This afternoon I spent four hours in the police station to declare the robbery and to get a report for my insurance company. Marjolein from Holland was there with me. She lost a camera, phone, documents and money. What really surprised us was that the police officer didn't put down the fact that a small child had been involved in the robbery. She said she would have to report it to another institution and it would be too much hussle.....
A nice thing was that a lot of people in the waiting room came to us and they apologised for what had happened to us. They asked us to remember that there are many nice people in this country too.
Yesterday I heard an interesting story from Wilber. Uribe, the last president of Colombia who was replaced by Santos just three months ago and who did a lot of good things for the country ("eliminating" guerilla), sent a lot of drug dealers to USA (and killed many others). In USA it was difficult to corrupt the police and government (although not impossible...) so most of the drug dealers moved to Mexico. Now Mexico is the most active drug trade city in the world. Luis, a Mexican guy who was on our Saturday trip and got robbed too, told us that in Mexico the robbery wouldn't be so easy for us. They would rape and torture us, and then cut the bodies into pieces, alive or dead. This is how they do it in Mexico...
Why Uribe sent the scam to USA? Have you seen "Scarface", based on a true story? Apparently the Cuban prisoners were sent to USA to visit families and because the country needed people to work on the land, in the isolated parts of the country where the population was low, the land was difficult to cultivate and not very productive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariel_Boatlift

Eventually, after 7 months of my trip, I got robbed at gunpoint. My three friends and I went for a walk to Three Cruises hill and we were attacked by armed men and a five-year old child (yes, five-year old !!). The men were pointing guns at us. The child took our bags and searched our pockets. They took my lovely mobile phone, a present from Egypt and a photo camera, a present from my ex-boyfriend from Switzerland. So here I am again, in the internet cafe'.... dealing with documents for my insurance company.
What can I say??... When I saw the men approaching us with guns, I was not surprised. I felt very calm, as it was something that happens to you every day. I was actually surprised by my reaction, I thought I would fight or shout, but luckily I didn't. Every day I understand more why people are happy in this country and why they help each other whenever they can. It is because you never know if you are going to be alive tomorrow so you enjoy every day you have left.

I am tired today. I didn't sleep all the night as we were partying hard until 8 am. I wanted to forget about the robbery so I drank some heavy stuff from the Pacific region (called viche).
http://www.quantic.org/journal/2010/08/17/viche/
I have to say that my friends from Cali are wonderful. They were worried about me when I told them about the incident and we talked about it (hey, in Spanish!!) - this was exactly what I needed to feel better.

I have a cold. I thought it was not possible to have a cold in this weather, but obviously it is. However, the cold is mild and it will go away quickly as the weather is nice and I am not stressed. When I had colds in London, they carried on for weeks or months. My first thought was that I had malaria as I stopped taking the malaria tablets soon after I had left the Amazon. However, if it was malaria, I would have been dead by now.
This morning there was a very unpleasant situation at home. The family cleaned the house two weeks ago and they put furniture in different places. They put TV right by my room and this is how the problem started. It is always noisy at home because we live by the a main road, La Quinta. The family put the volume high to hear the TV. For this reason I couldn't sleep in the mornings and at nights when they were watching TV (even with earplugs!). Eventually I asked them to put the volume down, which they did. This morning I had a Spanish class. We had it in my room (normally we have it in the sitting room) as the TV was on. I asked Aura's son (who doesn't live here anyway) to put the volume down because I had the Spanish class and the noise was disturbing me and my teacher. He said no because he wouldn't be able to hear the TV. I got really crossed. Aura's boyfriend looked at me tiredly, he said nothing.
I really didn't like what the guy said. Some time ago the phone was ringing at 7 am every morning, waking me up, and also all other people at home. Of course I was the only one to complain as Colombians just accept everything that happens. The family put the phone in their room so it doesn't wake us up any more. Now I complained again. I feel like an egoist. But am I??...
I have to speak to Wilber and ask him what he thinks about it. Wilber complained about the phone and TV long before, when they put TV by his room. He complained only to me of course.

Yesterday we went to inauguration of the Salsa World Championship 2010. The competition will start on the 11th September and will last a week, and then I am leaving Cali :((
The inauguration took place in Teatro Municipal, called also Teatro Municipal Enrique Buenaventura (the building is so beautiful...). I can imagine that the championship will be an absolute craziness as we are in Cali. I repeat it again: I have never been to a city like this before, it is the best salsa place in the world. Simply The Best.
Afterwards we went to San Antonio with my friends and the Couch Surfing people. I had a good time.
In the picture - some very talented children after the inauguration, showing off their salsa skills in front of the theatre. Children here learn salsa very early, as we learn reading and writing in Europe.

