March 6 ~ I can't believe how fast time passes and how impossible it's proving to be to keep this blog anywhere near current! I'm writing from Cartagena, Colombia, where I'll be for just 2 more days. It's every bit as wonderful as the travel guides promise – more on that later. First, I want to wrap up Giradot:
1. Security: I knew that security in this town is taken very seriously, but was still taken aback one morning on my way to the gym. It was very early, no people around, and a Brinks truck was in front of a bank, transferring money – the truck was just like the ones back home, but that's where all similarity ended. There were 8 armed guards protecting the transaction – one at each corner of the vehicle, facing out, with assault rifles drawn and scanning, two outside the bank door, assault rifles drawn and scanning, and two more inside the bank door, assault rifles drawn and scanning! I went over to the other side of the street and still felt uneasy walking past 8 drawn assault rifles. The home I'm in also takes security very seriously – the entrance door is thick, heavy metal, with 2 sets of deadbolts, each of which has 2 independent bolts with different keys and each of the 4 bolts must be turned through 3 different settings to lock and/or unlock the door. And after that, there's an electronic alarm! It's always set at night, and a few weeks ago, in the middle of the night, when I was here alone, it went off. Scared the living daylights out of me...in order to turn it off, I had to be prepared to deal with whatever might be outside my door when opened it, so I grabbed my mace canister. Just before opening the door I wondered if the canister was in the on or off position, so without thinking, I 'discreetly' depressed the button just a little. Not one of my better ideas. It was on, and sprayed into the fan. I have renewed respect for the disabling effects of mace. I'll never know what set the the alarm off, but thankfully, it wasn't a person!
2. The last week in Giradot, I finally got a real bike in. Did 48 kilometers on a rolling valley road out of Giradot – good pavement, and breathtakingly beautiful. Mountains on both sides – steep, verdant close mountains with misted higher peaks beyond, and beyond, and beyond. It was wonderful to finally be out in the beauty I'd only seen from a car window. Very frustrating to live so near to gorgeous countryside, and be unable to get out and freely enjoy it. 
3. Blouses update – I don't have a picture of the blouses – will try to have at least one for the next blog. They all fit; two turned out well, and one is really beautiful. She does some “shortcut” sewing, but on the one I really cared about, she did some wonderful pin tucking for the front, and the short-sleeve design is lovely. You may recall that I had the blouses made because the stores here don't carry clothes for women so big as I. This is a picture of one of my tutors (and me) – you can see what I mean – her size is petty typical of the women here.
4. Giradot's Main Plaza and library are just a block from where I live. These are pictures from early in the morning, when few folks are up and about. It's really a beautifully designed plaza – the problem is that the plaza is a solid city block of bricks/tiles/stone. With days here never below 85 degrees, and usually much higher, it's impossible to enjoy it after about 11:30 am – and those stones hold their heat well after dark. The library steps open into the plaza – very beautiful. Libraries in Colombia are a unique partnership between banks (mostly Bancolombia), and the state. The bank constructs and owns the building, and the state staffs the library, any programs, and buys the books. Many of the books I looked at date back to the 80's. One impact of the state being responsible for ongoing operations (and poor economy) is that even here, there's no toilet paper or soap in the bathrooms...not even in the kids area! Again, we take SO much for granted...
5. A few pictures I took on my way to the gym one morning. I really prefered going out early in the morning, because the streets are so clean. The way garbage was handled herewas perplexing. There are no refuse baskets or containers, and people throw everything – bags, wrappers, food, newspapers, everything – on the sidewalk or into the street. By evening it's filthy, and smells bad. Then every morning around 6:00 the street cleaners – mostly women, in bright orange city uniforms– come through with brooms and shovels and bag 
everything up. The trucks come along shortly after, and by 7:00 things are pretty tidy again. When the stores open, each one scrubs their front sidewalk and gutter (soap and water)...and the cycle begins again. Maybe they don't put out garbage cans because that would take away work from people who desperately need it...? One thing that's always in the streets are mangy, half-starved dogs – and their poop. Yuck! And they sleep anywhere – even on busy street corners during the day – people just step over/walk by them. Couldn't resist taking a picture of a couple.
everything up. The trucks come along shortly after, and by 7:00 things are pretty tidy again. When the stores open, each one scrubs their front sidewalk and gutter (soap and water)...and the cycle begins again. Maybe they don't put out garbage cans because that would take away work from people who desperately need it...? One thing that's always in the streets are mangy, half-starved dogs – and their poop. Yuck! And they sleep anywhere – even on busy street corners during the day – people just step over/walk by them. Couldn't resist taking a picture of a couple.
6. Water - People here don't have water heaters – no need, really. By noon the water is wonderfully warm. So evening showers are great – but morning showers? When that water first hits, it takes a few involuntary gasps to get breathing started again. I've come to really like them, tho – wonderfully refreshing.
7. The Streets - At first, the streets here seem just chaotic - but nothing could be further from the truth - every square inch of sidewalk is "owned" by some one for some purpose - usually street sellers of one type or another. I saw a pretty ugly fight one day when one cart-vendor was infringing on another's space. The picture on the right is Fernando - my favorite pan de yuca man - he would set up each morning at 6:00 and was sold out and gone by 8:30. 8. Deliveries - One morning I was having coffee in a little cafe, waiting for the gym to open and the gas delivery man came...with the tank of gas on the back of his motorcycle!
Most morning deliveries are by some form of bicycle or hand cart - I tried to edit this picture so you could see the man better, but my software isnt cooperating right now. So I'm going to call it quits for now - I doubt if I'll get the Cartagena piece done before I leave here...you'll probably hear from me next after I reach Otavalo, Ecuador...Love to All - Karen
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