(continued)My trip to the coast of Colombia was not only to meet my 2 friends in Cartagena and Barranquilla, but also to take a vacation. I went down hoping for the best but aware that things might not work out with them, so I wasn't taking it too seriously. I booked a flight on American out of Newark to Miami and then on Avianca from Miami to Cartagena. No delays with either airline, the flights were smooth and the crew very nice, though I feel the Avianca crew was much nicer and attentive. Furthermore, the food was better and they served sodas, beer and liquor(I asked for it with no ice) on Avianca.
Ok, so both girls Cartagena girl(CG) and Barranquilla girl(BG) knew when I was arriving, both wanted to be at the airport, first problem. After talking to BG, she agreed not to be at the airport but to goto Cartagena (I paid) to meet me and spend a day with me the following day, which was a holiday so she had the day off. As you can imagine, I was nervous when I got off the plane. I didn't know at what point I would get to see CG, so I went in the building, got in line to have my passport checked, I get stopped and get asked to goto a side office. At this point I'm thinking of all of the bad stuff you read about. So I'm standing there and the guy was very polite and explained to me that Iterpol was looking for a guy with the same name, only difference was that he had Colombian nationality, what a relief. I'm cleared, my passport stamped and I goto get my luggage, from there I can see her waiting outside, she looked so beautiful. I was able to get my luggage quickly and have the guys in customs look through it quickly, all about 2 minutes. I went outside and we gave each other a hug. She was with her cousin who drove us to my apartment, one that someone helped me find in El Laguito. The apt. was ok, nothing great but I only needed it to sleep since I would be spending most of the time outside. It was in a building called Atlantis, for $25/night (50,000 pesos) There are better apts in better buildings, I'll try to look for the names and addresses and post later. The apt had a doorman, one bedroom, kitchen, living and dining room, a/c and fan. No hot water but anyone who has been in cartagena or the coast knows you do not need it. The water that comes out of the shower is not cold, more like luke warm, perfect temperature after a day in the hot sun.
Back to CG and I, we were both nervous, I could tell but we spoke and made it to the apt rather quickly. She and her cousin dropped me off, told me that they would come back after a bit to pick me up, so I showered, changed and waited for them. We went out to eat icecream at Mimos, kind of a baskin robbins type place. We talked for a few hours and called it a night, she gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek and I told her I'd call her after BG had left, she wished me luck. Next day, BG was coming from barranquilla to spend a day with me. Keep in mind that both girls know of each other, there are no secrets between us. CG seems to be more confident about herself because she isn't jealous, in fact she has encouraged me from the beginning to meet and get to know as many girls as possible. BG on the other hand was always asking about the others, trying to find out if I was interested in them more than her. Well, BG was late, she said she would be at my place at 8am she showed up at 10am. Well, she apologized and we sat in my apt, talking, looking at picture albums we both said we would bring. I got to know her family through pictures and she did the same with mine. Later we went out to eat seafood, Robalo (I think that's how you spell it), looks like a red snapper, with caldo(seafood soup) patacones( flattened fried banana) arroz con coco (brown, coconut flavored rice) and a salad. All very delicious and very cheap, like $10 for 2 (20,000pesos) with drinks. In the beginning I drank only bottled items, soda, water, beer. But later I was daring enough to try some of the juices, mango, papaya, guayaba, etc made with leche, I was lucky because they were all delicious and I didn't get sick. In fact I didn't get sick at all during the trip. Well, we ate and talked until about 4pm when she said it was time to go, she didn't want to be on the roads after dark because of the guerilla. She invited me to her house for lunch and to meet her family in baranquilla, I told her that I would and that it would be later that week on the way back from Santa Marta. A hug and a kiss on the cheek and she was off, I raced back to my room to call CG. More later…..steve
