Americano's en Bogota

It's 9:30am in Bogota and I just bought some coffee at a Juan Valdez Cafe. The plaza where this cafe I located sits between a church and a large bank. People dressed in suits, students with notebooks, and walkers with expressions of determination stride around me. The air is fresh and the coffee tastes pretty good at this time of day.

I've been up for a few hours and finally my mind is slowly beginning to clear after 24 hours of traveling and stress. After a failed attempt to sleep in the Houston airport and during the plane ride to panama city, I arrived in bogota a strung out tourist who felt very unfamiliar with his surroundings.

After passing customs, large travel pack on my shoulders, an older man In a furry suit came up to me and asked if I needed a taxi. His taxi name tag and slicked back white hair was enough for me and I followed him to a nearby mini yellow taxi. He opened the door, I sat down, and the driver took me to the apartment where the volunteers for emerging voices live. After 30 seconds of awkward silence in the taxi I broke the ice and asked a few questions in terrible Spanish. The man understood me and we ended up talking for the entire ride even. It was my first conversation in a foreign language ad it was really fun.

After paying the man and meeting Monica, the Colombian born volunteer coordinator , I met the other volunteers and most of them are either American or kiwi so it was a taste of familiarity. The apartment is pretty fancy and there are 16 of us living there. I was wiped and not functioning vey well so I decided to avoid deep conversations with people and go to bed. Today the goal is get a SIM card for my phone, bank, and book hostel reservations for Cartegena.

I will fly to Cartegena tomorrow, a colonial coastal city located along the northern carribean side of the country. I will be there and in Santa Marta for 10 days to soap up sun and not get bitten my mosquitos hopefully. It is very san francisco like here with mild temperature and mostly cloudy skies. After exploring the streets aroud this part of the city i have come to the conclusion that we are in a very safe neighborhood. Each block has army or security guards and some of them are carrying automatic rifles. It's really different but also very exciting. More updates coming soon but I am safe and miss everyone from back home. Have a good day.