Cartago is small but nice, with Plaza de Bolivar of course and some beautiful churches. The weather here is just perfect: it is not too hot and not too cold.
Yesterday I met more members of Fernando's family. We went to his sister's house; Caridad is a doctor and she lives in a beautiful house in a condominium with swimming pool. Fernando's brother Carlos is a computer programmer. Looks like they have very comfortable lives, with Fernando having his business and his siblings doing very well too. Their mother, although she uses a wheelchair, is very active and does everything she can at home: cooking, serving food, washing up, cleaning. She is 71 and still very very bright.
Fernando's sister in law Nelsy is very nice and beautiful but she doesn't smile much. Sometimes I feel uncomfortable because I don't know how to deal with people who don't smile. She has three lovely daughters: Valentina, Carolina and Sofia.
At night we went to a posh and beautiful hotel (one of two in Cartago). There was a party organised to collect money for a local school. I had a lot of fun; Fernando, his brother and cousin made sure that I was dancing all the time. Generally the music was very good with few annoying breaks for Colombian live music called papayera: old, traditional and extremely boring music.
My observation is that the young generation can't dance salsa, merengue, cumbia or bachata any more, due to many modern discos which have been opened in Colombia. It is so sad to see this but I understand this is unavoidable... everything changes with time, everything disappeares with time, like lambada in Brazil. However, there was salsa boom in Europe 8 years ago and it is spreading out very quickly, as quickly as it is disappearing in Colombia......
This afternoon we went to Caridad's house for a nice dinner. It's Father's Day today, well, it was last week but because of the presidential elections it has been postponed until today. We came with a lot of presents for all the men in the house :) Fernando is the only non-father but he gets presents too. I went to the swimming pool with Fernando's cousin, Patricia. She lives in Cali and she knows a good salsa teacher in the city. I am going to contact her when I arrive in Cali.
We were watching football matches today (in the picture... errr.... during a break...), and we will watch some tomorrow as well. I am getting more involved in the World Cup now - right on time :)
My host in Medellin, Silvia, mentioned my trip in her professional blog. She writes about foreigners who come to Medellin, their experience in the city and what pictures they like taking.
http://www.surfistasdesofa.blogspot.com/