On Friday we went to La Fuente again and then to Zaperoco, which was very close.
Yesterday I went to Rio Pance with Ocean and two girls. It was the same place where I celebrated MIRA's birthday. We had a very relaxing time and we met some local people. At night we went to a private birthday party in San Antonio. I have to say it was much better than I expected, with a lot of space to dance. The only thing that people didn't like was... music. Not enough salsa. I have impression that here in Cali, if there is techno or other non-salsa kind of music at a party, everyone looks at each other with a big disaprovement ha ha ha... There is why I love Cali.
This morning many of us did yoga class in a very beautiful place on the outskirts of Cali. The yoga teacher does free classes from time to time. He is also our Couch Surfing friend, a blond guy from Switzeraland. I was wondering how many Colombian girls were in love with him.
Talking about men.... I never ever liked black men in London or anywhere else in Europe and I never went out with any. Here they are so different. What changes them is the attitude - in Europe they think they are somebody better just because they live in Europe or because they have money I suppose. Here they are just normal easy-going, open minded people.

In the picture some of us after the yoga class.

On Wednesday night I met DJ Ara. He invited me to a club called Melodias in Avenida Roosevelt, very close to my house. The place was not big but very impressive, the music was good and I had a long chat with Ara. Of course we were dancing a lot too. At one point I started laughing and I couldn't stop. The reason was that I saw a man with a huge neck support, dancing with a girl. This can happen only in Cali.... In Europe this person would sit at home and felt sorry for himself, in Cali he goes dancing even if his neck is broken ha ha ha....

What happened in my class on Wednesday (the horoscope incident) did upset me. Plus I can't look at my landlady any more. There is so much negative energy around her and her face always looks as if somebody just died. I am always scared that something bad happened when I see her face. She was at home all day yesterday and I felt uncomfortable. Also, another surprising thing happened to me in a salsa club yesterday. A guy who told me that he liked me very much (and not only told) was about to dance with me but another girl came to us (his Colombian friend) and she demanded that he dances with her. He started dancing with her, not me, and then he was dancing with everyone else but me (well, I was surrounded by many good looking men, but could this be the reason??...). I am just giving up, I don't understand Colombian men, they are disaster I would say.
For the reasons above I feel like I want to continue my travels and leave Cali behind. I am sure this feeling will change again (I didn't have mood ups and downs for about fifteen years, they started to appear again from the beginning of my trip).

Early today I met Sandra who is a manager of the environmental project at MIRA and we went to recreation grounds far in the north of the city (in the picture). We do a recycling experiment on these grounds. We had a walk around and chat with people working in the office. We also inspected the recycling bins which are disaster comparing to England, reason: lack of money.
Sandra wants to give a talk about recycling and I am going to help her to organise it.

Yesterday I went to the DAS office (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad) and I renewed my tourist visa again. I am staying in Cali for another crazy month (oh my god, it is only four weeks!!). It was very easy to get the stamp in my passport the second time, you just pay 25 pounds and here you are. Intially I thought I could ask MIRA for a letter saying that I volunteer for them, to avoid the fee. However, it would probably take the director two weeks to sign the letter and me asking all the time if it is ready and people saying no, it's not. So I decided not to bother.
What I am going to do in my last month in Cali?
1. dance, dance and dance
2. learn Spanish
3. learn how to touch
Yes, learn how to touch. At the beginning of my stay in Cali I was complaining that people use too much physical contact with each other and that I felt uncomfortable. However, people in Europe don't know how to use the power of touch. I want to learn how not to be afraid to touch somebody's hand, arm, leg or kiss a stranger in the cheek.

This morning happened something that really surprised me. I went to MIRA to give the class and I wanted to copy a page from my book with a horoscope, which is an excellent excercise for learning adjectives. I asked a girl to copy it for me. Somebody else came back with my book and said that I couldn't use it in my class because people believe too much in zodiac signs and they should believe only in god. I was shocked and I argued for few minutes, asking how it is possible to prohibit reading horoscope because of the religion. At the end I gave up but I am definitely going to mention this subject again. Maybe at the church where I am invited on Sunday. I already made sure that everyone knows I have nothing to do with any kind of religion and that I am going there only for experience.
Here is a next batch of my pictures from Cali:
Cali 5

On Saturday I went out with Andres, the salsa teacher. He dances really well, so far he is the best dancer I have met in Cali. He took me to a huge salsa place called Viejoteca in Parque de la Caña. I managed to get impressed one more time - the place was incredible, the music very good and people again very passionate about dancing. Andres as always had a good look at my boobs, legs and bottom, even when I was looking!!...

