The Real Vacation Post.

I'm not normally one for "relaxing" vacations. My most recent trips before last week were to Ecuador and Northern California. On both occasions, I was doing the tourist thing of trying to see too much in too little time and stressing about food, money, and everything else possible. In Ecuador, the weather was freezing and we never had a day "off" to relax. Dumb. In Northern California, I was with my family, and there was always too much to see and we didn't have the time or money to do everything we wanted.

I decided in the middle of term 3 (on one of those days when my students were making me crazy and I had a mountain of work to do) that this vacation was going to be different. I was going to relax, and I wasn't going to be cold, stressed, or worn out. Amazingly, that is exactly what happened. This was one of the best vacations I've ever had. Warren and I were able to spend a lot of quality time together, and we really enjoyed just spending our days lounging around in the warmth of the Caribbean Sun.We spent the first 4 days at a resort called Los Alemendros. We arrived on Saturday afternoon after a long drive from Monteria. During our drive we passed a number of small towns that had been flooded. It was sad but fascinating to watch people trudge through small streams that had once been streets. Once we arrived at Los Alemendros, we were given our cabana and allowed to relax. Alemendros was the only place in Covenas with people, but it still wasn't crowded. I spent a few hours one day slowly swimming laps in a completely empty pool, for example. Warren and I often spent the afternoon or evening on the beach, and we were frequently two of about six people on the beach. Oh, and the beach was literally 100 feet away from our front door. Covenas isn't necessarily beautiful, but it is quiet and peaceful, and we really relaxed. Also, it was free for us, because the school paid for the condo.

On Sunday night there was a really horrible rain, and when we woke up on Monday and put our feet on the floor, we realized there was over an inch of water on the floor of the entire cabana. My suitcase was on the floor, and all my clothes were soaked. My computer cord got wet and didn't work (until Tuesday) and my Kindle cord still doesn't work. (Luckily I have a spare.) Monday morning was rough, but we were moved to a different cabana and after I washed all my clothes by hand (ugh), nothing unpleasant happened until we had to go home.


On Wednesday we took a bus to Cartagena. The rode was bumpy, but it would have been a good trip if there hadn't been a rooster on the bus who thought it was dawn every few minutes. Also, I have never understood why all Colombian buses insist on showing awful horror movies dubbed into Spanish. No matter. There was an adorable little girl (maybe 9 months??) on the bus who kept laughing at me, and she definitely made up for the rooster and the movie.

We arrived in Cartagena around 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Our taxi driver couldn't read (for realz, dudes. Colombia seriously needs to work on education.) and had a lot of trouble finding our hotel. It took him over an hour of driving around one neighborhood twenty times and asking everyone he saw where it was and then ignoring whatever they said. He also insisted on calling it Casa Santana, instead of Casa Santa Ana, which of course confused everyone. Whatev. We did finally make it to Casa Santa Ana, and thank goodness because it was literally paradise. I plan to devote my next post entirely to Casa Santa Ana, but until then, here's a picture that I believe sums up how awesome it is:
That's me in the rooftop pool at night (where we could see the Castillo de San Felipe glowing nearby) after we were just served limonadas. They also brought up an iPod dock and put on music just for us. Awesome. Happily, after we arrived we discovered that two of our good friends had also made a surprise visit to Cartagena. After I got a pedicure, manicure, and eyebrow wax, and after we both had ex foliating and aromatherapy massages, we happily met our friends Luis Mi and Diana in Plaza Santo Domingo for dinner.

The next day we lounged around in our awesome hotel, had a great breakfast, watched TV, swam in the pool, and spent some time catching up with things online. I also accepted a job for Jan-May 2011. Pretty nice morning. : ) That afternoon we had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe with our friends, and then we wandered around Cartagena, which is GORGEOUS. It's probably the most beautiful Colonial city in all of the Americas. It's also hot. We soon returned to our hotel, where we again swam and watched TV until dinner. For dinner, we went to a place called San Pedro, which had VEGETARIAN PAD THAI... with platanos. Amazing. Warren had salmon.

