HI! I flew into Bogota yesterday and have been with my mom's family in Chia (its 15 min away from Bogota the capital, like saying Quincy and Boston). I am sooooo happy being over here, my moms family is so much fun and loving. I really feel at home with them. Later today we are driving to Simijaca which is 2hrs away I think, its the farm area where my family grew up. I love it there! its just farms and little towns. Then during the weekend my fam is taking me to San Gil which is further north-west because its warm/hot over there (Thank God). After that I will be in Simijaca until Thursday and return to Bogota...then Ill be with my other cousins who are taking me out to partyyyyyyyy and rumor is that they are taking me somewhere warm as well during that weekend. Right now it is sooo cold!!! Its prob 50 degrees brrrrrrrr I was not ready for this cold haha In Medellin it was high 80s (miss it ) But whatever Im loving it here...
Right now I am in a little store where you can make phone calls and use the computers. To be on the internet for an hour is 1000 pesos which is $0.50 (soooo cheap!) My family doesnt have internet in their houses so whenever I get a chance I will go to one of these internet stores to update my blog =) Hope everyone is doing well byeeee
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Q´hubo!!
HII!!! I miss you guys!! I have been really busy I havent been able to update my blog. Let me just say that my brain is getting confused!!! I feel like its hard to write right now in English because Ive only been hearing and speaking spanish...I've been here for just a week, imagine what its going to be like at the end of the month lol! Today I spoke to Doyle, Dani and Emily on the phone, it was so weird hearing English lol but anyway, let me fill you in on what Ive been doing. I think I left off in my last entry that on Wednesday night I went to the movies with the two young nuns to see Valiente (the new disney movie Brave..sooo cute!) Thursday night I went to see the Ballet Folkorico with my aunt. I think I wrote about that already....? ok, Im going to break down the past couple days...let me warn you, this entry is going to be lonngggggggggg!!
(pause, trying to remember what I did....)
Friday:
oooh yea I remember now, I did nothing haha. I was at the convent alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll day. My aunt was busy since shes the principal so I walked around the campus and listened to music in my room. Oh and I hung out with Sor Gladys (one of the young nuns) while she taught first holy communion preparation class. That was fun actually, the students were so funny! but my camp counselor instincts were kicking in when the girls were getting a little rowdy lol wait quick sidenote, I am SO hungry!!!! Over here they have breakfast, big lunches (aka dinner) and small dinners (consisting of crackers and fruit) Today I ate breakfast late so when I had lunch I was still full from breakfast and didnt eat much...then for dinner I had crackers and drank panela haha i want some yummy bread mmm..Anyway, Friday night i was suffering from cabin fever since I didnt leave the convent grounds at all. I was itching to get out and frolic in the city. See the thing was that on Friday the festivities for the La Feria de las Flores were starting so there was sooo much going on in Medellin. There was a concert with zion y lennox, j balvin, and a bunch of other artists. Instead of frolicking I was watching tv with the nuns and they went to bed at 8! The young nuns felt bad for me so they put on a zumba exercise dvd so we could dance lol how cute! later that night I went from having cabin fever to being sicky lol (from the food or the water) Thank God I was only sick for a day, one time when I came to colombia I was sick for a week!!! so yea that was Friday..
