I don't think of myself as a hater...

I really dislike the word hate. It doesn't ever really seem to be a very accurate description of what I'm actually experiencing. But my experience with Spirit Air sunk so low that the word might actually apply. I can't think of any organization I think less of right now. I should say that I DO NOT feel the same way about Spirit Airline staff... no... I think it's safe to say that it's limited to my experience of the organization itself... and maybe their telephone support structure. Really shady stuff and I never saw any evidence of supporting ANY degree of customer service... rather the Spirit airport staff are left struggling to find resolutions without any resources or processes. I'm tempted to look at reviews of other people's experiences of Spirit Air online... but I have already been told that everything is really negative and I'm feeling quite content right now, so I don't need to fuel any frustration.:)

I will come back and wrap up thoughts and reflections on our trip tomorrow night. Now I'd just like to share this most recent journey of weirdness - the last 30+ hours. Which I think is best done in picture format...

So we begin...

Our good-byes with Lindsey and Michelle yesterday were sad ones... especially following a great Michelle-style breakfast. But Ashley, Nick, Jachin and I took off for the airport... and arrive to this scene. I wish I had a photo that accurately captured the chaos of this scene. Spirit Air cancelled our flight to Fort Lauderdale. This was of course after they had already cancelled our original return flight just over a week prior - their next flight out of Colombia was on Wednesday... but there were rumors flying within the crowd that there were no Spirit flights for the next two weeks. If you take the actually killing of people out of the picture, Hunger Games seems like an accurate parallel. The cancellation set the crowd up for a brutal two to three... to four hour fight for alternate travel itineraries. I wish I was being dramatic. It was really interesting how utterly chaotic it was. By the time it was all said and done, it was brutally obviously that one woman was responsible for rebooking all of the travel plans. Needless to say we got split up from Nick and Ashley... they stayed one more night in Cartagena... while Bogota was our fate.

If Jachin were actually standing and I had a more accurate before/after photo... you'd see that we were among the select handful of people that were the last ones standing in the battle for travel itineraries. We had some really interesting conversations... so it wasn't all bad... and we didn't miss the crowds.

But the great news is that we got to share one more meal with Lindsey, Michelle and Kike (the photographer). Which was amazingly gracious timing because as I thought through the whole Spirit Air experience that had just unfolded, I had just about arrived at the point of tears when Lindsey, Michelle and Kike arrived and were the best distraction ever. Really. Ever. So we ended our Cartagena experience with some fast food from Kokorico. It was indeed "rico" (tasty).

Then we settled into the idea of a new flight itinerary - we were originally going Cartagena to Fort Lauderdale to Chicago... at which point we grab my car from the park and ride. Last night our understanding was a flight from Cartagena to Bogota yesterday, to Miami this morning, and a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago from there (wasn't sure how we were going to get to Fort Lauderdale). So while this whole plan obviously wasn't all that exciting... we were THRILLED to get on an Avianca Airline flight instead of a Spirit Air flight.

Happy to be boarding an Avianca Flight .

And check out our Avianca technology!!:) This felt like a treat after the shady Spirit Air plane gear... seriously... cramped spaces and old equipment is the name of the game with Spirit. Not so with Avianca.

Spirit put us up at a really posh hotel in Bogota. We got there too late to head into the city, but we ate reeeeally good food. Spirit Air picked up a very small portion of our bill.

Then we picked up our LAN Airline flight at 7:20 this morning and got ourselves some exit row seats! Check out our leg room. (and note the new Havaiana sandals... while I loved loved loved getting to go to Colombia... Brazil is still always on my heart).

Landed in Miami and by this time we had heard back from Spirit Air and they got us a flight direct from Miami to Chicago! Which meant that we could settle into a couple mojitos for me and a couple bloody marys for Jachin. Which was a fantastic way to pass the afternoon.

And we got to meet up with Ashley, Nick and Rosa Margarita (their fellow Texas-bound travel companion who also was involved in the Spirit "catastrophe" - Rosa Margarita's words... not mine...).

Nothing photo-worthy about our final leg of the flight other than the fact that it means we're BACK in the midwest! Just got our car and now we're sipping chai tea at Starbucks before we hit the road back to Minneapolis. The moral of the story... NEVER fly Spirit Air. Prices aren't that much cheaper. And the service is definitely NOT worth it.

But in it all, I am grateful to have share the experience with Jachin, Nick and Ashley. Not that any of us would wish the chaos and stress of yesterday on anyone else (friends don't let friends fly Spirit Air...), but I felt very content today to be with them at the Miami airport bar.

