On Wednesday afternoon I met DJ Ara (in the picture). He was born in Armenia in Europe, lived for many years in London and then he moved to Cali with his Brazilian wife (who remembered me from Salsa Fusion, a salsa club in London ha ha ha...). Ara is talkative, has a wide knowledge of salsa history, groups and singers. It was great talking to somebody so passionate about salsa. He bought a flat in Peñon, a very nice part of Cali, and he is planning to start his own business.
Here is a third batch of my pictures from Cali and two more videos of paragliding:
Cali 3
Paragliding
Entrevista AGA

On Monday night I went to Las Brisas with Yeimmy. It was the first time I didn't get completely wasted in the club, huraaaah...
I am looking for a lambada zouk dancer who he doesn't have to be as good as I am :) because I want to organise a lambada class. Couch Surfers have been asking me for it since they saw me introducing some elements of lambada into salsa.
Yesterday I went to Teatro La Mascara on my own to see a play "Un Dia Nublado en la Casa del Sol". The play was excellent although the Colombian people were whispering all the time during the play, showing a complete lack of respect for the actors... I remember that when I came to London many years ago I had difficulty with understanding the English accent. I started attending cinema screenings three times a week, and in a very short time my listening skills improved immensly. This is what I want to do here. The play I saw yesterday was very easy to understand and I already picked up few new words (yuhuuuu!!).
This afternoon I met Oscar from Couch Surfing. We went to a very nice restaurant in Galeria Alameda, which is famous for its seafood. In the picture: I saw these figures in Alameda... so beautiful but not looked after.

I would like to share with you a song of bachata which is very popular in Colombia at the moment. I suppose it came to Europe but it hasn't spread out yet. I love this song. When I hear it on a bus or in a supermarket I immediately jump and I am ready to dance :)
Bachata en Fukuoka

Tomorrow I will start working for MIRA, a well-known political organisation in Colombia. MIRA
I will be helping with a project to introduce reuse and recycle schemes in Cali, as recycling here is almost non-existent. I hope I will understand the project, they are doing a presentation for me tomorrow (in Spanish!!). I will also teach English in MIRA's office. It will be an intensive 3-day a week course of basic and intermediate English for about 20 people. This is a big challenge for me... explaining the grammar rules in Spanish... hmmm... I am wondering how I am going to do this....

There was 474th birthday of Cali yesterday, celebrated with many parties and processions in the streets (the picture was taken from the terrace of my house).
In the evening I met David, we were invited by some people from Australia and Norway to their flat. We had a great time and I learnt many interesting things about Australia, for example that it is very difficult to bring something into the country as there are strict rules at the airports. You can't bring food, drinks, wood, seeds and you must have a certificate that your shoes were cleaned (disinfected) by a professional shoe cleaner. This is because the country is scared of any kind of contamination which would kill its people and animals, and the same it would cost millions of dollars. Very wise I think.

Paragliding in Colombia

Javier from Couch Surfing organised a paragliding day for a group of six people, it cost 25 pounds per person for about 30 minutes in the air. Javier drove us to a place called Hacienda El Paradiso in Las Hermosas (Valle del Cauca), about one hour from Cali (36 kilometers). It is apparently the most romantic place in Colombia as a very famous romantic novel was written about the place. The novel is called La Maria, by Jorge Isaac.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Hermosas_National_Natural_Park
Our instructor gave us a lift on his motorbike higher in the mountain and then we travelled by a jeep almost to the top of the mountain. I volunteered to paraglide first as other people seemed to be scared. Somehow I was not scared at all I have to say. I would be if I had to do it on my own but with a (very good looking) instructor I had no fear at all :) The paragliding itself was a great experience, the view was astonishing and it was kind of a roller coaster feeling as the wind was very strong at times (I love roller coasters).
In the evening we walked down to a very stylish and beautiful hostel where we had a meal. The view from the hostel over the Cauca valley was outstanding, we waited until sunset to see the lights of the nearby town Palmira and Cali.

