In Canoa

Unfortunately not all was roses. The cheap hotel was horrible: dirty and filled only with men (I felt like in a strict Arabic country). Boris confessed that he didn't have any money because he spent two days in Baños, a touristic place, where he met some foreigners. They were drinking a lot and the bill left him with no money. He proposed that if I paid for his room (well, at the end we shared a room) and for the trip to Canoa, he would pay for my hotel in Canoa. I agreed because it meant spending only 5 pounds on his accomodation, travel and I also bought him a supper. Otherwise he would have slept in the bus station, hungry. Did I act like Mother Theresa? I really didn't mind spending the money on him but the way he had approached the situation wasn't nice (starting a conversation with a foreigner just to ask for money and not admitting from the beginnig what the circumstances were). I decided it was a lesson for me, I will never get very friendly with a stranger again.
We checked other hotels in Chone but they were all dirty and expensive. The town itself is not especially attractive with no proper roads and dirty, falling apart houses. Such a different world from Quito!!
We had something to eat - the hygine level was scary, I am praying I will not get any bug in the next months.
The bus to Canoa at 5 am was a commercial bus, very comfortable, but Boris convinced me to take three public buses. They cost few times less but the trip was very unpleasant. Hey, but I saved a pound!! :)) However, somehow, my spirit was high - it is because I experienced the real Ecuadorian life, and I love experiencing everything local, even if it is uncomfortable, dirty and smelly. There were no travellers in Chone or on our way to Canoa - I suppose the road wasn't very popular with travellers. We had to change in San Vincente town. On the other side of Chone river you could see the city of Bahia de Caraquez. There is a new bridge connecting the two places, before people had to take a boat to get to the other side. We had a walk in San Vincente so I got the idea how undeveloped it was.
We arrived in Canoa at 11 am and Boris took me to a hotel where we were going to stay overnight. Apparently the owner of the hotel was his friend. I initially agreed to stay in the hotel. I took shower and I decided to have a look at the village. I was sharing a huge, 3-bed room with Boris because it was cheaper and supposedly Boris was going to pay for it (but with what?). I left the hotel and hungry Boris in the room and I walked for about 15 minutes. Suddenly, many thoughts started coming to my head: how could I have left my luggage in the room with Boris?? Why did I trust him? He is hungry and my rucksack contains items which can be sold. He has a guide to Ecuador in English. Why would he buy an expensive guide in English? Did he steal it from somebody? Also, the thought that I was "chained" to him for the next night made me feel unhappy.
I stopped walking. I looked around. I asked in few hotels how much was a private room. I found a great room overlooking the sea for 3 pounds a night. I came back to the hotel, apologised to Boris, told him not to worry about paying for me, took all my stuff and moved to my hotel. I felt so relieved and happy!
The hotel is small and very simple but it is great. The owner was very interested in my private life and if I had a boyfriend. I hope he will not try to get to my room at night (why the hell I have these thoughts?? - maybe because it happened in my life before...).
The village is extremely small (you can visit it in 15 minutes) but it has its character. It is called a "surfing paradise" (unfortunately not couch surfing paradise...). The surf lovers can find everything in here. The weather is not great at the moment (clouds and drizzle) and I can't see any surfers in the sea. There must be a reason for it, perhaps no good waves or wrong wind??. However there are some backpackers in the village.
I went for a long walk on the beach in the afternoon, I felt great. Simplicity of life plus nature is what I need at the moment. The village is also safe: guns, assaults, homelessness and crime floated away for a moment.
However, I am not staying in Ecuador for long time. I need local Couch Surfers to feel alive and to learn from them. I didn't come to South America to meet travellers from Europe, I have enough of them in London.

I was going to visit Esmeraldas on the north coast of Ecuador but many people from Quito advised me to avoid the city. It is because of a high crime level and presence of trouble making Colombians. I don't want to be in stress again (well, I haven't really managed to relax since the beginning of my trip). I changed my plans and I am heading to Canoa on the west coast of Ecuador. I took a bus from Quito to Chone this morning: 350 km ride in the mountains, 7 hours, 6 pounds. We arrived in Chone at 8 pm and it appeared that the next bus to Canoa leaves at 5 am. I was lucky to have met Boris. He comes from Montañita in Ecuador and he is travelling to Canoa for his brother's birthday. I am already invited to the party :) We will spend a night in a hotel in Chone (2 pounds for a single room).