Alrighty... off to the open interstate highways of the midwest! They're calling Jachin and mine's names.

Done with Spirit Air...

Well... Spirit cancelled our flight again yesterday. We´re in Bogota right now. Heading to Miami this morning. And will hit Chicago tonight. None of it really matters... it all works anyway... but to say that we have some thoughts about Spirit Air... and that not one of them is positive... is a gross understatement. I thought my expectations were low after the first cancellation. They handled it all very badly... think Hunger Games (note - I didn´t see anyone actually killed in the battle for alternate travel plans).

But I´ve so so so sooooo grateful to be doing this with Jachin. Time to take the shuttle back to the airport. Hasta!

They say it's just like the setting of Lost...

It's been an action-packed week! But a very fun and relaxing one. I've enjoyed the pace... a nice balance of doing/seeing and chilling/napping. I've reeeeeeeeally enjoyed all the quality time with my travel companions and hostesses, too... I sure can't say that enough.

So to do a bit of a recap...

At Sunday's Pool Party

Sunday was pool party day here at Michelle and Lindsey's place. It was lovely. I think I far too often underestimate my capacity to do very little. So the time just chilling by the pool all afternoon was a real treat. Favorite part? Getting to put faces and personalities to the names that I have heard so much about for the last ten months from Lindsey and Michelle (many of their coworkers came over) - most were as I had imagined... only shorter in height.:)

Monday was a day to explore Cartagena. Ash, Nick, Jachin and I enjoyed bumming around the city... followed by dinner-in with Michelle, Lindsey and Kike (Michelle's boyfriend). We hit up the Castillo de San Felipe, which is an incredible fort up on the top of a hill. It's a crazy structure. The photos don't do it justice. Our tour guide had pretty tough English to sort out though. Favorite part? Fantastic views of the city from the castillo and the strange tunnels that ran under the castillo... seriously... the tunnels were great.

The Castillo

The castillo invaders

Crazy cool tunnels

Tuesday after Michelle and Lindsey went to work, the four of us took off for Tayrona National Park. They said it was just like the setting of the tv show Lost... so we couldn't turn that down. Actually getting there was filled with a series of miscommunications around transportation... but that in and of itself gave us a quality Latin American experience.:) We were en route for most of the day. But then when we finally arrived, after riding in two different vans, in a taxi and in a shuttle, we did an absolutely awesome hike through a very tropical forest. Saw some monkeys, some really reeeeally productive ants (seriously. they had these incredibly long and complex trails and were carry large leafy items.), and it just felt fantastic to be amongst all things green. The air really did feel fresher. We landed at a hostel just off the beach and settled in for a night sleeping in hammocks. Favorite part? We perhaps spent some quality time on the beach after dark with some rum and cigars. It seemed altogether like the right place to be.

Our sleeping quarters in Tayrona

Wednesday was beach day! And Tayrona beaches sure aren't the average beach! Seriously. Incredible. We did a lot of walking... hopping from beach to beach with a little bit of swimming in between. It was a crazy refreshing day. Loaded with beautiful sights. We worked our way down the chain of beaches until the last main beach where we caught a boat at the end of the day and took off for Teganga, the epitome of a small beach town next to Tayrona Park. We found ourselves a great little hostel with a roof top bar and settled in for the night... literally. Jachin and I never actually left the hostel until the next morning when we caught a bus back to Cartagena. Instead we ate and drank on the roof top... until we hit the hay. Learned that we all like Aguadiente, the hard liquor of choice here in Colombia. Favorite part? The fantastic nap I took on a really beautiful beach.

Seriously. Tayrona beaches are amazing.

Our rooftop view of Teganga

Thursday we returned to Cartagena. We had a MUCH smoother transportation experience on the way back. Everything went without a glitch. And then we got to hang out with Lindsey, Michelle and Kike last night again. We went to one of the better known ceviche places in town last night... had some REALLY tasty ceviche. Favorite part? Getting to see Lindsey and Michelle again. No doubt there.