When I came back home I was very tired but Yeimmy, an amazingly beautiful Colombian girl phoned me and asked if I would like to go out. We went to a boring German party (never again European parties in Colombia!!) but I enjoyed talking to Yeimmy a lot (about boyfriends of course, and life in general). At one point I got so bored and tired that I immediately took taxi home.
Here is a video of the paragliding:
Paragliding in Colombia

My observation is that some Colombian people lack logical thinking skills. It is a national thing, like for Polish people it is hard working and not much planning and discussing work, just doing it. For English people it is less work but a lot of planning and talking through one's hat (a nice English expression). Of course Colombians are lovely people but they lack the logic. For example: I have a friend who could be a Spanish teacher. There are many backpackers in San Antonio looking for a teacher. My friend is nice, responsible, good looking and has a lot of free time on his hands so I suppose he doesn't work much. He always explains to us why you say something in Spanish this way and not another. I asked him why he doesn't teach and he wasn't sure why. For me it is like seeing money lying in the streets and not picking it up. I have another friend. She wants to rent one room in her house but the room is unfurnished. There are many backpackers in San Antonio looking for a room to rent, and obviously they didn't pack their beds in the rucksacks, they need something to sleep on. I asked my friend why she doesn't invest money in a bed and rent the room to a foreigner (it is always more profit than renting it to a local). She wasn't sure why.... There is another friend who gives his motorbike to a garage when it breaks down and he never asks what was wrong with it when he picks it up ha ha ha.....

On the other hand, I love Colombians for their money saving skills (well, they have to have them to survive). When I say I don't want to go somewhere because it is 1 pound more expensive than I think it should be, nobody looks at me like at a crazy person, which always happens in London...

Regarding the politics, there is a serious problem between Venezuela and Colombia at the moment (well, it has always been, but now it got really bad). Chavez is very upset with Colombia as the country doesn't do what he wants it to do...
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/10956-chavez-kicks-out-diplomats-and-stops-trade.html

I went to the DAS office this morning and I got a new tourist visa which will expire on the 21st of August. Then I will decide if I want to stay one more month here or to move on. To be honest I am happy in Cali, despite the fact that it is ugly and I don't feel secure. My face looks glowing as the result of a lot of dancing and I don't feel tired. I cook dinners, eat healthy food and I have many friends here. The trip I have done in the last six months was amazing, moving from one city to another, week by week. But it was incredibly tiring too.

Yesterday Robin, David, Jamie from US, Bardur from Faroe Islands (guess where it is and what language they speak...) and I went on a great trip to the statue of Jesus Rey of Cali. It is an identical statue to the one in Rio de Janeiro but a little bit taller (31 meters, pedestal of 5 meters; Jesus from Rio: 30 meters, pedestal of 8 meters). Its face and actually the whole head is uglier than the Rio's one, in my opinion.
The view over Cali from the hill was remarkable and the weather was amazing again, we haven't had any rain for few days now (before it was raining every day).
In the evening I went to Cosmocentro with Robin who wanted to do some shopping.
Here is my next batch of pictures from Cali:
Cali 2

San Antonio district is like a village - people know each other and everyone gossips. I hate gossiping but somehow people feel very comfortable talking to me about others and complaining. I am trying very hard not to become like them because when you hang out with the same people all the time, you start to copy their behaviour. In London you simply don't have time for gossiping or maybe I am just lucky to have friends who don't gossip too much (or gossip in a positive way).

I celebrated Colombian Independence Day in Parque de las Banderas (where previously I watched the World Cup final) with the Couch Surfing people, in the picture. I really like this group. I have met a lot of CS groups in the last six months but I have never seen one that would be so bond and committed. Yesterday we spent a lot of time together watching a concert of salsa and pacific music. The Pacific Region is one of the five regions in Colombia and it covers the area near the Pacific Ocean.
Then we went to a cholado place and we were sitting on the pavement until late, talking and laughing (cholado is a cold beverage common in Colombia, made of crushed ice, fruit, condensated milk and cream. Cali is famous for the excellent cholado).
A very interesting thing I noticed was that nobody was using mobile phones. Wonderful.... Phone calls cost a lot of money so people don't use phones often, we usually talk through the CS website. It is so different from Europe where technology took over and people speak more time on the phone than to each other.