The bus from Quito was extremely comfortable and there was no air conditioning which made this trip really pleasant. Why in other countries they try to freeze you to death on buses??
In the picture view from the bus: vulcan Cotopaxi (5897 meters) - so beautiful...

Yesterday Fabian and I watched film called "Pecados de mi padre" (sins of my father). It is a biography of a Colombian Pablo Escobar, the biggest cocaine trader in the world who was killed by the police on the 2nd of December 1993. His family still has to hide in Buenos Aires as they are on mafia's list to be "eliminated". Great film.

Yesterday I went to Mitad del Mundo town famous for the equator line seperating Earth into north and south hemispheres (it is kind of a Greenwich attraction).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitad_del_Mundo
The town is located 22 kilometers south from Quito. I took a bus which cost a shocking 19 English pence which is a result of the government paying 80% for the public transport. The rest is covered by the citizens. Great, isn't it?....
I went to two very interesting museums: the Solar Museum and museum about the indigenous etnography of Ecuador.
In the first one (which I loved) you can do experiments proving that the gravitation is different on two sides of the Earth and on the equator line. For example experiments with water, showing how it drains in different directions on each side of the equator and straight down on top of the equator's line. On the north hemisphere it drains anticlockwise and on the south hemisphere it drains clockwise.
We did more experiments, for example with eggs - balancing a row egg on the head of a nail. You will manage to do it only on the equator line. We also walked on the line with closed eyes, spread arms and thumbs up - you can feel the gravitation forces pulling you on the left and on the right, exactly how it happens with the sea currents. They activate in the equator zone, go round the hemisphere and come back to the equator where they get neutralised (there is why Ecuador doesn't experience tsunami).
You also weight one kilogram less near the equator.
We visited houses of the indigenous people. They keep many guinea pigs at home because the animals easily sense danger (and they are edible too...). They warn people about earthquakes and other natural disasters. The guinea pigs were lovely :)

My negative observation about Quito: the first time in my trip I strongly feel that everyone is trying to rip me off - the taxi drivers, bus conductors, shop assistants. The foreigners pay more for everything. In the countries I visited before it happened sometimes, here it happens all the time and I hate it (I try to argue whenever I can but sometimes I just can't win).
I am leaving Quito today. I haven't done any dancing here, I think the reason is Cali salsa overdose ha ha ha... Apparently good salsa clubs in the city are: Seseribo, Mayo 68, Aguijon (Wednesdays only).

Yesterday I took teleferico (cable car) to Cruz Loma which is a part of the Pichincha mountain and volcano complex. On the way to the place I had a chat with the taxi driver about music, dance and the city. When I was leaving the taxi, he gave me his CD we were just listening to, with bachata music. I was so touched by this gesture!
The cable car in Quito is quite different than the one I took in Caracas or Medellin - it does more than 1000 meters in about 15 minutes so it is incredibly steep. It gets to 4100 meters above the sea level, from Quito's altitude of 3016 meters. You can see planes flying by the mountain.
I went for a walk on the top however not too far - I was warned that armed robberies happen in the place. After my previous experiences I understand that unfortunately I can't do everything I want to do in South America. Everywhere I go I am limited because of the safety issues.
The view from Cruz Loma is amazing - Quito is spread out over a large area and it seems to be well developed. Already on my first day in the city I understood that it looks European, with many foreign restaurants and international companies. Actually it surprised me a lot. Before I came here I immagined the city as an underdeveloped and isolated from the rest of the world place. I like Quito very much.
Later in the evening I met Luis from Couch Surfing. We went for a walk in the beautiful historic centre. An interesting information: on 18th of September 1978 both historic centres of Quito and Cracow in Poland were declared the first Unesco world heritage cities.

Yesterday I spent half day in bed, recovering from too much ron. Then I met William from Couch Surfing, we met and had a coffee in the historic center. Suprisingly William is a common name in Ecuador, I thought it was a very English name.
The historic centre of Quito is beautiful, with a huge statue of Virgin Mary on the top of the nearby hill (well, it has to be either Crist, Virgin Mary or a cross....). The district used to be very dangerous due to armed robberies only 3 years ago!! - it has been renovated since 2008 and now there are many private security guards around.
In the picture: in an handcraft shop.

