On To Santa Clara

On To Santa Clara

 

We are up nice and early for the 6 am continental breakfast offered for the early risers and met by a real grumpy bunch of staff! Everything is a hassle for them and we are interrupting their desire to get the real breakfast happening but we persevere as we have paid for this meal.

We grab a taxi to the bus terminal 10 minutes away and our bus leaves on time at 8.15.

We struck lucky as it was a comfy bus and only half full so the three of us dozed for most of the 3 hour trip which didn't stop once which is unusual.

Arrived at my casa particular around midday and was pleasantly surprised. The cost is $25 for the room be it a single or a double and $3 for breakfast. I have what I think is antique furniture or a very good reproduction, a comfy bed and an ensuite bathroom , the water pressure is ordinary BUT I do have aircon and warm water!!! The room is on the second floor and next to it is a lovely outdoor terrace where brekkie is served. The term lovely becomes relative to what you get used to and experience! There is also another flight of steps that takes you to the roof top and there is a nice outlook over the street scape and to the mountains.

Brekkie is good, a BIG plate of fresh fruit ( too much) freshly squeezed juice, eggs and toast, often with a slice of tomato and this morning a piece of reasonable cheese. I can't eat it all and because food is so hard to buy here and the lunch restaurants serve exactly the same as the night I can't face them, I have taken to being a squirrel!! Can't believe that I am worrying about wasting food! I am actually hungry for a lot of the time as I am so fussy! So what I have been doing is saving the bit of tomato, the little square of jam and this morning the cheese and I eat it for lunch with dry biscuits. A bit unappetizing but I am so hungry by 1 pm that I start looking forward to it!!! I do also have a few bananas and a small pineapple in my room but it is not very sweet.

As seems to be the case in these Latino countries, the population seem to have a very sweet too and everything is loaded with sugar even the bread. The food available to buy is of a very poor quality, the vegetables look weeks old with a tiny selection and the other morning when Lina and I went to the market and the government subsidized butchers opened, we got to the door and I started to dry reach, the smell was hideous!

The supermarket has about 10 different varieties of mayonnaise, no fruit or veg, lots of sweet biscuits, a few packets of dried biscuits, some unidentifiable meat in the freezer, a lot of bottles of oil and some olives. There was a fridge full of processed cheese and that was it. Even with money food is hard to get. We had an exciting lunch of processed cheese on dry biscuits, nothing else!!

The small family run restaurants called paladares usually seat around 20 people and are very inexpensive. They are also very unpredictable in quality. The first night I had a really great dish of a prawns and rice which was like a paella, followed by a very small but just right size of Cuban flan. Marcos ate with me and it cost a whole $7 for us both ! The last 2 nights have been pretty awful with grey chicken last night. The troublesome thing was in the middle of the meal on the second night a cloud of moisture swept through and everyone looked perplexed. Nobody knew what it was and got on with eating. Lina told me later it was the fumigation for the dengue Mosquitos and happens 2 or 3 times a day. Those who know are not allowed to talk about it and those who don't know don't ask!!! The smell and taste of the spray was appalling and it probably accounts for all the sneezing and sniffing that is going on around the place. I know that I am clearing my throat all the time. It is extraordinary that this news is not known all over the world, never mind in this town!

The other funny thing I found out this morning was that the power cut we had the other night in Varadero was actually Cuba wide! It was reported on the BBC but nothing about the dengue. I also discovered that there has been cholera in another part of the country. This place is like playing with fire!

Tonight I am very excited about dinner as I am eating at the Casa. There is a young British couple in the other room and they ate here last night and said the meal was really good. So tonight I am having a Spanish free night as I need a break from it and hopefully a decent meal and I am so hungry!

The Spanish lessons have been very difficult and I am finding them a bit stressful. They are for 3 hours and no break. The teacher knows her stuff but I don't think that she usually teaches to extranjeros. ( foreigners). Her speed and speech is very hard to follow, she uses a lot of vocabulary and grammar that I don't know and am surprised that she expects me to be able to follow all this exceptionally difficult grammar. The lessons in Colombia were far easier and I think easier to follow and I know that I learnt a lot there. Marcos tells me I am speaking more and better Spanish but my head is spinning at night!

