The Rain in Colombia Mainly Falls in Bogota

At this time of the year, Bogota is cold and rainy, but we recieved a warm welcome from old friend Dani and his girlfriend Adriana. Dani played Ulitmate on the original Cadillacs and has since then moved back to Bogota where he works and lives with Adriana. We were lucky enough to get picked up in a car again and we drove through the darkened sprawling streets of Medellin towards their apartment. The apartment has one other resident worth noting, and that is their toe biting, cutest pug ever dog named Rolo.

The next morning, with Rolo´s help, we made breakfast and then got a tour of the center and down town from Adriana who is kinda on vacay. We checked out the Candelaria, the oldest neighborhood in Bogota which is now very trendy but still run down enough to feel authentic, and walked to lots of museums that were all closed. We did however get into the Botero museum where we took a tour and learned a lot more about this famous artist who I never need to see again, and ate a soup called ajiaco which is a local specialty and delish. It consists of broth, meat, corn and potato when it gets to you, but then you can add the rice, avocado and capers that comes on the side. It also comes with a banana for later.

That night, Adriana made arepas (with Josh´s help) and some filling that comes from where´s she´s from near the Venezuelan border (my vagueness is due to its totally non-kosherness). Dinner was great, but we were soon in bed, all exhausted from our various days.

The next day we headed out on our own and went to the Gold Museum. This was supposed to be the mother of all gold museums, and who ever said that was underestimating! The place has so much gold in it that some of the doors are vaulted, and everything has an explanation in Spanish and English. Our eyes were red spirals of exhaustion by the time we finished but I learned so much!!! An unlike Peru, there is so much to go with the explanations. None of this, well, this drawing is what things used to look like until those Spanish idiots melted it all down...No way. The Spanish did melt a lot of Colombian gold down, but since so much of it was buried (much of the civilizations that were once dominant in Colombia had already faded away and been buried by the time the Spanish arrived) that there are hundreds of gold figures, gold sticks to get the lime out of gold containers to activate coca leaves with, gold breast plates, thousands of gold nose and ear rings, ect. There is also endless information about the different tribes, what things were used for and how they were made. It's a must see.

That night we made dinner for our hosts and we stayed up drinking aguardiente since Dani was taking the next day off to hang out with us! When I left the boys they were waiting for a coke delivery so they could make Fernet and Cokes and relive the old BA days...

Bye Bye Medellin, I'm gonna miss you so

The rest of our trip in Medellin was just amazing. Sorry picture loving folks, you'll have to wait for a later post, but hopefully the wordy types will be satisfied. Weekends in Medellin are divina. People get dressed up even nicer than their everyday garb and head out to the Poblado neighborhood for shots, music and dancing. Friday we had a relaxing day and checked out the cemetary and the view from a small mountain in the middle of the city. Medellin is narrow and long and its cool to see the whole thing spilling out of the valley up into the surrounding mountains.

After a bit of rest we got ready for our big Friday night. We had tickets to see Bomba Estereo, an electric Cumbia band from Bogota. They are pretty well known in this part of the world, but the concert was in a tiny place called El Deck which is more of a bar than a place to have concerts, but they managed to squeeze in way more people than any fire code would have allowed. Oh wait, what fire code?

El Deck is a really cool place, with a nice outside and inside bar, and shiny cds making wall art outside. We actually ran into one of Rox's sister's friends and running into people in a new place always makes me sorta excited.

We also had our first celebrety moment brought to you by Juliasabroadblog.blogspot.com. This guy came up to me before Bomba went on and said, Hey! I recognize you from your blog! Ever the skeptic I was amazing at how long I had been out of the game for and thought this guy was using some crazy new pick up line. Um, ok, thanks, I responded thinking all the while that it was crazy that blogging had replaced the, I think I've met you before, pick up line.

Turns out he really has read our blog. As Josh explained to me later, he has all Medellin web content sent to his inbox and our blog ended up in there! So...shout out to that guy...thanks for reading! Sorry I thought you were trying to pick me up!

