I think I´ve changed my mind about living abroad. It hasn´t been a whole week I realize, but it´s great to get to know a city as someone who lives there and not just as a visitor or tourist. It´s so big though, I feel like I could live here a lifetime and still not know it. I´m making progress though! Yesterday I walked to El Parque Carolina by myself. It´s a huge park with a little mini lake and botanical gardens and fields, jungle gyms, public aerobic classes, pony ride - everything you could imagine. I want to go back when I have more time to go to the botanical gardens.
I also went to a park near my house for the second time, this time with my mom. Sandra and I walked and did arm excercises (Uncle Carl you would be proud!) Sandra says she´s in bad shape but it doesn´t seem that way to me! I tried running and between the very steep grade of the park (it´s bascially on the side of a mountain) and the altitude I only lasted 10 minutes. I´m gonna have to add on little by little.
Today we did a bike tour of the city because they close off a lot of roads on Sundays. It was AMAZING! It was also really hard cause of the altitude and the hills. First we went to the Basilica which was my favorite. We climbed all the way to the top of the tallest towers! Safety regulations really don´t exist here: we´re talking rickety ladders, no guard rails, hundreds of feet in the air! If it wasn´t so amazingly cool I would have been scared shitless. After the Basilica we went to the Old City where I had been with Sandra. My favorite thing was seeing the Church of la compania de Jesus. It´s super ornate - all carved stone outside and gold leaf inside. It was the first time the Spanish conquest really got driven home - "Let´s just destroy their religion, steal their resources and then enslave them and make them build this disgustingly fancy, ornate church." The interior is literally covered in gold.
Another thing I experienced today was the vendors that come up to you and try to get you to buy their candy. They are all poor little kids or old people and they are SUPER persistent. I´m torn between being annoyed at them and feeling really bad. As a group of 15 white people we were a huge target and a couple times the little kids just swarmed us.
That´s all for now, even though I have a lot more I could say about this weekend.... Addios!
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3 comments:
test from Dad
Hey Addy - Glad to hear you're safely there and starting to find your way around. It all sounds wonderful - I'm very jealous and can't wait to see pictures. You'll never be the same or see the world in the same way. Don't spend too much time around those other Norteamericanos - you'll spend most of your life around them. Jump in with both feet - eat, drink, and have fun and don't forget that having the shits occasionally is just part of the travel experience. You can't save all those little vendors but buy someting from one of them once in a while, even if it means getting mobbed by the rest. I guarantee that if you don't, you'll kick yourself when you think back on it later. Remember that old chestnut about the starfish - "It made a difference to that one". Now, having said jump in with both feet and have a really good time, I'll also say you're a very smart girl - be aware of what's going on around you (the bad as well as the good) and get away from situations you think are sketchy. This concludes the sermon for today. Much love, Mean Old Uncle John. PS Loved that sign-off - "Addi-os" Roo Rules!!!
Addy, this is mom not James but it seemed like the easiest way to comment. Honey this all sounds so wonderful and your descriptions remind me of Nonna's details when she returns from her travels. Dad must be beaming reading of all your adventures. I think Uncle John's advice is very good. Can't wait to hear more. Remember you need to intice your "stay at home mom" to come there so keep it up.
miss you
mom
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