First of all, I want to say that I love the people of Colombia and I especially love all of the children and their families, as well as the staff at Children International. This experience helped me to see more and more how sponsorship can make a big difference in the life of a child living in poverty. All of my sponsored children live in substandard housing and some of them struggle from day to day with various difficulties like insufficient food and home supplies. The benefits that they receive at Children International through sponsorship, help to provide them with basic necessities such as doctor and dentists checkups, vitamins and supplements if needed, emergency food if needed, clothing, school supplies, special needs gifts, and many other forms of support. This agency is well managed and is making a difference in the lives of children in these communities.
In addition to writing about my actual visits with the children I will write about other things that happened on the trip including many details, on this blog :)
I landed in Cartagena, Colombia on Sunday afternoon after a nice flight of only 2 and a half hours. I sat beside a young lady who is from Cartagena but who is attending school in the states. She was very excited about returning to her home city. When we landed, I recognized everything from the first trip. The lines for customs were very long but the time passed quickly as eager tourists chattered excitedly about their plans. Once I made it through customs, I easily located my bags and flagged down a taxi. Tourists are admonished not to do this but it's okay to me. The taxi driver was very courteous and explained in espanol that he could take me to the 3 Banderas Hotel for 2 mil which equals $10 USA. The fare has gone up by a few dollars since the last visit but I had been reading about this on travel websites so I was prepared :)
After a fast and interesting ride through the city, we finally arrived at the hotel which is located on a street that is about 10 minutes away from the main entrance to the Old City. I had no idea where I was until I figured this out on Thursday, the night before I was to leave!!! The hotel is very close to one of the quieter plazas and other little hotels surround it. It was a very beautiful place with inviting sitting areas and lots of greenery, which I like.
The staff welcomed me and one of the ladies spoke English very well. She was very courteous and took me to a very small room that was right across from the waterfall in one of the sitting areas. After a few moments, she realized that this was not the correct room, because I had requested a room on the top floor with a balcony (which I had forgotten :) I was all ready to stay in the small room because it was so quaint and located in a beautiful area, but we made the climb up to the 3rd floor. The steps were steep but they were something that I needed for exercise :) Once we made it to the top floor, I found a very nice and inviting room with fan and an air conditioner. The balcony was very nice with a cute table and chairs. I looked forward to sitting out here in the evenings to write about my trip.
Top: I am standing in one of the lobbies of the hotel
Second: The room behind the plants on the left is the first room I was taken to :)
Third: The lobby of the hotel near the waterfall
Fourth: In front of my hotel room, third floor
Last: The balcony with work station :)
After unpacking and unwinding, I took a stroll around the plaza area trying to find a small restaurant because by then I was starving. The plaza was bustling with activity with singers and dancers performing for the tourists who were sitting in the plaza and outside restaurants. After a little searching I found a nice little restaurant that had waiters and waitresses who spoke English. Chicken and rice was my first dish along with some veggies which I did not eat. I have learned to be careful about eating fruits and veggies in the city and so I was determined to stay clear of them on the trip. The food was very good and the dancers and singers did a great job. After making my way back to the hotel, I informed the hotel staff that I needed to reserve a van for the morning to make my first visit which would be in Barranquilla, Colombia. Barranquilla is about an hour from Cartagena and I was hoping to take the less frightening coastal route. The lady at the front desk took my information which included the address of the CI main office and assured me that everything had been arranged. I only needed to be ready to go by 5:30 a.m., which meant that I needed to be up by 4:30 a.m. This was doable since I knew that I would not get much sleep this night, anticipating the visit with Bleidys and Maria, two sisters who I visited on my first trip in 2011. So with this, I went over the plans for the next day and turned in for the night!!.
Stay tuned for Day 2!
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