The concert was amazing. You all should really check out the band if you've never listened to them before. The Cumbia outside of Argentina doesn't make your ears want to bleed, it actually makes you want to dance!!! And dance we did. We were literally soaked through by the time we left the place and thouroughly enjoyed ourselves.

The next day we were tired but headed out to Piedra de Peñol. It is litterally a giant stone, I'll have to post photos later so you can visualize it better (or click the above link), but the stone sits on top of a mountain and is over a thousand steps in the air high and two times as wide at places. Once you slowly climb to the top the view is something out of the land before time, or maybe the Hobbit. The resevoir below is dotted with little islands. Some are covered only in trees, some with houses, and sail boat and jet skis break up the serene surface and many inlets while others remain isolated and in perfection. We had a beer and then hiked up to the highest point on the man made structure and enjoyed the quiet and the view for quite a while. It was really incredible. Afterwards we headed to the town below where all the bottoms of all the buildings are decorated with colorful bas relief pictures of flowers, horses, la piedra, ect. We had a nice lunch near the water, and I finally got to order the fish that Rox had gotten in Santa Fe, and we headed back to Medellin full and tired from our upwards and downwards hikes. That night we made it as far as Pizza 1969 Gourmet where I filled my not even very hungry belly with amazing and creative pizza and then we rolled ourselves into bed.

The next morning we awoke early to a feast. Roxi's parents had made pan de yuka in the shape of horse shoes, arepas filled willed juicy pulled beef amazingness, fresh fruit, fresh juice, all the black coffee a girl could ever need and one more morning with their amazing family. It was way better than the pancake breakfast we had made them the morning before, but its not our fault Colombian breakfasts are so awesome. Being with Rox's family was an amazing experiance I'll never forget. They welcomed us into their home and made us feel at home at all times. It was the next best thing to being with my own family after so long away from a mom or dad. Anyway, if you haven't gotten it by now they were amazing.

We spent our last hours watching Frisbee and then headed to the bus station for the last long ride. We were super sad to say goodbye to Roxi, but the promise of the beach lurks ever closer in the background urging us onwards and fowards. By dark we had entered to cold mountainy area where one finds Bogota...

Zapote

And now its time for another chapter of Photos of Josh with Fruit. This time, handsomly standing in Roxi's kitchen, Josh dispays for us the Zapote. Its one of the many Colombian fruits that looks big but inside has big ol' seeds and little fruit. Still delish though.

Botanical Gardens and Parque Explora

Two days ago, we hit up some fun lugares in Medellin. First we headed to the Botanical Gardens for some outdoor time. There were saw plenty of amazing orchids, which happen to be Colombia's national plant. They grow so well in the tropic climate...so much better than in my dorm room Junion year...

Can you spot which massive reptile is hiding in this tree?

I mean, who knew this color existed in nature?

Next we headed to the Parque Explora which houses an aquarium, fun games that test and teach physics, and various other interactive fun. Below are a few photos of things we braved the intense sun to test out. And these were just what was outside the building! So much more fun awaited us.

they are big on centripital force

get my mind out of the gutter...

After scientific fun we headed into the aquarium. I'm pretty sure the last aquarium I was in was in Camden when I went to the Hun prom with Arron Weinstien. Or maybe it was in Kentuky the summer after that with camp...anyway, I forgot how much I love aquariums!!

these are the same kind of pyranas we fished for in Bolivia

Next we got to go to this other place where we did more physical fun. We played games, competed for who could kick a ball harder, use their brain waves to move a ball farther, ect. The coolest part was the bat maze. They have this little room that is pitch dark. You put on a vest with magic bat powers that come from the two buttoned device in the front pocket. When you push both buttons at the same time, the device sends out a sonar and makes a beeping sound. If you are very close to something it beeps really fast. If you are farther away it beeps more slowly. You go into the room and have to pass through a maze using only this! It was pretty cool.