Saturday:
wow this is a struggle, I forget what I did during the day (looking through my camera to refresh my memory) Oh yes, in the morning I just relaxed here in the convent (still a little sicky) They served me lunch (aka a 3 course meal) I almost died lol In the afternoon we went on a little road trip to Santa Elena, a LITTLE town that is known for its beautiful flowers. Alot of the flowers that are used in the festival of the flowers come from that area and the big flower arrangements are made there (check out my fb pics). So we drove there almost an hour, when we got there we drove around for literally 5 minutes in the main plaza, and then left lol After we went to another town that is known for woodwork. The town was very colonial looking over there so it was cool to see. At night my cousin Camilo (his great grandfather is my great uncle) picked me up and we partied all night wooo woooo!!!!!! It was the first time I ever partied in Colombia..it was soooo much fun being out where all the locals hang out!! At first we went to his best friends apartment with his friends and then went to the area where all the cool kids go (imagine an area like fanueil hall where theres alot of bars slash clubs) We drank and danced all night...omg they mostly played reggaeton!!! Boston needs places like the ones in Medellin, they have clubs (clubs dont look like clubs in Boston, its more like a restaurant looking place where people eventually move tables to dance) that play just hip hop r&b and reggaeton! We got home around 330am, I slept over my cousin's house thankfully.. imagine arriving to the convent at that time lol...ahh and my cousin's cousin got so sick, poor thing is only 17 and was drinking vodka for the first time. I had sooooooo much fun that night, everyone was sooooo friendly!!! Actually pretty much everyone over here is very friendly and caring and affectionate. Oh! One of my cousin´s friends was raised in Florida so I had someone to speak English with. It definitely helped because sometimes I dont understand what people are saying because they use Colombian terms Ive never heard before. Im trying to learn and use the terms so I can blend in haha..aka beware I will be using Colombian slang when I get back home lol
Sunday:
We were lazy all day watching the parade of antique cars and listening to music..it was awesome being in pjs all day just hanging out with family lol I havent done that in a while!! In the evening Camilo, his sister Carolina and friends went to an event called Sonido sobra ruedas where there were ALOT of pimped out cars like in the fast & the furious. At night they were like 4 different concerts playing. We went to the reggaeton concert...slash the first band was an awfulllll reggae band and the second was some weird electronic music. The audience was NOT happy, people were getting rowddyy!! It was a bit much, I was disappointed in my people. For those who have been to a summerjam concert at the comcast center, imagine being in the lawn seats (people get crazy) but like times 5!! People were throwing cans, bottles, rocks (one hit Camilo's head) , trash and it was REALLY crowded. At one point, a camera man was setting up his camera to film, and the crowd got pissed because he was "blocking" our view. People threw bottles at the guy..it was awful!!The guy ended up setting up his camera somewhere else. AND when the first two bands were playing, the audience were pretty much booing them off the stage (the bands didnt get the memo though). Once reggaeton started the crowd settled down and was happy lol I saw J Balvin, which was exciting because I know alot of his songs, and other Colombian artists. Maluma, this Colombian artist who I had never heard of before was amazing!! And he is sooooooooooooooo cute :) Nicky Jam performed too, it was funny he refers to himself as Paisarican because he loves Colombia (Paisa = people from this region in Colombia, and Rican as in Puerto Rican) AFter the concert we drove around in my cousins' pimped car and ate some HUGEEEEEEEEEEE hotdogs. Check out the picture on fb, these hot dogs are the size of my face lol Hot dogs over here are no joke, they come with everything not just ketchup. DELICIOUS!!! When I get back home I am going to make those hot dogs for you guys mmmmmm
Monday:
Monday morning we woke up at 5am because Elquin and Camilo had to work (they manage the school cafe) This whole city is up by 5 or 6am People get to work so early and there are classes that start at 6AM!!!! Imagine having class at that time!! I remember I struggled with my 8am classes in college, I cant picture having class so early. Luckily Im on vacation so as soon as I arrived to the convent/school I passed out lol. BTW its 4am, I guess im not sleeping tonight...and I can hear showers running so the nuns are waking up now.
Monday I finally got to go to the poor areas to do some community service. I only got to go once because the priest just was released from the hospital. Also, its kinda dangerous over there so the nuns were very protective of me and didnt want me to be there for long. I'm getting a little sleepy so I will write about my experience of being over there later. It was an impactful experience so theres alot I want to write about it.
