a swim break!

It was cold and refreshing and wonderful, and we all swam around a bit.  We were having a blast.

So fun!

Well, not all of us swam around blissfully...

After a brief respite, we noticed the guides had started having people climb up out of the water onto this huge rock to continue the journey.  It had foot-holds and hand-holds, sort-of, so they had not yet broken out the rope.

Ok; that doesn't seem too bad...

We all made it up with a little push from behind and pull from above (thanks Caminantes!).  We were proud of ourselves, but we hadn't seen nothin' yet.  Our next task was much steeper, and there was a rope involved.  It was very difficult, but I made it after ~3 -4 tries with some extra help.

Go Nestor! (Sorry it's blurry, my waterproof camera case was dirty inside.)

Uh oh, how am I gonna make it? This is not "muy tranquilo"!

I made it, but not without getting a little bit dirty!

We had made it up the steep climb, and we continued walking, sometimes through the jungle and sometimes through the river without much mishap.  We then got to our next waterfall and little swim break.

I'm Queen of the Rock!

Water polo prepared me for the moment I would be treading water underneath a waterfall.

Blissfully unaware of our next task.

We were all swimming around, climbing on the little rock in the middle of the pool and jumping back in, just like a bunch of kids at summer camp, when we noticed the guides setting up another rope.

We were going to climb the waterfall.

Now I don't know what muy tranquilo means in Nestor's mind, but climbing up a mother-fuckin' waterfall doesn't sound tranquilo to me.

So, I watched a few people do it, and I watched a few people climb up the super-steep alternative path as well.  I pondered both.  I discussed the options with my new Colombian friend Sara and German friend Hanna.  We decided that the waterfall was the better option, as there were guides and experienced climbers there to help.

It doesn't seem too hard....no wait, it does.

Well, I gave it a try.  And I got stuck.  So I gave it another try.  And I got stuck.  So the guide had me sit on his shoulders for a boost up to get me past that part.  And....I got stuck.  So I decided to take a little break, watch a few more people, consider the alternate route...

I considered it, and was walking towards it, when the guides told me to stop and wait for help.  I trust them better than I trust my own abilities, so I listened.  I went to go try again.  I jumped off the rock into the water and I lost my sunglasses.  RIP sunglasses.  I hope some fish get to enjoy them and be super-cool now.  I shrugged it off, they were old and scratched up and fairly cheap.  I was going to conquer this waterfall.

I did not conquer this waterfall.

I tried again, getting on the guide's shoulders, stepping up to the next foot-hold (the guide shoved my foot up to the next foot-hold), pulling the rope, grabbing the next guide's hand, and....I got stuck.  I panicked.  I didn't know where I could go and the guide was pulling on my arm so hard I thought my shoulder was going to dislocate.  I was crying.  I dropped back into the water and took another break.  I watched all my friends, old and new, climb up the waterfall.

The guides told me to wait, they were going to check if there was another way around.  Turns out there was, and one of the guides brought me through it, practically dragging me by the hand.  Another guy came with us too; he probably could've done it but he was worried about his phone.

We made it back to the group, and it turns out that my most recent failures had really badly scraped up my leg and I was bleeding, but we had no first aid with us so I just washed it in the river and kept on keeping on.  People kept asking me "¿Como estas?" and I kept answering that I was "Bien!"  One of the guides asked if I wanted to stop, but I said no.  It was around this point that I started accumulating a fan club.  A group of Colombians asked me something about a photo; I thought they wanted me to take their photo.  Turns out nope, they wanted a photo with me.  Was I a celebrity?

Well, they later all friended me on Facebook and said I'm a "warrior to be admired," so I guess so.

Well, we kept on going, and we walked and we swam and we climbed a little more, and we finally made it to La Cueva de los Aviones!  We swam through a little gap that opened up into a beautiful cave with a cool waterfall.

Worth it.

We hung around in the cave a bit, taking cool photos and swimming around.  A few people (including Nestor!) climbed on top of the cave and jumped in the hole in the ceiling.  A few other people exited the cave through a smaller gap that required holding your breath and going underwater.  We took a group picture inside the cave before we moved on.

We continued our hike, our spirits bolstered by the wonders of the cave, and we approached our next and final waterfall.  This one was stronger and larger than the others, so we all took turns receiving back massages from the falls.

Who needs shiatsu?

As we were all swimming and splashing around, we saw a local climb up and then slide down the waterfall.  It looked crazy.  It looked fun.  We climbed up, since our destination was in that direction, and I decided that I was going to slide down this waterfall.  I may not have conquered the last one, but I decided that I would conquer this one.  I watched the local kid do it again, but had him do it slowly while explaining that you simply have to go the same path as the water.  He said the bottom was just sand, so no worries there.  And then I did it.

As I was sliding, I heard lots of people cheering "Go Katie!" and I heard Colleen shouting "Wait Katie WHAT ARE YOU DOING STOP!"  But I did it.  I conquered that damn waterfall.  And I had a FANTASTIC time doing it!  10/10 would scare the shit out of my roommate again.

The rest of the hike was a pretty easy walk through the cacao trees and then up a gravel road back to the farm.  My legs were super banged up and though this was objectively the easiest part, it felt like the hardest.  

Can't beat the view from the top though.

When we got back to the farm, they cut a leaf off an aloe plant, shaved off the green part to let the soothing goo out, and rubbed it all over all my scrapes, bandaging part of the aloe to my worst scrape on my upper thigh.  

We all had some delicious lunch cooked by our hosts, changed, and got back on the bus.  We stopped for an hour in San Vicente again, had some ice cream, bought some souvenirs, and got back on the bus.

Little chocolate bombs to make hot cocoa!

A hot cocoa mug shaped like a cacao bean!

We were excited to be going home to sleep, but then our bus stopped at a gas station to change a tire.  We had a snack of empanadas and fresh guanabana juice, which was tasty at the time but ended up giving all of us food poisoning later that week. 

My scrapes are finally almost healed, and my food poisoning fiasco is over, and my legs finally don't feel like they're going to collapse every time I take the stairs.  This adventure was definitely one for the books.  It was the hardest day of my entire life, but it was also one of the best days I've ever had.