Ecuadorian wedding

We arrived in Fabian parents house at 11 am so I had the chance to meet his family before the wedding. The wedding itself was very formal - Fabian doesn't like anything formal so he wasn't looking forward to the ceremony, which took place in a small and beautiful church. To be honest, the wedding was no different than those I went to in Poland, Italy or England. I was a little bit disappointed for this reason :)
Fabian is very sceptical about the marriage - the couple have known each other for less than a year and he said that his sister is very spoilt. She even wanted to call off the wedding few days ago because she had an argument with Fernando (her husband now).
People from Quito look different than Colombians. They remind me of Venezuelans - many of them are tall and well dressed. Many Ecuadorians look indigenous, they have beautiful dark faces.
After spending three months in Cali where everything felt surreal and unrealistic, I feel I have come back to a "normal" world, to the world I am familiar with.
Fabian's family is well off (so consequently I am observing Quito from the wealthy side). They have many rules how to behave and always try to keep up appearances, however they are very nice people. I was waiting for everyone to get drunk at the wedding to see their real faces. They indeed relaxed later in the evening but I was surprised that nobody got very drunk (so different from weddings in Poland or England !).

I always carry a notebook with me to write down details which I don't want to forget. This is what I wrote yesterday at the wedding, when I was a little bit drunk:
-Here I am - sitting at the wedding table and writing. What can I say... the people are lovely, the food was excellent, the music is ok but nothing special, the dancing partners are enthusiastic but they don't have the rythm at all. "Oh my god, it is not Cali" - I whispered into Fabian's ear with disappointment, after few dances with some guys. He gave me a big glass of ron and coke and said "This is the solution for your problem". After few glasses I realised that he was right...-
The wedding finished at 8 pm, so early! - we came back home with Fabian's cousin and we got completely drunk (how can you say "no" to Cuban ron??..).
In the picture: at the wedding with Fabian (in the grey suit) and his friends.

My observation: the Ecuadorian accent is very different than Colombian - it is much easier to understand. In Ecuador they use a lot the word "guapo/a" which I didn't hear much in Colombia.

I moved into Fabiano's house. Mauricio is a very nice guy but he lives far away from the city centre and he works a lot so I was at home on my own all the time. Fabiano works from home so I have a soul to talk to whenever I like.
Yesterday we watched a biographical film about Hector Lavoe (a very famous salsa singer), called "El Cantante", with Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez. His life was so sad... it is all about drugs use again.
Today I am going to a wedding of Fabiano's sister, Lorena. Before I came to South America I wished I could go to a wedding in one of the countries I was going to visit. And... here I am... my wish has come true... a big Ecuadorian wedding with guests coming from all over the country.
In the picture: Seseribo salsa club in Quito. It is a nice place with good music.

I had a really nice evening and night yesterday. I went to the Couch Surfing meeting in Cafe' Bigua' in the building Plaza 2000 and I met some great people (in the picture). After that I met up with Fabian and his friend Cris from London. We went to a nice bar and then to a salsa place called Seseribo. It did cost too much to get in so we decided to come back the next day (Thursdays are more expensive than Fridays, this is something new for me!!).
We went to another bar, very nice, and I asked for salsa music. Luckily they had some so we started dancing and other people followed. There is a salsa song I like very much:
Decisiones
I tried a traditional Ecuadoran drink called canelazo which is a hot alcoholic drink. It is difficult to say if I like it or not, I have to have some more cups :) I also tried a 7-year old Ron Abuelo from Panama, so nice!!...

At the Couch Surfing meeting I met a guy from Medellin, Colombia. We were talking a lot about guerilla and the news - a very important FARC leader in Colombia was killed yesterday. There was a bomb thrown into his camp in the forest - a typical way of eliminating guerilla. This kind of situation is always treated as a great success for the country.
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/12002-mono-jojoy-killed-colombian-media.html

I woke up this morning and before I opened my eyes, I was not sure if I was in London, Poland or Cali. When I had a look at my room I still didn't remeber where I was, five seconds later I realised I was in Quito. This happens quite often in my trip.

