When I went to meet the kids I was planning to volunteer with they were sitting quietly watching TV but I was immediately jumped on and hugged by 4 little monkeys called, Jhon, Yahaira, Nicole and Cristian Duane. I clearly wasn’t the first foreign volunteer they had seen and without any further questions or introductions I was dragged out to the patio area where they had all their toys to play with them. I had wanted to do some volunteering firstly to improve my Spanish and secondly to get to know one place from a different perspective. I thought that a [View Full Entry]

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Adam and I bought a couch because, to be perfectly honest, we needed someplace to sit. I’m pretty sure the slipping pass to Chalmers for the game tying three only happened because Jors Adam and I were flapping our arms like Angels in the Outfield. Jerry, THE HEAT. It has arrived, in full force. To escape it we went to San Lorenzo this weekend, a nearby mountain town that I visited once a few years ago. Last time our accommodations were pretty sketchy, this time they were amazing. It was like a ski trip, freezing cold outside, at 2200 meters (about [View Full Entry]

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Zo, het heeft even geduurd maar ik ben weer ontsnapt aan het dagelijkse leven in Nederland. Er is best veel gebeurd het afgelopen anderhalf jaar. Ik ben onder andere tot mijn eigen verbazing met veel plezier aan het werk. Desalniettemin heb ik per jaar genoeg verlof dagen om nu maarliefst 5 weken op vakantie te gaan. Bestemming is dit keer Colombia, beetje onverwacht misschien als je af moet gaan op de berichtgeving van de massa media. Ik heb echter verhalen uit de eerste hand gehoord (toen ik ergens tussen Mexico en Panama zwerfde) en die beloofden veel goeds. Neemt niet weg [View Full Entry]

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Hopefully this blog will allow you all to see where I am and to know that I am safe. I have been in Colombia and so far there have been no problem, apart from my foot falling down a drain (no damage done). I spent a month in Cali with my Aunty and cousins. I had a brilliant time and loved spending some time with them as it dosen´t happen very often! I also had the opportunity to help at the Collegio Colombo Britanico which was brilliant and has made me realise that I definatly would like to teach abroad for [View Full Entry]

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Amigo Arrives in South America Hola Chicos & Chicas So I am back on the air typing this blog of Colombian adventures while I am here in Ecuador! S.A has been interesting so far and I am enjoying the ride, even though some of the rides in Colombia were expensive!! Colombia? 3 x the size of France, bordering Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador and Brazil with a northern Caribbean coast and a western Pacific coast. Unfortunate things that it is famous for are FARC, Nose Candy a.k.a coke and it's most famous drug baron Mr. Pablo Escobar, the ultimate badass drug baron who [View Full Entry]

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Some people say travelling alone gives you freedom. Bollocks - try travelling without a budget, that really gives you freedom. And so it was I bought me a plane ticket and made an unplanned jaunt north for a square go with the FARC. Ignorance is bliss, and I closed my ears to mutterings in the media about border conflicts, guerillas, drug barons and the like. Having said that, such bravado was put to one side as I shamelessly begged for safe passage through Bogota from a friend whose parents live there. Really wouldnt want to come acropper on my first day! [View Full Entry]

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The last week or so of my time in South America was spent on the Caribbean coast of Colombia in Santa Marta, Taganga and Cartagena. I have included all three in a single blog as I got lazy towards the end of the trip and I didn't do too much on any one day. It could have been a result of the warm and humid climate that makes you constantly sweat; or simply the fact that I had travelled the entire length of the continent in under three months. This last fact would not impress the travel snobs who believe you [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Cali at the beginning of the month with exactly 31 days until I need to be back on the north coast for my lift out of here to central America. I wanted to work here for a while in order to improve my Spanish a bit more and to see a part of Colombia from a non backpacker point of view. I had chosen Cali as it is not really on the gringo trail but if I am honest the fact that it lists itself as the salsa capital of Colombia was also a big draw. Coincidentally all [View Full Entry]

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I went skinny dipping in the ocean recently and saw my junk surrounded by phosphorescent algae. It was the most beautiful thing ever. If you aren’t part of my family take a second and picture it. I watched my first KU game in English in three years and it was the best game ever. I’m pretty sure we are going to be national champions. As are the Royals. I climbed to a pre-Colombian indigenous city and while the hike up about made my heart explode it was a day well spent. We finally have a principal at school which is nice. [View Full Entry]

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Lisa and I spent a week in Medellin. She had work there while I went to class and explored the city. The city is smaller than Bogota, with 2.5 million people. The city is cool--or chevere, as they say here--as it sits surrounded by mountains on all sides. The down side of this is often the air pollution gets trapped and the air can be pretty awful. There's something to be said for government regulations. The climate is perfect in Medellin, 75 every day. We spent the weekend about 90 km north of Medellin in the pueblo of Sante Fe de [View Full Entry]

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