Today is Colombian Independence Day. Yesterday people decorated their houses and shops and there are many concerts happening today. The day is beautiful, the weather is perfect.
Yesterday I spent a lot of time with Robin from Canada and David (in the picture). David took us on a city tour on foot and showed us some places in Cali, for example Galleria Alameda market. It was quite scary to be honest: dirty, smelly, with some dodgy people looking homeless and ready to kill you. As a contrast, we saw the Granada district: very clean with people looking rich and healthy.
There were preparations for the Independence Day everywhere and in the CAM area in the city centre we saw a lot of tranvestites wearing beautiful clothes. They are symbol of independence, I suppose??...
At night we went to Las Brisas again. I danced a lot but again I got very drunk. Every Monday is an aguardiente day for me, we must buy it to sit at a table and then people I meet give me more and more and more... I have to stop drinking so much although to be honest, I have a lot of fun on Mondays :)

I had a great day yesterday, I went to the Couch Surfing meeting in Felipe's house. He lives in the south part of the city, near Unicentro. On the way to the bus station Dilia phoned me and she asked if I was coming. While I was talking with her in Spanish and focusing a lot to understand what we were talking about, a lady stopped by me and she was saying something and gesticulating for about two minutes. As my little brain was not able to understand two people speaking Spanish at the same time, I completely ignored the lady. She left, I finished my conversation with Dilia and then I miraculously got what the lady was saying. She persistently tried to warn me not to use the mobile phone in that place because it was very dangerous. How nice of her and how rude of me....
There were many people in Felipe's house, really lovely people (some of them in the picture). There was a swimming pool but I didn't have a swimming costium. Javier lent me his shorts and I jumped into the water. There was a lot of salsa dancing involved (of course!! - we are in Cali) and a lot of delicious food, made by Felipe, his cousin and some helpers.
We also talked about the "hugs and kisses" subject I mentioned in my previous post. I was told that it had been worse before, in the Couch Surfing group. Then somebody put a message on the CS website asking people to decrease the amount of physical contact because foreigners were put off by this kind of behaviour. And this is apparently normal, hugging and kissing (well, don't take me wrong, we are not talking here about kissing kissing) with people you just met, not to mention people you know for some time. I knew about this before but nothing was able to prepare me for the reality. 
On my way back, when I got off the bus, I saw scared people in the streets again (I was one of them). People scared of other people, exactly as it was in Brazil. Frightened people giving short nervous looks around while walking, wondering who is the one with the gun in the street....

I phoned Xipa who I met two weeks ago on a trip to the waterfalls and who lives in San Antonio too. We met up yesterday and I had a good time with her. We went for a walk, met some of her friends and then she invited me home for a dinner (which was delicious). Xipa comes from the lovely Medellin where she invited me in two weeks time, for an apparently amazing Flower Festival (Feria de las Flores).

Feria de las Flores
At night we went to La Fuente again but we didn't dance much. Everyone was tired after the crazy night out on Friday.

Last night we went to another great salsa disco called El Escondite near Tin Tin Deo. It was salsa madness again... :) I met a Polish girl who was disappointed with the level of dancing in Colombia, exactly as I was before I came to Cali. However she even doesn't like Cali because she doesn't dance Colombian salsa, only Cuban and New York styles, so she seems to be angry all the time. She lives in a hostel where David spends a lot of time and which I often visit as I know many people there. Everyone said that the girl is unhappy most of the times and if not meeting me, they would think that all the Polish people are unhappy ha ha ha....
El Escondite was great, with a lot of light effects and the best salsa, bachata, merengue, cumbia and reggeton music.
The first time I understood why the couples stay together all the time and they don't dance with other people. It seems that everyone is part of a big family. Everyones dances closely with each other, hugs, kisses each other and I don't know what else as I take taxi and come back home on my own :) Perhaps I am old fashioned or my mind is structured to reserve intimate hugs and kisses to my good friends and boyfriends?? Sometimes I like a guy, I dance with him and he gives me a clear sign that he likes me. Then I see him dancing closely with another girl and suddenly I don't like him any more... Then I think I should be open-minded and I am trying to take it easy but my interest in the guy just goes away, even if he comes back to me and wants to carry on dancing or chatting, which usually happens. I enjoy discovering my new feelings however I don't know how to behave in these kind of situations. In London it is different, either somebody is interested in you or not. It is clear that if he dances closely with another girl and you see it, you will not be eager to go out with him. Here it is not obvious. Hmmm.... I need to speak to the local people about it and ask for advice!

