The papaya and the thief

7/4/23

Friday was back to usual after we managed to drop the car back promptly at 8am, with classes of Spanish and dance but sadly followed by no street party because of Easter. There were processions through the street for Easter with loud drumming and chanting, similar to what happens in Seville. I headed to class after dropping the car, went for lunch at Nona with Fleur and the day continued as normal. Sadly, there was no fiesta el la calle because of Holy Week.

8/4/23

I also had dance classes on Saturday and then headed back to the hostel to chill and phone my mum. The streets were noticeably quieter because a lot of Calenos had headed out of town with family for the bank holiday weekend. Porque no?! When I returned to the hostel I decided it would be nice to go to a cute cafe for my phone call home. I got to a cafe and rang my mum only for them to tell me that they had no electricity. No bother, I would head across the road a cpuple of blocks to the next coffee shop. (Papaya, papaya I hear Colombians and tourists who have travelled Colombia scream!) And yes, I was on the phone in the street when a guy on a motorbike swiped at my phone, catching my eyelid and taking my phone off into the distance with my mum and dad still talking..! Some homeless people saw the while thing and called the bakery owners out to help/reassure me. They gave me tea, the owner, a kind man, let me speak to my mum using his phone, and papaya was only mentioned a few times. ‘Don’t give them papaya,’ is the phrase commonly used here to mean ‘don’t make yourself an easy or obvious target for crime. By having my phone put on the street, especially while walking solo, it’s almost as much my fault that my phone was robbed as the thiefs! I returned to the hostel once my nerves had settled and recruited Alex to help me acquire a new phone. We went to a cpuple of phone shops, and Alex ensured the transaction went smoothly in Spanish. I got myself a phone camera with a 0.5 lense (very exciting), and Alex somehow got me a members discount. When I returned to the hostel, a police report was being filed. I headed back out to dance class at 3pm and it delt apmost as if nothing had happened!! I went for dinner of falafel with Laura before heading to bachata in the park for social dancing. I hadn’t been there before, but it was a super cool setup outside the museum in a beautiful marble floored square. We danced a bit and then headed to SaBaKi for more social dancing. Various people from the Pacific coast trip were there, who I had a go dancing with! We ended up finishing pretty late, on our unplanned night out!

9/4/23

Laura had kindly invited me to the river for nature swimming along with her Colombia mate Jose. We were going early to beat the crowds (and the thieves)! I had a quick breakfast before I left, and then we headed by taxi just past the zoo to the river. We walked maybe half an hour to get to the highest part Jose deemed safe for us to go with only one chico (guy). There, we had the icy waters to ourselves and sat and chilled (literally) for ar least fifteen m8nutes before moving to a place further down the river, which was less secluded and better for actual swimming. It was glorious. The currents of the river made a little rapids section, which was fun to be pulled around by. Many groups of friends were there, and further down, families were beginning to make their Easter Sunday lunches, a chicken soup called sancocho, made particularly for special occasions. They had brought all the ingredients to prepare everything river side and were using the river water for the broth. So wholesome!

After our swim, we walked back towards the town until we found a taxi to take us to a cute brunch spot in San Antonio, my stomping ground in Cali. Laura had found the place and it did glorious brunch with sourdough bread and passable coffee! We chatted and chilled and generally enjoyed a slow Sunday. Afterwards, I went back to La Vaina to chill by the pool. I got chatting to a guy by the pool, Camilo, who bought me a beer and later we chilled together with his friend Luiz, a singer who lives in L.A and was a SofarSounds organizer. So cool!

Later, I went out last minute dancing with Laura and her host Roger, first to a bar in the street and then to a salsa club. It was absolutely rammed, with a different, older crowd than the usual events I went to, and all with lashings of rum and aguadiente (equally horrible in taste to sambuca) on their tables. The dancing was good, but the highlight of the night had to be when an 80/90s pop mix came on, including ‘YMCA’ because the salsa dancing ceased and chaos broke out!! After a couple of hours, we left to return home.

Roger dropped me back at my hostel, where I went to join Alex and a German girl, Julie, playing Uno. Later, we met another new guy Ronny, a professional songwriter (little did I know this when I agreed to play guitar and sing infront of him, aha!), as well as Camilo and Luiz. Luiz, Ronny and I took turns to play Ronny’s mini guitar. It was fun. Later we switched to dancing salsa. It was a fun, wholesome Sunday night.

10/4/23 – 14/4/23

It’s more of the same. I had changed hostels, having decided that I needed a break from the hostel life for a bit. Laura had recommended her fuesy house for a clean, quiet place with a private room and Netflix. It was a nice change. Otherwise, I had a busy week of 5 hours of class every day with a few lunches out and a cute dinner out with Laura and Sophia, another girl from the Pacific trip, who was sadly about to leave. I had bakery cake pretty much every day and started going to a new cafe for my coffee break I between classes. Monday, I skipped the salsa night to watch Netflix in bed – no regrets! Wednesday was dinner with the gals, with good chat and great margaritas! Thursday, I went to try cholados, a traditional (and very sweet), Colombian dessert consisting of grated ice with various sauces and tropical fruits along with ice cream and whipped cream, with a nice taxi driver who was happy for me to practice my Spanish on him. All was well until I told him I had a cough and was a little bit sick, and he told me he was ‘sick for me!’ Latinos say a lot!! 🤣🤣🤣 We said our goodbyes after this and afterwards, it was time for another dance event, and Friday I went for dinner with La Vaina pals (a much needed pizza night), before I headed over to SaBaKi for a kizomba group class that was meant to be a gals night. Laura was there, and we danced a little after the class before I decided that I would head to the street party and try to find the hostel folk there. I found some hostel people and was also adopted by three Colombian women with percussion instruments who showed me how to play each one and enthusiastically supported me when I got the rhythms right! My friend Philip came later and we danced a bit in the street, alongside Steven, who seems never to miss a street party! After the party, I headed home to sleep. No extra salsa bar or reggaeton club for me today! A veces, necesito tomar un descanso.