I have just returned from a lovely evening at the local council chambers, for want of a better name! A lovely traditional style buiding , probably a couple of humdred years old, I am sure Nada and Ken will know where I am talking about in Parque Central, opposite the bibliotheque. There was a choral group entertaining for free! The evening started with a trio of young men with guitars singing some of the traditional Cuban music and it was better than any I have ever heard, fantastic. Didn't even have any CDs to sell as I would have certainly bought one. Next a group of around 30 people got up ( sadly only around 50 in the room ) and they sang with no musical accompaniment and were amazing! Some traditional and some contemporary music and they couldn't help but gyrate and get with the rhythm.

The evening finished with a drink in the local bar, I experienced some local 3 year old Havana rum which was pretty good!

The report on tonights dinner was excellent! Thank goodness, I feel like I have had a decent meal! A BIG plate of salad which had amazing tomatoes on it, when I asked why the casa had tomatoes but nobody else can get them, Orlando told me it was a secret and just laughed! This was followed by Deanne's secret shrimp recipe! Shrimps cooked in a criollo style salsa with white rice followed by coconut ICECREAM with caramel sauce. Very naughty I know. I will certainly eat in the house again!

The weekend doesn't at this stage hold much but I have booked to go to Playa Las bruhas on Monday and staying at Villa las Bruhas which is a smaller hotel and not a massive resort, it has a very good reputation. I will have 5 nights there as Santa Clara is not the place to be for 3 weeks with little to do except Spanish classes. For the non Spanish speakers, a bruha is a witch , so I have bought a new broom, packed the black cat and cauldron and am ready to go. Was thinking about taking a taxi as there isn't a bus but will pack light and fly.

 

Estoy volando! Adios para ahora!

 

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Miami to Cuba

Miami September 2012

 

Well as expected the trip from Santa Marta to Miami worsened! We were delayed for around an hour which cut my transit time from 2 and 3/4 hours to 1 and 3/4. Sounds like enough but when you then sit on the Tarmac for another 30 minutes, disembark and wait 30 minutes to pick up the luggage, catch another bus to the international terminal, go through immigration and security again and then walk what seemed for ever to find the boarding gate, the time has gone. But one thing that you seem to be able to rely on at the moment is that every flight is late!! This exit from Colombia was nerve wracking and I had palpitations, terrible feeling so anxious! But it could only go one way and you would think that was up, but no! Check in sent me to another counter to get a tax exemption form then when I returned I was told that there wasn't a seat allocated for me and I would have to wait at the gate for a seat!!! I was concerned about missing out and had to choose between going to the bathroom or checking out the shops to use the last of my pesos. I discovered Bogota international terminal has one ladies bathroom with 3 toilets and 20 women in front of me!!! Hence no souvenirs and 60000 pesos in my purse, around $25. The whole plane boarded except for 3 of us and we were then given a seat! It was most strange and a test of my metal!!! Needless to say, it boarded late and then we say there for an hour, a queue for takeoff!

I arrived in Miami at 7 pm instead of 6 pm. They did manage to make up 30 minutes on a 3 hour flight. It then took an hour and a half to get through immigration. I had enouh time to do a. Calculation and there were about 300 people in front of me and after an hour half of the officers closed their counters with about 100 in front of me and another 200 behind.

As I have been coming and going a bit I now seem to be a person of interest. Where have you been, what were you doing there, what are you here for, where are you staying, who with, how do you know them, where do they come from, how long have you known them, when was the last time you were here, how long are you staying, it went on and on! Heavens knows what it is going to be like after this next leg!

Eventually I got through, spent another 30 minutes getting luggage and then suffered an unbelievably rude taxi driver who obviously didn't want to drive me to Hialeah, told me it was full of Cuban Mafia and I had to watch out for guns!!! Yara and Jesus think that is hilarious and tell everyone they see now!!!

I eventually got to their place around 9.30 - 10pm and was so pleased to be there!

Since leaving Colombia I have been searching for something that I may feel that I miss about the place and there is nothing. On a positive note it met my criteria for Spanish lessons, I experienced something different and saw how other volunteer organizations (don't) work.

I have had a very pleasant time with Yara and Jesus this week, we have been to Hollywood beach for the day, south beach Miami for the day, visited an extraordinary flea market that sells everything and anything, visited friends and family, cooked together and swum in their pool. They are such lovely people to be with. Also have had an evening with Barbra and her family eating authentic home cooked Cuban food which was very good! Ropa vieja which translated literally means old clothes! Actually beef slow cooked in tomato and red capsicum served with tomales which is a slow cooked ground corn, yum!!!!

