Sunday, May 4, 2008

Let the hello’s begin!

Yahoo! I am in the Bogotá airport awaiting my flight north. At the end of the day, I’ll be with my friends Alan, Julie and their 2 year old Gregory-Mateo. I can’t believe it has been over 2 years since I have seen them.

The remainder of my time in Bogotá went well. My Spanish is steadily improving. Though, I have to say, I do have moments of uncertainty. My plane is currently delayed, I can figure out that much, but as to the pertinent details, I am a little foggy. There is always room for improvement.

I spent last week seeing the sights I hadn’t seen yet. I took a trip via train and bus to Zipaquirá, which is north of Bogotá. The town is famous for its salt mines and incredibly, for a large underground cathedral carved into the ground. It is pretty amazing, though I don’t think this photo does it justice.

The following day, I went to visit the Museo de Oro (museum of gold). When the Spanish Conquistadores came here in the 1530s , they found large, organized, indigenous tribes thriving in concert with Colombia’s natural resources. This museum has a huge archive of tribal artifacts. I also got to see a great Rodin exhibit that is touring North and South America. I also had an INCREDIBLE tamale in a very old restaurant. I am still thinking about it.

Well, the plane did leave Bogotá pretty late and hence arrived at my connection city late as well. I disembarked to find I was still early for the flight I really should have missed. I guess I needn’t have worried.

I arrived to my final destination on time, which completely startled my friend Alan. Oh my…it’s hot. I completely forgot how hot and humid it is here…whoa boy. On a really neat note however, I feel great to be here. This feeling really blossomed as we were shopping for fruit on the street. This is a neat community. I still have more traveling to do before I am truly in the town where I will spend the majority of my time…but I am pleased to be getting closer.

Thank you for the comments. I have really enjoyed them!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hola Brian!
Yes, your cavernous cathedral picture was pretty dark, but your description was very cool.

We're following your travels here in Seattle. I heard there was still a ton of snow to be skiied in SLC, but all the resorts are closed! We went to Whistler two weekends ago for the coldest skiing of the year. Strange!

Keep up the bloggin'!

Anonymous said...

Dude, don't forget to call your mom tomorrow. It's Mother's Day after all.

Great to hear from you and glad to hear the adventure is getting better and better.

FFPeds said...

B Good-
We listened to a little Go! Team in the office as our ode to brian today -we miss you man!!
It's kinda boring not having you around
Sounds like things are going well- Thanks for the emails and posts, it's great to see what you are up to. I'm glad you have all the company in your place- it probably feels just like home :) HA! HA!
Do you have a microwave?