A-Broad in Education: The Americana Morenaza en Colombia~ Summer in Cartegena

Cartegena

After we left Medellin in the wee hours of the morning, we found ourselves waking up in Cartagena. Cartagena is definitely a place that many tourists visit while in Colombia. Honestly, I remember sleeping on the plane and somehow waking up long enough to collect my baggage to jump into a taxi and go back to sleep. The distance from Medellin to Cartagena was only about 2 hours but we were exhausted. We had just spent the previous night partying with Juan and arrived to the airport in the nic of time to catch the flight. While we were in the taxi, Max bumped me and said, "look Tiffany, this place looks like Miami". I opened my eyes long enough to say, "umm hmm" and I was back off into sleepy land.

Our view from the apartment

When we arrived at our Airbnb apartment, I was quite sad this time. We had had such a wonderful experience with Juan and he had such a nice home that I had high expectations for the last stop... nope... there was no comparison. We were greeted by two very sweet ladies who gave us big hugs when we walked in and then they showed us to our room. I tried to join them in civilization, however my body refused and I politely excused myself so that I could go and finish off my sleep. I remember laying across the bed and sleeping for what felt like 8 hours.

Lunch with our hostess

When I woke up, Max was already busy looking at maps and finding things for us to do. We were invited to come and have a nice Colombian lunch with the two of them. We sat around at the table with our broken Spanish trying to be cordial but thanks God for Max's translate app... it was definitely a God send.

At the Walled City

After lunch, Max and I got dressed and headed out. Cartagena did look a lot like Miami and we were in walking distance to almost everything. We walked the boardwalk near the beach and it was a beautiful sight to be seen. The first place we visited was the Walled City. Cartagena has a huge fort area which dates back to an era where there were slaves and many other things being imported and traded in and out of the area. Just being there, you could feel an odd feeling as if you were back in time. There were people who were selling many different things on the streets: necklaces, bracelets, purses, clothing, shoes, crafts... clearly the spirit of trade never left! We found ourselves at a nice restaurant called Cafe del Mar but we only sat down for drinks and after we went searching for food.

Walking through the Old City

On the boardwalk

While we were walking, we were approached by a guy named Joseph. Joseph didn't look any different from Max and I, he could of easily been mistaken for a relative. Because we had lost the battle of finding many English speakers, at a certain point, we stopped looking. Shockingly, Joseph approached us speaking in English. He asked us if were were interested in eating and handed us several menus to many of the restaurants. Our attention shifted because performers started salsa dancing and putting on a show. I mean these folks were gettin' it! Boom... boom.. boom.. boom.. boom.. boom. One thing that we noticed right off the bat was that folks in Cartagena were much darker than the folks in Bogota and Medellin. In the beginning of the trip we felt like outcasts in Colombia, now... we felt right at home. What's more sexy than a chocolate muscular man speaking in Spanish and moving his hips to Salsa music... boom... boom... boom... boom... boom... YESSSS!

Oh sorry... Joseph... so Joseph approached us speaking in English... we decided which restaurant we wanted to eat at and we sat down. Joseph sat down with us. Max and I were very interested to know how he learned English so we asked... "how did you learn to speak English so well"? We were waiting to hear him respond with a story of living in the states or some school he had attended but all he said was, "I speak many languages: English, Spanish, French, Italian...", I said ooohhhhh... " so you speak MONEY!" The first time I met a guy like Joseph was in Morocco and he was a Moroccan man who could speak many languages as well... including Japanese! Neither of them went to school to learn the languages, they just listen closely when they are dealing with many different tourists from around world. They study language because language allows them to communicate with people and communicating with people allows them to offer goods and services and offering goods and services creates revenue and revenue is what... HELLO!! We all know how much money talks! I love it! We were laughing and joking when he mentioned that many people in Cartagena go to the countryside to watch cockfights... then he asked us if we wanted to go and see one. Max was so surprised to hear about chicken fights and had no idea that something like that even existed. It's a brutal brawl that I had no interest in entertaining so we politely said, "no thank you." That's one thing I can leave Cartagena without seeing and I'd be completely fine with that.

The next morning we woke up with plans to go to the beach. Max and I went to have lunch at what ended up becoming the highlight of our trip... Crepes and Waffles.
That restaurant was AMAZING! OH my goodness... they have a huge variety on the menu where you can order almost anything and they'll throw it inside of a crepe... chicken, beef, cream of broccoli soup... whatever you want... in a crepe! I absolutely loved this place... well WE absolutely loved this place.