On Wednesday morning I went to a DAS office (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad) to get information how to extend my tourist visa. I was given a form to fill in and a list of required documents. I also have to pay 25 pounds for the extension, unfortunately they give you a stamp only for a month so you have to come back the next month and pay again.... This is strange (it is not only me who thinks this, I spoke to few people who were in the same situation) because backpackers invest a lot of money in the country. They pay for hostels, rented rooms, salsa classes and clubs in Cali, and they still have to pay a lot of money for a new visa.
You also need to show DAS an onward flight ticket as a proof that you are leaving the country. In the DAS office they advised me to make a reservation in a travel agency and cancel it once my visa is extended... ha ha ha... advice from a DAS office... I went to three travel agencies yesterday but they wanted me to pay straight away for a reservation. Therefore... Wilfred introduced me to a friend who has his own travel agency and he made a fake flight reservation for me. Last night in a salsa club I met a German guy who told me that he put his personal details on a German airline website (so everything was written in German), copied the page with all the flight details, pasted it into Word, printed it and he gave it to DAS as his reservation.
I went to the DAS office this morning. They accepted my documents but I have to come back next Friday to pick up my passport with the new visa.

At the end of last week I went to WWF, a very famous environmental organisation, and I spoke to the people about doing voluntary work. They asked me to email them my CV and they seemed to be very enthusiastic about having a volunteer (although they don't have a volunteer programme). I am waiting for the response but meantime I decided to visit some other organisations. Yesterday I went to the main office of MIRA in Cali. It is a political organisation whose demonstration I saw in Medellin a month ago. It looked like they are doing an excellent work for the natural environment, child protection and they work on some other social projects. I found their office in Cali and I went for an interview... in Spanish!! Don't be fooled that my Spanish is that good, I just understand a lot because I speak Italian and I never give up when I speak Spanish. I never ever admit "I don't know how to say this" but I do my best to explain what I mean, even if it takes ages, and it is working :)
The people from MIRA seemed to be happy that I visited the office, everyone came to introduce themselves and to tell me about their work. They promised to phone me back soon. There are few more organisations I want to visit but I hope that WWF or MIRA will let me work for them.

Today I had my Spanish class with Wilfred and then he asked me if I would like to go with him to a sport club with a swimming pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. Of course I wanted, and we had a great time (in the picture). Wilfred speaks Spanish all the time and he talks a lot so now I have a little headache :)
Here is the first part of my pictures from Cali:
Cali 1

Well... I am looking for a Colombian boyfriend in Cali. Yes, I am not afraid to say this. I am going to stay here for a month or two and it would be nice to have a relationship. I met a lot of guys in salsa clubs however... it is not easy to find somebody I fancy. First of all, many guys can't afford going out with me, meaning that they don't have money for a bus ticket, phone call, a drink or a meal in a cheap bar. When I arrived in Colombia I used to buy them these things but I can't support financially myself and at the same time other people in this trip. I am fed up hearing all the time that a guy doesn't have money for this or that, however I understand that in most of the cases it is a fault of the political system (but also in many cases when they are paid they immediately spend the salary on ron or aguardiente). I really miss guys inviting me for a beer or a cheap meal, whatever it is and no matter how much it costs. I almost forgot the pleasure of being invited for something.
Another obstacle is that the guys are lazy or they lack thinking. The only exception is Fernando from Cartago, who has his own business, works hard and it pays off.
Also, it puts me off very much when I meet a guy who I initially like and then he starts talking about his girlfiend in Europe (many of them are living a dream of having a girlfriend in Europe or US) or an ex-girlfriend who is probably still a present girlfriend but this is a trick they use to go out with another girl. No tricks with me though...

Last night we went out in San Antonio, just for a drink (oh my god, how much beer these Irish people can drink!!!...). We had a walk around which apparently was safe in a group. In the picture with the guys from Ireland and Oliver from Germany.

