I’ve been in Bogota almost three weeks. I’m beginning to feel less like a tourist and more like…what the heck do I feel like? I’m not sure. I think it’s the next phase that may come and go, or linger for a long time as I try to assimilate into daily life here. Stopped on my bicycle at an intersection …
I spent most of my first week in Bogota GSD-ing. That’s a nice little acronym for “Getting Sh*t Done”! I like GSD-mode; it suits me. There was, and still is, a lot to get done as I’m trying to set up a mostly-new life for myself here for at minimum the next 6 months. It’s pretty thrilling to be embarking …
My arrival on Sunday morning was smooth. I met a young woman from Venezuela on the second leg of my flight who was extremely helpful and kind to me. I spoke Spanish with her as best my tired brain could manage; it is quite amazing how humans can communicate with or without proper sentence structure and very much vocabulary. (I …
I boarded the plane, destination Bogotá Colombia, sniffling and brushing back tears that kept coming despite my annoyance they were there. But I was feeling the loss of so many things- people, places, roles – even as my heart was singing with excitement about what this next chapter holds for me. For quite some time I’ve wanted to live in …
I got one last run on the Malecon before packing up and making sure all was ready to go when we had to leave later this afternoon. We had quite a few hours to spend in Havana before that, though. Cleve had another group of guests that had arrived and begun their tour, so he spent most of the day …
Amauri and our van taxi driver arrived about 8:15 this morning to take us all on an 2.5 hour drive west to the Vinales Valley. It is known to be some of the most scenic & lush green landscapes on the island, as well as home to many small tobacco farms where most of Cuban tobacco is gown and prepared …
This morning I ran the direction we had driven yesterday to find a walking path Cleve had pointed out to me. Its built into a wide median in the middle of the street for miles down Embassy Row which is a pretty nice area of town. There were lots of people out walking, exercising, getting on and off buses, etc. …
Charlotte, Anita and I took the 10am tour of the Cuban National Hotel this morning, and loved it. We had an excellent tour guide named Aeleen (Eileen) who knew the Cuban history back and forth. The tour is offered free to guests of the hotel, or anyone can go on it for 5CUC$ (Cuban Convertible Peso …I don’t know what …
My run this morning was sun-less, cooler, and graced with a beautiful cloud-layered sky. Soon after our group left the apartment, it began to rain which turned into pouring rain. We were headed to the San Jose Market right on the water but fortunately for us it was completely enclosed so it was a great activity to be doing this …
Today began with a nice run along El Malecon (sea wall), this time in the other direction. There were less people fishing and running than there were yesterday, and after a couple miles the paved path ended into a neighborhood. I kept going another half mile or so because I liked seeing the streets, houses, and people that were out …