Thankful for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving time!

This was the first thanksgiving that I was away from home and man did i miss my family! With that said, it was very interesting because it never really felt like thanksgiving. I think that a couple factors contributed to this. I that it is interesting to live somewhere the weather is just about constant year around. I love that you can sit poolside whenever you want, bc i think it makes you lose your sense of time a little. Sadly, I saw thanksgiving as more of a break from school this year than as an actual holiday. Nonetheless, i have so, so much to be thankful for… every day of every year.

Even though this experience has not lived up to my expectations, i am still so thankful that I am here, that i made the decision to come, that i am living what i dreamed about for year. There is certainly something to be said for that. I am thankful that i have family and friends supporting me and encouraging me along the way. I am thankful for all the family and friends that I love so much that I miss so much.

So anyways, this thanksgiving I traded turkey for fish. I traded scarfs for swim suits. I traded snow for sand. I traded friends for family. As fun as it was, next thanksgiving i will be sitting table side with my family!

So let’s talk travel. Josh and I headed north. I was so excited to get a change of scenery. All the november travels were fun but there is something to be said for getting to see something totally different. The ocean breeze is always magical too.

We flew into Cartagena, just under an hour away from Medellin and were instantly greeted by a certain kind of special warmth. We headed from the airport to the bus terminal to go about two hours west to San Onofre. We then got on the back of a moto for about 30 minutes to make it to Rincon del Mar. 

This slice of paradise is a little known area that is not set up for tourism at all, yet. There are only two hostels in the area. Only one real restaurant to get food from. Only one grocery store with only a few things to shop at.

The charm that this area has is not easy to put your finger on. It is mostly undiscovered. There is not much to do besides sit in the hammock and watch the cute little kids play. They kicked the soccer ball around in the empty house next door. They begged a dog (sookie) to chase after them.

Thanksgiving day, we took a trip out to the San Bernardo islands. We stopped at three different islands. Islote was the first stop and it is the most densely populated island in the world. Then we went to Mucura for a little. And finally Tintipan. The waters in this area were stunning.

The beach in front of our hostel- Mamallena  

Josh and I .... happy thanksgiving folks! 

just four of us cruising around for the day... coming up on islote here 

kids being kids 

the 'aquarium' I swam in... a turtle, two nurse sharks, lobster, and lots of big fishies in a itty bitty area

kids playing on murcura 

fishing the day away 

nothing wrong with the view 

There was nothing in the agenda Friday except to enjoy the day. And enjoy I did.

my happy place

Around midday Friday, we headed back to Cartagena. We got in just in time for dinner at a fun little place with different food stalls. Saturday the only mission was to see Cartagena- the castle, the walled city, and the shops. 

let me take you on a graffiti tour..... 

We started our day early and I am sure glad we did for two reasons: we beat some of the tourists from the cruise ships and we got some stuff done before the stifling heat. We nearly had the castle to ourselves.

underground tunnels 

I did like seeing Cartagena but one day was the perfect amount of time. Some people love it and i just wasnt really one of them. It was a great way to check it off my go-do-to list though!

colombian flag on the wall... with 'Miami' in the background

lots of colorful streets... lots of pictures taken.... ill give you just one 

the clock tower--- the entrance to the walled city... and the most annoying, persistent costenos. 

sunset watching while chilling on the wall

Novembers are for PUENTES

So the third bimester at school is pretty much a wash. There’s not a whole lot of schooling going on. That means a lot of 4 day weeks and three day weekends for us. I think there are only two 5-day weeks in the bimester.

That means lots of opportunity for travel here. I have gotten way behind on the blog work so this will be a post with lots of pictures and not a whole lot of words (i think).

This month meant lots of hiking for me. It is the perfect way to get out of the city, take a deep breath of air, and remind myself of how beautiful this city/ country is.

our 'trail'

The first hike was another hike in El Retiro. It was actually a training hike for a few people that were hiking Tolima (a glacier here) over thanksgiving. I was just up for a good hike. Britta, Jonathon, Kimber, and I bussed to Retiro where we met Avery and headed out from his hike. It was a pretty good climb for a while, getting up a ridge and then we walked along the ridge for a little. It was designed to be an out and back trek, at least that what Avery had planned for us. Along the way, we had to duck into the trees every now and then as apparently we were hiking a frequently traveled dirt bike path. We explored a little up at the top and found a cool little ‘trail’ through a heavily covered and decomposed area. We kept playing wood or not wood beacause even though you though you were holding on to or stepping on a tree, it would frequently just crumble in your hand. We made the difficult decision a while down this path to try to find a loop or to head back out. 

