adventures

I've been struggling to write this post for some time. 

1) Because when I write it, it's over. I mean, I know the days have come and gone and I took advantage of each moment and didn't bother myself with the daily tasks of my obnoxious floors or laundry {loads of towels only}. What I mean is, when it's documented, it's over. Make sense?

2) How do I put these days into a blog post? There were so many memories created, but they are not always easy to put into words. Let's face it... when you get a crew like us together, its a little intense, filters don't exist, and it doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense to the outside world. But it made perfect sense to me. All week long. 

So, in an effort to preserve the memories, in a simple and respectful way, prepare yourself for 

bullets & lotso' pictures. 

Day 1: Thursday, November 17th

• American Crew arrives! After getting all the international details out of the way we headed to 'la casa de McQuinn's' to get reacquainted over some cervesas.

• For dinner we headed to a familiar spot, Carbon de Pallo. Matt and I used to eat here every Sunday before football season started. After experiencing some Colombian carne & a traditional arepa, this was designated as the 'Last Supper' spot. 

Day2: Friday, November 18th

• First full day of vacation began with pool time. And cervesas. {obviously} We slathered sun screen on everyone, enjoyed the Colombian sun, and laughed. A lot. After a brief lunch, in which we sat outside and sweated {welcome to life in Cartagena} we clinked our michelata glasses together {beer with lime & salt} and headed back to the pool.

{please notice Minnie's inability to put her arms in the water}

{Schroeder took care of it}

• That evening we decided on La Cevicheria for dinner, a popular ceviche spot and designated Friday as our night out on the town. We walked the Old City, stopped at a few different bars, and ended the night dancing at Mister Bebilla's. {Kath & Misty got in a conga line with locals... Did I mention we were the only gringos at the bar?}

{see the girls in the Conga line}

Day 3: Saturday, November 19th

• Breakfast {with the best jam south of the border}, a stop to the grocery store {where pictures were taken of my milk & egg selection and a few rounds of the ICE game* were played}. Then it was back to the pool.

• For dinner we went to a popular seafood spot, Muelle del Chef. For the most part we behaved as our nearly thirty-year old selves. {i think}

Day 4: Sunday, November 20th {Kathleen's Birthday!}

• To celebrate Leena's wonderful 28th year, we got a boat and headed to Playa Blanca in the Rosario Islands. I can easily say {write} that this was a boat ride that no passanger will soon forget. For starters, the waters were rough. Our spines were battered by the end. And it took some time to get there. We made two stops along the way. The first, to a dock, where canoe like boats were unloading direct tv boxes... that's all I got. We apparently made this stop to pick up some snorkeling gear that we had previously stated was unnecessary, as no one wanted to snorkel. Our second stop, before the beach, was in the middle of the ocean. To provide us with a brief history lesson on the area and offer us some seafood from a boat that pulled up right along side us. Moral of the story: You just never know what you are going to get in the Jungle

• We were well received by locals on the beach and within 5 minutes of setting our sea legs on land we had purchased Coco-Loco's, oysters, and had rejected several offers for massages and banana boat rides. It was an incredible day, despite the 72 following hours of pain felt by all. {from the boat ride people, not the coco locos!}

Day 5: Monday, November 21st

• El Totumo Mud Volcano, located about an hour to the north of Cartagena. According to Wikipedia, the mound is 15 m/49 feet high. The mud is known for its healing capabilities and according to local legend the volcano used to spew fire, lava, and ashes, but was turned into mud by a local priest who believed it was the work of the devil and proceeded to banish him {the devil} by sprinkling holy water into the volcano.

• The rundown: we climbed some treacherous looking 'stairs' {for lack of a better word} to the top. Some locals hold on to your belongings; shoes, shirts, and a camera man takes over the pictures. You are immediately told to get into the mud bath.

• The texture of the mud is hard to explain. A bit grainy and it smells.... funky.  Oh, did I mention you float in the mud. So after they have eased you into the mud, one of the men begins covering you in it, making sure your entire lower body is covered. He then makes a comment about 'shampoo', covers your hair and creates a 'mask' on your face. After this process is complete he glides you over to the massage station.

• They tell you to relax, but I had a hard time relaxing. I had {have} a deep seeded fear about the mud {anything} going into my ears. And guess what? It did. Thankfully, Kathleen held my hand the entire time we were getting 'massaged'.

{i love minnie in the above photos}

• After leaving the volcano, you make your way down the 'stairs' and walk over to a pond. with lilly pads. A group of woman is waiting there to clean the mud off. They ordered us to sit down and immediately began dumping buckets of water over our heads, in a, "I can't breathe, I think this woman is trying to drown me" type way. We all got a pleasant surprise when we were ordered to take off our bathing suits. All of it. Except Misty. And her bottoms. Somehow we all survived. And I must say, I highly doubt I will ever repeat this adventure ever ever again in my life, but I am so glad I experienced it with these crazy cohorts.
• After we showered & cleansed {the real way}, we took a trip down to the Old City for some lunch, scenery, and the must-see Cafe del Mar. Our evening ended with the girls in the kitchen and the boys watching football.

Day 6: Tuesday, November 22nd

• Our day started with a ladies trip to the Old City to finish some shopping. Included the pool. And ended, right back where we started, dinner at Carbon de Pallo.

Day 7: Wednesday, November 23rd

• I loved waking up the last day to the noise of familiar voices in my house. The days leading up to Day 7, my eyes filled with tears when thoughts of this wonderful adventure ending. I knew the day would come when my friends would pack up and go back to their American lives. But the love and laughter that surrounded Matt and I for the week was something I couldn't easily let go of. I don't exactly know how to appropriately express what it meant to us to have such special people travel so far to share in an adventure with us, so I will just say Thank You.

Thank You for your friendship.

Thank You for the adventures we have survived.

Those that we continue to take part in today.

And the amazing adventures that are yet to come.

Salud.

* To ICE someone; the act of merely showing one a Smirnoff Ice and 

subsequently forcing them to drink it all, immediately - Misty Lynch