As mentioned previously going to the beach with Yara and Jesus is a very organized affair with lunch and drinks in the esky, 2 umbrellas, a little table and 3 low reclining each chairs, all neatly stacked in the back of the car and in the right order to unload into the beach trolley which is similar to a wide wheeled golf buggy with a big mesh bag.

Wednesday morning quickly arrived and I am on my way early in the morning to the airport for my flight to Cuba. Very excited about the prospect of teaching.

This time I have found flights that head out of Miami to Nassau in the Bahamas, only 45 minutes. The plane is like a toy, I think called a Dakota, only sat around 50 people and no sooner had we taken off that it was preparing to land. A very easy and on time trip. This flight connected with the flight from Nassau to Cuba with the mandatory 2 hour break in between. Lucky we had this time as the airport official misdirected a group of us and sent us off on the wrong bus to the wrong international terminal. It was really hot and a bit frustrating because when we finally found the right place it was the entry next to where we had got off the previous plane. But what a warm welcome when we arrived in the Bahamas. The staff were so helpful and so friendly, I wanted to stay when I saw all the adverts for the hotels and beaches that were around the airport. It must be a thriving place as there is a new international terminal opening in October and it is pretty big.

The flight from Nassau to Cuba was on a similar sized plane, around 40 seats and only 30 passengers. 2 seats to myself and a 90 minute flight. This is an easier way to get to Cuba as no massive airports to deal with, friendly people, no mad rush ( unless you go to the wrong terminal) and half the price that I have paid previously.

The arrival at Cuba was similar, must be a good time to arrive as the place wasn't too busy, the agents had my vouchers for Varadero, arranged a share taxi for me and off I went to Havana.

The hotel in Havana is called the Telegrafo, I stayed here previously on my cycle tour. It is clean, very spacious, decent bathroom and good air conditioning and in a very good spot. It is situated at the end of the Prado which is a lovely walk on a promenade through the centre of a very wide street that leads to the Malecon. It is opposite parque central and very close to the historical part of the city and near the Gran Teatro. I was hoping there would be a show on as I have seen some good dance and music performances here in past visits at very good prices, but no luck this time, nothing on.

I arrived at the hotel mid afternoon, ate a very ordinary toasted sandwich at the cafe and headed into town to have a look around. This sandwich was a sign of things to come with the hotel food because I ate dinner there in the evening if you can call one mouthful that took 10 minutes to swallow, as dinner! It was hideous and I was scared I was going to get food poisoning from it! Breakfast was pretty similar and even the toast is unpalatable as there is so much sugar in the bread, the fruit tasteless which is so strange for a Caribbean country and the staff surly and unhelpful! Nothing much changes in Havana!!!!

What seems to have changed though is the vibe in Havana. It seemed a bit more upbeat. I may be imagining things but the people seem to be better dressed, a bit more money, infrastructure work happening ( streets being dug up for cabling) and more shops opening with more product in them. The infrastructure thing though gave me a laugh as this work is going on in the middle of busy streets. There are big channels dug and you have to balance across planks to get into the shops and back onto the pavement. So much for occ health and safety here! The pits are then back filled, they pour hand mixed cement into them, score the surface pretending that the street paving has been replaced, then have to keep chasing the dogs away as their paw prints are everywhere in the concrete!

 

I have decided to eat out after my walk and whilst it is still light feel perfectly safe although I am pestered by a couple of men, which is very common here as they all think an unaccompanied white woman is an east target to hit for a donation to the family fund. But one man I couldn't get rid of. Do I like the music, would I like to hear some more? Would I

Like to go dancing? Where do you come from? How long are you here? I was beginning to think that I was back in the USA immigration line. Then of course, would I like to feed his starving children? Tug on the heart strings stuff but NO, please leave me alone and I retreat to the hotel very quickly. Hence my horrible meal there!

I was hungry, TV was terrible and so had a very early night! I had a room with an internal window to the courtyard and was a bit annoyed to be woken so early with all the hotel noise, that was until I checked my watch and discovered it was 9.30 am!!!! Mad rush down to the very unfortunate breakfast with incredibly in attentive staff. I ate a bit of fruit, left my juice on the table, got up to get some toast and when I returned the table had been completely cleared and the waiter told very me rudely that I couldn't sit there because the table hadn't been laid! I was furious with the way he spoke to me and sat down telling him that I had been sitting there and was going to continue doing so and he had better lay it now. Could be why the next morning I was completely ignored!

