Final days

 Admit it, when you have pictured me out here on this adventure, you home in the cold, heading to work in the dark and returning home in the dark this past winter, you romanticized that this is where I have been this entire time. Among the palms and thatched roofs. 

I've done my best to burst that bubble through this blog because, well, to start I think the truth has been WAY more interesting and I have also hoped that you've found the ridiculous stuff funny which eases the regret you may have of not being out here with me.  As always you're welcome :) and there is always next time. 

So to recap... this oasis is not where I have been for the past 18wks. I've been in sweaty or ice burg-like buses dying a little inside every time at the thought that my backpack is being thieved at every stop. I've been killing time in any number of airports, praying my stuff doesn't get soaked in a variety of "boat-like" structures. I've been slipping around in mud and rain, doing my best to avoid roaches & tarantulas, sharing dorm rooms with up to 11 other human beings (I use the term loosely for some) from all walks of life. People who think nothing of turning on an overhead light at 4am to have a full voice conversation about their need to "hide the coke" because the policia are outside wanting to take them to the "station" if they don't show them their passports.  I've been muddling through spanglish crossing all my limbs that what I ordered for dinner will taste like something more than texture and less than a pet. Trying to work out yet another exchange rate because I know as a gringo I'm getting ripped off but by how much? Always with the knowledge that soon my ears will pop from another major change in altitude. 

To be fair I have also been discovering what it feels like to swim with galapagos penguins, describe wine, hike the Andes, make amazing new friends who also find it hard not to laugh at what is going on around us when the differences are just so thick, savor unique foods (I will miss you Lulo and Mora), breath in sea or crisp mountain air as I practice yoga and generally reinvent myself with each new stop as I see fit.

So yes I suppose you are due some jealousy and for my last three days this is where I was. An oasis 2 hours north east of Santa Marta on the caribbean coast in Palomino, Colombia. 

Wish you were here. Home soon

xo

b