El Dia Terrible, Horrible, Espantoso, Horroroso

A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

1. No, my Spanish is not yet at the level that I could just whip this translation out. I googled Alexander's Day to get the Spanish translation.

2. I did not wake up this morning and decide it was going to be a terrible, horrible, day. I believe in the power of self-talk too much to start a day off like that (plus, I'm supposed to practice what I preach).

Yesterday was kind of a bum day. I lost my cell phone.

Let me start at the beginning.

Wednesday evening, we went out with a group of friends to celebrate Katy's birthday.

(below is our amigos. Birthday girl is the adorable blonde)

Before I go any further with the story I need to explain something. My husband has a huge aversion to bags that don't zip. Beach bags, small bags, purses, carry-ons, he is not discriminatory. No zipper=no te gusta. I am not as focused on the "closure" of the bag. I go more for look, style, quality. For the past few years, as our amount of travel increased, Matt would often bring my lack of zippers to my attention. Although, we have only been in Colombia for 3 weeks, I have heard a lot about my poor choice in carrying around a bag that doesn't have proper closure. Guess what? Matt, you are totally Right.

Back to the story.

So, we had a lovely dinner with great food (the Italian restaurant has a chef from Italy who also lived in Boston for several years and everything is amazing), good wine, and great conversation. We sat outside on the patio, which is open to the street.  Throughout the course of dinner we had several vendors approach our table trying to sell us items (this is not uncommon, they come right up to your table and literally stand over you, mid-bite). I am not saying one of these vendors stole my phone, but here is what I know. I had it at dinner. My purse (without a zipper) sat next to me. Several vendors approached me. I had (quite a bit of) wine. And I left without a phone. When I realized my I didn't have my crackberry (I am open about my unhealthy addiction to my BlackBerry) Katy called it immediately and it was turned off.

So, I woke up the next morning, with a yearning for my phone (I haven't had it in my possession for a week. I felt literally sick about it. And I am sure this had nothing to do with the amount of wine that was consumed) and made my way to pilates. After pilates, I made my way to the Italian restaurant to see if they had discovered my lost phone. No one at the restaurant spoke English (the owner does, but he was not present). So, in my broken Spanish I attempted to tell them the story of my lost phone and ask if it had been discovered. They looked around for some time (so I am assuming they understood me) and then told me to return later when the boss was present. (While I am unsure if my wine consumption contributed to the loss of my phone or my longing for the BB, I am quite positive it killed all of my Spanish speaking brain cells, because I struggled to communicate yesterday). So, I trudged home pretty defeated. I received an email from Matt that we had a package at FEDEX that I needed to pick up. He gave me directions and I headed out once again. I asked the cabbie to take me to "la tienda de FedEx" and gave him the cross streets. When I got out of the cab, I didn't see a FedEx. So I walked up and down the streets, feeling quite anxious, and like a stupid American (no biggie, it's def. been shouted out at me a few times). Finally, I found the FedEx and my "stupid American self" couldn't figure out how to open the door. When I arrived, both the women working didn't speak any English.  So again I  searched to find my Spanish brain cells and managed to get out of there with the correct package.

This, as simple, as it looks made me feel much better. It was filled with a few things we realized we needed and Matt's bday gift, but it was a little piece of home that filled me with a  sense of comfort.

My husband went with his driver (who speaks Espanol) to the Italian restaurant on his way home from work and they still hadn't seen any sign of a phone. So, Matt called the cell phone guy when he got home and I am on my way to being back on the map and getting my next fix of my addiction. 

Although yesterday was a challenging day I know those will happen. That's life, right? It doesn't stop because you live on another continent and don't necessarily comprehend what's going on around you 75% of the time. But, what makes it okay is I have someone to lean on, my co-pilot on this adventure, and that makes the challenges totally worth it.

Below are some additional photos. With kind of a "Debbie Downer" post, I wanted to remind you all how fabulous it still is here.

(obviously, we were in need of some proper Colombian headgear)

Happy Friday.

Q&A

Okay, so here are some answers to all those questions that were asked before we began this journey and set foot into our home of Cartagena, Colombia, South America.


