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Se dice que los mejores en la vida duran poco


Te extrano ya

And so its done. waiting in the damn airport in Bogota for a flight which has been horrificly delayed, after catching a flight from Medellin, which was guess what? Delayed. I think its now a 54 hour commute. That might be the ridiculous lack of sleep affecting my adding skills, but I would normally back myself.

Arrrgggghhh!!!! Bollocks.

Ps. I have to add, a taxi driver the other night thought I was Argentian. Top stuff really.

Now im just getting generous. Enjoy

Left. Girl in Cali.
Left. Tengo hambre Zanetta!!



below. Church!!
Left. Patrick thinks of changing career


Up in un barrio in Medellin.

Left. Yan. Going up cable car in Medellin.

below. the travelling crew + obstinate looking
friend


I felt immediate remorse for my selfish and lazy actions (the last post was actually posted today if u didnt notice) so I decided I had to make it up to you all with photos. Yaaaay!





Left. Its a big rock. Very wierd. We had only just recovered from climbing the bloody thing. (outside medellin)

Long overdue update on where the hell I am and what I may or may not be up to...
Medellin- came here first from Cartagena. Stayed 1 week. Had intended 3 or 4 days. Best.
Manizales - Coffee region, average city. Beauty in surrounding area.
Salento - small but charismatic pueblo in Coffee heartland. great. Coffee fincas, national park.
San Agustin - mission to arrive and leave, in south of country, similar to what u would imagine
Bolivia and Peru to be like. National park with mysterious pre Colombian statues
and graves. Horseriding. Nuf said.
Cali - On the way back up from San Agustin, through Popayan. City renowned for la rumba and
its women. Not the greatest as a tourist city tho. Sort of halfway inbetween Cartagena
and Medellin in style and feel, but not as good as either, if that was explained well at all.
Medellin - hold up. Deja vu. yes back here again. damn it.

Yes that is about as brief and uninforming as you can get. Im sorry. I really am..... Maybe tomorrow

whoa only a couple of weeks left till I split this place and head travelling. Cant wait to travel. It has become a little bit of an anticlimax here since things are pretty calm during the week as I dont have normal classes only some relaxed conversation classes. That isnt so bad tho since i can fully relax b4 the grind of uni looms nearer on the horizon.

On the other hand last weekend was prob the craziest yet, so on that count things are building up nicely. Depends on which way you look at it. The annoying thing is that when you know youre leaving its a very different feeling. I find myself appreciating things that Im going to miss when I leave, while someone like Eugene is finding himself starting to miss things from home, knowing that he is here until december. But there is a flip side of course, and I am a little bit anxious coz I know Im gona be leaving soon, and its in the back of the mind, while he is completely relaxed and calm.

So I have technically finished my teaching experience here in the form of proper teaching classes, apart from some tutoring and other miscellaneuos. Its been quite an experience and to be honest I have loved it. It seems to me to be a mint way to travel. Not necessarily thru AIESEC but just in general, since English teaching is kinda in demand in most countries in the world. Its not all great tho, there are bad sides to teaching, like when you have to deal with the girl whos turned up to a third of the classes and then wonders why she failed and shes crying coz she realises daddys not going to be happy. Or the guy who spends 20 minutes trying to convince you to pass him coz he hasnt doesnt any work at all and failed miserably. Offering all kinds of things... And I dont feel like a hard ass saying that i felt no real sympathy for that. It has put a new perspective on being a student haha since I have seen from the other side of the desk....

Been very lucky to have taught here by the way, maybe if it had been at a different place I would be leaving with a different impression. Who knows.

Spanish has come along great and most people are suprised that I really only learnt it here, (tiny bit at uni notwithstanding). So Im pretty pleased with that. Its gona be interesting for the other spanish students coz when I return and continue with my classes Im not sure if theyre going to understand me at all. I have picked up a pretty thick Costeño accent haha. Might have to change it if I can. Like the equivalent of going to England for 6 months and coming back speaking in a rock solid scouser tongue.

Our learning strategies for learning another language:

1. learn a bit before you go. If not u end up like Eugene and everyone tries to speak bad english to you.

2. get a girlfriend or boyfriend. (Its said that) pillow talk is the best way to pick up a language.

3. Talk even when you sound like an idiot and unknowingly say retarded things like "can I sleep with your daughter" instead of the much safer "can i take out your daughter"....

4. Learn how to argue. It damn annoying when you lose every single debate just coz they have greater command of the language. You have some knockout blows but you cant land them coz your hands are stuffed in your mouth.

Hey its all good here on this side of the world, I hope winter isnt too freezing since its pretty nice in the tropics, and I hope everyone is well, no winter chills. Although I could bear not seeing some of your faces for a little while longer, that is definitely the plus about coming home. So everyone stay sweet as until I arrive in a month or so.

PS, I hope all the boys are going to watch the world cup, going to be fantastic. Pity colombia arent in it actually, its getting fever pitch.

AJ

allright, where to start. I have had an up and down few weeks here, due to some really cool stuff and some more average stuff.
Ill start with a bitch and a moan, our landlady has completely swindled us for 12 days. She pretty much told me 1 day before that we would have to move out for a couple of weeks coz some people were going to stay in our rooms. I still cant believe that she sold our rooms without permission or anything resembling forewarning. We had paid for a month and paid well too. But I guess we have no rights whatsoever. She said we could stay in a hotel or something. No joke. Of course I replied that they could stay in a hotel, forgetting that that would mean she wouldnt make any money out of it so we couldnt have that could we! We refused to leave and then she found us a place in the same building which is sweet as. Inconvience + tho. The saddest thing is that when I was thinking about it I thought to myself that there was no way I could convince her that what she had done was just a little bit immoral and conniving, I thought to myself (without realising) that she's Colombian and thats just the way she is, that its a mentality that I cant fight against. When I realised that I thought that it was a massive massive shame to be honest.
All in all, we learnt that she treats us like dirt, still cant believe it really. Thats that.

Apart from that nasty incident, things have been going swimmingly, ive been able to keep well and enjoying stuff.
Went to Playa Blanca again which was eventful (again) to say the least.
Have started going to the festival films that they show here during the week at the language institutes and cultural centres like Casa de Espana and Allianza Francesa. German place too. Saw a very very french one last night that could only have been from Europe.
We also went to a Foundation which helps children in one of the poorer neighbourhoodsa round here which some friends are involved in and it was an incredible exprience. Played football, hung out etc and it was generally really amazing.

Starting to think about travel as well now which is kinda cool. Might be travelling around Colombia first coz there are many different places which I would love to see. So many different cultures in one country, which would make up for the lack of other countries. I'll have to decide what Im gonna do pretty soon.