uh ohhhhhhh

Naturally, we made the riskier decision. We headed on with hopes of finding our way out. It was a super neat area and a fun hike. However, mother nature decided she was ready for another Antioquian storm and it started raining buckets and thundering and lightening like crazy. I like storms but it was actually quite scary. Of course it is funny to talk about this now, but it was very scary at the time. We genuinely had no clue where we were or how we were getting out for the longest time. We walked in the river for about two hours until we decided to scale a mountain side and fortunately we found a road, the road that we knew would take us back. It was a great adventure, however, my phone and my camera both died in the torrential rain. Let’s just say, it was an expensive day.

last picture for my camera.... can you tell it was a little wet 

The second hike was to a beautiful waterfall in Envigado (Arenal). I went with Tai, Veronica, and Tracy. To keep with the theme, it rained on us, just like it has on every single hike i have been on here. It's just the new normal. Considering we were hiking in the river for most of the time anyways, it didn’t much matter. There was no real path. We just had the objective of getting up stream. When we made it to the waterfall, i was impressed with its size. Waterfalls here are so common and so beautiful. Surrounded by so much green, the sights and sound never get old.

The next adventure was a puente trip to Jerico and Jardin, two small towns about 3 hours away from Medellin. It was a pretty impromptu trip since our other plans fell through. I went with Courtney, Tracy, and Jeremy. Jardin was definitely on my bucket list of places to get to but Jerico was a pleasant surprise. We took a bus friday evening after school to get an early start on the weekend. Jerico was a lovely little town. It was a quintessential Colombian small town. Old men sitting around in the town square. Little booths set up selling fruits, vegetables, sweets, and souvenirs. Coffee drink and ice cream eating. Being in the coffee region, there were coffee beans drying in the street. Horses trotting around the pebbled streets. There is absolutely no rush, no sense of time.

 because you always eat flowers when your guide tells you to

when the skies cleared out for a minute 

Even though we got in late, Tracy, Courtney, and I woke up early and went for a little hike in the area. It was quite cloudy at the top but it eventually cleared up enough for us to get a view. It was a short hike but definitely worth it.

looking over the sleepy town of Jerico.... 

After we walked around town to check out the colorful buildings, the necessary churches on the square, and the famous fruit dessert that we got from a pizza restaurant, we grabbed a quick lunch and got in a land rover to make the trek through the countryside to Jardin. It was such a beautiful ride, surrounded by coffee for most of the way. We got behind a truck loading up bananas for exito, a grocery store here.

alllllllll the coffee

chiva in the street and sausage hanging in the window

Jardin was very similar. They were redoing the main square though so a large part of it was closed up. Saturday night, we signed up for a long hike for the next morning. Let’s just say it was a little different from our expectations and from what they told us. It was pretty difficult due to the crazy thick mud and very slippery surfaces. We walked through so many different environments. It is wild how quickly your surroundings change here. We came across two spectacular waterfalls. It was a long, exhausting hike but it’s always worth it. The only bummer about this trip for me is that the main reason i wanted to go was to do a different hike to this cave. However, it was closed so I might have to make it back another time.

can't say I was expecting to see this... and yes these are adults riding around 

can you please moooooove out of my way 

see, I told you it was muddy 

they showed us pictures walking in a field.... not over rivers...

in caves... 

and over and under barbed wire.  

boys and their toys 

Back in Medellin, Josh and I went to explore La Romera in Sabeneta. It is a nature reserve so we went in with hopes of seeing more animals. All in all, we still had a very good day sorta kinda getting lost. The signage was perfectly Colombian, which means that it was practically nonexistent. We found a house along the way and naturally hopped the fence. He seemed not to have a clue where we were wanting to go but he told us a different way back. Determined to find the path we were looking, we kept walking and walking through some sticky mud and super slippery stones.

My most recent hike was Cerro de los Tres Cruces here in Medellin. We had great weather which made the day even better. This is a short hike that is very popular here. A lot of locals do it for their workout on the weekend. There is even a gym at the top to really get your workout on. It is a very exposed trail so on a sunny day is it hot, very hot. The views of this city never get old. I have to remind myself frequently not to take this for granted.