I like Quito so far. It is clean and sunny during the day however there is no salsa music on the buses, just some sad love songs. I already miss Cali for this reason.
I spoke to few people from Couch Surfing in the morning. I met a very nice lady on the bus with whom I had a long conversation (and she insisted on paying for my bus ticket...) and I met up with Fabian and his lovely dog. We went to a handcrafts market as I needed to buy a warm jumper. The market was the most amazing one I have seen in my trip. I am usually never interested in buying anything but this market was so colourful and beautiful that I couldn't leave it without buying something.
Then Fabian showed me some nice places in Quito (in the picture) and we had a coffee. He is a photographer, he published seven photography books. Recently he returned from a motorcycle trip around South America. He did 24,000 kilometers alone on the motorbike!!! - starting in Quito, going to Peru, down to the very south of Argentina and coming back to Quito through Brazil. His motorbike broke down four times and he had some other adventures on his way. I saw the amazing pictures, he is going to publish them soon.

The temperature in Quito is not that bad and once I have the warm jumper, I feel good. I need to buy gloves too because my hands are always cold. During the day it is around 20 degrees celcius but at night it becomes cold and you have to wrap up. Quito has this atmosphere of a mountain ski resort - there is a thick fog in the evening and at night, it is cold so people go to bars to have a hot drink. The streets are hilly and beautiful.
Here is my last batch of pictures from Cali:
Cali 7

ECUADOR, In Quito

I travelled to Ecuador with Ocean, my American friend. It was actually great to travel with somebody who I met in Cali, it was like having a little bit of Cali with me on the bus (although Ocean was sleeping like a baby all the time after a night out :)).
Orlando accompanied me to the bus station, it was so nice of him... I felt very sad.
We arrived in Ipiales after 12 hours of travelling. I didn't manage to sleep even a minute because the bus was swinging from one side to another, however it didn't bother Ocean. We went to the custom office in Ipiales. It was my last day I was able to stay legally in Colombia but Ocean's visa expired four days before. The custom officer didn't want to let him go unless he paid a fine of 250,000 pesos. Ocean didn't have this money on him so we asked what another option he had. The custom officer said that Ocean could "help him". I remember somebody (David?) telling me: if a police officer or another authority asks you to help him, the meaning of it is very clear - bribery. We discused it with Ocean and he gave the guy some money, much less than the fine he had to pay. The custom officer was a little bit concerned and asked Ocean not to report it, however Ocean just wanted to cross the border.

We took a taxi to Tulcan on the Ecuadorian side and then a bus to Quito (in the picture in a restaurant on the border). We were properly searched twice by the police during our trip: both on the Colombian and Ecuadorian sides. The second time the police officer only wanted to have a chat. I understood this when he asked where my boyfriend was and in that moment I got really crossed as all my stuff was out of the rucksack. The police officer saw my anger and he stopped searching the rucksack.
We arrived in the North bus station in Quito at 3.40 am. It was too early to phone my host Mauricio or to go to a hostel so we waited two hours in the station and then we went to the New Centre (modern city centre) to  find Ocean's hostel. Once he checked in, we had breakfast and I took a bus back to the North bus station where I met Mauricio. Mauricio seems to be a very nice guy. He is an active Couch Surfer, hosting a lot of people. He is self-employed, he buys and sells oil extraction equipment online. He is planning to open a hotel in Quito very soon. He speaks very clear Spanish - I understand everything!! :)

The Ecuadorian currency is American dollar. So weird!! - exactly the same money that in the US but of a much lower value. It looks like Ecuador is cheaper than Colombia, so far I found out that a bus ride costs 17 English pence - it is the second lower fee in my whole trip after the underground in Caracas where I paid 8 pence per ticket.

Yesterday we went to the salsa world championship finals, in Plaza de Toros. The competition was at a high level and it was great to watch it. However at the end I don't know who won the competition because they just read out the names of the winners (couples and groups, and I didn't remember who was who) and that was it.... In the picture with my lovely Couch Surfers.
Today is my last day in Cali. I have been very busy visiting all my friends and saying goodby. I am sooo sad...

