Yes I am bad. I am lazy. Slovenly. Loafish. I haven't updated my blog in ages. I have been "busy" doing other things. Reading. Spanish classes. Travelling. Training. Not much else.
Back home now. In Kenilworth, Warks., England. Looking vaguely for employment of a short term variety. Life back in the economic crisis is actually worse than i thought. Work wise anyway. Im sure there are a tonne of jobs if you want one. And also that you need to work alot harder than before to not even get the same results.
But its nice to be back, with family and friends. Not much changed, although I think I have.
Ok so brief summary of the last few weeks. Popayan (colombia) a very pretty city best known for its Easter Holy Week processions, great if you are a Catholic. San Agustin (Colombia) accesible only via The Road To Hell, a 100km ride from Popayan, that takes 6 hours, the road doesnt deserve to be called a road. You literally crawl along at 15km the whole way because it is basically a collection of holes, held together by some concrete. Anyway, once you get there, its a lovely village next to a very important archeological site, lots of stone carvings of animals, man, manimals etc from pre Christ, ie well old.
A sad farewell to Colombia, I had a great time in a great country, surrounded by great people. The trip home was softened somewhat by a 4 day stay in Rio de Janeiro, one of my favourite cities on the planet Earth. I stayed with Antonio and Patricia, a wonderful couple who like to party and know everyone you need to know in Rio it would seem, anyway, they always seem to show one a good time. Partied pretty hard, in stark contrast to my Puritan behaviour of the last 6 weeks in Colombia (well almost Puritan).
And then the journey home. 10.5 hours flew by, crap food, 5 hours sleep, some TV and a bit of banter past the time away. Luckily arrived back to blue sky and 21 degrees otherwise I may have turned round at T5 and gone home.
Next step is to work out my next step. Most likely, 3 months working in London, save some dosh and then head off again.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Lazy and Home
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Super Cali Fragalistic Espi-alidocious
Rainbows over Cali. I am doing Spanish lessons every other day with a geezer called Leandro. Have been training Shaolin Kung Fu in a Martial Arts school, very cool, they train hard too, which I like. Also do alot of Tai Chi there, and they do more of that with the kung fu which is anice touch. The Master of the school is nails without particuarly looking it, always a good sign in Kung Fu. Also training at the hostel with a couple of American guys. One of them, John from NY met a Colombian girl last month and they are now engaged! He moves fast that boy.
Not much else, just enjoying the vibe of the city. There isnt that much to Cali, but it is a nice place to be, nice climate, great people. Went to a tiny little salsa club last night and danced a bit. The Calenos are mad for salsa, the club was full so the crowd spilled over onto the pavement, it was cats and dogs ouside but it didnt stop them from dancing in the rain, salsa crazy these folk.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Viva Californication
Cali, Colombia, not Cali, California. Dont think I have written anything about Medellin though. I stayed in a super cool hostel called Casa del Sol, a very chilled place, a bit like a chill out party house really, right up my street. Some cool dudes hang out there, had a nice couple of smokes, an Argentinan BBQ or asado as they like to call it, which was delicious and I watched the latest Bond movie on a pirated DVD. I think I must have been slightly under the influence as it was until about half way through that I realised that the language was alternating between English and German, very odd!
Another random thing that happened was this old lady who claimed to be 83 who strode into the hostel, and bear hugged everyone,she claimed that she could squeeze energy out of young people and this was what kept heer so strong, her hand shake would have made Arnie Schwarzanegger wince.
The main reason I was in Medellin was to do the awesome Pablo Escobar tour of Medellin. A 3 and a half hour information packed tour of Pablos Medellin, run by a very cool guy called Nicolas, who basically just comes and picks you up in his little van and drives you round some of the famous Pablo sites of Medellin, like his house, offices, the place where they eventtually tracked him down and killed him and his tomb, all the time talking about what life was actually like in Medellin and Colombia duringg the 90s when Pablo was at war with the Colombian governement. I was really fascinated by it, he was according to Forbes magazine at the time, the 7th richest man on the planet, all of his money totally illegal and a very intelligent businessman, albeit slightly unorthodox in the way he went about doing business. He had a very simple rule, "plata o plomo" , "silver or lead", meaning if you worked for him you got paid, if you didn't you would get a bullet through your skull. Nicolas had first hand experience of Pablos ways, his friend and friends Mum were killed by one of Pablos bombs, planted outside a police station in Medellin.
It is worth noting here, for those of you who havent been to Colombia or Medellin that it is now a beautiful city, very modern with some wonderful architecture and the people went through some very hard times in the 90s which they have put behind them. It seems those times inspired them to rebuild their city and culture, it is a very cool and progressive place, not to mention full of beautiful women.
I have since been in Cali for the last 5 days. Chilling out really, again, found a nice hostel called Iguanas with some good people there, it will be my home until next Saturday when I'm heading to Popayan for the Easter festivities and then San Agustin, an archealogical site of great importance in South America, home to some statues that are pre Colombine. It is in some beautiful countryside and I am going to be camping.
Buena vida indeed but I have just under 4 weeeks to go before I will be home.....so I am starting to think about the future. Will it be London, Ibiza, Barcelona or China?
I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts
Token "Carry On" style photo opportunity, I attempted the Sid James laugh as well.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Bogota
OK I can't remember when I last updated this, but I am now in Cali, Colombia, not California. This pic was in Bogota, looking over the city and the mountains up in Montserrat. Dont know why I was looking so smug, must have been the hangover from the night before wearing off.
Anyway, just a quick update, have been in Medellin as well, where I did the AWESOME Pablo Escobar tour. Will be here in Cali for a week and then off to San Agustin.
Having some issues trying to work out what to do with my life, I will be back in England on 21st April, any suggestions please email.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Back In Bogota
No photos as of yet, camera is broken, so all though I have for the first time here done something cultural (Botero Museum, Plaza Bolivar, Museo de la Policia for the Pablo Escobar exhibition) I have no pictures to show.
Off to a techno night tonight, could be interesting.......
