The Colombian Flag

the three colors of the Colombian flag have distinct significance. The Yellow represents gold. The country had tremendous wealth and is rumored to be the fabled El Dorado. The Blue represents El Mar, the ocean, for Colombia is the only country in South America to be bordered by two oceans. And the Red. The Red on the Colombian flag represents the blood shed by all those who fought to liberate the country.

This particular flag flies from the mast on the castle guarding Cartagena.

How could I have forgotten?

the world is amazing... had i forgotten...?
life is an amazing adventure... likw typing on theis key board....
you never know what you will get.
i am in cartagena... i am traveling with the guy that i was in love with... we are trying the friend thing and aside from the occassional misunderstanding. things are going really well in that direction.
rather than spending the whole time here... i think he and i will travel the country together... wandering the mountains and the valleys the coastline and the waterfalls... it is nearly as romantic as it sounds... with out the romance... or without the overt romance.
it is hot... of course... the sun burns bright... i look like a crab leopard... where the sun screen missed a few spots... well... a lot of spots...
i walked the city alone for the first time since i have been in colombia... ç
i wasnt sure if it would be different than traveling the streets with a male companion. i didnt know how much protection he offered.
i found a church and sat forever. time stood still and the day melted away. the ouside world melted away... all i could hear was the fluttering of wings and the cooing of pigeoens that danced in the high ceilings... and some where in a distant room maria carie... and other easy listening favorites... a bizzare contrast... and an amusing reminder of something else... that any where ever there was something else.

food has become a reminder of the perfect world. just had lunch... which is turning into the only meal i eat these days.... and the set menu at my favorite place rocks my world. not that it is spectaculare... in any way... really just that it tastes so good... it is like it what made to fit the place... and it was. the satly salsa... pickled stuff... the broth soup that changes my world with each spoonful... and the coconut rice... shredded salad... potatoes... man the world tastes great.

i have found another home. i am examining property... my favorite words are se verde... (for Sale)
i have my heart set on a place... near the hotel we are staying in .... just across from a decrepit park... and down the street from the red light district... half a block from the harbor... with an increadible view of the old city... i dont know the price... and as john pointed out... i can probably afford it cause it has no roof... or windows... and the balcony is a few days from crashing into the street bellow... doomed to crush the fruit and juice sellers perched in its shade.
i will take a picture and next time i can up load pictures... to my blog... you too can see my dream house... maybe we can go in on it together.... if it doesnt fall down before then ...

i am glad that i came.
i will always follow my instincts and have faith in the world.
i was born under a good star.


over and out...
gold star to you....
" i have been to the mountaintop... and i have seen the promised land......!"

is this the bus to cartagena?

it is saturday(sabado)... and i am in bucaramanga...
the plan is this... and more likely to change than stay the same...
i am leaving for cartagena on the bus this evening... john will travel with me... and help me get established in cartagena... i should arrive sunday (domingo) midday... and then on monday check out the school where i plan to study spanish... and hope to find a place to cash my travelers checks... but dont worry. cause i can use my creditcard to get money out of atms.... so i am not helpless...
things are going well... and never as expected...
the heat is noticable... and although i packed almost nothing.. i STILLL brought too much. it is a tiny bag, but it feels like i have rocks and water ... very heavy.
i am having lunch with johns family and then wandering the city before we hope the bus...
i hope that all is well with each of you... you were in my thoughts on my birthday... and i take you with me as i go ... into more of the inviting unknown.

I Am in colombia...
i have to keep reminding my self... not that it is not obvious that i am not in the US... but... it is still hard for me to grasp the depth of that reality... i am in colombia.. and it is not anything like what i imagined ... try to imagine a combination of china and mexico... where cars dont stop... you can make a phone call on the street cause people are selling minutes on their cell phones...and there is a constant chorus of car horns... taxi, bus, motorcycle.... horns.. like an orchestra warming up or a conversation... between automobiles... nearly an arguement...
that is the colombia i know... so far... and bucaramanga is like the shijiazhuang of colombia. city... but not major metropolitian... just a city... maybe bakersfield... or sacramento... without the national capitol.
it is just a city built up in and among the mountains... the lush jungle grows on the side of the road and where it is too steep to build anything.

so the journey with in the journey begins... almost as normal as any other day of life... it feels normal. it is... i am just in colombia.

a birthday in a small colombian town

my 28th birthday found me wandering the streets of a small old colmobian town. The Basilica Menor hosted the faithful and the frail. the sky painted the ground with light and shadow. the rythums of the city could be felt as if time had not passed and the day would last forever.

Giron, Colombia

my new job...

so my new job starts on Tuesday. I will leave the place that i made home... and i will get onto a plane. From there I will risk it all and take a gamble. With my heart open, my eyes open and a drive to explore i will jump into the deep end. I will try a new life.
I have let go of so much in the last month. I have let go of love and the hope of a future there. I have let go of my vision of myself. I have let go of my belongings and my place ... my home... I have let go of the dreams i had been holding so tightly... suffocating. I have let go. now i release what is left into the world to the fates and the wind. i release into the inevitable and release into the pain, the suffering, the glory and the brilliance of life in it's every day occurrences.
I see myself turning into a monster... a version of myself foreign to me- even at odds with myself... but i transform more every day. the monster within... is gentle peaceful and far more of a hippy than i had hoped. i am a stranger to myself and thus often those closest to me are strangers too. I am set loose. i am free. i wander out into the fear ... the distance into the nothingness of anonymity and i search for the essential... i search for the root of me, even if it is not who i intended to be... i may be lost to myself, but i wander to find the essential. that is my new job.