Tomorrow I am going to Quito, Ecuador. I have spent three months in Cali - three extraordinary months. I was thrown right into the depth of the Colombian culture, the hospitality and openess of the people and other features of the culture I tried to understand. The atmosphere, people and places in this region are different than those in other parts of Colombia. I had some ups and downs in the last three months caused by a search of a right way to live and interact with people, and by a lot of negative energy in the city due to poverty, use of drugs and guns.
However, I am very jelous of the great salsa parties and the excellent music in Cali.
On my first day here I said that I was going to find out if Cali was really the world capital of salsa. My answer is that the city exceeded my expectations and I can't immagine a better place in the world to learn, listen to and dance salsa.
Here are some of my favourite songs to which I was dancing like crazy:
Bailen con la punta del pie
Para que volver
Soledad
La rebelion
La prueba de fuego
Carro de fuego
Tumbao africano
Un dia despues
Cali Pachanguero
Amor y control
Zumbale
Bachata en Fukuoka

I have spent 2000 pounds in four months in Colombia. It includes:
buses between seven cities
rent of a room in Cali - 155 pounds
Spanish classes (twice a week) - 110 pounds
tattoo - 35 pounds
paragliding - 25 pounds
a new phone (the stolen one wasn't covered by my insurance company) - 20 pounds
dentist - 22 pounds
a weekend trip to Juanchaco Island (transport by buses, boats, tractors, hotel, food, whale watching) - 72 pounds
entrance fees to salsa clubs, taxis, food, internet, cosmetics, and others
bus ticket from Cali to Quito in Ecuador - 30 pounds
Bye bye Colombia....

Yesterday the country was celebrating Day of Love and Friendship (Dia de Amor y Amistad) which is always celebrated on the third Saturday of September. They also have St. Valentine's Day on the 14th of February but they don't celebrate it as much.
There was a Couch Surfing meeting organised for the occassion. I got a rose and a present from Orlando and I felt bad because I wasn't prepared for the occassion. Then we were giving sweets to each other and at the end the people gave me a farewell present... Do I have to say how sad I felt? That I cried?
Then we went to a very beautiful salsa club called Tropical by Plaza de Banderas. I was so tired by the last three nights of very little sleep that I wasn't able to fully enjoy myself. However, as it was my last night out in Cali, I made an effort to dance and to chat to my friends.
A joke (invented yesterday): how do you call a child of a Polish and Colombian couple? Polombiano :))

Yesterday I had a great night out (another one :)). We took a chiva (in the picture) from Palmetto Plaza until Juanchito where we went to a club called La Bodega Latina.
The chiva ride was really good. The bus is moving all the time and you dance at the same time to a loud music. It is very difficult as you swing from one side to another or you are thrown to a side when the bus driver breaks down. This is how a chiva ride looks like:
Chiva
La Bodega Latina was great too - it is a huge salsa club with fantastic music and good light effects. I am happy because I have an idea now how different clubs in various parts of Cali look like. Three months of constant partying gave me the picture, I am satisfied now :)
Here is last but one set of the pictures from Cali:
Cali 6

Yesterday I went dancing to Viejoteca in Parque de la Caña, with Orlando. I have been there before on a Saturday. I heard that Thursdays are nights for single people, and that afterwards chivas ("dancing buses") take you to Juanchito, a district with many salsa clubs. To my disappointment, there was only one chiva and it was full so we came back home.
Today I had to go to a dentist for a tooth extraction. I was eating something two days ago and my whole tooth broke into pieces. There was no chance for a filling so the tooth's root had to be extracted. I spent two hours at the dentist but she was wonderful. She polished my teeth and make my two front teeth shorter. The treatment in Colombia is so different than in Europe.... Here estetics is very important and all the dentists are trained how to make you look better. In Europe they simply fix the problem (for example tooth decay). Here they also take under consideration the visual aspect, it was the same in Brazil. This is the reason why people have nice teeth and a nice smile (and so many of them wear braces!).
Before I come back to England I want to have two implants fitted, either in Chile, Argentina or if I am back to Cali at the end of my trip. It is cheaper than in Europe and the service is excellent.

A week ago I got anxious. It is a sign that my lifestyle is going to change again. I am travelling to Ecuador next week, leaving Cali and my friends behind, again.... My emotions are playing with me too - a relief that I am leaving this dangerous place is mixed with pain in my heart indicating that I have had a great time in the city.
I started having dreams that I am back in London or Poland and I don't want to be there because my mission hasn't been finished yet. In my dreams I worry that unnecessarily I have to travel again to South America to complete my trip.
I really hope that my last four months on the continent will be great, with some dancing involved and no guns in use!!...