On Friday we went to the island of Baru. We had arranged the trip through our hotel, and so everything was included. We were taken to a resort called SportBaru on a 45 minute boat ride. After we arrived, we were given a coconut limeade and a room to use for the day. We soon tried snorkeling, but the waves were rough, so instead we went to a private beach with clear gorgeous water and white sand. Also, an Ecuadorian ship was hanging out nearby. We weren't sure why, but they played good music.




After an hour on the beach, we were served lunch, and then I fell asleep in a hammock. That afternoon we returned to our hotel, and later that night we found a vegetarian restaurant with hummus, falafel, and paella with seitan. Who knew such things existed in Colombia!?!

Saturday was our last day, and we spent the morning walking around the old town. It's so beautiful... After a quick swim, we had to head to the airport to come home. Our perfect vacation had come to an end.

This week's been tough. The weather was awful Tuesday and Wednesday, and today is the first sunny day since we've been back. My classes have been good, though, and I've been spending my spare time making hummus and looking at vacation homes in Cartagena. If anyone has 400,000 dollars they don't need, I'd love to use your money to buy myself a vacation home! : )

Vacation Update

We got back from vacation on Saturday evening, spent yesterday doing basically nothing, and had to go to work for planning meetings today. Classes start tomorrow.

We have 60 days left in Colombia, and I'm pretty happy about that.

As far as vacation goes, it was one of the most relaxing trips I've ever taken. Here's a quick summary, but please know that I'll be updating more thoroughly about the places we stayed and what we did. (Also, I still have those vegan posts to write!)

1. We spent 4 blissful days soaking up sun and swimming in both a gorgeous pool and warm ocean water in Covenas. We had a condo all to ourselves that actually slept 8 people.
2. We took a 3 hour SUPER bumpy bus ride to Cartagena from Covenas. The other passengers included a rooster.
3. We stayed in the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in while we were in Cartagena. It was a boutique hotel called Casa Santa Ana. Only 5 rooms. We were the only guests. I've never been so pampered. Also, they upgraded our room.
4. We both got aromatherapy massages.
5. We swam in a rooftop pool while looking out over Cartagena and the famous fort where the Spaniards stored their gold.
6. We went swimming on a private white-sand beach with blue-green crystal clear water.
7. We ate at an awesome vegetarian restaurant.
8. I finished two books and Warren finished one.
9. We both studied for our respective standardized tests.
10. We came home completely relaxed, tanned, rested, and happy.

It was a good vacation.

Fall Break

Okay, kids, here's the deal. Post 100 was a lie, and I haven't updated in a few days because I've been super dedicated to graduate school things. So whatever. Deal... I will finish my vegan-info posts, but right now, it's time for you to be massively jealous of me.

I'm going on vacation. HA! And yes, Post 100 was a lie because I'm not going on the vacation we originally planned. Things fell through, and although we considered about ten thousand other options, we eventually settled on cheap and warm.

We're spending a week on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, first at a condo that our school rents out and lets teachers stay in for free (see beach 100 yards from the condo above) and then 3 nights in Cartagena. It's definitely not my dream vacation, but it is warm and stress-free.
The pool at the condo where we are staying.

We ended up getting lucky--we're the only LPV souls headed to the condo during this break, so we'll have it all to ourselves for four blissful days. Then, we're heading to Cartagena. We've been to Cartagena before, but now, as experienced travelers, we knew where we wanted to stay, what we wanted to do, and how important a roof-top pool was in relation to our personal enjoyment of the city (the answer--VERY important). We're staying somewhere that I hope will be fabulous, but honestly, anything will be better than where we stayed last time. On our last trip to Cartagena (end of our 6 week stint here in 09), we stayed in the school's house. They are currently in the process of renovating it, and well... it still needed some work. I happened to stumble into the kitchen in the wee hours of the morning and caught a glimpse of the largest rat I've ever seen in my entire life... so really, with a roof-top pool and a guarantee that I won't be allowed in the hotel's kitchen, we're doing really well.

We have almost no activities planned. We're taking books to read and study materials and movies and sunscreen. We've planned to spend one day at this resort while we're in Cartagena:


And honestly, Cartagena is probably the most beautiful city in South America, and it's easily one of the most romantic places I've ever been. So... yes. Vacation. Finally.

Ciao! (Below: Cartagena. Imagine it lit up at night, and imagine strolling through little streets with flowered-covered balconies. Didn't I say it was romantic?)