And here we are. It's massage morning for Jachin, Nick and Ashley. A masseuse came to the apartment this morning, Jachin's first in the line-up before he and I hit the beach. Then we're off to Lindsey and Michelle's school this afternoon to see the kiddos! Very grateful and content to be here. I'm really enjoying playing with Spanish again. It's affirming to realize that I never really do underestimate how much I love traveling. I've really enjoyed seeing and learning about Jachin's travel style. And I think I'll have some fresh passion fruit juice on the beach this morning.:)

:)

Perfect Day in Cartagena

It's ridiculous how perfect the weather is today. Seriously. OFf the charts. Super sunny. Really warm. Really breezy. The ocean seems extra Caribbean in color today. No joke. I'm in my swim suit... we're ready to rumble... just waiting for Nick and Ashley to arrive!! And by ready to rumbler... I do mean that we're ready to spend the rest of the day by the pool in the sun. A fun day.:)

We did have a very dark moment in our trip on Friday... care of Spirit Air. Our friends at Spirit Air cancelled our flight on Monday the 4th. They put us on a flight on June 3rd... or we could fly by on June 6th. The whole thing is just a mega bummer. And Spirit Air was incredibly disappointing in terms of how they handled it. So... our not-so-positive impression of them flying down here has become a "yea... I don't think it will ever be a good idea to fly Spirit Air again" kind of impression. We're sad that our vacation has been cut a day short. Weekends are precious since Lindsey and Michelle obviously won't need to work... and it's a game changer in terms of our weekend plans for next weekend. But I do get the fact that it's incredible to get to enjoy time we have left here even if it is a day shorter.

There's much to recap... but Nick and Ashley just arrived! So it's time to begin a new leg of the journey. Good friends, great sun... extremely content...:)

Grounded

My view from where I'm typing... it's the ocean!:)

My. It sure is crazy humid! And already really (really) warm and it's only 8:00ish am. I like Cartagena.:) If I wouldn't be able to catch some quality ocean breeze... this heat and humidity would totally freak me out. But knowing that getting ready for the day today probably means throwing on a swim suit and some sunblock... that's a pretty great deal.:)

We landed yesterday without any glitches. Although to be honest... I don't think Spirit Air makes the top of my list... and Jachin being 6'4", I'm not sure it would even come close to making his list at all. Funny (you know... "funny"... but not really funny), old, crazy cramped planes! But travel went smoothly all the same. We were at Lindsey and Michelle's apartment when they got home from work. Can't even explain how great it is to SEE them. It's SO much different than seeing them on Skype or in a Google hangout. And yet at the same time it seems really bizarre to think that it's really been as long as it has been since I've seen them last. I sure do treasure friendships that don't skip a beat despite continental separation.:)

We got to jump in last night on "food for the homies," so they call it. Michelle and Lindsey are here for two years teaching at an American school. Several of the teachers from their school have shown up every Thursday night with loads of food to share with the homeless community near the historic center of Cartagena. After hearing so much about it, it was fun to get to be a part of it. I really appreciated the sense of community in the gathering, the easy spirit and gracious intention of it all. Sharing food obviously seems like a kind idea, but what I actually appreciated about it is that it has shaped how the teachers involved, plus other friends that have gotten involved with the effort, relate to many of the street vendors in the city. They sure aren't people that Lindsey and Michelle just walk by and try to avoid getting pressured into making a purchase. Rather they're people, names, stories, part of shared community. I really loved getting to see that in action.

After hearing many a tale over skype, it was crazy fun to get to put personalities and real, live interactions with people I've heard so much about. It will be great fun to continue to do so. I'm feeling extremely grateful for the chance to get to see friends' worlds. And sharing it all with Jachin makes it all the more meaningful. People REALLY liked talking with him last night even though he hasn't mastered much Spanish beyond "Si" and "Si claro."

Alrighty. Off to a full day in Cartagena.

back to ORD... followed by Colombia!!

Mobile Office :)

Funny. The last post I made here was from ORD. And that's where I'm headed right now. Jachin and I are in the car right now as I type. Somewhere east of Hixon, WI. I'm plugged in and connected to Jachin's phone (wireless hot spot) in order to submit my last paper of the quarter!!! I intended to finish well before I got into the car... but thankfully Chicago isn't that close... so it gave me plenty of car time to wrap up!

Jachin and I are heading to a park n' ride just outside of Chicago before hitting O'Hare for a Spirit Air flight to Cartagena, Colombia at 5:30ish am tomorrow morning! We're reeeeally looking forward to some quality time with our friends Michelle and Lindsey. Plus two other friends from Texas will be meeting us there on Sunday! Should be a fun and restful week to get away, sleep on the beach, enjoy friends, etc. Physical distance in friendships... I suppose it's really all quite relative or subjective... but I can't wait to actually have quality time with these four that I don't see nearly as often as I'd like to. And I'm really stoked to get to share an international experience with Jachin. I suspect it will be really insightful...:) And very fun, of course. But then again... Jachin makes most everything more fun.

Anyway. I'll try to take up the cause of blogging for the week since I'll be international. Follow along if you'd like. But for now... it's time for me to relish in my submitted homework assignments.:)