On Friday we went to La Fuente bar again where we did a lot of dancing: the tall Colombian guy David who I met a day before, few people from Peru' and US, and I. Wilber and people from his hostel were too tired after many days of dancing... they said they were not able to keep up with me :)
Then we moved to a great salsa place called Zaperoco, and we danced even more for the last hour. This is a great amount of dancing I am having in Cali... :))))
Yesterday we went to Zaperoco again, with some guys from Ireland and Israel. I tried to teach them salsa but unfortunately they didn't feel the music and generally they were useless at dancing (which I told them and I encouraged them to take classes).
This morning we met again in a park in San Fernando district, to watch the World Cup Final (in the picture). It was a great match :)

I had my first Spanish class with Wilfred, it was good and I enjoyed it a lot. He is not only a teacher, he is also a storyteller and generally a very interesting person.
In the afternoon I got an electic shock, first one in my life. I was connecting my camera to our old PC at home and suddenly a strong electric current went up my arm. I lost feeling in the arm for about ten minutes....
At night we went to Tin Tin Deo again. This time I didn't enjoy it as much as before - one of the best dancers on the floor, Wilber, was surrounded by many female friends so I didn't get a chance to dance with him a lot. Then we went to a place called Mango Biche, a huge and very stylish (kind of a western style) salsa place situated far away from the city centre. It was dark inside which I didn't like but the music was good and I met a very tall Colombian guy (finally a tall guy...) who was dancing well.

I got stressed yesterday morning and even more in the evening. I was travelling by bus to San Antonio, where I am renting a room in a Colombian family house. I got off the bus and I was crossing a bridge with my rucksack and other bags when I heard loud shouting (again....). I looked down. It was a middle-aged woman lying on the pavement and pressing her bag to her chest. There was a man with a gun trying to get the bag and holding the gun by her head. I froze.... everyone froze and nobody tried to help the woman as the guy had gun. The saga lasted for about one minute... the whole minute!! Eventually the mugger managed to get a mobile phone from her bag, he shot in the air to warn people not to chase him and he run away. The woman was in shock, she got up and started walking without shoes. Many people approached her and asked if she was ok (well, as much as she could be...). I felt horrible. My Brazilian experience is coming back in Cali. I felt from the beginning that it is a dangerous city but until something happens you just think; now I have a proof. I got to Wilber's hostel and I told everyone what had happened just ten meters away. Funnily Wilber told me that the area was usually safe... but where was the police???? The bloody police???? And I wonder what would have happened if I was closer to the scene... Would I try to help the woman while the man kept the gun by her head? Probably not, I would just watch like others... But I think if I had a gun, I would have shot the guy without any hesitation...
I was lying in my bed at night and thinking - will all the horrible experiences in South America affect me much and will I need councelling when I am back in London?....

I live in San Antonio now which is a historical centre of Cali (the house and my room in the picture) with a 50-year old Colombian couple and their 22-year old daughter. I pay 53 pounds per month. I could pay 7 pounds less but the first time in my life I am not bothered and I don't want to waste my time on looking for a room. The family doesn't speak a word of English which is excellent for me and they seem to be nice and talkative. The area is beautiful but... what I saw yesterday made me think more about my safety (well, I said it many times before, didn't I?).

This morning I got very scared. I woke up at 10 am, dressed up and suddenly I heard screaming, as if somebody was being killed... horrible shouting of many people. I got very stressed. My first thought was to get to the kitchen and grab a knife to protect myself. My second thought was to jump through the window. Eventually I run to the screaming people and it appeared that Wilber's nephew fell down the stairs and he hit his head on the floor. It could have been fatal but the boy was all right and smiling five minutes later. These Colombian people, they can shout.... They know how to make children but they don't know how to look after them. I am sorry to say this as Wilber's family is really lovely.

Yesterday I went to a Couch Surfing meeting in a coffee shop in Unicentro (a big shopping centre in the south part of the city). It was an English conversation meetup so I was very welcome as otherwise they would speak Spanish all the time.
The people I met were nice, educated and polite. There was also a girl from Korea. She is travelling in the world on her own (1,5 years) and she told us some interesting facts about the political conflict between North and South Korea.
I confessed that I had been very unhappy at the beginning of my stay in Cali because I didn't like the city. They admitted that a lot of social work and vital improvement is needed in numerous districts here. They said that there are nice places in the city too, which they will show me later. In the picture with some of the Couch Surfers.

I will have my first Spanish class tomorrow. The teacher I met yesterday seems to be professional and very nice. He will charge me 5 pounds for an hour of Spanish grammar. I want just grammar as I talk to many local people and they teach me the right (Colombian) pronunciation and many new words.

