Hotel Caribe 79 Barranquilla

... not, as my internal organs will attest to. Four days of this kind of behavior will have you feeling like you spent a month inside a pickle jar. Upon arrival in Barranquilla, I headed straight for the city's ugly center where all the cheap, but ****** hotels are located. But after following a tip from the receptionist at my hostel in Bogota, I was able to find an office in ...

... the best thing to do would be to just keep drinking and hope for the best. It didn't work, and as I forced myself to sit through the whole parade, clutching at every greasy snack that came my way, I wished I could just lie down on the dirty floor and go to sleep instead of sitting on a chair. Lesson learnt! I must have slept about 12 hours that night, but woke up refreshed enough on Tuesday to go to Cartagena for the day. I was happy to ...

... as worn during the Carnaval de Barranquilla, widely known to be the second-largest/best Carnaval in South America, after the one in Rio de Janeiro. Then quickly a group of guys gathered around the drums, pulled out some other instruments, including a rasp, a flute-like instrument, and shakers. Everyone started moving with the music, Alfredo jumped into the circle around the drums, and courted a woman with traditional dress, to dance around the musicians. Lili ...

... white for general good energy. When she had wrapped the ribbons, she took a clear plastic bottle, and sprayed the charm with some clear liquid. I thought it must have been holy water, or some magical concoction, but when I asked, she told me it was perfume from America. Well, the good luck charm has to smell nice, no? Then she started tapping the charm, up, down, up, down, up down, up, down, with her fingers, all the while saying something ...

... actually making such an ego-driven judgment. Ok, maybe I'm thinking too much... we received some very good news for Futbol con Corazon, which is a direct result of my work here, so I feel successful. Overall things are going great here in Barranquilla. The whole team here is working very hard, and is receptive to my suggestions. It is often frustrating, but if it were not frustrating, then it would mean that I am accepting of a mediocre work ...

... a call on the hotel phone. I picked up, but no answer. A few moments later, another call - I picked up again, and this time a woman spoke. She said that it was Adriana, and that we met on the beach last weekend. I said I didn't meet her - I was confused. I had a flashback to Kyrgyzstan. It turns out that she saw me go to the beach, leaving the hotel, and she is also staying at the hotel, with her friends, who are in Barranquilla ...

Time for another posting then! Have been busy busy lately, so haven't had much time to write! Here's just a quick fill in on what's been happening in over here in Barranquilla. Firstly, I FINALLY got paid! After 2 months, everything eventually got sorted. Thank goodness or else I would have been quite literally singing for my supper (and we all know I'm no Kelly Clarkson). Went out and bought a new outfit - trying to blend in with ...

... of salsa music, reggaeton, cumbia, and other I forgot the name of. Shirly decided to "teach" me how to dance, and I completely surprised her by the fact that I could dance. Well, I know how to move to music, and I am a quick learner, and I know some basic steps, but everyone was totally impressed by a gringo that doesn't suck at dancing. So we danced, I danced with some of the other girls, met some of the guys, and it was a really nice ...

... away. Also, I think there must be a mouse here, I hear some type of animal sounds coming from the wall behind my kitchen... ahhh, I already have a friend ;-). So, the La Paz neighborhood is very poor. The streets are unpaved, the houses are tiny, and there is a lot of drugs, gang violence, and prostitution. Children are exposed to this environment, having a lot of free time, since school is only half day since the local government cannot afford any more since they are so ...

... choice English words before I was dragged behind the desk to have all my fingerprints and both my hand prints taken. Talk about paranoid! And after all this and a 3 day wait, they proudly presented me with a scrap of paper the size of a credit card, complete with my fingerprint and sweaty photo. Super. That's not one I'll be flashing at the Fubar bouncers when I get back to Stirling! so today I got to go wait in the DIAN office for two hours (the ...