Traveling Soul

On Friday morning, I took a 3-hour bus ride to Bogota. Upon my arrival at the bus terminal, I asked the police for directions to my hostel which stated that I needed to take the Germania bus towards the centro. They took me inside to ask another officer who was speaking with a different woman.Coincidentally the woman was also heading in the same direction and she walked me to the right bus station. We chatted a bit and she warned me to not have my phone out in public (this would be the first of numerous warnings regarding possessions). After waiting for about 15 minutes, I caught the right bus and while on it, I asked the driver to please let me know when Carrera 4 was near. This proceeded him to ask me where I was from. Not long, the entire bus knew that I was foreign and that I needed help (the bus driver even asked a policewoman to escort me to my hostel). A stranger on the bus responded to the bus driver's request, claiming that he also needed to go to that area. He walked ...

Thus far… I tried tamal- a typical plate of Colombia. It is a combination of rice and meat cooked in plantain leaves. It was so delicious! I have given up on trying to be vegetarian while abroad...There are too many traditional plates that I want to try that I feel are important for learning about the culture and it has become impossible to maintain the meatless diet (sometimes a choice between eating or nearly starving for the day) My host family took me out on Saturday night. We went to a hip beer/restaurant called the Bogota Beer Company which specializes in artesinal beers. Classic American songs were playing in the background, making it very difficult to concentrate solely on the Spanish conversations. Oddly the basketball game with the Trailblazers against Houston was also playing….it was strange because most Colombians don’t speak nor understand English but it seems that Americanization was prevalent even in the small town of Tunja. I was mistaken as being the Colombian ...

I forgot how much sunnier San Francisco is than Eugene...it is so beautiful here. I had a 90-minute delay on my flight from Portland to San Francisco which in reality is only an hour and a half fight. I landed in San Francisco around 10:30 in the evening and a former sorority sister who read my plea on Facebook for a couch to crash on picked me up. I ended up getting a full room to myself; she was so generous. Traveling Tip: Always check your arrival and departure times. Even when you think you know, double check to confirm the changes and date and time. 2 days, 4 cities and 3 airlines later, I have finally arrived in Tunja, Colombia. I made it to Bogota around 6 in the morning and took a taxi to the bus terminal to Tunja. The bus ride was a little over 3 hours and I was in a state of deliriousness and being awake. Upon my arrival, Manuel (who works for the Institute that I will be teaching at) picked me up and we went to the school. The Institute has two different locations and t...