Yesterday it was 10th birthday of MIRA where I work as a volunteer and again "bank holiday" in Colombia. I was invited to an all-day celebration party. I am amused by the situation - I wanted to do some voluntary work for the natural environment or poor people in Cali and I ended up meeting some important politicians of the country...
In the morning I was picked up by an older couple - Alberto and Yolanda. They do social work for MIRA in a disadvantaged district in Cali. It took us one hour to get to Borajine where the celebration took place. Then we qued 1.5 hours to get the lunch, we played bingo and when a woman on the stage started shouting to the microphone "I love you Mira", I was ready to leave. This was an extraordinary experience, kind of a black comedy. I thought that a political event was going to be more serious but I was wrong. Lack of organisation, children running around and an extreme fanatism for MIRA - it surprised me. The fanatic shouting was mixed with the bingo game. I was told by Viviana, my good friend at MIRA, that Colombian people get distracted and bored very easily so the bingo game keeps them at the event, especially if there are nice prices involved.
In the picture Yolanda who is a bingo addict :)

Living in a small city in Colombia and being blond has its disadvantages. The main one is (apart from being mugged) that everyone recognises you and knows almost everything about you, and you lose your privacy. People see me in the streets and they talk, and before I manage to tell a friend that something happened for example, this friend already knows it. Incredible.

Yesterday we went to the Petronio Festival again (Pacific music). Some of us, including David and I, hate the music but as all the friends were going to the festival, we decided to join them. Plaza de Toros was full so we couldn't get in. We hung around, met some people and we had local food (in the picuture). Then we went to Calle del Pecado (street of sin) in the city centre. It was good but not excellent, and very crowded.

The festival of Pacific music has commenced in Cali, in Plaza de Toros where corrida events take place in December. Pacific region is located by the Pacific Ocean and it is inhabited by a large black community. This is result of the history - in the past it was easy to transport slaves by boat from Africa to the coast of Colombia. Not many of the slaves travelled to the cities like Medellin in the middle of the country as there is a range of mountains separating the coast from the city. Years ago it was difficult to travell through the mountains.
Pacific music is not my cup of tea. No, no, and no. However it was wonderful to watch my friends and other people enjoying themselves and being happy (with a bottle of a traditional Pacific liquor in their hands). I tried some regional alcohol and food. It was really nice and fresh, with no preservatives - this is something I will miss when I am back home. In the picture with Orlando from Couch Surfing.

This morning David did something I didn't like very much. To make the situation more dramatic I will mention that everyone thinks that David is my boyfriend because we hang out together a lot.
He came to my house in the morning. I was leaving to work so he walked with me to MIRA's office, ten minutes away from my house. When we arrived, I opened the office door - there were some pictures of politicians on the wall. David saw them and shouted in English: "they are thieves". Three of my students were standing by the door and I hope they didn't understand what he shouted. This was really bad and stupid thing to do. I understand that you can have your own opinion but MIRA is an organisation I work for and he shouldn't have done what he did for this reason. I feel very upset now. I am going to talk to him as soon as I see him although what he did completely put me off meeting him again.
What do I think about MIRA? I got involved in some projects and I can say that the organisation does a lot of great work for the poor families and the natural environment. For example they implement a free education programme in poor districts, work on a recycling scheme in the city (on which I work with them) or even physically help when there is a natural disaster.
I don't know much about MIRA's politicians but in all the countries in the world people think that politicians are thieves (with my father in the first place).
Interesting news? The house where I live now used to be a "burdel" - brothel where many prositutes lived. It was also a drug trade centre, until four years ago. There is why each room has a private bathroom (I was wondering why there is such a luxury in this house). I finally understood why people call us from time to time and simply ask when the service is available....
In the picture Carolina (my landlady's daughter) by the entrance door.

I think I got into an "unhealthy" kind of relationship. Don't take me wrong: the guy doesn't have a wife or a girlfriend, and he is a really nice person. However, he is so different than me that I can feel a confrontation of our energies. In Europe it is easy, if you feel this, you never meet each other again. Here it is a little bit different - you don't give up that quickly.