Yesterday we went to see a salsa show at the salsa championship. The performing groups were the best groups I have seen so far - showing an extraordinary coordination and speed.
After that we went to La Perra salsa club in La Quinta street (5 minutes from my house). The club is a "drinking hole" with dodgy people visiting it. It is small and the music wasn't excellent so I wouldn't come back to La Perra. Obviously I had to go there to find out if I liked the club.
My relationship with Orlando is very good now and I hope we have the times of confusion and misunderstanding behind us, after some very challenging conversations. I am enjoying every minute I am spending with him.

Salsa World Championship 2010

On Monday we went to another inauguration of the salsa world championship. There are a lot of workshops and conversation sessions about the salsa history and evolution this week. I am going to attend most of them.
Yesterday I went to the tattoo studio and Eduardo put more ink in my tattoo, just so it looks absolutely perfect. I went through the torture again, however it lasted only (only??!) 20 minutes. I am so happy to have done this tattoo. Some say that you may regret having tattoo but I like it a lot and it also has a sentimental value for me. I really doubt I will regret having it. Plus, I forget about it - the tattoo is on my back and I only remember that I have it when people tell me how nice it is.

In the afternoon I went to two salsa conversation sessions, with salsa shows in between. The subjects of the conversations were: development of the Cali salsa style and Salsa in the 21st century.
My friend Ricardo (last year's winner of the championship) did a presentation about the difference of Cali salsa. For example the beat in the salsa here is 1-7, in other countries it is 1-3, 1-4 or 1-6 (where I learnt salsa in London it was 1-4).
Another guy was talking about salsa in the 80's. It all started from El Grupo Niche that began to earn a lot of money playing the salsa music at events. It was the beginning of expansion of professional salsa in Cali and Colombia. Money from drug dealers helped a lot to develop the music industry. In the 90's salsa CD's where a big hit and they had the highest sale rate. In 1997 there was a boom of the piracy trade.
Some people at the session confessed that salsa helped them to get out of drugs and crime. Well, it's either church or salsa... If you don't want to be a criminal, you get devouted to the first or the second - this is how it works in Cali. Well, anything is better than getting hold of a gun, robbing and killing people.
A group sang a very famous song from the Pacific region (in a kind of weird salsa version). I think it's the only song of the Pacific music I like:
San Antonio ya se va
In the Pacific music you use instrument called marimba:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marimba

I had an amazing weekend and if you knew how much I advertised Poland in Colombia!!... :)
Early on Saturday I took a bus to Buenaventura, it takes 3 hours and it costs 18.000 pesos one way (6.50 pounds). In Bueanventura's port I bought a ticket to a village called Juanchaco and from there I took another boat to do whale watching. I had a little interrogation right before Buenaventura because the police stopped our minibus and they asked everyone for ID. In Colombia you have to carry your ID with you all the time and you have to know the ID number by heart. If you don't, you have problems. I didn't have my passport with me so I was confronted with a lot of questions. When I mentioned that I was working for MIRA, the political organisation, they let me go. It was the third time I had the same problem because I always forget to print a copy of my passport.

The sea was very stormy and the 1-hour ride on the boat from Buenaventura to Juanchaco left me a little bit disorientated :)
Whale watching was very good but it wasn't what I expected. Well, you hope to see whales jumping above the sea surface, like they do in films. Ha ha ha... It was really hard to spot the animals so we had to stare at the sea, with our cameras ready to take a picture. Somebody shouted: "there, there!!" - so everyone quickly turned in this direction but it was already too late - the whale was under the water. Then somebody else shouted: "there, there!!" - and the story repeated. And like this for an hour. However, there was one great moment. About five meters from our boat a huge whale appeared. He showed us almost all of the amazing body, sprayed a great fountain of water into the air and dived in again. All the trip was worth just for this moment. In the picture: ready for whale watching.

