Dear Obiwan,
The next 2 days in Cali were relaxing and sometimes challenging. I have been practicing Spanish as much as I can before getting to Cali, but being with Esperanza made me realize how badly I need to either just start ONLY speaking Spanish for the rest of the trip or I need to take a course somewhere for a week or 2. Esperanza doesn’t speak English so we had to communicate via Español. However, the first day or so we seemed to communicate pretty well, but as the days went by I felt like my Spanish was somehow getting worse? I don’t think that’s actually true but it was just very frustrating not being able to communicate with someone who wants to communicate and help and is being so kind and giving me shelter!
I also really wanted to get to Ecuador so I researched and I read that if you’re going by bus you “CAN’T MISS” Ipiales, this small right before the border that has a church in between two mountains! I also read that there is a bus that takes about 8 hours and it is supposed to be a beautiful drive. I saw one was in the morning and one at night so I bought the one for Tuesday morning. However, when I told Esperanza she seemed upset and we were unable to communicate to each other for me to understand :(.
On Monday we picked up Clarita’s daughter from her beautiful school and then later that day I met Clarita (Esperanza’s other daughter)! She spoke fluent English so she was the bridge me and Esperanza desperately needed to communicate with each other. She was incredibly warm and helpful just like her mom. She also asked her mom about what I’ve been up to and then apologized to me for “being stuck in my mother’s house!” She then told me that her mom was frustrated about us not being able to communicate and we commiserated together. And she also explained that her mother was upset earlier because she had planned to take me on a tour tomorrow morning of Cali, but I had no idea! I told her I could totally take the night bus instead and explained that I didn’t know. Also, my ticket said it was ‘non-refundable’ but Clarita was NOT having that and called and the bus told her that I can buy the night bus ticket and then go to the ticket office tomorrow and get a refund! So now I will be leaving tomorrow night at 8pm and will stay and get my Esperanza tour in the morning!
After that I mentioned how I wanted to go salsa dancing before I left, which meant tonight or tomorrow night, and she also, just like her mother, emphatically and confidently stated, “oh no that’s too dangerous there,” but also said she used to go all the time!
Oh here is a photo from my room I stayed in for the last few nights:
The next day my tour was lovely! Clarita was able to tell me that her mother asked for me to be up by 7, which was SO HELPFUL to know since every morning I woke up to Esperanza telling me to HURRY and me never knowing why and having frantic mornings each day.
On my tour Esperanza spoke in both English and Spanish and I spoke in Spanish and we communicated better. Carlos drove and he is just so incredibly kind, everyone I met these few days has been! After the tour we went food shopping for I think the 4th time in 2 days? Some of the shopping was interesting, I was interested by how in Colombia if there a sealed package of say, 3 small containers, it’s 100% acceptable to rip open the package and just take what you need.
Look at all the herb!
Cheeeeese
Later that day Clarita, her daughter, and Esperanza all gave me a ride to the bus terminal (which is ACROSS TOWN) it was so nice of them. Clarita came inside with me and made sure I got my ticket refund! And then I took a 12 hour night bus to Ipiales, Colombia. The bus was pretty scary at times Obi, super windy turns on these tiny roads and it monsoon rained a few times. I slept a little but didn’t sleep much due to being pretty scared of the roads most of the time.
Till tomorrow my dearest lion!
Love tú Madre,
Carly
Dear Obiwan 