semana santa.

hola mis amigos.

it has been almost a week since i came to join my little colombian flower for her week off. erin took an eight hour bus ride from manizales to meet me in bogota, and we have had such a lovely reunion! it has been enlightening to see erin in her new environ, speaking spanish and introducing me to so many of her new friends. so much of erin meshes perfectly with the colombian vibe, and she is clearly at home here. i wish i could have made it to manizales to see her new home, and meet her students, but we have had a great adventure in bogota and the surrounding area. i am so happy that i have had this week to spend with erin, just getting a small window into her new world.

being a catholic country, many colombians have been off this week to celebrate jesus. and they do. parades, signs, walks, radio broadcasts... colombians really love the big j. and since today was good friday, everything is closed! few buses were running between cities and you would be hard-pressed to get lunch. apparently the pubs are open though, so that is good news for later this evening.

flying into bogota was an adenture on its own. the flight from monterrey to mexico city was ridiculously overbooked, and i almost didn't get on. luckily, i was waitlisted as number two (after ginny, who was also going away for the break) and about fifteen people didn't show. phew. the flight into bogota was a quick four hours next to two young little ones who wanted to play with me the entire time. ix-nay on the relaxing. the full descent into bogota took a total of 2.5 seconds. being the third highest city in south america, it doesn't take long to get to it!

erin met me at the airport and we spent our first evening dancing at some amazing bars in downtown bogota. i got a quick lesson in salsa - too bad canadians are not born with hips that can move like colombians! i also experienced aguardiente, a typical (very strong) drink that colombians drink like water. needless to say i had a bit of a headache on sunday morning! we spent the next two days exploring the city. erin needed to buy some tall pants, i wanted to explore the hippie parts of downtown, and we went to the botero museum. bogota is a thriving, funky, busy city. the food is eclectic, the people are sooo friendly and the alcohol is plenty.

we spent our next three days in a little colonial city four hours north of bogota called villa de leyva. full of artesan stores, cheap jewellery, cobblestone streets, colonial architecture, mountain vistas and colombians on vacation, it was incredibly relaxing. we drank cafe con leche (mmm colombian coffee), wrote in our journals and watched the world go by. it was also a really safe area of the country, so we hiked through the surrounding area to a seven metre long fossil of a kronosaurus! i couldn't read the signs explaining it, but it looked really cool. one day we even took a cab to a little colourful artesan village called raquila - literally my dream of pottery, hammocks, jewellery and baskets. erin and i each bought more than we had space for!

contrary to popular stigma, i have felt unbelievably safe in colombia. granted, i have been hanging out with a lot of colombians, but i have never once felt threatened or nervous. i don't make a habit out of walking alone at night, but i don't do that in most cities. most colombians would not hesitate to tell you that colombia is at war: but only in certain areas. the guerilla's and paramilitary groups are a constant threat in certain areas of the country, but as long as you stay mostly in the cities and travel by bus only during the day, it feels like any other country. there are police officers everywhere, and our buses even got pulled over several times at police check-points. i would not hesitate to come again, or encourage others to make colombia a destination, it is just important to do your research and make smart decisions.

and those smart decisions can always include copious amounts of shopping, dancing and drinking (water, of course)!