I watch Roxi go through (get lost in) the maze from tvs outside the room

I left tired from the heat and a little physical exertion (all in the name of testing physics) and ready for a rest. And we headed back to Rox's pad to rest before we went to Il Forno for a delish Italian dinner with an amazing view overlooking Medellin and all those tiny lights. As usual, we got back to Rox's exhausted and ready for the cama.

mangostino

Pictures of Josh with fruit: Mangostino edition

Fernando Botero

The other morning, when Roxi was feeling a little under the weather, Josh and I ventured out on our own into Medellin. We hit up the Museo de Antioquia which houses an impressive collection of Colombian art. The entire third floor was dedicated to Fernando Botero, a Medellin born artist. He is famous for his tendancy to make all of his subjects incredibly fat. He even did a painting of Mary Antoinette and Louis XIV with both of them looking like they weigh three hundred pounds. Here were a few of my favorites to give a small taste:

Botero even manages to make a guitar look fat

fat statue

Botero's Jesus

Not Botero but a sweet piece representing two sides of Colombia, violence and music

Botero's fat statues in public outside the museum

big naked booties in public

Ultimate en Medellin

After over two months of life without Ultimate we got quite the dose when we arrived in Medellin. Our first night in town we hit up the small field next to the big soccer field where a Medellin team was playing. While I knew the roars coming from the crowd weren't for Ultimate, but for its more popular cousin, I was excited none the less! We grabbed some beers and papas criollas from a stand outside the field and headed into the stands. That's right Ulitimate players of Argentina. They play on a lit field, at night, with stands. Its amazing. They also have A and B levels of play and way more than four teams. While I will love Ultimate in Argentina forever, I can now only imagine how a newly arrived Colombian feels when they arrive at their first pick up in BA.
We watched the end of one game and then another and it was fun to soak in who is a member of the Ultimate seen in Medellin. As usual it is a diverse crowd and there are a lot more young people hanging around Ultimate than in BA. Of course its an alternative scene but also very very sporty.
The next night we headed to a smaller sandy field where I practiced with Wicca, Rox's team, and Josh practiced with the boy's team that shares their practice field. I hadn't gone for so much as a jog since Salta, and needless to say I am still very sore two days later. But I had an amazing time playing, and I got to play with all girls for the first time!!! I also almost had an excersized enduced asmtha attack...but what's new. The girls on Rox's team are amazing, fun loving and mostly very athletic even though I'm sure most of them never played a sport before they found Ulitimate. It made me so excited to find a team in Philly!!
At the end of the practice Roxi had some really bad news. For those of you who haven't heard, a 16ish year old girl named Carolina in Bogota made a bad lay out and died later in the hosital from injuries to her head. Her funeral was two days ago, and I just wanted to tell anyone who hadn't seen anything about it on Facebook. I've never been very good at knowing the right thing to say in situations like this, so I'll leave it at I was shocked and upset that something like this happened in a sport like Ulitmate or at all and that I can't imagine what her family is going through and I think its amazing how the Colombian frisbee community is handling it just as that, as a big nationwide Ulitmate community.
After the practice we all headed over to a place where they sell Avena, a drink made by blending oatmeal, milk and cinnamon and everyone hung around for a while until we drove home and I passed out hard and woke up in pain the next morning. All in all it was an amazing evening, tainted by some bad news, that still made me so excited to get back to Ultimate in the States.

Santa Fe De Antioquia Y La Puente Occidente

Santa Fe is the oldest town in the department of Antioquia where Medellin is located and before Medellin stole the spot light it was the capital. As soon as one arrives in St. Agustin you can see that this is old history. The modern construction boom, public transport, paved streets, non of that even made it here to this little colonial town that sits below Medellin. Due to its location it is also hot. Really hot. The whole day I was dripping with sweat, sunscreen and lord knows what else but I still loved it. We headed to the main square that has a feria selling crafts, fruits, and sweets local to the town. We tried a few and then hit up a local place for lunch. Josh went with the menu del dia (meatballs), I got the talapia, but Rox won best choice of the day with robalo, an amazing fish that I can't wait to order next time I see it.
We then headed out into the heat and slowly walked around the town. Everything was closed, and every museum we passed was permanently closed, but there were enough churches and little plazas to keep us occupied.
Rox told us a funny story about the monument below:
The guy on the top was a conquistador and in charge of Santa Fe de Antioquia at some point. He took a native wife who you can see below, and on the other side of the monument his Spanish wife is also memorialized in bronze.


