This is a vase. No, it is not our vase--we are too poor.
As the sun rose over Santa Marta this morning we awoke to find ourselves enveloped in a cacophony of noise. No, I wasn't snoring, and no, Haley hadn't spotted an insect. Eager to see what was going on we headed to the roof of our hostel to see what was going on (and to eat breakfast), and found the streets already full of people wearing soccer (futbol) jerseys. Yellow, red, and blue colored flags hung from every house, and the police even gave the local cathedral a flyby in their helicopter. It's the 20th of July, Colombia's independence day!
Back in the early 1800's Colombia, like most countries in the region, was governed by Spain. The new-world colonists resented the Spanish, as Spain wouldn't allow them to trade with anyone but Spain itself (among other things). Tensions finally boiled over when, on July 20th, 1810, a couple of rich people fought over a vase. Seriously.
Long story short, the Colombians, through some amount of trickery, provoked the Spanish into breaking a particularly valuable vase, leading to a massive up-swell of public anger against the Spanish. It's a convoluted story--you should look it up. Don't laugh, we threw a bunch of tea into a harbor.
After a delicious breakfast of eggs and passion fruit juice, we headed out into the city to do some exploring. It was really hot--above ninety degrees with ninety percent humidity. Luckily we had prepared for this. And by prepared for, I mean our bodies were capable of sweating. A lot. By the time we reached the local cathedral (which was guarded by an armed soldier) we were already feeling it.
After visiting the cathedral we made a quick trip to the local Exito, Colombia's version of Walmart. Haley needed to buy some conditioner. Here is a gratuitous picture of her buying said conditioner. It felt a lot like buying conditioner from a Walmart.
The rest of the day was spent exploring what Santa Marta had to offer. It's a beautiful little place, full of tiny restaurants, shops, and really kind people (especially people trying to sell us something). Nearly everywhere we went we were greeted with a cheery "a la orden" (at your service) as people tried to get our attention so that we'd buy something.
Most of our time was spent at or near the beach, which was extremely crowded due to the holiday. We didn't go swimming, but we did enjoy watching a few native Santa Martians (pretty sure that's right) jumping off of a pier and into the Caribbean, just barely missing each other as they plunged into the water. We got a lot of stares from the kids, as well as a few cries of "mister, lady, one two tree, goud morneeng." It was fun.
We had some good food and ice cream today. Of particular note was my ceviche--a dish made of seafood, usually raw, onions, lime juice, and olive oil. Mine was made out of shrimp, and it was really good. We also grabbed a Cholao, a drink made out of crushed ice, fruit juice, five kinds of tropical fruit, ice cream, sweetened condensed milk, and chocolate milk mix. That was really tasty as well.
The beach itself wasn't incredible, but the views were really pleasing. Hundreds of years ago Santa Marta was an important Spanish port. There are still huge ships that come here, as well as a picturesque lighthouse watching over the bay from its small island.
One of my favorite parts of the day was simply the Colombian people. Colombian people are extremely kind and generous, and they have a great sense of community. People talk to each other here. They care about each other. They don't sweat the small stuff. When I was on my mission I never had a single door slammed in my face. Not once. Seeing everyone wearing their nation's jersey and enjoying a beautiful day at the beach together made me happy. There was something in that moment that I think we all could learn from.
Now it's back in the hotel, ready to take another cold shower. Tomorrow we'll be heading off to the Ciudad Perdida (the lost city), a 4 day hike through the jungle to see an archaeological site 400 years older than Machu Picchu. We'll be sure to have an interesting post for everyone on Sunday once we're back in Santa Marta (provided that we make it back alive).
Hasta luego!
-Konner and Haley
Just curious...did you FINALLY convince Haley to eat ceviche??
ReplyDeleteOf course he didn't!!!
DeleteOf course he didn't!!!
DeleteTake lots of pics on the hike. Can't wait for the post!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait till your next post. Love you both
ReplyDeleteCan't wait till your next post. Love you both
ReplyDelete