I came back to Juanchaco, took a tractor (a public mean of transport) and I arrived in Ladrilleros, another village, where I met Paolo from Couch Surfing and his friends. They stayed in a hotel which was nice but it seemed expensive to me (50.000 pesos per night). I walked five meters further and I found a nice hotel called Dona Francia for more than half price less (20.000 pesos). Well, it was a flat with many rooms and as I was the only guest, I had all the flat for myself.... Sometimes I don't understand people - why would you book a hotel without checking prices of other hotels??
I thought that finally I could have rest and sleep - how wrong I was!!... In the evening we went to eat something and then we saw a great open air salsa club called El Templo del Ritmo, right by the beach, with a big advert on the door saying that it was salsa competition that night. I was expecting some professional couples to take part in the competition but I was wrong again... A man with a microphone introduced couples participating in the event. One guy was without a partner so he asked me to dance with him. Well, I took part in the first salsa competition in my life.... and after about 40 minutes of crazy dancing... the guy and I won the competition!!! I got 20.000 pesos prize. I left the hotel in the evening as nobody and I came back to the hotel as a celebrity ha ha ha.... I didn't have much sleep again but I was very happy.
In the club I saw a dance which I liked a lot. I heard about it earlier but when I saw it, I opened my mouth in amazement. There is a huge black community in Buenaventura because of the history. It was easy to ship the slaves to the coast, the community is so large that you see buses filled just with black people.
The dance is called choke, you dance it to the reaggeton music and it is performed mainly by black people:
Choke

The next day I met a guy I was dancing with in the club and we went for a walk on the beach. Then we met my friends in La Barra, another beautiful village. All the villages we visited seemed to belong to another world. There is no much technology, just wooden houses, jungle vegetation and the people live in a very simple way. I felt so relaxed... We had a swim in the sea and I chated with a lot of people on the beach (it is your duty when you are a celebrity ha ha ha...). In the evening we took a boat back to Buenaventura and then I took a bus to Cali. I arrived home late, extremely tired.

Yesterday night I saw police in action (not very common here) - searching bags and pockets of some teenagers on bicycles. Recently I heard few stories that people on bikes approach you and they grab your mobile phone while you are talking. There is why it is very unwise to talk on the phone in the public places.
In the evening I went to see the last free of charge event at the jazz festival. There was a performance of an Italian group called Ialsax Quarter and Gianni Oddi. It was good I have to say (although not excellent because it wasn't salsa :)).

There are two more foreigners living in my house now: a guy from New Zealand and a guy from Ireland. Aura, my landlady, was very unhappy yesterday because somebody broke two expensive plates. What's more, the troublemaker left them on the floor (so rude...) and nobody pleaded guilty. I suppose it is not easy to be landlords in a small flat where them and the tenants don't respect each other.

I also had a nice talk with Orlando after a night of dancing in Tin Tin Deo. I think we like each other very much but there is something very strange about this relationship. He expects me to take initiative all the time and in all my life always men took initiative, so I am not good at it. Maybe it makes the part of machismo - expecting girl to call all the time, maybe Orlando is just unsure what he wants. Who knows??? I don't because I still don't know well his culture. For example, for him it is important at which table I sit when we go out. If I sit at "his" table, it is clear for him that I like him but then he dances with other girls more than with me. If I come to a club with a group of people and we sit at another table because there is no space at "his" table, he thinks that I have another boyfriend and he doesn't ask me for a dance any more. Crazy world....
We are meeting today again and I hope there will be more interesting conversations involved. I am very happy to see him again.
In the picture: I was interviewed for a national TV at the jazz festival.

Before I leave Cali, I want to go to Buenaventura on the Pacific coast to see whales - August and September are the best months to go whale watching.
A little economy and politics lesson: Buenaventura is a small city with some oil wells. Apparently Colombia has a lot of oil however I was told that Colombians don't have the skills to extract the oil on a big scale, and they also don't have money to built a proper platform. Therefore they just extract little oil to cater for the country so there is no need to buy it from Venezuela. Hmmm... at the present conflict they wouldn't get anything or it would be very pricy I suppose....
United States wanted to build a sea platform to extract the oil for themselves, and to pay Colombia for this activity. Colombia didn't agree, fearing that the US would ask for more and more space within time. At the moment the US buys oil from Venezuela as it is much cheaper than from the Arabic countries. The US tried to get involved in the Colombian - Venezuelan conflict but Chavez told them that if they interfere, US will not get oil any more. So they sent Chavez a "sincere apology" and they keep quiet.
http://www.agenciadenoticias.unal.edu.co/nc/detalle/article/56-billion-barrels-of-petroleum-underneath-colombians-feet/

On Tuesday we went to a jazz concert of a famous group from Cali called 11:11. They played latin jazz and I liked the concert a lot.
Yesterday we went to a salsa club called El Habanero, in a district called Alameda, very close to where I do voluntary work. The club was small but beautiful. Unfortunately the salsa music was old and if not me nagging DJ to play some salsa hits, everyone would have got bored. Instead, when people heard the hits, they occupated the dance floor straight away (like in the picture :)). In my opinion (and my friends agreed with me) El Habanero is good for older people, couples or those who want to get drunk in a nice environment. Otherwise it is a no no.

