I had a strange dreams last night, the place I was living had a gas
station with a food store that I would go to frequently. The strange
part is that Kurt Cobain worked there, no one recognized who he was
and he was happy there. The only person who know his real identity
was a friend from university named Jason. Jason would go in occasionally
and talk to Kurt some and hang out very casually. Sometimes dreams
have messages for me, not sure what kind of message this one has for
me.
I was up early for a trip to the Tatacoa Desert
with several of the students from the university.
hummingbird flew into the car
A very sweet and tasty cactus fruit very juicy
and refreshing, these were everywhere in abundance
I look small among these giants of the desert
The light is constantly changing in this region, every few minutes
the clouds move around changing the light on the landscape.
Taking a break in the shade
Time for lunch!
First part of the meal was a
hot soup, not pictured below
this was a lot of food! I could not eat all
of it
This guy even talked to me in Spanish! my phrase
book did not help much here
Quesillos
on the left; Almohabanas on the right very tasty rice bread like things
with panala filling
time for a refreshing after
lunch drink
We were soon joined by a man who had probably
at least his 6th beer in his hand, he was very friendly and said that
his son knows English. He wanted me to meet his son, so he yelled
over for his son to come join us who was eqaully drunk. Both of them
were very friendly and Felipe said, we are very friendly people and
even more so when drinking! One thing I have noticed in Colombia is
they do not have the same concept of "personal space" like
in the U.S. and when they have been drinking, even less so!
Jose fell asleep on the ride from the Tatacoa desert
We went into town and walked down
The Malecon which runs along the Magdelena River. The Magdelena River
holds some sacred meaning and is the only river which stretches across
the whole country. There is also a myth about Mohan in the river too.
Along the walkway in this area there are lots of gift shops, cafe's
and restuarants. We stopped and had some coffee. The state we are
in, Huila, has the distinction of growing the best coffee in the world.
The table had these coffee beans in it, not
sure what each color means
on such a hot day, we opted for a cold Frappe'
:) mmmmm
There is a very large structure
in the form of Mohan the mythologicy being. We went inside and climbed
the stairs to the top which gave a fantastic view of the city on one
side and jungle on the other.
Mi amigos
The Magdelena River
The large image of Mohan
This was amazingly good!!
A man collecting firewood along the shore of the river, obviously
for cooking, not heating!
iguana
We stopped and had some mamoncillo
This tells a story which represents freedom
for Colombia. Cacica Gaitana, was a 16th century Páez woman
leader who, in 1539-40, led the indigenous people of northern Cauca,
Colombia in armed resistance against colonization by the Spanish.
Pedro de Añasco had his eyes removed and was dragged by his
head through the streets until he died. It is hard to see in this
photo due to the sun being in the wrong place! But you can see Cacica
Gaitana with a rope dragging Pedro de Añasco him by the head.
Another symbol of freedom seen everywhere, even
in taxi's.
We took a taxi back to Sandra's and spent the
rest of the evening in conversation, I tried some cactus wine and
coffee wine. I really liked the coffee wine. It was 12 hours later
when this day ended with my new friends here and I am being challenged
even more so to want to come back!