The hotel is part of a group called Habanuex or something like that, it is to do with restoration. The outcome being that there is free entry to a variety of small museums and Casas that housed important people from the Cuban history. I took advantage of this and spent the morning at the Museum of Africa which was very interesting looking at the artifacts and historical pieces from the African slaves. I then visited the house of Simon Bolivar who is actually a Colombian who spent his last years in Santa Marta and he was instrumental in freeing much of the Caribbean and South America from the dreaded Europeans.

Lunch time, not hungry as I can't see anywhere decent to eat and don't know what to eat, so a liquid lunch of shandy as it was so bloody hot! I find a very pleasant place, new, nice service, ,friendly staff and decide to return for an early dinner as the food coming out looks edible. I want to eat early and get back to the hotel before dark before the molestation begins! Molestar in Spanish is the verb to annoy or irritate and I didn't want to experience that again. In the afternoon I head back out again for a walk along the Prado, down to the Malecon but it was impossible to walk in the sun, it was scorching and I thought madness so spent an hour and a whole one dollar in a cafe drinking a big bottle of very cold water and watching the world go by! Never a dull moment, the kids were all coming out of school so a lot of activity and noise. They all hang around the prado sitting on the benches under the shade of the trees and say I can take a photo but when I do they all put their books in front of their faces and scream with laughter! Sadly I am molested by a man who tells me he is a history teacher at their school and was I interested in seeing the music festival that night as it was being held at the venue where the Buena Vista social club was filmed. They never give up!!! Well if I wasn't interested in that would I give some money for the poor woman to buy milk for her baby, it wasn't for him!! Come on, that is a world wide ruse!!! I am turning into a woman with a very hard heart!

So I return to the nice little place for dinner. The food is edible, the desert of flan delicious and the frozen daiquiris very good! I am back at the hotel before dark. In bed early as I am being picked up by the hotel to hotel bus for the drive to Varadero at 9am.

The bus is very prompt , we pick up a few more passengers and eventually leave Havana around 9.30. We stop for a happy stop on the way and arrive in Varadero at midday. Marcos and Lina are waiting for me. They have arrived at 11 am after a four hour trip which entailed 4 local taxis as they will all only take the passengers to the next town and only when the taxi is full! These are the really old cars that you see in the posters of Cuba. Only Cubans are allowed to use them though as it is very cheap transport. The trip has cost $16 for the both of them. Our room is available and we are allowed to check in early. We have a large room at the front of the hotel which doesn't have the best view but is on the cooler side during the day and we have a big balcony with a mini clothes line on the wall. perfect!!!

Down to the poolside restaurant ( this is an all inclusive hotel so eat and I drink until you drop) a reasonable selection, better than Havana!!! Marcos likes the pool but luckily Lina, like me, prefers the beach so we find ourselves a big thatched umbrella with beach lounges and settle in for the afternoon. The beach is lovely, soft silver sand, beautiful clear blue water, a real beach at last! This is what the Caribbean should be like! The afternoon is spent between the shade, the sun, the sea and the beach side bar acquiring refreshments.

Dinner is am improved affair at the inside restaurant, good selection of grills, local foods, pastas, decent salads and lots of fried crap for all the fat British and European tourists who load their plates, eat like pigs and get their monies worth. Watching them actually makes me eat less and spend my selection time at the salad bar. Sometimes it is like watching pigs at the trough. It must be really difficult for a lot of the Cubans who work at these resorts to see so much food, so many fat over fed people then spend 1 and a half hours traveling back to their homes to an empty table and have very little money to buy food. To leave a dollar or so on the table at each meal as a small tip is very gratefully received and certainly rewards you with a big smile and good drink service! Though I must say that here that the staff are really good and so friendly and so willing to assist. No complaints at all. The hotel is a little shabby in parts but kept very clean, beds are comfy, Linen crisp and clean, big towels, water, 2 cans of soft drink and 2 beers put in the fridge every day. There was a big power outage for a couple of hours on the first night but I was very happy as it meant that I could go to bed early!! Luckily we are on the 5 th Floor and not the 14th so the walk up wasn't so bad!!

Saturday and Sunday more of the same, sun and swimming and a paddle in the sea kayak followed by some time in the paddle boat, but a bit of bad news for me from Lina. The school where I am meant to be teaching has been closed, as have been all the schools in Santa Clara. There is a very big outbreak of Dengue fever and although transmitted initially by Mosquitos it then becomes a person to person viral infection and is rampant. The schools have been closed for a week already and probably closed for the next 2 weeks. I am so disappointed as no teaching and I have extended my stay here until the 30th! This school where Lina works is actually a Monday to Friday boarding school but most of the staff live out.