Where will you live?
Well, currently (as shown earlier) we are living in the Hilton Hotel. So, I guess I am still living like Eloise. Matt's company identified realtors to aid us in the process of finding a real home. Thanks to some veterans who have navigated this process we contacted realtors immediately and were able to begin the house hunt quickly. There are some different areas that were identified as appropriate to live in and after touring several spots in the areas we have chosen a home in Boca Grande, the more commercial area. There are shops, restaurants, and bars all within close distance which will make it easy for me to get around. The only drawback we have heard is the noise factor, but we are still young and looking forward to living in the "happening" place. While the "homes" are referred to as "apartamentos" they are really more of condos. Each apartamento is owned by an individual. So after we chose the place we hope to lie our heads, Matt's company take the reins. They tour the apartment and note changes they deem necessary. For example, all apartments occupied by employees must have two locks, a peep hole, 24 hour security, and be on a certain floor of the building. The apartment we chose was unfurnished, so the owners are currently in Cartagena buying the necessary furnishings. After this stage, the company deals with all the contractual components and then we will have a home and actually unpack, for the first time in a looooonnnnnngggg time. I am very excited to get settled and begin to really see Cartagena as home. Below is the building we will be living in and I will be sharing pictures of the inside as soon as I possibly can.


How do you get around? What is the transportation situation?
We will not be driving while living here (for good reason, it is intense), so we use a mix of public and company provided transportation. Matt is transported to and from work each day by a van. This van service is also available to wives and families, with notification. For example, last Sunday a van was arranged to pick us up and take us to the mall and then bring us back to the Hilton. Pretty slick. My main mode of transportation has been cabs. They are all over the place and very safe. There is not meter system here, so we were made aware that most cab fares to anywhere within close proximity are 5000 pesos (that's about 2.50 USD). To places farther out, it can be slightly more, but very economical. There is definitely some bartering that can go on and they have been known to try and charge "gringo" prices. Thankfully, so far, all of my cab situations have been confrontation free and I have not had to haggle. Cabbies tend not to have change, so I reserve my 5's for cab fares. I intend to do a lot more walking when we are in the apartment, but the Hilton is a little farther away from most of the restaurants. And let's be honest, with my sense of direction, I don't know that I am quite ready to head out with my very limited Spanish and figure my way around this place.

I borrowed this picture from Google images. This shows the size of the cabs (quite small) and an idea of their driving. I believe this man is rescuing some kind of animal from being hit. There are many stray dogs and cats and I have been a witness to near misses of making contact with them. I have a mini anxiety attack every time. (Side note: Matt has made it clear to me that I am not allowed to "rescue" and bring home any of these poor creatures).


What is the food and drink like?
The food and drink is great. They have all types of restaurants here, much like you would find in the States, steak houses, Italian, French, & an Australian joint. There seems to be a lot of red meat, sea food and I have discovered the chicken is not served as I expect it in the states. Often times with bones and skin, which isn't really my thing. The grocery stores has lots to offer, including Heinz Ketchup. 
These are my two favorite menu items at the Hilton...

As for drinks, the Coca Cola light is right up my alley. They also have a lot of fresh juices. Now for the adult drinks, we have been pleasantly surprised. We have spotted Cap't (Matt's drink of choice) and even some Jameson (for when the padres come to visit). They have a large variety of wines and serve vino tinto/red wine chilled here, which is refreshing in the heat. We drink a fair amount of cervesa here and have been pleased with the options. Last time I was at the grocery store I even spotted Bud Light (no Miller, sorry:)


What do you do?
(obviously this question is going to be very different for each of us...)
Matt:
"Van picks me up at 6 with about 4 other guys, drive 30 minutes to work.
Coffee man comes around to my trailer about 8am with a delivery service.
The project has two aspects, one is a refinery expansion that is new
construction, the other is a revamp of the existing refinery.  Currently
I'm working on the revamp.  At noon, I go to the lunch tent for a prison
style lunch.  Wait in line for about 5 minutes to get to a row of people
who throw some food on a plate.  Typically you have the option of chicken
or some type of meat, but every day its with rice, beans, salad, and some
type of fruit punch drink.  Its getting old already.  Need to get into apt
so I can bring lunch several times a week.  About 2000 people on-site now,
supposed to peak at around 6000 to 8000.  Van picks us up at 530 to head
home, traffic is pretty bad and we average about 2-3 near accidents a day
going back to the hotel."

Sarah:

I often don't know how to explain my days, but I manage to fill them with things. I recently joined a Pilates studio and take classes there 3 times a week. I spend time emailing and blogging to keep people posted and other than that you can find me poolside and reading. I also try to devote some time each day to Rosetta Stone. I have been lucky enough to meet some other lovely ladies and enjoy lunch and shopping from time to time. It's roughbeing a leisurely lady...
One of my goals while here is to study photography (really more of a crash course on my own, guided by some books I have purchased). However, I haven't really began this course yet as I have guilt every time I spy my photography books and realize I really should be learning Espanol first. 

