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Published: March 2nd 2010
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Bucaramanga! A place I never thought I’d love…
Ok, so as mentioned, I was a little nervous about landing Bucaramanga cause I hadn’t made any plans and I didn’t know anyone, and I wasn’t staying in a backpacker place where I could meet people, and well, Bucaramanga (a major city and commercial centre) is not really touristic at all. So why did I want to come here? Well, basically it was just a connection, to get out of beautiful San Gil, and away from my lovely family, and move on.
I already had a plan. It was to stay in BC for like a day or two, just to see since I was already there, then take a 2 hour bus ride over to my good friend Luis’s place back in Barancabermeja (if you remember way back when I first got sick in Colombia, that was the place, well whatever). I was to visit him for like a day and then take a boat down the river Magdelena to a historical city called Mompox, then back to the carribean coast and Cartegena, where I had some unfinished business to attend to.
Well, as I was so nervous, Luzma
gave me Jorge’s number before they dropped me off and told me he is still in town (Bucaramanga) and to give him a call, and who knows maybe he could help me meet with an accountant that could help advise me on how to get our new business off the ground. Long story long, after settling into my peaceful hotel room, that had a charming balcony overlooking a pleasant walkway into a popular and attractive city square, I gave Jorge a ring.
Hey, guess what I’m in Bucaramanga! What to meet up for breakfast tomorrow? Sure! Great.
The next morning Jorge arrived at my hotel and we stepped out into the sunny morning pedestrian street that was just getting started, with shops opening up and people filling up the bakeries for breakfast. We popped into one and had a delicious breakfast. Jorge asked me what I wanted to do, and I said I wanted to visit the old colonial town of Giron (just a 15 minute bus ride on the outskirts of town). I had every intention of packing my things, sleeping there and moving on to Barancabermeja, but Jorge along with laziness convinced me it would be
simpler just to take a day trip over and so we did.
Giron was truly lovely, everything the guide said it would be and more. Charming coble stone street, and white colonial buildings with clay roofs, all surrounding a main square with the standard glorious church.
We explored the glorious church and after a delicious ice cream, took a nice stroll along the river. We spent the rest of the day walking the beautiful streets, and talking about various topics while sitting on the park benches. Jorge was very interesting and offered me a lot to learn, especially where my new project was concerned. We talked more about the things I needed to do as far as visiting various governmental bodies and banks, etc. and he offered to go with me the next day, so my plans of leaving Bucaranmanga were now put on hold- at least for now.
As the spectacular sunny day faded into a charming night, illuminated by the still ever burning elaborate displays of Christmas lights, that undoubtedly were not displayed any more elaborately or extensively in any other country I had seen, we decided to finally have lunch or rather dinner on
a balcony overlooking the park. Dinner was fantastic as always and it was an excellent way to conclude the night.
Afterwards, Jorge’s cousin Ramon (who I had briefly met during XMAS, and who lived in Bucaramanga) picked us up and dropped me at my hotel.
Hasta manana? Hasta manana. Chau. Awww…. Another peaceful night alone… How pleasant.
The next day didn’t quite turn out as planned cause I went over to Ramon’s place and swimming in his pool instead of working. Nonetheless it was fun. However, initially Ramon started to get on my nerves because I could not understand his Spanish and he liked to make jokes that I purposefully couldn’t understand, thinking it was funny. However, I would soon realize that Ramon was an incredibly, kind, generous, gracious soul, who was a huge pleasure to be around- we just needed a little time to understand each other- like about 30 hours.
Anyways, Ramon’s wife Tiana, and his adorbable mother took Jorge, and myself out back to charming Giron that night for coffee and desert, and I can honestly saw that I had a spectacular time. The chemistry between all of us really clicked.
Incredibly
long story short, I spent the next week in Ramon’s home, with his two adorable sons, Danny (plato) and Sabastian (cuchillo), with Jorge taking me all across town everyday to get business done. I hadn’t realized how much work I had to do with starting a new business in Colombia, and Jorge, like a godsend with experience and charm, acted as the perfect, most elegant liaison between me and the bank manager, and government workers, and hotel manager, etc. We worked the WHOLE city, and he was my perfect complement and a irreplaceable resource, not to mention we got along famously. By the end of the week I had become so incorporated, I had to buy a new laptop, switch cell phone, and a wireless portable modem!! He also, helped me with that. -and that was part of the beauty of Colombia, and wasn’t for the Jorge’s, but for all the people I was meeting professionally, each one was not only courteous, warm, and helpful, but they ALL went above and beyond to help me with each and every need weather it was their job, business, duty, or not. Even Ramon helped, trying to drive me different corners of the
city and facilitate everything I needed, making sure I was always comfortable and happy. -Seriously, I could not have asked for more, and I was happier than I had been in… maybe months, or at least since I had come to Colombia.
-I could not imagine the joy that was about to come, and it was all thanks to Ramon and Jorge….
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anonymous
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Wow Nice story! i am glad you had fun in Bucaramanga and Giron!