The political side of this is that this outbreak has not been reported and kept very quiet by the authorities and nobody is talking about it but kids have been hospitalized. Marcos tells me that at the school they share drinking cups etc and that the food and facilities aren't good so no wonder there is cross infection.

There is no way I will be allowed to teach now and don't really know how I am going to deal with this. Lina only speaks Spanish, Marcos has very limited English and my Spanish is getting stretched! I have to say though that after 3 days we are communicating pretty well, strained at times but my ability to hear and hold a conversation is improving. After 3 weeks I am sure there will be a vast improvement but I'm not going to stay. I don't want to expose myself for too long to the infection and I don't want to die from boredom either. There is very little to do or see in Santa Clara and it is over an hour from the beach. I was just going there to teach as it is known as an educational centre in Cuba and would have been a great experience for me.

The plan is that tomorrow morning ( Monday) we will head to Santa Clara by bus. My accommodation is arranged and I will stay there for this week whilst Lina organizes some more Spanish lessons for me. There is a Bahamas air office in the town and I will try to rearrange my flights yet again! I had already changed them to stay here longer following my disappointing teaching episode in Colombia! I can then get WoW Cuba to change my other flight from here to the Bahamas. I have extended my stay in the USA to accommodate these Cuba changes so will rethink my plans and hopefully be able to visit Marcia in Vermont now I have the time. What a bloody mess!

I have got over my initial upset and anxiety and decide to enjoy the time here at the beach. In the evenings there is always a show. I actually find them all quite amusing even though they aren't meant to be but they are so corny! Saturday night was a water dancing event at the pool, boring as all get out but a cool spot to sit for an hour or so! The routines are corny and the costumes , well, I don't know how to describe them! Those who have been here will have a pretty good idea! Tacky, revealing, Gordy in colour, everything that you would expect to see 50 years ago! Sunday nights show was a Cuban dance extravaganza, that was how it was described! Same sort of costumes but on dry land, out of step dancing and we left half way through!

It is 3 am here and I haven't slept tonight, it is very hot even though we have air conditioning and my 2 room mates are snoring like trains so not good sleeping conditions! I put on my miners head lamp, have adjusted the controls so I think it is a bit cooler and will try to to get a bit of sleep in as we have to get up in 2 and a half for our early bus!

Bueno viaje, chao!

 

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Last but not least from Colombia

Well, here I am at the airport in Santa Marta, swatting Mosquitos and waiting for check in to open. The taxi is about the only punctual service that I have experienced here hence I am early, too early to check in! 35 minutes to go. A good time to start writing the final episode of my sage in Colombia! But who knows what the trip is going to be like, anything could happen in the next 12 hours!

The airport is about a 25 minute drive from Centro and a grand charge of $10 for the fare. The position of the airport is outstanding. Behind where I am sitting and about 20 metres away is a lovely sandy beach set in a very pretty little bay. On the other side is the mountains which have very interesting vegetation. In the midst of the shrubbery is cacti, tall and spindly, but attractive to look at and very green!

As usual I slept poorly last night and feel like I need an early siesta. I actually feel a bit out of sorts this morning. Instead of waiting until after I had brekkie I took the anti malarial antibiotics early and now I feel really nauseous and am praying I will be OK flying. With all the missiles here I am actually pleased that I remembered to take the tablets everyday! Now I have to remember to take them for the next 4 weeks, recommended post trip.

One of the volunteers has been very sick with what they thought was a migraine but she has also had a fever and is being tested for dengue. The incubation period for testing is around 6 days and she has been sick now for 5 and not getting much better. Her partner took her to hospital and was shocked at the facilities. He said it was filthy, no paper or soap in bathrooms, old blood evident on the end of the bed. This is not a backwards town, there is business here and people with money so this is unexpected. There are also very poor people here but the population is on the whole educated ( as far as I can make out).

This week has had me teaching and being at the project solo. The American boy who was going to do everything didn't reappear and 3 days later apologized. He found it all a bit confronting when he realized that you can't just waltz into a class of adults and play games. There is a lot of thought and preparation that goes into each lesson and when teaching, there are also extra teaching moments that appear. There is always some grammar that pops up and even though we all know the grammar as we use it all the time it is confusing to students when the teacher switches from this is to these are!! That simple concept can take 20 minutes to explain, then to get the students to practice and reinforce!

