A punto de salir

Tomorrow  marks 59 days in Colombia.  My 60 days are almost up. I have to leave the country and I will be doing so on a flight to Quito, Ecuador.  I can't believe I am about to leave Colombia. This trip has been so full so far, and I still have so much more to fill!  There is so much I still want to share about Colombia, namely what I have been doing in Medellin the past four weeks volunteering for a badass women's organization called Conexion Mujeres, the incredible people I have been meeting and how they have been beautifully guiding and inspiring my trip, the swim complex of 8 pools I have been swimming in (!), my scuba diving experiences, and not to mention, the beautiful places I've been!  I am determined to provide a smattering of retrospective entries, hopefully equally mixed in  with present-time entries.  

La Guajira

(Yes, thongs are normal here )

Some bits and pieces of the earlier part of my trip to La Guajira, the northernmost department of Colombia, not to mention the northernmost part of all of South America. It's a very special place.  Silent, empty beaches, tinkling sea shells, desert wind, crystal turquoise sea....

 And a sea of exquisitely-colored mochilas (shoulder bags), handmade by the indigenous women of La Guajira.

Cabo de La Vela

And so, since there is much to much to fit in this entry, I will leave it at that for now.  I really just wanted to make one last entry from Colombia. But who knows, I may return before the end of this trip actually.  More on that later since absolutely no decision has been made yet, but to briefly refer back to what I wrote above about the people, the beautiful people, who have been guiding and inspiring my travels, I met just this morning at the pool a divine woman and her family who not only invited me back to stay with them in Medellin, but Maria Eugenia may acompany me back to Miami in September and stock Lumenrose Jewelry in her amazing tienda (store)! After a delicious cappuccino with Baileys, we just came back from an awesome evening of learning how to read the Mayan Calendar...

And, biggest news as of late, is that I will very likely be squeezing Peru into this trip.  I met another wonderful person, my buddy Jumpei, an energetic Japanese man who is 90% Colombian, 100% Asian-chef, who loves American music videos and San Francisco, and who owns a store in Salento.  He is going to Peru to purchase for his store and has invited me along to see where he buys stones and jewelry. He is one of the loveliest characters I have met so far and on the basis of his charming, hilarious, company alone (and the promise of more delectable Thai/Japanese cooking together), I am planning on booking it by bus directly to Lima a couple days after I land in Quito.  I will return to Ecuador, of course, for the whales.