Only one week left

I'm back in Cartagena for my final week in Colombia. It's good to be back across the street from the ocean and to have the ability to swim in the sea whenever I please.

I've absolutely loved every minute here (in every city i've visited) and there really are only a few reasons I want to come home; mainly to see members of my family and friends that I care about.

This trip has been one of the most amazing journeys of my entire life. Before this trip, the only foreign country i've seen has been Canada. I've never been to Europe. I've never even been to Mexico. But, now i can say that I've spent 1/12 of a year in South America.

Here are some thoughts:

• If you like milk in the United States, you'll probably dislike it here. Instead of refrigerating milk, it's sold warm here. And it's much sweeter then milk in the States. kind of like they add frosted flakes to the mix before they package it. I dislike it.
• Even though it's near the Equator, Bogota is COLD. In the summer months (there's no seasons down here) 60-ish degrees is the high and, most of the five days i was there, it was cloudy and/or rainy. Pack for the weather and you won't be cold.
• Salt water is not the best thing to drink, even if it's by accident.
• When you live in a climate that is 80-90 degrees each day (ie. Cartagena) with a ton of humidity, there is no need for hot water from the tap or in the shower. Your cold shower is your air conditioning.
• I asked my mother this question the second we stepped of the plane in Bucaramanga: Why in the world have you live the majority of your life in a place as ugly as Detroit when you grew up in a place so gorgeous? Bucaramanga is at the foot of the Andes mountains. The view from the top is AMAZING. And to look up at the mountains from the city is an absolutely glorious site. The one crazy thing: as you drive up the mountain, the population becomes poorer and poorer. The poorest people in Bucaramanga have the best views. Completely backwards from how people in the United States think.
• It takes a little getting used to but down here, you don't flush your toilet paper down the toilet. This may also be the reason why public bathrooms smell horribly. It's also smart to carry around a pocket sized package of Kleenex because there's either a.) no toilet paper in public restrooms or b.) you have to purchase toilet paper and it's never enough to get you completely clean. The Bogota airport is the exception to both those rules. Also, you often have to pay (~1000 pesos or $.50) to use public restrooms.
• I need to learn more Spanish before i come here again. I thought to myself before i came down here "brain, you haven't spoke or thought about Spanish in more then 10 years. But, you were a good Spanish student in high school so it should all just come back to you." It didn't. Although i can understand 80 percent of what people say, I still talk like a seven-year-old. That's why it was so easy to talk with my cousin, Santi.
• When buying things off the street, make sure you are with someone who speaks Spanish and can barter. If vendors know that you can't speak Spanish or think you are an American, they will rip you off.

More to come. Going out on the town for a bit.