Anyway, I want to know why it is that the last week is often unexpectedly the best? Perhaps because I finally had some responsibility and was doing what I came here to do!!!!

I had only planned to have Spanish lessons 3 times a week but have had them every week day morning, they have kept me sane and given me something to do. I have the lessons from 8 am to 10 am, then usually go for a walk to buy some food for dinner , usually water as I drink so much here and sometimes go to the little bakery across Carrera 4 and have a coffee. Then I return to the apartment and study for a couple of hours, write up my lesson plan and prepare my activities for the class then have a little siesta! Then off to the bus to school, returning around 6.30 to 7pm.

the weather report says that it has only been 32 to 34 degrees here but that is nonsense. It really has felt like 40 every day and the locals report that it is certainly hotter than usual for this time of the year. The heat is exhausting! Night time is not much better as there isnt usually a sea breeze, the breeze come from the mountains but doesn't see to be reaching Centro!!! The nights have been reportedly around 25 but certainly feel hotter. I wake up during the night on multiple occasions and it is because I am so hot and damp even with 2 fans on me! The side the fan doesn't hit gets wet!

I feel very disappointed to be leaving the students now as they have told one of the morning teachers who told the coordinator, how much they enjoy my classes and like being taught in English. There is now NO teacher for them and classes have been suspended. The rest of the volunteers, who I hardly see and have only spoken to 3 or 4 of them, work with the kids as it is a lot more fun and they all get to work together. If one of them have a hangover or don't want to work that day it is OK as there are others who attend. They are mainly short term backpackers and understandably don't want the responsibility of too much teaching pressure, they mainly want to feel good and have fun!!!!

The whole adventure has been an eye opener and really reinforces just what an incredible organization Bridget and Alan are running! This organization is just not on the same level even though it has been going for much longer. I wanted to leave a donation but I am just not comfortable doing so I am am not confident as to what would happen to the money.

So I have taught and had some fun with the students this week, yesterday I. Taught them hangman with the prize of a lollipop for a correct letter and they were hilarious! Yelling out the letters, getting them right, wanting their prize!!! Just like kids, it was so funny. I bought mini packets of biscuits as prizes also, the older adults put them in their bags, I would say to take home to share with the family.

Amparo, the lady who lives behind the school house told me yesterday that they only have one meal a day at lunch, almuerzo it is called here. I asked if it was a big meal and she said, no just normal, we can't afford to eat any more. She has an 18 year old boy whoo I liked very much and a 10 year old who doesn't attend school as he has bone cancer , diagnosed 2 years ago. It is dangerous for him to be with other kids as in the rough and tumble he will fracture easily. He is very sweet and everyday there is a welcome hug from him and a very warm, buenos Dias señora, como estas???

I actually feel sad leaving them as I am sure that I could have done a lot to help their English. Plus I really liked the students even though their time keeping was tardy!

Last night I went out for dinner with Sven and Elsa, my landlords! We had a lovely time and Sven told me that like so many places, to be able to learn English here is out of the reach of so many but also so important for the future in business and trade. There is paid work here if I were to consider that! They would have to pay me a kings ransom!!! Return is a very unlikely scenario!

What was so pleasing at the dinner was that I spoke and understood a lot of Spanish! Elsa doesn't speak English, Sven is from Sweden and does speak English. His 1st language now is Spanish. There were a couple of occasions where he had to translate as he would get carried away!

So the adventure finishes! I eventually enjoyed the teaching, have enjoyed my visits to Tayrona, the beaches and in particular to Cartagena and have been happy with my Spanish classes and progress. Sven and Elsa have been very good to me but apart from them I have had very little contact with anybody at the project except for Suzanne.

Now onto something new!!

Well you thought I had finished! But no! Have patience! The installment came to an abrupt ending because the check in opened(15 minutes late of course). I had followed suit of a few of the locals and left my luggage in line, unattended! Imagine doing that in Melbourne or LA??? I was checked in quickly but in my improving Spanish managed to ask for an aisle seat and discovered that I have to pick up my luggage in Bogota and check it in and go through security again. We are. SOOOOOOO spoiled in Australia! Nausea has settled, time for a last pee before boarding in 20 minutes ( we'll. see if that actually happens)! Bathroom! No toilet seat, no paper, nothing to hang bag on. No soap, nothing to dry hands on. Find toilet paper! Giant roll sitting on wall before toilets, take what you need in with you! What a novel idea to save paper! Amparo at the school tells me that I have una maleta magica. A magic backpack!!! This is because everytime I need something, I open my back pack and it is there! Lucky the magic tissue appeared this morning.