Yesterday I met David and we visited Yeimmy. She lives in Loma de la Cruz too, five minutes from my house. Despite the fact that she had a bad cold (but how can you be ill in this wonderful Colombian weather??) she told us to come in. We were joined by Ocean from US and we had a great time. We talked about having a child without father - something I am considering to do. I asked David if he would like to be father of my child in five years as he is good looking, very tall, intelligent, kind and funny (well, sometimes :)). He is unhappy because my idea is to come back pregnant to Europe so he will never meet the child. Ha ha ha.... I know it sounds serious but I am considering this option if I don't meet a right man within four years let's say. Yesterday we were all discussing how it can be done and what may be the consequences....
Yeimmy is a kind of friend I like to have. She is unusual Colombian person I think, hard working and thinking a lot about the future (she is saving money for a house at the moment). She is a domestic flights stewardess but she flies to New York once a month where she buys a lot of clothes and perfumes. Then she sells them in Cali at much higher price, as many things in NY (and in London too) are much cheaper than in Colombia. She is professional and reliable, just like my dear friends in London.
Here is a next set of my pictures from Cali:
Cali 4

On Saturday I stayed all day at home. I had a Spanish class and then two hours of dancing lambada with Wilber. He was upset at the beginning because he was doing salsa steps instead of lambada ones. I tried to explain to him that you can't expect from somebody who is a salsa teacher and who has been dancing salsa all his life to learn the perfect lambada steps in five days. It took me three months of intensive dancing to adopt the lambada steps.
In the evening I studied dancing vocabulary in Spanish, for example "right foot forward, turn around, spin, throw your hair, face each other".

Yesterday we finally did the class, after hours of preparations. I think it was good but.... yes, if not only this BUT. I think people don't appreciate if something is gratis. They didn't pay much attention, talked to the people resting on benches or were laughing loudly. It was disturbing me and the people really interested in learning lambada. At one point, when a guy brought a bowl full of crisps and started giving them to the dancing couples, I lost my patience and I was about to leave in the middle of the class. But instead, I loudly shouted at everyone around and they finally got that I was unhappy. In Europe we call it a total lack of respect but I know that here it is different. They didn't mean anything wrong, they just don't have this ability to think that talking can disturb or that we eat after the class, not during. The class cost me too much energy therefore I am not going to do it any more. In the picture: with some of the Couch Surfers after the class.

On Thursday evening I went to the tattoo studio where I feel like at home now. I asked Eduardo to have a look at my tattoo, he said it is healing very well. I again mentioned the anaesthetic issue because I can't believe that so many people suffer so much to get a tattoo. He said that maybe in Europe we have special anaesthetic for tattoos, here in Colombia it is of a bad quality and not recommended to use.
In the evening I went to see dance shows from Mexico and Colombia. They were both good (but not excellent) and free, which made them even better :))
Yesterday I was teaching in MIRA again, the people are still enthusiastic. My classes will be very intensive as I have only one month to teach them something, I hope it will not put them off. I thought the class would be two hours but it is not that easy. After the classes people come to me and they are very curious. They ask: what did you do yesterday, do you have a boyfriend, what are the people in Poland like, how do you pronounce this and that, what does it mean :))
Yesterday we went to La Fuente. I couldn't dance because of my tattoo, my friends stayed and danced outside so my tattoo got some fresh air. Actually, it was great not to dance for the first time, just to talk. I met many people and I practiced my Spanish a lot. In the picture with some guys very interested to find out how it is possible to travel for a year and not to spend much money :)

I've got a tattoo. The first tattoo I have. It is not just a tattoo - it is Tattoo From Cali. Every time I will look at it, till the end of my life, I will think about the wonderful and crazy nights out I had in the world capital of Colombian salsa. I will think about passion, madness, enthusiasm and love for salsa dance and music.
It is like the scar I have on my face after the accident in Brazil. When I look at it in the mirror every day, I remember the horrible experiences I went through...

