Day 1

My first full day was wonderful. I am in Bogota with Laly and her friend Julie who has welcomed me into her home with open arms. I love this culture. Everyone is giving and warm and stares at me. ha
I am getting my mouth reaccustomed to the language finally but settling my stomach with the food will be a longer process. I had two big cups of tinto today (strong dark coffee) and lets just say its a little rough. We had lunch at a little restaurant called El Arco that specializes in plantains. I ordered Arco Guerrero.. an whole fried sweet plaintain stuffed with beans and guacamole and then topped with Colombian chorizo and something that resembled pork rinds, chicharron. Delicious. I think the best though part might be the funny looks I get when I ask for my fo0d cheeseless. Classic.
We also went to an art gallery that displayed a lot of Botero´s work, a few Picasso´s, Degas, Matisse...it was great. I got too close to the Picasso and an alarm went off. awesome.
I have been hearing a lot about the culture in Barranquilla and I cannot wait to get there. Laly just told me like ten minutes ago that the people there have the funniest names. The best one: Usnavy, oos nah vee. That´s right, one of the more popular names in the wonderful port town of Barranquilla is U.S. Navy. Laly said the people see the ships come in the ports and they just run with it.
I´ve been surprised to see lots of anti-Uribe sentiment (thats the president). There is graffiti everywhere calling him a paramilitary supporter and for the people to not vote for him. Walls everywhere say things like ¨solution for the social and armed conflicts.¨ this country has improved so much as far as violence but still has so far to go. Oh I also learned the FARC is completely different than the paramiltares. The paramilitary defend the rich from the FARC (a communist terrorist group here), but are an enemy of the government as well. The FARC, obviously an enemy of the government, hate the paramilitares. So those two groups are fighting in the southern parts of the country. Thats my beyond basic, simple minded understanding at least. Our breakfast conversation consisted of explaining that to me and then explaining to Julie the racists in the States. Lovely.
I am going to go take a nap before we go out tonight. I hope this finds everyone well and I promise pictures soon!
Much love