Now in the waiting salon! Feel like I am going to the dentist. But the salon is cool, first time in a couple of weeks, air conditioning, what luxury.

Fantastic outlook to the mountains, now trying to decide if I should unpack back pack to get camera out for one last photo through the filthy window. Too lazy, window too dirty.

Next episode from Miami!

Chao amigos, hasty luego!

 

Ps departure 25 minutes late as I write and not a plane in sight! Good start to the return trip!!!!

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Return To Santa Marta

Return to Santa Marta.

 

The trip back to Santa Marta was a pretty erratic journey with a grumpy driver who drove like a lunatic and an overloaded van with far too much luggage. Still, arrived in one piece and pleased with myself that I had managed to organise it all with my poor conversational skills.

Not exactly thrilled to be back but am in my new apartment that has more natural light and a good cooktop so a little more self sufficient. Still uncomfortably hot at night and spend my day scratching mosquito bites even though I load the legs with insect spray that stinks.

I get a bit of exercise in the evenings running around after cochroaches and splattering them with my thongs. Dont know why I have them because the place is spotlessly clean. Elsa runs a very neat and clean casa.

The school week is not a disaster as that brings to mind death like events, but it is extraordinarily disappointing. I am fully prepared for my new introduction to English class, have written and photocopied work sheets for the students, written vocab cards etc and not one of them turns up! Dont anybody else tell me "that is the Latino way" or I may scream! I cant believe that there is such little consideration for anyone.

We decided that I would take 2 of the students out of the core class as they are way behind the rest and I will work with them for the next 2 weeks. They are happy with this plan. First day they are 30 minutes late, next day they tell me they can only come for one hour and still are late and on friday, dont turn up until lesson time is nearly over , to tell me they cant come!!!

Still, on Friday we had a little celebration as it was Suzannes last day and the students had had a little test and so we thought it nice to have a little treat for them. They were so funny and thought the very tacky cake that we bought for them was fantastic! It had a lot of artificial cream on it and the day ended in cream cake warfare with all the students wearing some.

Socially the week held nothing for me except for an early jump off the bus on thursday evening as there was an amazing sunset over Santa Marta Bay. I took my photos then bumped into Marnie and Nick, the acting volunteer coordinators and had a drink with them. I discovered that on Thursday evenings a floating group of people get together at this bar, for a language exchange. There are English speaking back packers and volunteers and they chat with locals usually from the university, the idea being that both parties get a chance to use their new skills. Nick and Marnie encouraged me to stay but I was tired, hungry and stank! Not a comfortable trio!

There is a new young couple from Lakes Entrance who have moved into the other apartment. They are also having Spanish lessons but Toby was very sick for a couple of days and it sounds like he may have had dengue fever which is transmitted by day time mosquitos. It has flu like symptoms and there is nothing you can do bar ride it out with fluids and analgesics. Glad it isn't me.

The students are not the only ones here who are unreliable. I had a brochure for a day trip to the top of the mountain, a cycle down to the well loved mountain town of Minca where the trip was to have lunch and a swim in the river and then continue down on bikes to the outskirts of the city. Sounded like a good but pretty expensive day out. The address for the tour group was on the brochure so I went around to the address. A sign on the door to go to a restaurant, go there but they cant help me, I have to call the boss who runs the restaurant and the tours!!! I ring him and we make a time for friday evening at 7 to be measured for the bike and get more info plus pay. I am told that I am the only one booked at this stage but he would still take me. I am at the restaurant at 7 to see him but he doesnt turn up. I call at 7.15 and he has forgotten! He can be there at 9, like I am going to hang around for 2 hours! We make arrangements for saturday and he has my phone number, I am just to drop by the restaurant as he will be there all day. On my way back to the apartment I am thinking I will treat myself to dinner out but there arent any outdoor table left at the plaza de novios so I keep going. So glad I did because we had a sudden violent thunder and lightening storm with heavy rain for most of the night!

Saturday morning receive an email from Suzanne asking if I want to get the bus to Rodadero beach and have a swim. There is a God, I have been dying to get to the beach. I decide to blow off the tour for Sunday as I now dont trust him with my money but also if I go to the beach when am I going to write my 300 word Spanish essay in the past tense?

