In its defense, however, the beaches were absolutely spectacular. I can understand how the city manages to rake in millions every year -- there are more silly, inebriated American tourists than you could shake a stick at. We were lucky enough that we were able to avoid most of them though, while we stayed with Gabi's friend from high school. Angela was more hospitable than we could have hoped and eagerly set us free within her small studio apartment. During our three days there, we mostly hid out in the apartment during the day (avoiding both the sun and the American tourists), planned for the rest of our adventure, and took care of various errands. In case you were wondering, yes, we did manage to avoid going in both WalMart and Sam's Club during our 3 days there. Though it was tough, I'll tell you (ha. sike).
Aside from Angela and her friends, we really didn't relate to many people. Like Puerto Escondido, there was undoubtedly a different vibe between the tourists and the locals. One that I couldn't consider favorable. Alas, we had a good time on the beach in the evenings and tried to break the ice with locals when presented the opportunity. Both times we went to the beach, we went to public beaches so as to avoid paying as well as drunk Americans. It was a great decision. On our last day we ventured by bus to the 18 kilometer mark out on the mid-ocean strip of beach where all the fancy hotels, malls, and American shops are located. At playa delfines, we were thankfully surrounded by Mexicans who were enjoying the crystal blue waves and heavenly white sand as much as we were. It was an absolute blast. Unfortunately we didn't take any photos. To your fortune, however, there are surely millions of photos of Cancun online. Visit my good friend Google.
After our long, sun-smothered last day at the beach, we decided to try our luck at a free offer. In the public bus on the way to the beach in the morning, we noticed a poster advertising FREE MARGARITAS at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville with the presentation of your 50 cent bus pass. Five hours in the hot sun and brutal waves and we were practically forced to give it a shot. So we set off on foot, bus passes stuffed deep into our dripping pockets and our mouths salivating heavily with the prospect of a free margarita. And we walked. And walked. At first, with the idea of a refreshing boozy drink still fresh on our minds, we didn't really mind the 6.5 kilometer distance between the beach and our glorious destination. But after about an hour and a half of walking, the task began to seem more and more ridiculous. Alas, we stuck it out, and enjoyed every sip of our free 6oz. margarita at Mr. Buffet's notorious hangout amid blasting tunes and an enormous projection of Jimmy himself and other country greats belting their hearts out. Oh, what a day.
We said our goodbyes to Angela the next morning and set off on the next leg of the journey. Funnily enough, our cheap flight from Cancun to Colombia required that we set foot back on American soil for a few long hours. After a full day of traveling, and persistently avoiding the incredibly overpriced food in the Cancun airport, we were surprisingly delighted to find a Sbarro's at the Fort Lauderdale airport. I've never been so excited to see a Sbarro's in my life. In fact, I normally go out of my way to avoid them. Yet after nearly two months without pizza, and a whole day without food, we bought a whole pie and demolished it within minutes. It was glorious.
We've been in Colombia only a few short days, but the differences between this place and Mexico are blatant. Not only are the people different, both in appearance, manner, and custom, but there exists an entirely different vibe. We love it. The city we're currently in seems quite a bit poorer than most places we saw in Mexico, which was actually rather surprising to us, but it has a heart unlike some places we saw in Mexico as well.
Our small adventures are already numerous and we're looking forward to spending a more substantial amount of time here. We came here, to Santa Marta, to check out an organization that we got in touch with a couple of weeks ago: Fundación Mariposas Amarillas. We weren't so sure whether or not we'd actually end up working here after stopping in on a meeting yesterday, but immediately upon arriving in the small barrio outside Santa Marta where the organization does the majority of its work, we were convinced.
We went to work this morning and have decided to stay for a month. The organization works primarily with one small elementary school in a small, incredibly poor barrio outside the city limits, called Oasis. The barrio has a lot of heart and the people that we're working with are wonderful.
Most volunteers "teach" the kids in the overly-crowded three classrooms that the school provides, but we're currently helping them out with other work. We arrived early in the morning today and helped the organization's founder and manager to clean up the front of the school, dig a ditch, and hand-mix a bunch of concrete to fill in the gap for the foundation of an addition that we'll be starting tomorrow. I'm looking forward to helping out with the physical labor with which Oscar needs assistance, starting a small garden that we've talked about, and playing with the kids in the afternoon.
Another factor that kept us from signing on immediately yesterday was our lack of a place to stay -- we can no longer afford to put up in a hostel every night. To our delight, however, one of the barrio's main women-in-charge graciously helped us find a place about 200 feet from the school. We certainly won't be living in style, our new home reminds me much of the place i lived while working in Ghana, but at least we have (some) running water and electricity. There isn't really any furniture, but at least we have a small, functional electric stove and a toilet. Aside from that it's pretty much just concrete. On the plus side, between the two of us the rent is incredibly cheap -- about a dollar a day -- and we have the opportunity to get closer to the families and kids in the little village. After nursing our tired arms back to health tonight, we look forward to hopping up bright and early in the morning tomorrow to mix some more concrete and start building!
p.s. Our new abode obviously doesn't have wi-fi. I'll be a little more out of touch for a while, though I'll certainly be thinking of you all. Peace.
1 comment:
Sounds like quite the adventure! I'm going to miss the updates, but I can't wait for the next one =) Stay safe broheim.
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