back to school

Hola.

Matt worked both Saturday & Sunday mornings, so our weekend was pretty easy going. Saturday night we headed over to the Old City to check out a new restaurant. The spot we initially planned on going to was hosting a private party, so we made our way around and found Tango Feroz.

We shared a seafood platter for dos....

Yum.

Here's a rundown on the additional items seen in the picture.

The banana chip/bread-like item on my plate is a 'patacone'. This a a green plantain that is fried and then smashed. (You can read more about the process here) They are quite appetizing and on my 'To-Do' list {trust me, that will be post worthy}. I've seen them served solo or with some type of topping. I'm a topping/dip girl myself so I've got my eye on this recipe.

You can also see the remnants of Coconut Rice/Arroz con Coco on my plate. This appears to be a staple around here and can be found nearly anywhere. I have not yet attempted to make it. To be honest, I am not a big fan of 'cooking' rice. Eventually I will get around to whipping some up {because that's part of the experience right?}, but until then I know a few places we can go if we are in the mood.

Back to our dinner... This was our evening entertainment

These hip-hop dancers provided us with a show of their skills... and they got 'em. One guy was doing pushups with his legs completely extended as in 'not touching the ground'. There were lots of flips & break dancing moves. By far the best vendor show I've seen in Cartagena.

Today Matt and I may have become official Colombians {as much as we can be considered anyway}. Today we received our Cedulas, which are the identification cards we will carry here. We have been waiting for them for a while now and although identification isn't a huge issue here, once and awhile you will be asked to provide it. After my cell phone fiasco, I didn't necessarily love the idea of carrying my passport around, so now that we are locals, no worries.

Well now that we're official, it's time I officially learned Spanish. 

Example: Sunday morning I received a phone call at my apartment. Someone on the other line was speaking Spanish and I had NO IDEA what they were saying. Finally I told them that I wasn't understanding {in Spanish}. However they continued to repeat the same thing over and over again. This is what a language barrier is like & let me tell you... it is frustrating. Finally someone who spoke English got on the line and informed me that I had a driver here to pick me up. I had not requested a driver so we worked out that little predicament. After that fiasco you will be happy to know I'm taking Spanish lessons. Yep, back to school {do you sense a theme... we move, sarah becomes a student}. I am working with an English professor, one on one, three times a week. Today was my first lesson. I really enjoyed the tutorial and adore the instructor. We spoke in Spanish for the duration of the hour and I answered questions about myself and my daily routine. After hearing about my Monday, Teach wrote this note to my husband...

Now you can see why I adore her, right?

{the a,e,i,o,u... yeah we had to work on my vowels. I am not trying to make excuses, but the 1st grade teacher in me has a really hard time saying the long e sound for an i}