Rodadero is the resort that wealthy Colombians go to for beach time. It is similar to a very seedy looking Gold Coast with a decent beach, high rises, crappy shops and questionable restaurants. Beggars cant be choosers. We hire a beach shelter, deck chairs and settle down for some sun and a dip or two. You actually dont have to move as the vendors who are actually a cheery lot who move on when you say no gracias, bring everything you need! Water, food, massage, sun lotion, hats, clothes, trinkets, on and on. The caribbean water and beaches are not as I imagine. No crystal clear blue waters and fine silver sand. The sand has a volcanic dark look about it and the water looks murky because of the sand colour. No complaints though because we both have a very relaxing afternoon. It appears that neither of us have had much fun with the volunteer group and we have both felt isolated. It is just Suzanne and I at the afternoon venue. I was disappointed for her as she has put in a lot of time in preparing for her classes and has worked hard with them and had very little recognition for her efforts until SHE wrote on the face book page for the group to say goodbye! If I had known Rodadero was so easy to get to I would have gone previously! Only 10 minutes by bus!

Sunday morning, another email from Suzanne. Did I want to try another beach? We decide to meet after lunch and go to Bahia Concha. This has been recommended by our students.

We agree to meet at 1.30. At 1.28 the heavens open and there is a deluge. I take shelter in a shop and watch the water level on the road rise! Drainage is a slight problem here! suzanne arrives, the rain stops and we decide to head off. It is a bus ride to Fundadores where the school is and then another bus or a moto trip through the country side and over the big hill / small mountain! Well half way to Fundadores, the rain from the hills starts flowing down into the cento. The road becomes a river! The bus comes to a shiddering halt with water swirling around the door. The chick in the tight white pants and high wedge shoes decides to chance her luck and get off! No way Jose! I cant even watch her as I am scared she is going to topple. I am not getting out as the water looks disgusting and we know by now that the sewarage will be in the mix!

Thank goodness the driver gets the bus started. He turns around and heads off in a different direction. No idea where we are going but everyone else looks pretty relaxed about it all! Me thinks this has occurred before! We arrive at Fundadores and no sign of any bus so we hop on the back of a moto. 10 or 15 minutes later we arrive at a big gate. We cough up around $3 each , the price for an enterprising family to charge for the extranjeros to pass over their land to the beach which isnt private! The locals arent charged at least! Well worth the $3 on the bike and the land crossing fee. The Bahia is gorgeous! Lovely sand and water and very clean. We overhear that "gringos" have arrived!! Once again, the only fair haired chicks in view! Once again we hire a shelter, chairs and settle down. The stupid thing is that we dont actually sit in the shade but we are hiring a bit of space and nobody encroaches on it. A few vendors around but the service just isnt as good as Rodadero!!! But the beach is better and soooooo picturesque. Another very pleasant afternoon. Time to return as Suzanne, apart from teaching, works at the hostal where she stays. She works from 6 to 11 pm 5 nights a week. In return she gets free lodging ( in a 10 bed dorm) and dinner every night. She enjoys the social side of this plus free lodging! That is all over for her now as she left this eveing on the bus to Bogota where she will fly back to Ireland via Spain and then a train trip. Bogota, 1 hour flight or 19 hours on the bus!!! Glad I missed the back packing stage of my life! I can only think that it is a long arduous treck over the Andes!

The trip back from the beach to the bus was another experience! Only one moto left and doesnt look like another is coming so we both squeeze onto the back of one bike and cling on for dear life. All I can think of is am I covered by travel insurance if I come off!

So today the class is mine. I have picked up from observing Suzannes class that they dont seem to have been taught much grammar or sentence structure so that is this weeks focus and the challenge is that it is all in English! Will, an American guy has joined me and will take over when I leave. He hasnt taught before but has confidence. I explained my lessons were all in English but he interupted me on a couple of occassions to interpret! I suggested that next week when I have gone he could teach as he wanted but at this stage it was as I wanted. Dont thnk I have made a friend here!!!!! Lets see if any of the students turn up for more tomorrow!

So here I am, only 4 more hot sleeps to go and am now praying that the tropical storm that has hit Miami and the hurricane that is heading towards Louisiana are just a figment of somebodies imagination and are not going to influence my escape from here!

Have been back to the food stalls for a few pictures and the vendors were hilareous and loved having their photos taken so I hope you enjoy!

Chao amigos! Hasta luego!

 

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