Somewhere Completely Different

I've been in South America for three weeks now. I haven´t had much time for blogging, but here´s my much needed start...

Much has changed since my last post. I think I've grown a foot. Erin and I are no longer together. With that shock I decided that I could not longer pursue life in the States -- or in the very least needed a temporary break from the repetition of life in the small state.

I bought a one-way ticket to Bogota, Colombia without having any knowledge of Spanish or the culture I was about to jump into. (This should encourage anyone who wants to travel with only a backpack and some hiking boots.)

I'll have to post my pictures. In short, so far Colombia is brilliant. Although, I've only just started my travels. I plan on being gone for 5-6 months. The general thought is:
travel north from Bogota to Cartagena

spend 3 weeks with my two amigos, Zach and Jordan

fly to Quito

move south and meet Alex for 2 weeks

hit up the coast & attend a surf and language school

go south through Ecuador, taking the train -- wtf is the name?

see where I'm at and how much further I'm interested in going

Peru and Bolivia?

Keep you posted. Also, I'll edit this post, put up some pics and do a re-cap of Bogota and the finca in Alto Del Naranjo.

Paulino's Bachelor Pad

Paulino had the best idea for a house. He had a $12,000 metal building constructed as the exterior shell. Then he and a friend built a loft in the upstairs. The downstairs acted as a shop space, except, an old green Cadillac and broken down commercial ovens took up most of the interior -- but we'll ignore that. He had yet to dig a well, so the roof acted as a rain catchment system. The gutter led down to an 800-gallon tank that siphoned into another tank on the inside. On the south facing side were posts in the ground for a future two-story greenhouse for passive solar. He had yet to incorporate the second story porch in his plans. Who knows if the greenhouse will ever happen?

I've always dreamt of building a rustic, barnhouse bachelor pad and this was a great example of one.

Laundromat

I hate doing laundry at the laundromat. No matter how unscented your detergent is, you can still smell the Tide from the prior wash. Plus, it costs a small fortune to dry a pair of thick socks. I guess I'm just sensitive to smells and cheap.

Needs

Erin and I just left Earth Mountain Education Farm located in southeastern Colorado. We spent the night in the parking lot to Santa Fe national forest. We're in need of an oil change, a humid climate, showers, and a professional massage...

Ticks, Ticks, Ticks

Yesterday, I pulled a tick off my ass. I thought to myself, "Is there any privacy these days?"

I hate ticks. I'm averaging two ticks a days here in Tennessee. Top that!

Leaving Pulaski

We left Pulaski on Friday evening. We had planned to leave around 3 PM, but lost a couple hours hanging out with the animals and taking pictures of Karen's farm. Putting all the belongings we stashed in their basement back into the van took about an hour. Making the iced coffee and saying goodbye took another hour. So we left in time to get to wherever we were going in the dark. The address to the next farm from where we were in Pulaski on Google maps took 2 hours. But since we drove the wrong direction for an hour, it added an extra two to the trip...

(note: Never tell your girlfriend that it's her fault that you drove the wrong way.)

On the phone, Paulino may have been a mafioso or a southern farmer -- we couldn't tell. The directions he gave us seemed vague upon hitting the back roads near his farm. He told us to drive down a dirt road for 2 1/2 miles. He'd "meet us at the church on the left."

This seemed suspicious to me. It was now dark. Erin was gripping my arm tighter and tighter while the gas gauge moved closer and closer to E. The road was in rough shape. There was debris all over the road. Erosion caused gullies. Every minute we would drive over what we later found out were cattle-guards. In the dark, it felt uncomfortable. We could imagine the wheels falling through, being stuck in the middle of nowhere Tennessee -- wait, surely, Paulino would help us. How could we contact him? There was no cell phone coverage.

Finally, after Erin and I made up scenarios, depicting the horror stories about Paulino and "the church," we had made it to the abandoned white church and saw his red SUV up to the left. I rolled down my window and creeped towards him. He sped away and waved his finger, signaling to follow. Erin and I looked at each other in terror. We were hoping to get a chance to ask where we were, but down the road he went. And down the road we followed.

A collective gulp between the two of us.

"Why wouldn't you let me get a handgun," I asked.

"I don't know... maybe you should get one," Erin replied quietly.

"Too late now."

The road worsened. A creek. In the dark it could have been 4 feet deep. Paulino continued on. Would the van make it through? It was rear-wheel drive and could manage to get itself stuck in a puddle on the wrong day. We decided to drive through following the lights ahead in the distance.

The headlights illuminated a metal structure with an old, 1970's-style Chevy truck. I noticed the bed was filled with trash. Out popped a short, pudgy Sicilian man with a very obvious New Orleans accent.

"Paulino?"

A collective sigh between the two of us.

(note: prounced "nu-owrlins" -- not "new or-leens")

We made it.

Cops

Yesterday we were pulled over by a state policeman. He had absolutely no reason to pull us over.

He said that "he thought we weren't wearing our seat belts," in a thick southern accent, butchering the English language as he sped on blabbering.

But we were wearing our seat belts and I've never been in trouble with the law. Maybe he didn't know what he was doing was illegal. In retrospect, I failed to mention to him how unconvincing his lie was. He was so curious! I guess your life story is needed along with liscence and registration.

Some people are so nosey that they would go through training to wear a uniform, carry a gun, and salute the flag just to pull you over with those blue lights flashing to get a closer look at my pretty face. Pff...