COLOMBIA, In Santa Marta

Wow!!! I am in Colombia!!! Since I started dancing salsa four years ago, I always wanted to be in Colombia. So...... here I am!!!!!! :))
But let's start from the beginning. I was very sad to leave The Family I stayed with in Venezuela. Unfortunately Neo didn't make it on time to say goodby, he works in the middle of the Maracaibo lake and he couldn't come back in the morning because the tide was high and they had to wait until it ebbed (the lake is connected to the sea).
Neo's brother gave me a lift to the bus station and I found a carrito which was taking people to the Colombian border. Apparently it is the easiest and the cheapest way, Neo gave me detailed instructions what to do until I get to Santa Marta. I shared the carrito (the last journey by carrito...) with three other people, one nice lady and two non-speaking at all Indian looking older couple. As advised by Neo, I started a conversation with the driver if we could avoid paying the departure tax (10 pounds) at the border. The driver said it wasn't possible and we didn't manage to convince him not to stop at the tax office (a shed in the middle of nowhere). However, when we arrived at the border in Paraguachon, I understood why - I was a foreigner and they check all the foreigners if they paid the tax. If I hadn't paid it, the carrito driver would have had problems for not stopping at the tax office. The people I shared the carrito with had to pay the tax because of me...
We had to leave our luggage in the carrito and we went to the customs. The customs officer on the Colombian side was looking suspiciously at me while checking my passport for a long time (what can I do that I am blond, tall and with blue eyes??? - please don't discriminate me for this!! - I got a little bit angry at the border). When I got back to the carrito I immediately checked all the pockets of my rucksack, if there were no drugs put by the customs officers.
Eventually we got to Maicao, a small town in Colombia and I took a bus to Santa Marta (name of the bus company: Expreso Brasilia). It took us four hours to get there, much longer than I expected (distance Maracaibo - Santa Marta 281 km).
When I was sitting on the bus, suddenly.... I felt sooo proud of myself!! - for doing this trip on my own, for battling the feeling of loneliness so many times, for understanding what is happening around me no matter what country I am in, for being understood, for having no fear and for carrying on no matter what...

I live with two Colombian girls now: Claudia and Carmen (I will call them C&C in my blog). They are absolutely great and they don't speak a word in English. I sent them a couch request in Spanish (with many mistakes, I am sure), they replied, I replied, they replied, I phoned. When I arrived in their flat we sat at the table and we had a long conversation. I had to force my lazy brain to speak some Spanish as I don't like coming to my hosts homes and not talking, it is not polite. So... I speak Spanish all the time now. One of the first questions The Girls asked was about my sexual orientation. I replied that I liked men, so they said they were going to find a man for me (ha ha ha... are all Colombians the same??). Well, they didn't have to look a long time - I am sharing bed with two Argentinian guys who are hosted by C&C too (ha ha ha... sorry, it all seems so funny to me...).

Colombia appears to be much cheaper than Venezuela. For example my sim card with many free text messages and phone calls cost 1 pound 73 pence, a meal at the bakery 2 pounds, mototaxi to the town center 35 pence, internet cafe' 35 pence per hour. However a small box of milk is 65 pence (English price).