At night I went out with Camilo and his friends to a "fonda", its hard to explain what it is but pretty much a restaurant area where each restaurant has a theme to celebrate the festival of flowers. We spent the night listening to vallenato and drinking guardo (aguardiente = typical Colombian alcohol). It was fun...a little too much fun hahaha..ahem. We got home around 3, it was embarassing because Camilo forgot his keys so his parents had to open the door for us haha thankfully Elquin & Margarita are really laid back so they just laughed at us lol
Tuesday:
If youre still reading this entry, I really appreciate it!! what a great friend!! Ill make this quick!!! I hung out with Camilo and his family, then tried to see the main parade of the silleteros (check fb)with my aunt& the young nuns (it didnt work out, there were wayyyyyyyyy to many people downtown to see the parade, plus the nuns and my aunt get really nervous being out, especially in crowds), after we went to a really nicely decorated mall with the festival of flowers theme (there are seriously about 10 malls over in Medellin, I feel like there is one in every corner around) anddddddddddddd at night I helped the young nuns to decorate the auditorium & set up for the mass tomorrow (actually its in 3 hours)
Wed:
sooooo its 430 Im going to take a quick nap and then get ready for the mass. Today is my last day in Medellin, Im flying to Bogota (Colombias capital) in the afternoon. Im soooooooooooooo excited to be with my mom's family over there. Idk if Ill have internet access so who knows when my next entry will be.
Hope everyone is doing well!!!!!! Send me messages on fb to update me on whats going on with you..miss you guys!!
(pause, trying to remember what I did....)
Friday:
oooh yea I remember now, I did nothing haha. I was at the convent alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll day. My aunt was busy since shes the principal so I walked around the campus and listened to music in my room. Oh and I hung out with Sor Gladys (one of the young nuns) while she taught first holy communion preparation class. That was fun actually, the students were so funny! but my camp counselor instincts were kicking in when the girls were getting a little rowdy lol wait quick sidenote, I am SO hungry!!!! Over here they have breakfast, big lunches (aka dinner) and small dinners (consisting of crackers and fruit) Today I ate breakfast late so when I had lunch I was still full from breakfast and didnt eat much...then for dinner I had crackers and drank panela haha i want some yummy bread mmm..Anyway, Friday night i was suffering from cabin fever since I didnt leave the convent grounds at all. I was itching to get out and frolic in the city. See the thing was that on Friday the festivities for the La Feria de las Flores were starting so there was sooo much going on in Medellin. There was a concert with zion y lennox, j balvin, and a bunch of other artists. Instead of frolicking I was watching tv with the nuns and they went to bed at 8! The young nuns felt bad for me so they put on a zumba exercise dvd so we could dance lol how cute! later that night I went from having cabin fever to being sicky lol (from the food or the water) Thank God I was only sick for a day, one time when I came to colombia I was sick for a week!!! so yea that was Friday..
Saturday:
wow this is a struggle, I forget what I did during the day (looking through my camera to refresh my memory) Oh yes, in the morning I just relaxed here in the convent (still a little sicky) They served me lunch (aka a 3 course meal) I almost died lol In the afternoon we went on a little road trip to Santa Elena, a LITTLE town that is known for its beautiful flowers. Alot of the flowers that are used in the festival of the flowers come from that area and the big flower arrangements are made there (check out my fb pics). So we drove there almost an hour, when we got there we drove around for literally 5 minutes in the main plaza, and then left lol After we went to another town that is known for woodwork. The town was very colonial looking over there so it was cool to see. At night my cousin Camilo (his great grandfather is my great uncle) picked me up and we partied all night wooo woooo!!!!!! It was the first time I ever partied in Colombia..it was soooo much fun being out where all the locals hang out!! At first we went to his best friends apartment with his friends and then went to the area where all the cool kids go (imagine an area like fanueil hall where theres alot of bars slash clubs) We drank and danced all night...omg they mostly played reggaeton!!! Boston needs places like the ones in Medellin, they have clubs (clubs dont look like clubs in Boston, its more like a restaurant looking place where people eventually move tables to dance) that play just hip hop r&b and reggaeton! We got home around 330am, I slept over my cousin's house thankfully.. imagine arriving to the convent at that time lol...ahh and my cousin's cousin got so sick, poor thing is only 17 and was drinking vodka for the first time. I had sooooooo much fun that night, everyone was sooooo friendly!!! Actually pretty much everyone over here is very friendly and caring and affectionate. Oh! One of my cousin´s friends was raised in Florida so I had someone to speak English with. It definitely helped because sometimes I dont understand what people are saying because they use Colombian terms Ive never heard before. Im trying to learn and use the terms so I can blend in haha..aka beware I will be using Colombian slang when I get back home lol
