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Published: April 29th 2010
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Hotel Charleston, Cartagena
Looks gorgeous. Waaaaay out of my price range. I was going to start this blog by saying nothing much has happened over the last couple of days, but then I remembered that I've discovered a lot more about the City's history, learnt how to dance, and have become a local TV star. Well perhaps I am overstating some of those things just a little...
Now that I've been here for over a week, and I've got a week still to go, my days are nicely established into a routine. Mornings I am at school. This week there was only one new student, and several students have now left. So that means it's only me in my class. This is good and bad. Good because I'm getting a private lesson and my Spanish is making a bit of headway. Bad though because at the end of the class I am exhausted and ready for a nap.
After class we usually hang around for a while talking about where to go for lunch. As you can imagine, the choices are plentiful. Although we've tried a few different options, our favourite by far is La Mulata. We have adopted the Caribbean pace admirably, and the decision to go to lunch
Botero sculpture, Plaza Santo Domingo
Botero, a famous artist from Colombia, is known for his paintings and sculptures of voluptuous women. usually takes about half an hour, then we traipse up there somewhat aimlessly, stopping off to do chores on the way. It's like herding cats.
At lunch we complain about the heat, and then talk about what we might do in the afternoon, and talk about upcoming weekend adventures. For a couple of days here in Cartagena the heat felt almost bearable. I thought for a brief moment that finally I had started to acclimatise, but turns out the temperature dropped to 30 degrees, the humidity dropped to 80%!,(MISSING) and the
heat index was a comfortable 35 or 36 degrees. But it's ramped right up again, with the heat index now sitting around 42 or 43 degrees. Decisions to be made - is it another beach day, another pool day, or hanging out in a Plaza kind of day? A couple of days ago a few of us headed to a mall to get pedicures, which was a nice afternoon of not doing much at all.
Yesterday afternoon I went to Bocagrande, a nearby beach with the new guy, Brian. A very relaxed afternoon. The funniest thing happened when we were at the beach. Two guys from a local
Simon Bolivar, Plaza Bolivar
Simon Bolivar is a hero of the independence in several Latin American countries. TV station asked to film me! They were doing a piece on sun protection, so I had to say (in Spanish) that I applied my sunscreen every two hours and it was 30+, and demonstrate by spraying it on. They made me do it twice, so no chance of sunburn yesterday. So keep your eye on TeleCaribe!
At my fabulous little B&B, one of the women who works here also offers free walking tours of the city. Although I've been here a while and I've seen most of the main sights, I thought it was worth taking her up on the offer. It was really worth while, as she was a great host and had lots of little insights into the city, its history and its architecture. She pointed out a crooked clock tower on one of the churches, which has a couple of explanations, but my favourite has the Devil unsuccessfully attempting to lead the architect into temptation. She also pointed out the Inquisition Window, where if you thought your neighbour was a heretic you could simply throw their name into the window and they would then be investigated. The Spanish Inquisition was not a time to be
Taxi trips
An afternoon excursion to Caribe Plaza. Emergency pedicures all round. unpopular with the neighbours! I also liked the long points built on the corner of the houses, which were put on to prevent witches from landing on their houses (they can't land anywhere else?), which are still incorporated into the designs of homes. I was happy to note that witches won't be able to land at Casa Sweety!
This afternoon I had dancing lessons at
Crazy Salsa, a Latin Dance School. Because it's low season at the moment I was the only one in my beginner class. Disappointingly the good looking guy who took me through to the air conditioned room (hallelujah) was not my instructor, however my teacher, Lizbeth, was great. I now know the basic steps to merengue, salsa, and something else that I think she called Cuban style. I have some way to go however before becoming vaguely passable. Bring on the weekend for an opportunity to practice. From all accounts the nightlife is pretty good indeed.
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anonymous
non-member comment
that heat!
You know I wouldn't cope, but you are such a heat bunny, you'll be in your element. Air conditioning at the dance studio should be enough for you to go back again... and again! Glad to see that you're obviously meeting some really nice people and have lots to do. Fully back to work for me now... with holiday fast receding. L