Yesterday we went to a jazz festival which commenced three days ago. Most of the events are free of charge and they take place within walking distance from my house. We went to Teatro al Aire Libre Los Cristales (in the picture with Eduardo and friends) and today we are going to Teatro La Tertulia.
Hmmm... how to say this... I hate jazz. However, somehow, I can listen to the latin jazz and I meet a lot of people at the events therefore I am enjoying them.
I went to Los Cristales with Eduardo, my tattooist, who doesn't speak any English but we ended up having deep conversations until very late in the night, in San Antonio park. Eduardo tried to explain to me some secrets about the Colombian culture which are hard for me to understand. For example, why people who are able to work don't work and just "study" when there is no money at home, or how the local people hunt for foreigners to get married and fix their lives, or that muggers in Cali commit the crime to get money mainly for dancing. These are subjects common in the whole world, not only here, but in Colombia they hit you hard.
Eduardo himself is a successful artist and tattooist. He didn't attend any school, neither he studied art. He just has a great talent and his hands and heart create great pieces of art. This is simply how he achieved the success - working hard and setting up targets. This is something very unusual in Colombia I am afraid so it was really nice talking to him.

On Friday we went to a club called Chango in a district called Juanchito (on the outskirts of Cali) where you can find a lot of excellent salsa clubs. It was concert of Henry Fiol, a famous salsa singer whose song Zumbale is very popular in Colombia.
Zumbale
We had a great time. We were dancing like crazy, we spent too much money and drank too much ron... :) Chango is another huge club with very good music and people passionate about dance. I would say it is another first class representation of Cali.
Yesterday I was sad because of Orlando. Although we "go out" and I like meeting him a lot, he behaves in a way I don't understand. He talks or kisses me when he is drunk, otherwise he talks only to his friends or he never calls me. People could see my sadness immediately and they looked at me shocked because I am never sad. I met Eduardo, my tattooist, and he said: you can't be like this, I am going to cheer you up. We went to Tin Tin Deo with his friend Carlos. Eduardo is a very sweet guy and he dances with passion although he is not a very good salsa dancer. Just looking at dancing Eduardo put a big smile on my face.

We went to Tin Tin Deo yesterday to celebrate Vanessa's birthday. Well, I am in TTD every Thursday anyway. I danced a lot as always. The Salsa World Championship is approaching quickly so people go out dancing even more than usual. Yesterday I met two excellent dancers. One dances professionally in a very famous group and the second guy won last year's championship. I asked them for a dance and it was like flowing, not dancing, such a nice feeling.

I started looking for Couch Surfing hosts in Ecuador and Peru. I love Cali but I feel I have to go now and leave the horrible experiences behind me.
One of my "hosts to be" in Peru told me that they call Cali "LoCombia" from the world loco - crazy. It is about salsa of course :)
I have to buy a new camera to take pictures for my blog!!
Another interesting information - Colombians use a lot of bazuka here. It is a very strong chemical product, worse than cocaina. I was told that when you take it the first time, you are addicted immediately (I took cocaina once, many years ago, and I didn't get addicted).

In the last three weeks I kind of go out with Orlando. "Kind of" because it is a very different relationship that I had before. He doesn't take any initiative to meet in private so there is no intimacy involved. We only meet at the Couch Surfing meetings where everyone knows that we go out. I wonder if the reason is that he doesn't know how to handle me or maybe he just doesn't care. I am staying in Cali for a short period of time so I don't say anything. I am just observing the situation but at the same time, for the reason mentioned above (short time) I wish we had a lot of nice intimate memories in the future.

Here is an interview I had for a Spanish school in Cali. The video was shown to the students as a proof that you can speak Spanish in four months, however they don't know how hard I studied to get there:
Aga en Cali