Arriving yesterday afternoon into Cartagena, Colombia was a shock to my system. Mid-afternoon the sun is bearing down on the city and the humidity is an intangible substance that envelopes you.
Kim and I had two immediate goals upon arrival: withdraw some Colombian pesos and find a taxi to get to our hostel. Our first moment of panic - the ATM in the airport won't let me withdraw anything (and we transferred the majority of our funds to my account as it charges less for foreign transaction). Ultimately we used Kim's debit card and pulled out enough money to get a cab to the hostel.
We hailed a cab, gave the driver the address of our hostel, and quickly noticed that the seat belts have no place to buckle into. At home, this would be disconcerting. In Colombia this is terrifying as traffic laws, if extant, are not enforced (a police officer on a motorcycle zipped down a lane of traffic). Just to add a little more anxiety to our cab ride, the driver seemed very confused about where our hostel was located despite us having the address.
We did arrive, intact, and were checked into the hostel no problem. The first thing I noticed is that everyone is on some sort of device - phone, tablet, laptop. I could sit here and wax and wane about the beauty of ages past, but to be honest, Kim and I are both sitting with a device in front of us as I'm typing this. But my point is that it makes approaching and meeting new people more difficult and if I have learned anything from what traveling I have done, it is that places can be great but the people you are with make the difference between a good time and a fantastic time.
Kim and I took care of some necessary things - getting my debit card sorted out (all's good), finding a market and purchasing some groceries (there was an armed guard in the supermarket), cancelling and refunding our "return flight" that JetBlue required us to purchase before we could get on the plane.
With beer in hand, Aguila - Colombia's finest, we sat down in the patio of our hostel. And then the breakthrough that we both needed, 3 guys from France asked to sit down at our table. We ended up drinking and chatting with them for most of the evening, at one point a Danish fellow joined us. We went for an evening stroll to the old, walled in part of Cartagena and walked along the walls.
Right now, it is mid-afternoon of our second day. It is hot and humid again. But we already know some other people in our hostel, we have begun to acquaint ourselves with Cartagena, and we are becoming comfortable with our new surroundings.a