However, when you take a closer look the story gets good. Even juicy. When the native wife found out about the Spanish wife she went into a rage and supposedly cut off her husbands penis, tesitcles and all according to the monument. You go girl..

local corn in one hand, husbands junk in the other

Josh and Rox on a typical street in the hot, lazy town
(the streets are deserted because EVERYONE is reclining in a chair watching the Barcelona game)

one of the five churches we saw in around six square blocks

Next, we got into one of the three wheeled motorized vehicles like the red one in the picture above. They fit three in the back, so we got into our chariot and headed for the Occidente Bridge. The bridge was built over the Rio Cauca and designed by Jose Maria Villa between 1887 and 1895. It was one of the first suspension bridges in the Americas and became a national monument in 1978 and now only small cars, our moto-taxi, motocyles, and bikes can traverse it.* According to our seven year old guide (who provided much more info than the guide book) Maria Villa was a drunk and also the architect of the Brooklyn Bridge. Who knew?

riding dirty

the bridge from one end (I know the science behind suspension bridges works out mathematically and all, but come on, this does not look like it should support anybody)

Rox goes first

another great success delivered to you by ten-second-timer

old bridge, old car

Josh finally gets his maracuya and lulo mix that Gabi suggested
and he is happy

nothing better on a hot afternoon than a juice on ice

our chariot returns over the bridge

This bus is called a Chiva - Chivas are used for pary buses, to tansport people, and to transport goods. And they do it in such style..

Our trip to Santa Fe was a great success. Yesterday, outside a museum, this kid was asking us questions for a survey he was doing for school and he was very surprised we didn't come back from Santa Fe the color of a tomate del arbol.

tomate del arbol

So we made it back tired, hot and in need of rest, but still white as ever. That night we went to an amazing salsa place where the band is a group of young people who apparently show up when it moves them. They don't practice and the roster is a little different evertime you go, and they play an amazing chaos of salsa. Josh and I did dance a surprising amount for how soar we still are from frisbee practice, and I'll like to say that by the end of the night we had a few steps down pat. We have a long way to go, but I'd say we've also come a long way from the first time we tried to dance salsa together in BA.

*Thank you to my Lonley Planet for historical info on the Puente de Ocidente that I couldn't remember on my own.

Family Fun in Medellin

Medellin, Medellin, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

We arrived in Medellin on a sunny sunny morning. Rox picked us up in a car (amazing), and we headed to the apartment where she lives with her parents on a nice, quiet street in Medellin. I love the apartment for a few reasons. Of course it is nice, and the view is amazing (especially at night), but my favorite part is that it is full full full of fresh fresh fruit. There also seems to be every type of fruit ever created here, but every time we are introduced to a new fruit we are told that there are like...3 more varieties of this one fruit not present let alone the other ten kinds in the fruit bowl.
We headed out into Medellin, walked around and then headed into their beautiful metro system. This system puts DC's to shame. It is the cleanest place I've seen in South America, and people are so respectful of each other, the place, and of each other. Roxi said that when they opened it they first did a big ad campaign telling people that this was their metro, and they should want to keep it clean and respect it because its theirs. It worked!!
After a metro ride we did a free transfer to the metro gondalas that go up to the top of the city. Medellin, like La Paz and many other cities we've visited, is in a valley so you have to do a lot of climbing to get to the edges of the city. With the gondola its just a quick, insulated ride above poeple's houses. Lines were huge because this metro line takes people to a new nature reserve that just opened, but lines for it were two hours long so we skipped that and enjoyed the ride.