(so thankful for my ipad!)
(disclaimer: I realized after posting this picture there appears to be some interesting possibly inappropriate text. A Visit From the Goon Squad is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel, in my leisurely existence I have not resorted to reading pure smut.)

(one of the Hilton pools)

So, that is a brief look at all the answers we have found to the lingering questions that existed. Obviously there is sure to be many more questions & answers found as we navigate our Colombian adventure. 

Thanks Mom.

These...

are Mother's Day cards I purchased while in the States. However, they are not en route to the states, because I have yet to figure out how the postal system works here. And even if I did, I would probably be unable to convey what I wanted to the kind postal worker. 
So, if my upcoming week had a theme, it would be Rosetta Stone. 


Matt and I had a nice weekend that included a trip downtown to a dirty mercado, lots of food, our first Latin American dance experience, and a few hours at the mall. We are becoming more familiar with our surroundings, but have a long way to go.


That "vacation" feel is starting to wear off, but I don't think I will feel completely settled until we have ourselves actually unpacked in an apartment, with pictures hung, and internet/DirecTV installed. After "house hunting" we found a place we would like to call home, but that is only the first step. Matt's company requires a security check (looking for things like locks, peep holes, secured railings, etc.), the owner than makes the necessary changes, and then they work out the contract part. So, I am practicing patience. 


Another thanks to our moms,


The most amazing women we know.
Two women who instilled in us a sense of adventure... (they probably didn't know how much)
Who show us unwavering support.
Two woman who can bring smiles to our faces from miles and miles and miles away.


Thanks mom.
xoxo

Feliz Cumpleanos.

Happy Birthday to the only person that I could accompany on this adventure.

xoxo.




if you already read this and used the link, you will now find that my spirited persistance
(or lack of being able to let things go) resulted in uploading the video the right way.

pinky pinkston.

bella has a lot of nicknames.

Sometimes she was "pinky pinkston", due to her pink lil mouth (it is actually quite large, but you get the point)

She has taken the pinky pinkston to a whole new level.


This is not a fashion statement.
More of a home improvement project.
Bella is an active pup. And when excited she has been known to run in place like "Scooby Doo".
Think back:
old school Scooby Doo cartoons, when he would run from the monsters but he would be running in place and then take off.
That's Bella.
This did not fare well for my mother's hardwood floors. So after many tricks and rug purchases she found Soft Paws.
And they are a perfect fit for Pinky Pinkston.

FAQ's

Buenas.

Today was our first day of the rest of our Cartagena, Colombian lives. Matt went to the job site and Sarah ventured out. I went around with a realtor this morning to see some apartments and spent the afternoon with Katy, (my savior, but also known as a girlfriend of Matt's CB&I associate). She took me to the local mall and the old city where we enjoyed conversation, the views, and possibly some cervesas...

I thought I would show you our "casa", also known as the Hilton.
(I am much more excited to show you our long-term home, but we still don't have one yet. It is a process)

Way back on the "Tour de Love" we were bombarded with questions, that I had NO answers to. But I am now officially on the quest for responses to all those FAQ's. So, while I am working on compiling an answer to each those common questions about living, shopping, transportation, etc, I thought I would give an opportunity for any additional lingering questions. If you have one, shoot me an email or leave it in the comment section. Please note, the idea of being given a task, completing the task, and reporting back on said task will feel amazing. 

the first 48

Hola.


Well, we made it. With all our luggage I am happy to report. We have had a very busy first 48, so now I will attempt to start from early Friday morning to explain how it has all transpired. 
Here is the email that went to family Friday evening:

We are here/home.
Due to my lack of exhaustion and culture shock this is going to be an email written in bulleted phrases.

