Teaser pics

As we began our descent on Cartagena, we flew in from the north. I'd say the plane went about 30 miles south of the city, and swung back up from the south allowing breath taking views of the city and the northern coast of Colombia. I was amazed, yet frustrated because I couldn't seem to get my camera out of my backpack quick enough. This, I wasn't expecting.


















And here we were: landed at la Aeropuerta Internacional de Rafael Núñez in Cartagena, Colombia. This is what I will call home for the next 4 weeks. Getting through customs wasn't bad at all. I must say that most of the trip was rather uneventful. Getting a cab outside the airport was a little frustrating though. Between our broken Spanish and the cab drivers' and policias' broken English, we managed to realize there weren't any vehicles large enough to fit 5 people and all our luggage. We ended up taking 2 seperate cabs to our apartment in the barrio (neighborhood) of Centro.

This neighborhood is AWESOME! Between the echoes of the horses clamoring down the streets in carriages and oil lit lamps outside the houses, I really felt like I had travelled through time back tot he 17th century. The houses have maintained their colonial charm. This neighborhood, along with most the rest of the city, was walled off during the Spanish Inquisition. The streets are narrow, are all one way, and can barely fit cars down them. I really don't want to have to drive here... lol.

The weather: it's REALLY f'ing humid here. I don't care for heat that much, but I promised that I'm going to make myself get acclimated to it. All you want to do is drink gallons of water, but of course, you can't drink the water here. I had went to the corner store, that actually ended up being a bar, to get bottled water. That was fun trying to figure out what to get, how to ask for it, etc. No one speaks English here except for the occasional BRITISH tourist. Yeah, they barely get American tourists here. I have noticed that there are a lot of French tourists. What's sad, is that these French and British tourists have nearly not as much trouble with Spanish as I do. That is going to change!

Anyway, just in case you're wondering, the time here is 7:45am right now. I'm two hours ahead of California, and one hour behind East Coast time. They don't observe Daylight Saving Time here.

OH! Here's a couple of pictures from the beach I took as we drove to our house from the airport! It was right around sunset: