My goodness, has it really already been almost a month since I've been in this wonderful country? Carolina and I got here June 3 and it is already June 29. But we have loved every second! We have been completely surprised at how great our internship has gone; not that we thought it was going to be bad, but I don't think either of us ever thought we would be so close to our coordinators.
SPEAKING OF WHICH. They took us to Girardot, a smaller vacationing area of Colombia a couple of weeks ago for a holiday weekend. We stayed in a house that Edwin built, swam all weekend, and spent time with Edwin's awesome family. I've learned so much since I've been here in Colombia, so I'll share as I go on with my stories.
1. Colombia and Ecuador have both made me really wish I had a super large family.
2. Colombia has THREE holidays in the month of June, all Catholic holidays.
Of course, I got sunburnt in Girardot. Luckily, no sun poisoning and the burn didn't hurt. It's always so funny when I get burnt in South America because it typically isn't horrible, I'm just red. But everyone around me notices and comments on it, then asks me how bad it hurts. Bizarre, but so funny. Also, something else bizarre, they serve hot chocolate here in a HUGE mug, with a big block of cheese to tear apart and put into it. So when it melts, you can scoop it out and eat it.
3. Cheese can go with everything down here. Desserts, drinks, foods, especially all over pizza.
We made it back from Girardot just fine though and worked another week. The following week, on Friday, Nestor (Edwin's dad) invited us to hike Monserrate with him. As much as you think that an older gentleman would never be able to make it up Monsserate, you are sadly mistaken. He probably could have hiked up and down in the time that it took me to make it to the top. Luckily, Erika stayed behind with me; once we got to the top, she told me all about everything that was up there and why it was there. It was kind of like taking a professor on the hike with me, hahaha.
I forgot to mention that she also took us to a Venezuelan restaurant for lunch two weeks ago and it was the best food I have ever eaten. I EVEN ATE SALAD. How many of you ever thought Clegg would eat salad and enjoy it?
Anyway, after the hike, we took the Funicular down, which is like a train made of nothing but windows. It was really cool, but we beat Nestor, Carolina, and Valentina down because we thought they were already down waiting for us. While we were waiting, a few people in Colombia sweat suits started to gather. Turns out, we were in the presence of the Colombia National Boxing Team!
4. You are never too old to ask for a picture. Ever.
Friday night, we headed to Cali. Not California, but Cali, Colombia. HOME OF SALSA. Thank God for my Aunt Nancy and her old host student, Andrés. Andrés walked us ALL over the city and then later that night, we went out and he taught us both how to salsa. It was definitely our favorite weekend in Colombia so far! That Sunday was Father's day and we got to spend it with Andrés, his little brother Juanes, and his dad while watching the Colombia game. Colombia didn't win, but at that point, they had moved on anyway. Afterwards, we went back, got our things together, and went to eat cholados. I don't know exactly what they are still, other than a lot of fruit, some jelly/marmalade, and creme. Basically that's all you need to know anyway. After that, we went to see Cristo de Rey of Cali but it was already closed. We still had an awesome view of Cali though, thanks to Andrés. Really, we owe our entire weekend to Andrés because he shared his home and his friends with us. OH AND HOW CAN I FORGET--I had this stuffed arepa and it was heaven. Literally, all the food in Cali was heaven. Cali was heaven. Back to the real world though and to work. That is, for two days or so. Then, off to Ecuador!
I took a cab to the airport Wednesday to catch my flight to Quito.
5. Cab drivers are the most interesting people to talk to because they typically know so much about the city.
I didn't even struggle through security or the ticket counter, so I was feeling pretty confident. After getting to my gate, where we took a bus to the tarmac and climbed into the plane, I was super excited to get to Ecuador. I sat in the very last row of the plane and ended up not having anyone else in my row. That was nice too, but of course, I'm a talker so I kind of wished I had had someone to pass the time with. Getting back into Ecuador wasn't much of a struggle either--I thought it might be since I had just spent 5 months there. Jose was waiting on me with his mama so I had a ride back. I headed back to Cumbaya with him to grab sushi from my favorite place and wait on Raul to get out of class; I said bye to Jose and headed to Bo's with Raul. Raul left a little bit later and I went out to ladies night with Bo; I've missed Bungalow hahaha. I even found an OU flag waiting on me!
Thursday morning, I tried to get the wifi to work to Skype and couldn't get it to function. So I basically just spent all afternoon with Raul watching Netflix. How I Met Your Mother is definitely not House of Cards, but it's good enough. Later, we walked to the mall to get food. What's funny is that when people ask me the differences between Bogotá and Quito, I always talk about being cat called. No one believes me that the cat calls are horrible in Quito, but they are. Even walking with Raul, someone started whistling on the way, calling me gringuita and guapa and princess, the usual. Needless to say, my point was proven. We basically just wandered around chatting after dinner until he had to go home. I spent the rest of my time with Bo, catching up and watching 10 things I hate about you on Netflix. Since there were so many protests in Quito on Thursday, it was pretty tough to cross the city so I'm glad I stayed close.
Friday was just kind of a relaxing day, without much to do until I went to Raul's later to watch even more Netflix and hang out with him and his sister. It's pretty cool when you find someone who you can hang out with and be super content watching Netflix with all night. I took a cab home--they all try to rip you off at night and charge extra because "it's late". Typical.
Saturday morning, I woke up at Bo's and headed "home"--aka host mama's house. I took her to the best brunch place I have ever been to in Quito, named Jurgen's (shout out to Amilia and Antonia) and she had never been, even though it was within walking distance. After hanging out with her for a few hours and sharing stories about Colombia, I headed to Raul's...yeah, again. His mama wanted to meet me! Which was both exciting and nerve-wracking for me. Moms are intimidating, but it's almost always guaranteed that I'll get along with the dads. Host mom wished me luck and walked me downstairs to find a cab. The driver looked a little odd so she took his card and told me to text her when I got to Raul's. The cab ride was....interesting to say the least. Of course, he asked me what my name was.
6. EVERY TAXI DRIVER YOU WILL EVER MEET WILL FREAK OUT WHEN YOU SAY YOUR NAME IS RAQUEL. They love it, refer to the Bible, then unnecessarily roll the R and incessantly refer to you as Raquel.
Anyway, he talked to me about Correa and the history of Quito and then we got "lost". Even though I knew right where we were, he wouldn't listen to me. Calls to Raul failed, so he continued to say he didn't know where he was going and asking people on the street. Finally, almost to Raul's, he begins asking me what I'm doing that day. I started getting a weird vibe, and then next thing I know, he is asking me on a date. So I casually tell him I'm going to my boyfriend's to meet his family, hoping that Raul will be outside when I get there....naturally, he decides that he's going to charge me $7 instead of the $5 he debated with my host mom. I gave him $5 and quickly said bye.
Raul's mama made a massive lunch of crab and salmon and salad. I have never cracked crab before...luckily, his entire family was full of pros. So I sat with Joaquin, his seven year old brother, and learned along side him. Nothing is embarrassing anymore, I suppose. Afterwards, we watched the Brazil-Paraguay game and then headed to the movies. Thankfully, Raul is about as impatient as I am with movies and we both thought Jurassic World was horrible. We went to Guapulo to enjoy the rest of the night since it was late, but still beautiful outside. It was literally such a perfect day, full of the Navarrete family and so many things to do.
Sunday was hard. It was actually really hard. I got up and packed, said bye to Bo, and headed back to Raul's once again. His family, being as sweet as they are, took me all around Quito with them. We stopped in Jardín to see my sweet friend Daniel for one last time and then just wandered around Quicentro for a while. When I thought we were done, his dad told us we were going to his grandma's so we could have lunch and I could meet her before I left. That's when it hit me that I was leaving in a few short hours and I didn't have much time left with Raul, which sucked. I'm not an emotional gal, but awkwardly started tearing up when I was saying bye to his grandma. We went back to Raul's and I got another solid hour with him and Netflix before we officially had to leave. His parents were nice enough to drive me all the way to the airport and let us say bye. Easily, the hardest goodbye I've ever said. Luckily, the ugly tears didn't happen in front of Raul or at the check-in counter, but at the gate. In front of a number of confused Colombians.
7. It's okay to have feelings, even if it means they are for someone who doesn't live in the same country as you. Or on the same continent.
Today was a holiday in Colombia, so we relaxed at home all day. It was weird because it's the first day back in Bogotá and after getting into a routine of spending all my time with Raul, it made it that much harder. But Carolina and I are certainly excited to see what is to come for the rest of our internship and time here with the Cerquera family.
The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.
-Charles Dickens
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