My last day/night in Cartagena was fantastic. I was wandering around the historical center again (it's the most fun area for aimless wandering) when I heard a somewhat familiar song being played. It took a few seconds to confirm, because the words were only chiming in every few seconds (and it was definitely not the voice of the original artist), but it was, indeed, "Quit Playing Games with My Heart" by the Backstreet Boys, coming from a karaoke bar. Obviously, I had to go inside and watch it go down in person.
The singer was in a group of four guys. When the song was over, I overheard them say something about New York, and since that meant they would speak English, I took that as a green light to introduce myself. Turns out they were there for a bachelor party. They invited me to hang out more after the karaoke place, but they needed to find a liquor store first. In a rare moment of being the group's most-fluent-in-Spanish person, I asked an arepa vendor where there was a liquor store, and he walked us directly to one, halfway down the block. Felt pretty good to have a Spanish win, especially in front of a small audience.
I hung out with the guys for a few hours, and then headed back to Amalia's place to get ready for our night out at Havana, a popular Cuban dance place in Getsemani. First, we met at The Clock Pub for some food, and the guys from New York were there! They said they'd gone to Havana earlier and they left because it was dead, but I still wanted to go. I'm glad we went - we enjoyed some delicious mojitos and had a great time dancing, and the place filled up pretty quickly. If it was that busy on a Wednesday, I'm not even sure I would want to be there on a Friday or Saturday. Afterward, we walked back to the Clock Pub, which was closed, but the rooftop dance club was open, so we went up there and danced like crazy for about an hour before it started raining and everyone left.
Needless to say, I was not feeling 100% the next day, but I made my flight on time and the flight to Medellin was only an hour. Even though it was the most expensive option, I took a personal taxi to the AirBNB, because my top priority was to just get to another bed ASAP for naps.
And nap I did. Eventually I had to get up because I was hungry and needed to go find some food, but otherwise I'm pretty sure I would have slept through the next day.
Last night I had a dream that my Bonderman trip was over, and I was back home, hanging out with my family and living at my parents' place. At some point in the dream I had the unsettling realization that the only country I'd gone to was Colombia, and I wasn't supposed to be back yet, and OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE - am I allowed to pick up where I left off and buy a ticket to Peru? Is it all over, did I blow it? I think my subconscious was feeling overwhelmed, homesick, hungover and tired yesterday.
But I am feeling refreshed now and it is time to get pumped about being in Medellin! Here's the to-do list:
Friday: dinner with other AirBNB guests, then party at a brewery, 3 Cordilleras
Saturday/Sunday: Octoberfest! Bands: Chocquibtown & Bomba Estereo at "Club Colombia"
Tuesday: Salsa bands at Eslabon Bar
Hot springs: Termales San Vicente
Central plaza in Jardin
Lleras Park (night life)
Arvi Park (nature reserve)
Parque de Bolivar
Pueblito Paisa
Palmas view point
Guatape (small town ~one hour outside Medellin)
Sante Fe de Antioquia (~one hour outside Medellin)
I love you and miss you -- please feel free to email me and let me know what you're up to! I really enjoy hearing from people back home. I do pretty well on my own, and I'm glad to be traveling by myself, but I really miss being able to connect with you all...