I paid 35 pounds for the tattoo. I spent two hours on a chair clenching my teeth in pain and trying not to shout. The pain was excruciating as they don't use anaesthetic here (I am not sure about London). Eduardo, my tattooist, told me that anaesthetic they use in Colombia changes structure of the cells in the skin. When it stops working, the skin comes back to the previous structure, modifying the shape of tattoo which may look ugly.
I thought I would faint few times but I managed to stand the pain until the end. The tattoo is beautiful, I was looking for a design for three years and I didn't like anything. When I went to the (recommended by a good friend) tattoo studio called Anubis Art in La Quinta road, I showed Eduardo five designs I found on Internet. He said to some of them "no" straight away because he didn't like them so we chose one which we both liked. He did draw some changes on the design, showed me and I liked it very much!!
I can't dance for two days now as the sweat may cause infection :(

Today I gave my first English class in MIRA. I had a lot of introductions to the people and their work before as we were waiting for the director to sign documents approving my work.
I teach a group of about 20 people and it seems that.... they loved the class. They were so enthusiastic that it was very rewarding, all my preparations and waiting for the director's permission.

Suddenly I got busy. MIRA asked me to start the work, I am having tatoo done this evening, I am doing the lambada class on Sunday and I also have an appointment with a man who makes special shoes for dancing. He comes to your house with a catalogue, takes measure of your feet and makes shoes to order, exactly what you want. He is a salsa dancer as well so he can advise what shoes are suitable for you.
I teach Wilber lambada, one hour a day. We are doing the class on Sunday and he is worried that he is not good enough. Well, you can't be good at something in just a week! At least he got the basic steps, and this is very important.
Yesterday we went to see two great modern dance shows (no salsa this time). It is amazing that there are many shows, theatre plays and cinema screenings in Cali - all gratis.
In the picture after a fantastic dance show in Teatro Municipal.

On Sunday afternoon there was a small salsa concert and a show right by my house in Loma de la Cruz. I met with Isabel from Cali and Severyn from Switzerland, and we spent a couple of hours at the concert (in the picture). It was nice but not spectacular. As much as I like watching people dancing, I don't like when they pose and put on a fake smile. In lambada you don't do it, even during shows.
Yesterday I did my first salsa class in Cali. I was disappointed as I hoped to learn something new but I knew all the steps and moves so it was a waste of my time and money. I am looking for a private teacher now in hope that he can focus on my needs and teach me new steps.
Yesterday night we went to Las Brisas and Wilber lost my room keys which I asked him to put in his pocket before I started dancing. When we came back home he had to break the lock of my room. It was so loud that everyone woke up in fear that it was a robbery...
Well, I forgot to mention that there are many people living in the house. Aura, my landlady, with her boyfriend (I thought it was her husband), her 22-year old daughter with a boyfriend, a young Colombian guy who I don't see much (but he brought a prostitute home few days ago and the next day it was hell at home - Aura was shouting like crazy), two very weird Colombians whose work is to play serenates (so very often they listen to and play this horrible music, they also never say "good morning" or anything when they see you), and Wilber who was thrown out of the hostel where he works (and where he had a bed before) for "being noisy with a girl". Aura kindly agreed to rent him one of her rooms.
Aura and her family are very nice but there are many negative things happening too. For example lies. I understood that it is very common in Cali to lie. When I came to see the room, Aura told me that there were only three people living in the house although she knew there were six people. She lied to convince me to take the room. I don't regret taking it at all but I hate lies, even the small ones - they contribute to my opinion that there is negative energy in Cali. Another Colombian friend lied as well - I remember I was surprised when he was talking to somebody and lied, despite me being there and knowing the truth.

I started thinking about leaving Colombia. I haven't started doing the voluntary work yet because of bureaucracy and I am not sure if I can help the organisation before I leave the country... I am loosing my patience. I contacted an Italian friend of an Argentinian friend who lives in Ecuador and he told me that I could come and do voluntary work with him. So.... I am considering the options... deciding.... I may leave Cali but on the other hand I love the nightlife here.... it is the best in the world.... if I leave Cali I will not dance for a long time again... it makes my heart cry...

On Thursday night I went to Tin Tin Deo again where I feel like in London now because I know everyone in the club. I arrive there early on my own and I meet some people (sometimes I never talk to them, we just dance). When it gets crowded, I am happy because I already danced a lot and I can socialise.
On Friday I met Wilber's friend Andres who is a salsa teacher too. We had a dinner and then we went to La Fuente, very early to have a lot of space on the dance floor. I like dancing with Andres but he stares at women all the time (and myself in the first instance): legs, boobs and bums. Brrrrr......
My life in Cali is easy and I will miss it so much when I am back in London and when I am tired because of commuting. Here everything is close to my house (salsa clubs, theatres, cinemas, friends) and I am having a lot of rest, sleep and fun, just like in heaven :)