mia

Well I'm in the Miami airport with a chai tea in hand. My flight left late from Medellin this morning... but we were already boarded and I sure didn't know the difference - I was out the whole time. I'm exhausted but I'm glad to be getting closer to my bed. Getting off the plane was somewhat of a rude awakening - I really miss the South American charm already! Seriously. And it was funny to go through customs here. I've always thought that customs in Latin American airports was a joke, a chance to make chit chat and compliment you on your eyes. But it appears that Ecuador and Colombia are countries the US is more suspicious of because I've never gotten so many questions and never been sent to so many additional lines. And in the end it's all the same chit chat, they just joke with you about being a Gopher and compliment you on your new football stadium instead of complimenting you on your eyes. The good news is that no one actually tried to open up my backpack - I'm confident they wouldn't have gotten it zipped shut again.:)

Colombia and Ecuador from hindsight already both look wonderful. Colombia is such an interesting gem. Their history and contextual reality is so dark just 10 years back. Being in Medellin, the stories of guerrillas, violence and drugs are so fresh (Medellin is after all Pablo Escobar's hometown), but that might be influenced in large part by who we stayed with and that where we stayed was Escobar's 'hood. But it really has radically changed and I suspect it's reputation will quickly change - it's a wonderful and beautiful country and I felt so safe the whole time. Although it was also really interesting to learn more about Venezuela's current reality as it relates to Colombia... it will be interesting to see how the tension rises or disseminates along the Colombian/Venezuelan border.

I suspect my dear travel buddies Michelle and Ali are getting ready to get on an overnight bus to the northern coast of colombia right now. As for me, I need a break from looking at my phone screen. It's nice to be back to in-network 3G streaming on my phone, but it sure was a wonderful treat to be free from my phone for three weeks!:) I'll upload pictures tomorrow or Saturday. For those who have travelled along... thanks for joining me.:)