Sunday:
We were lazy all day watching the parade of antique cars and listening to music..it was awesome being in pjs all day just hanging out with family lol I havent done that in a while!! In the evening Camilo, his sister Carolina and friends went to an event called Sonido sobra ruedas where there were ALOT of pimped out cars like in the fast & the furious. At night they were like 4 different concerts playing. We went to the reggaeton concert...slash the first band was an awfulllll reggae band and the second was some weird electronic music. The audience was NOT happy, people were getting rowddyy!! It was a bit much, I was disappointed in my people. For those who have been to a summerjam concert at the comcast center, imagine being in the lawn seats (people get crazy) but like times 5!! People were throwing cans, bottles, rocks (one hit Camilo's head) , trash and it was REALLY crowded. At one point, a camera man was setting up his camera to film, and the crowd got pissed because he was "blocking" our view. People threw bottles at the guy..it was awful!!The guy ended up setting up his camera somewhere else. AND when the first two bands were playing, the audience were pretty much booing them off the stage (the bands didnt get the memo though). Once reggaeton started the crowd settled down and was happy lol I saw J Balvin, which was exciting because I know alot of his songs, and other Colombian artists. Maluma, this Colombian artist who I had never heard of before was amazing!! And he is sooooooooooooooo cute :) Nicky Jam performed too, it was funny he refers to himself as Paisarican because he loves Colombia (Paisa = people from this region in Colombia, and Rican as in Puerto Rican) AFter the concert we drove around in my cousins' pimped car and ate some HUGEEEEEEEEEEE hotdogs. Check out the picture on fb, these hot dogs are the size of my face lol Hot dogs over here are no joke, they come with everything not just ketchup. DELICIOUS!!! When I get back home I am going to make those hot dogs for you guys mmmmmm
Monday:
Monday morning we woke up at 5am because Elquin and Camilo had to work (they manage the school cafe) This whole city is up by 5 or 6am People get to work so early and there are classes that start at 6AM!!!! Imagine having class at that time!! I remember I struggled with my 8am classes in college, I cant picture having class so early. Luckily Im on vacation so as soon as I arrived to the convent/school I passed out lol. BTW its 4am, I guess im not sleeping tonight...and I can hear showers running so the nuns are waking up now.
Monday I finally got to go to the poor areas to do some community service. I only got to go once because the priest just was released from the hospital. Also, its kinda dangerous over there so the nuns were very protective of me and didnt want me to be there for long. I'm getting a little sleepy so I will write about my experience of being over there later. It was an impactful experience so theres alot I want to write about it.
At night I went out with Camilo and his friends to a "fonda", its hard to explain what it is but pretty much a restaurant area where each restaurant has a theme to celebrate the festival of flowers. We spent the night listening to vallenato and drinking guardo (aguardiente = typical Colombian alcohol). It was fun...a little too much fun hahaha..ahem. We got home around 3, it was embarassing because Camilo forgot his keys so his parents had to open the door for us haha thankfully Elquin & Margarita are really laid back so they just laughed at us lol
Tuesday:
If youre still reading this entry, I really appreciate it!! what a great friend!! Ill make this quick!!! I hung out with Camilo and his family, then tried to see the main parade of the silleteros (check fb)with my aunt& the young nuns (it didnt work out, there were wayyyyyyyyy to many people downtown to see the parade, plus the nuns and my aunt get really nervous being out, especially in crowds), after we went to a really nicely decorated mall with the festival of flowers theme (there are seriously about 10 malls over in Medellin, I feel like there is one in every corner around) anddddddddddddd at night I helped the young nuns to decorate the auditorium & set up for the mass tomorrow (actually its in 3 hours)
Wed:
sooooo its 430 Im going to take a quick nap and then get ready for the mass. Today is my last day in Medellin, Im flying to Bogota (Colombias capital) in the afternoon. Im soooooooooooooo excited to be with my mom's family over there. Idk if Ill have internet access so who knows when my next entry will be.
Hope everyone is doing well!!!!!! Send me messages on fb to update me on whats going on with you..miss you guys!!
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