Hello all! I´ve decided to start my blog on a Friday night, after dancing at Santa Marta´s hottest club, la Puerta. Days of the week have lost all meaning to me since it´s high season for travelling in Colombia (and around the world, I guess) and I´ve gone out every night since I arrived! I just wanted to start writing before I start forgetting what I´ve been up to. I think this blog will mainly include me rambling about the things I´ve done, as well as some commentary on human nature as I encounter people from all over the world. I will include pictures when I get the chance to upload them to a computer.
NYC
I started my trip a couple of weeks ago in New York, New York! I spent a week there with some wonderful ladies whom I got to know in Montreal (Erin, Mary, Ginny and Leah). We´re all in different places now so it was great to meet up and spend some time being silly together. We had a ridiculous New Year´s Eve in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where we managed to sneak into Berry Park.. a very cool bar turned nightclub. I´ve gotta say that sneaking in was the highlight of the night for me. We didn´t intend on doing that, but when a side door opened after we had been waiting in line for a long time we all ran inside and up to the roof, with the bouncers possibly yelling after us. 
Quite the adrenaline rush.
Oh, and don´t mind the lack of punctuation... hostel keyboards are pretty messed up!
NYC
I started my trip a couple of weeks ago in New York, New York! I spent a week there with some wonderful ladies whom I got to know in Montreal (Erin, Mary, Ginny and Leah). We´re all in different places now so it was great to meet up and spend some time being silly together. We had a ridiculous New Year´s Eve in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where we managed to sneak into Berry Park.. a very cool bar turned nightclub. I´ve gotta say that sneaking in was the highlight of the night for me. We didn´t intend on doing that, but when a side door opened after we had been waiting in line for a long time we all ran inside and up to the roof, with the bouncers possibly yelling after us. 
Quite the adrenaline rush.Other than that we spent a lot of time lounging around Erin´s place with Guillaume the super allergenic cat, but also went to an improv comedy club, the Met, some awesome vegan restaurants (one of which was hosting a Kwanzaa ceremony we got to take part in), and a very strange circus thing at the Lincoln Center with lots of hipsters and weird music.
This was only the 2nd time I went to NYC and I was very impressed. Erin lives in Harlem and I found the people there to be super friendly and lively. In general I think that people in New York are more open than those in Toronto or Montreal... nobody is afraid of talking to strangers, which makes for interesting train rides and shopping trips.
Talking about open and friendly people is a good way to segue into talking about Colombia. People here are super welcoming and generous... that goes for both the locals and the other travellers I have met. I´ve only been in South America for barely over a week, but I already have friends and places to stay all over the continent!
Cartagena
After a plane ride sitting next to some cool people and then ¨sleeping¨in the Bogota airport, I arrived in Cartagena at 8 am on January 6th. I stayed in El Viajero hostel, which turne
d out to be a huge party hostel. I met a ton of awesome people and in addition to partying at night, I did some cool excursions. I went to the famous mud volcano of Totumo, which we climbed up and then went inside to float in luke warm mud. It was very strange, especially when one of the men working there gave me a ¨massage¨ by rubbing mud all over my body. But it was very, very cool. After bobbing around for a while we rinsed off in the lagoon nearby. I opted to wash myself, but I could have had a local woman do it for me. 
d out to be a huge party hostel. I met a ton of awesome people and in addition to partying at night, I did some cool excursions. I went to the famous mud volcano of Totumo, which we climbed up and then went inside to float in luke warm mud. It was very strange, especially when one of the men working there gave me a ¨massage¨ by rubbing mud all over my body. But it was very, very cool. After bobbing around for a while we rinsed off in the lagoon nearby. I opted to wash myself, but I could have had a local woman do it for me. I also took a boat to Playa Blanca, which was beautiful, but super busy because it was a weekend and Colombians were still on vacation. Because of all of the boats coming to shore, the smell of gasoline pervaded the air. Getting to Playa Blanca was a little expensive, as is everything in Colombia!
Cartagena itself lives up to its reputation. It is a very beautiful town, particularly the o
ld colonial part inside the wall that was built in the colonial era to keep out pirates and other such people. I found it to be nice during the day when people were busy in the markets, but I was simply amazed at how the city felt at night. Once the sun set (Cartagena has a beautiful sunset), the streets became these majestic and romantic lanes where men and women strolled around holding hands and wearing beautiful clothing. There were also a lot of bars and clubs, both outdoor and indoor, that kept people drinking and dancing until the wee hours of the morning.
ld colonial part inside the wall that was built in the colonial era to keep out pirates and other such people. I found it to be nice during the day when people were busy in the markets, but I was simply amazed at how the city felt at night. Once the sun set (Cartagena has a beautiful sunset), the streets became these majestic and romantic lanes where men and women strolled around holding hands and wearing beautiful clothing. There were also a lot of bars and clubs, both outdoor and indoor, that kept people drinking and dancing until the wee hours of the morning. That brings me to the music. I think my love for latin music and dancing is a key contributor to me coming to South America in the first place. So far I have been loving it. Here on the coast you hear a lot of salsa, but there is a Caribbean vibe to it. It´s just great. And everyone knows how to dance! I´m pretty sure Colombians are born dancing.
I´m also learning a lot about Colombian politics and culture, which I definitely want to comment on, but I´m too tired to write any more and a friend from Argentina is waiting to use the computer.
Buenas noches!
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