-Sarah woke up at 3 am this morning to begin watching coverage of the Royal Wedding. Totally worth seeing that breath-taking dress, but adding to my exhaustion.
-Got to the airport at 6am. Approached airport security at 7:45 am. Our luggage was a bit of a debacle. Special permission from managers was needed to take the additional baggage, so on, so forth. Thankfully, Josie, the woman helping us is from Bogota and loved that we were moving to Cartagena. I am happy to report each and every bag made it.
-In Panama we learned that Subway does not have the same fresh ingredients worldwide.
- You know those people that complain about Spanish being spoken in the United States... I think they should spend a day in a foreign country when signs/directions/etc. are not translated to English. Then watch them complain.
-We become completely confused when they were preparing to board the flight from Panama to Cartagena. No English. And everyone just stood in line. No rows or sections called. Just line up. Thankfully a nice American explained this to us and then we discovered he works with Matt.
-Misty, they serve free booze on the Panama to Cartagena flight. Not sure how that works out but Matt saw people ordering whiskey, wine, beer, no pesos or cards pulled out. Sarah was sleeping. Missed that opportunity.
-The baggage people thought we were on their honeymoon and that was why they had so much luggage. We tried to explain we moved here, we live here. Need to continue getting Rosetta Stoned.
-We took 2 full size extra row vans to get to the hotel. 1 for our luggage. 1 for us.
-Sarah will never ever be driving in Cartagena.
-It was neat to finally get to see our new "home"- the city itself. Being surrounded by the water is amazing. It's hot. But it cools down at night.
-Our luggage/life takes up a lot of space in our standard sized room. We haven't started unpacking yet because we couldn't figure out the Internet. No wireless in the room. Ethernet cord not working. Currently a tech is working on that....can you imagine? No Internet in the room. This is written from the lobby.
-TV. I got some CNN in English, lifetime network (liv here) that is spoken in English with Spanish subtitles as well as some channels that show some CSI episodes.

I think that's all we got. We plan on doing some exploring tomorrow, so hopefully we will have some pictures to share and then do some phone calls/skyping in the next week.
Have a great weekend!

Love you.
Sarah&Matt

So, that was Friday. It was an intense and long day. We woke up after a full nights sleep after that and a calorie burn we went to our first Colombian breakfast. Fruit, phenomenal... so fresh. We also had some delish Colombian coffee. This idea of fresh fruit and black coffee each morning, I can totally get used to. And with our views, I plan on enjoying both of these on the patio looking at this:

After breakfast, we unpacked what we assumed was necessary for the next 4 weeks and ventured out into our city. It is warm, within 15 minutes my washed, blow dryed, straightened hair was up in a bun. 

There are vendors all over, who approach you speaking Spanish, but leave you alone with an ignore or No Gracias. There are loads of places to eat, all different cuisines. I spotted some Nike & Addidas stores as well as a Tommy Hilfiger and Lacoste. Matt and I came upon some grocery stores (Yes, I will be shopping at a grocery store, not a mercado). Matt and I spent some time walking around and seeing what they had to offer. Matt felt a little piece of home when he spotted this:

I was also very captivated by the produce section. There was a whole lot of these:

There were some differences that I was not so comfortable with. At this particular grocery store all the raw meat was out in the open, as in anyone could walk by, sneeze, touch, grab, smack, spit on the red meat. Fish was the same way. I made a mental note not to by any meat products from this grocery store. Our walk took us along many more roads where we experienced the need for balance

There don't seem to be a lot of "rule of the road" in Cartagena, people drive the wrong way down one ways, pass in no passing areas, and are all over the place. We had to walk down this very narrow sidewalk as huge buses, both of the public transportation type, and open air party buses that are constantly running. This definitely made for an exciting walk through the town. 

We found another grocery store in the Boca Grande area that was extremely nice. More like a Whole Foods and no, their meat was not out in the open. We got some fresh fruit from this grocery store and finished out our 3 hour walk.

(this is our hotel from the street)

After resting up, Matt's co-worker stopped by and invited us out for some cervesas, dinner, and Rugby watching. There are some Irish men on this job site who are very passionate about their rugby. Matt and I were happy to join them. We had such a lovely evening and I had the opportunity to meet and chat with 2 adorable girls who accompanied their boyfriends to South America. They shared their war stories and what they have learned thus far. I can't believe how lucky I got to meet some amazing cohorts so early in this adventure, so thank you to those of you sending all your positive thoughts and energy our way!

We enjoyed the drink, food, and especially the conversation. As we prepared to leave and said our goodbyes Matt had a strange look about him. I asked if he was okay and he responded, "Yeah, I'm fine." Then, the color drained from his face, he bobbled a bit, and fell to the ground. Yep, my husband passed out. People rushed around him, got some water, and asked me about some pre-existing medical conditions. He came to, drank some water, got up to leave, and repeated the same act all over again. Finally after some drinks of water, he was okay and we all tried to come up with some reasons for this dramatic medical act. This has never happened to Matt before, so we chalked it up to some dehydration (???)

I happy to report my husband is completely healthy.

Tomorrow we are off to register our visas, open a bank account, and hopefully begin touring some apartments.

Our adventure has begun...

( Fact: Blogger is now acknowledging my South American location, so using Spanish terms while creating posts. Spell check: everything I wrote is highlighted as incorrect. Except numbers, names, and blogger. So this is my disclaimer.

I apologize for any misspellings.)