After lunch, we headed to the beach. On our way, we bumped into this guy named Eddie. Eddie said he was from Texas but he was mixed with Venezuelan and Mexican. He spoke English so we all instantly bonded. Eddie's crazy self confessed to us that he had been drugged and robbed the night before so we ought to be careful while we were in Cartagena. Supposedly, there is a drug that you can slip into someone's drink or wipe on someone's skin that causes them to lose control. Eddie said you don't lose consciousness or anything, you just do things that when you wake up the next day, you have no idea of what you did... I sound silly rereading what I just typed... well Eddie said it happened to him so I figure... why lie to me? He said he was drugged and robbed by some man and woman and he had a police case pending... well anyway... we bumped into Eddie on our way to the beach. He instantly started feeling Max and he wasn't going far from anywhere that she was. Max had brought her Beats Pill speaker and we were jamming on the beach. Drinking and singing to the tunes of Marvin Gaye, James Brown and his cousin... Chris Brown... LOL! We had so much fun. We stayed at the beach until sunset and then headed back to the apartment. We agreed to meet up with Eddie later on that night so that we could go out together.

Sadly it was a bad night to be out in Cartagena and we ended up sitting in a bar by ourselves. After a few drinks we walked over to the Walled City and saw a whole bunch of people sitting outside "people watching"; we decided to join them. There were actually many people to watch: prostitutes, pre-surgery, post-surgery, old, young, tourists, drunks, sobers... there were many. At that point, the both of us were beginning to get annoyed with Eddie's ass. He had turned into a bickering little girl and his disagreements and lectures were bad business for our night out... oh and the sorry sob story about him being drugged led into a story about his wallet being stolen which lead into Max and I paying for his drinks... so that made it even worse because nobody wants a sober around people who are drinking. Brotha... you shouldn't have a worry in the world. While we were sitting, a woman named Farrah approached me and said, "I can look at you and tell from the way you wear your hair and the way that you dress that you aren't from here... where are you from?" I was shocked that she was speaking in English too... I told her and she shared that she lived in the states as well.

Max started to get bit by the Salsa bug again and she was ready to dance so her and Eddie decided to. She got up ready to show off her Salsa lessons that she had devoted so much time to perfecting while Eddie got up and did some jig that Max was not vibing to... FAIL. They must have a different Salsa in Venezuela... but of course Americans call anything Salsa dancing! Minutes later, Farrah brought over her Colombian friend and he and Max went inside one of the Colombian Juke Joints and danced the night away... Eddie... was... PISSED! He was fuming with jealousy and envy to the point that it was seeping out of his pores. He even got up and went to peek inside to watch Max... I knew it was time to call this man the five letter word... C R A Z Y! When Max returned, she didn't make it any better by saying how well of dancer that guy was and how he was so good at Salsa... Eddie was looking like he was ready to go to war.. like there was about to be a Salsa battle kick off in the middle of the streets. I blame Max though... a perfect example to the song... I heard about this girl her name was Maxine... a dunna dunna dun ta dun... and if I ever tell you bout Maxine, I oughta say I don't know what I know but murder she wrote... murder she wrote... of course I don't know the words... but that's HER! It was time to go before any blood was shed.

The next morning Max and I decided to do a boat tour. There are boats that would take you out to the islands where you could spend the day touring or simply relaxing on the beach. That was right up our allies! The tour was fine but we were more interested in the MEN. These chocolate brothas were clearly from a different breed. They were muscular, their hair was curly, their voices were deep, and their Spanish was sexy...

Max's boo... Mr. Chocolate!

Colombian "Chocolateness"

Max was in love with our tour guide! Her and I kept giggling at everything that he said because she wanted to fold him up and take him home in her suitcase. I remember Max was trying to talk to him at one point.... in so many words, she was trying to tell him that she would teach him English if he would teach her Spanish... of course I chimed in with the most broken Spanish and said, " es de clase de Espanol en tu casa or no?" Max and I busted in laughter and so did a few other people on the boat. The funniest thing was when we docked on the beach, Mr. Chocolate personally walked us to some secluded part where people could lie down on beds instead of beach chairs... I told Max "girl he is trying to lay in this bed with YOU!" That's why he took us over there! We politely said no and went to find two chairs so that we could lie out in the sun. He was a cutie though.

Hotness...

When we got back that night, the both of us were exhausted. It was my last night and I was scheduled to leave the next morning. I had to head back to Bogota to fly from there back to the states. Max had two more days before her departure. We decided to end my trip with dinner at Crepes and Waffles. It was as good as it was the first time. I had a wonderful time in Cartagena as well as Colombia as a whole. I would definitely say that Medellin was my favorite and I have had thoughts about making my way back there. Colombia... you have been wonderful and the memories that we shared with you will be in our Morenaza hearts forever.

Besos