I had a wonderful day and a lot of fun last night!! Cali is incredible, I have never experienced anything like this before... people love salsa and the clubs are outstanding.
I woke up at 8 am yesterday because I wanted to take part in an organised trip to the mountains. I met Wilber and others in front of the hostel where he works, called Jovitas. We spent 5 hours in the mountains, we stopped by two different waterfalls and had a dip in the cold water (I got leeches all over...). Then it started raining heavily (when we were on the top of the mountain) so going down was a nightmare. We had a lunch at a farmer's house and we waited there for a couple of hours, until it stopped raining. But even in the rain we had fun, although it was really dangerous to climb up and down the slippery rocks. I just remembered what Geraldo from Porto Seguro told me: you have to survive South America for your father, you are everything for him; and I managed to finish the trip unharmed.
Today I am going to buy proper shoes for climbing as it looks like we will repeat the trip soon.

At night I met Wilber and Terrie from Australia. This time I put my camera in my knickers on the way from the bus stop to the hostel, it was quite uncomfortable to walk I have to admit.
We went dancing to an amazing place outside of the city called Las Brisas (in the picture). It was a restaurant and to sit down at the table you had to order ron or aguardiente (no beer or soft drinks) so we ordered a bottle of ron. Then I was given aguardiente and then some guys from the club bought another bottle of ron for us. I don't remember when the last time I was so drunk. At 2 am we went to another salsa place called VIP in somebody's car. I don't know where it was, I just remember that it was another excellent club with many great dancers. I could hardly stand so my dancing partners had to carry me through the songs (ha ha ha...). Luckily Wilber was there to take control of the situation, although he was drunk too. Terrie found a big black boyfriend and she was chatting to him most of the time.
We left the club at 5 am when three guys started to fight who was going to dance with me. At this point I had enough and I said "let's go". We all left and Wilber made sure that I got home and that I went to my (well, in reality his) bed ha ha ha....
I finally found out the name of the sexiest instrument in the world, used a lot in Colombian salsa. It is called cowbell (as simple as that...).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowbell_(instrument)

Later today I am seeing a room which I may rent and I am meeting a teacher who will access my level of Spanish and who will suggest how it can be improved. Tomorrow I am going to a human rights organisation to ask if I can work as a volunteer for them.

I had a nice day today. Yes, a nice day in Cali... I woke up at 1 pm as we were dancing a lot yesterday. We went to Tin Tin Deo again: Wilber, Terrie from Australia and Wilber's friend who is a great dancer (in the picture). I danced as much as I dance in London, until I couldn't catch my breath, with Wilber, his friend and some other Colombian guys.... all of them excellent dancers.
This afternoon I went to San Antonio, a district where Wilber works, as Terrie told me that it is actually a nice area. It is a nice place indeed but smelly with dogs and human (I suppose) excrement on the streets, and very dangerous (I was warned not to speak on the phone in San Antonio). I met with Patricia, Fernando's cousin who I originally met in Cartago. We had a cup of coffee and then she showed me a shopping centre in a quite nice area. This means that there are some nice places in the city.

I am generally unhappy now. I don't like Cali and I haven't had time yet to explore it more and to find nice places in the city. I feel here like I felt in Brazil - well... unhappy. In Brazil I thought that I missed London but it was simply a confrontation of my energy with the energy of the place. Even people are similar here, they reply "I don't know" when you ask them about something and I get furious. I thought I had it behind me when I left Brazil but I was wrong. People seem to be incompetent too, I thought about a tatoo done in Cali but now I am not sure. I have to do something about my negative feelings soon but I have to explore the city first. If I stay in Cali longer, I want to rent a nice flat in a nice area (which I am not sure is possible here).
Yesterday night I went to the hostel where Wilber works as a salsa teacher. He sleeps there so I can sleep comfortably in his room and obviously he doesn't pay. I took a bus from his house and everyone thought that I was crazy because it is very dangerous at night, and Wilber's mum was really worried about me. Well, taxis are cheap but I can't afford taking them all the time, I always come back home by taxi. Yesterday I didn't take my camera with me and I put my mobile phone in my knickers (yes!! - in my knickers!!...). This is a trick I learnt in Brazil where you can buy an underwear with built-in pockets for the phones. I felt quite uncomfortable with the mobile in my knickers but at least it wouldn't get stolen easily. I thought about putting my camera in my knickers too but I gave up....
I arrived at the hostel and we went out to a nice little bar called La Fuente where people were dancing outside in the street. I was dancing a lot, thanks to Wilber who is a good dancer. Then we moved to a place called Jala Jala in Juanchito, a district with a lot of salsa clubs. I asked the local people "are you sure there is not going to be American or English music?". They looked at me as if I was stupid and they said "Aga, you are in Cali....".
The place was wonderful. The best salsa place I have ever been to. Very posh but cheap, a lot of space to dance, great lights, special effects and excellent music. We were dancing all the night and I felt alive again :) All the places here are called discotecas. It is a name I don't like but in Cali it means completely different thing than anywhere else - it means great salsa venues. The last club we went to was called Cafe' Mi Tierra where we danced even more and then I came back home.
This afternoon I went to a salsa workshop but the salsa level was low. I had a chat with few dance teachers and I was surprised how little they knew about different kinds of latin dances... So I got upset again.
The taxi driver didn't know how to get to Fundación Estrellas Mundiales de la Salsa so he drove around the city for an hour. Luckily when we eventually got there he charged me very little as I was prepared to have a fight with him.
I am very confused at the moment, I enjoy my dancing moments very much but then I get easily upset by the city and its people.

