Colombia

After a busy 4 months of a new job where I had to be “on”, I’ve been looking forward to a week away at my new country of the year, Colombia!

Here I’m meeting up with Amanda who has been a citizen of the world for the past few years. She arrived yesterday from Peru and is meeting me at our hotel in Medellín.

Our trip will take us to three different cities for this week. Alas, I’m sad it’s not one of my two week adventures, but thought it would be good to be more conservative with vacation at my first year at the new job.

So I got to JFK at around 5 am for my trip to Miami where I should have had an hour or so layover. However our plane was having some equipment issues, and after several delays, they ultimately switch us to a different gate where we would finally leave a little less than two hours delayed. During this time I enjoyed a Wendy’s spicy chicken sandwich while watching the recaps of the Royal Wedding.

Our flight from Miami to Medellín was a little less than four hours and was consumed by two movies. The airport was small and the arrival process was smooth - I met my car service right away. I booked through SunTransfers which I used on our family vacation in Europe. Typically when alone, I’m a bit more economical, but due to a heavy desire to relax and decompress for this one week, I didn’t want to “think” so much.

The ride into the city took about 45 minutes. My driver didn’t speak any English, so we conversed via my broken Spanish. I met Amanda at our hotel, the Ibis Medellín and we quickly got settled and rested.

We watched a little of Jumanji on her streaming account on my iPad as only certain movies are available outside the United States. I also enjoyed some Peruvian chocolate that Amanda brought for me. We could hear the rainstorm building outside.

We finally motivated and went to the hotel lobby bar where we imbibed our welcome drinks due to my silver status. Here are the local brews that we tried:

Amanda had researched a restaurant nearby which ironically and unknowingly was Peruvian. As we walked in the dark and the rain, I managed to stub my toe and slipped into a mini manhole drain. I lost my flip flop momentarily and it reminded me of Rachel who lost hers completely at the Dead Sea.

After fishing out my flip flop, we ordered in the restaurant and watched soccer. I remarked how sticky my foot was and realized I had bled all over the bottom. I went to the bathroom and cleaned it off and noticed I had sliced my toe like I had done many years ago while volunteering for ICSF and was called a “heavy bleeder” by the EMTs.

Ultimately we enjoyed our meal with my wrapped toe of napkins and a hair tie. Here are our appetizers:





Then I double bagged my foot and taped my flip flop thanks to the supplies of the restaurant in order to walk again in the rain.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by the ATM and then borrowed the hotel’s first aid kit. After soaking my foot in soapy water, Amanda applied some iodine and wrapped up my toe with gauze. Here’s a sad Amanda and my bagged foot at the restaurant and then back at the hotel:



From my first sliced toe experience many years ago, I learned the toe should heal on its own. What an adventure for our first day in Colombia, but feeling fine and starting already to decompress despite the shock to my toe!