In Cali

I am in Cali, the world capital of Colombian salsa. But is it really???... You couldn't find a better person than I to check it out...
Distance Cartago - Cali: 190 km, 3 hours on the bus, cost: 7 pounds. My host Wilber picked me up from the station and we took a taxi to his home which he shares with a big family. I met his parents, brothers and sisters (not all of them, he has five brothers and three sisters, and they have children too...). The family is very nice although it's a kind of family which makes children without considering much what will happen next, for example how to feed the children?... Wilber is a well-known salsa teacher and we went dancing yesterday to a place called Tin Tin Deo. The music was good but it is more a spot for socialising. I was dancing with Wilber and other people but I wasn't very impressed. Two people approached me, one said that he saw me in the centre of Medellin a month ago and another said that we had met at a party in Medellin ha ha ha... Then I remembered that it was the guy who was teaching me Cali salsa steps at the Friday party...
Well, the place was good although my expectations were higher. Today we are going to dance again, with many people I met yesterday. I also met a Polish guy who has been living in Cali for eight months now. He lives in a hostel but he doesn't pay because he helps to build up the hostel's website. He is a kind of a nightmare Polish person you can meet, talking all the time where he was travelling in the world and what he experienced, with the emphasis on: me, me, me...
I thought I was living in an unpleasant district with the family but when I got to the centre of Cali I understood that the whole city is unpleasant. I don't like it here (Cali in the picture). However, I am going to stay in the city longer as it looks like there is a lot of dancing going on. I didn't like Santa Marta on my first day and then I had a fantastic time.
Here are my pictures from Cartago and Pereira:
Cartago, Pereira

Yesterday I spent all day in Pereira, the city is situated only half an hour bus drive from Cartago. There is a Bolivar Square (of course), some nice churches and a lot of shopping centres. I was shocked to find out that the sculpture in the square was naked Bolivar!! (in the picture) - I have never seen a sculpture like this in any other Bolivar Square in Venezuela or Colombia, it is always serious and fully clothed hero on his calm horse.
I went to a DAS office in Pereira and asked about my tourist visa extension for two more months. I was told that I have to do it in Cali a week before my stamp expires, and that it will take only few hours.
I met Fernando in the late afternoon and we went to his leather shop and to another business he manages - an ice-cream shop. Later on, I met Erica from Couch Surfing who I contacted a day before. She phoned me and invited to her shop with clothes, prams and nappies for children. We had a chat and then she showed me the city by night. I came back to Cartago late in the night.

Today it birthday of Fernando's mum (she is 71). She has been so good to me during all my stay in Cartago - feeding me, teaching how to fry platanos (long bananas) and making sure that I slept well. I bought her flowers but I got angry at the florist. The guy owning the shop didn't want to show me the flowers and I didn't want to order something I couldn't see first. After a lot of irritating negotiatons he finally made a kind of nice bunch of flowers (I think I would make it much nicer).
Later today I am leaving for Cali.
Aga and Mauricio dancing salsa in Primero de Mayo, in Bogota'