Rox and Josh in the gondola

at a national library with a kick-ass view

After, Roxi asked us if we wanted to go to a picnic with her sisters. I was like...um...I can't think of anything in the world I would rather do. I LOVE Sunday picnics, I love being with family (even if its not my own), and oh, did I mention that I love picnics?

and now, another instalment of Josh with fruit: Josh and the uchuva

The picnic was great, Rox's sisters were there, and one with her two kids who are really cute and really great kids. I left full of good food, family fun, and the magic of picnics.

the breakfast spread that is going to make mom hop on a plane as soon as she reads this post: fresh cheese, fruit, eggs, and arepas with butter...Roxi's mom is the best

Our next big adventure involving family was a trip to the finca where Roxi's grandma lives. The house is really old and sits on a dairy farm in the lush green mountains outside of Medellin. Since the house is old its been accumulating things for a long time, and there are collections of everything you can think of. To name a few of my favorites: pennats, old irons, mugs, rosaries, scarves, horseshoes, baskets, saddles, and keys.

beautiful courtyard, too bad the fountain got covered up

Roxi's grandma is very cool and fed us lunch and lots and lots of coffee. We all chatted for a while, and then we checked the place out and then relocated to in front of a fire Josh was only too happy to make. Josh taught Roxi how to play truco, and she taught us how to play pinche. It was amazing to be in someone's home, relaxing, and playing cards with someone other than Josh. I didn't realize how starved I had become for families and their homes.

Josh's tends the fire and is very happy

Josh and Roxi play cards

Observations

So there are a number of things I forget to put in posts as I rush to finish them that I don't want to forget and that I want you all to know about!
The first one I was just reminded of when I saw a tuperware in Roxi's fridge full of jello (Gabi we are at Rox's house but more on that later!!!) When we got to Bolivia, jello, or gelatina, made an appearence and all through Bolivia and Peru it was the star of the show. I mean these people are wild for gelatina. It comes in all colors, shapes and sizes. You can get it in a cup with cream on top, you can get in in a tube like bag and suck it out, you can get it at a restaurant in a metal cup, or on your bus in styrophone (another star of the show down here but so much worse for the environment than jello). I just thought it was funny to see all the adults sucking jello down like US elementary kids.
But more on Colombia. If I haven't stressed it enough yet this country is seriously amazing (but don't tell anyone - while it would be great for Colombia if you all started visiting it wouldn't be great for me beacause I wouldn't get to be the only gringa here!!!) The variety of everything is outstanding. Because they don't have seasons they grow and harvest ALL YEAR LONG. There is no period of the year when you just can't get something because its not in season. Not only that, but all year long there are so many different kinds of fruits that not even the Colombians seem to be able to remember all their names. They are always asking us which ones we've tried and there always seem to be more and more!! Its the same with the flowers that we saw in St. Agustin. In one person's front yard they had so many varieties growing on their front porch that you almost didn't notice that there were more growing wild in their yard!!!
And the people are just as beautiful and varried as their produce and flowers. People here come in all colors. There are the blackest of black skins and the whitest of whites, but more often it is everything in between. And these people are beautiful - b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. So far we've only been to two major cities, and the women of Medellin were quick to point out to us that the women of Cali are t-a-c-k-y (sorry Carlos!) but the women of Cali all seem to be in the highest of the high heels and everyone has a mani/pedi - even the men. When I told Rox's sisters that all the women in Cali had flowers painted on their toes they rolled their eyes and said, "See? They are so trashy!" I said they should see the nails in Harlem and they said black women do the same here too with their long-ass crazy eighties nails.
The women of Medellin are a little more classy and so well put together. My poor backpack's contents are doing their best but unfortunatly I do not have a little skinny belt to match all my outfits so I'll never fit in here...oh, and I'm blond, that's not helping either.
According to Rox's friend the city of Medellin has the worst air polution in all of South America, but it is still a beautiful tropic city with the most amazing weather ever. When it's winter is rains more, and when it summer the weather is perfect and sunny. For this reaosn all the women have perfectly tanned bodies that I hope to have too as soon as I get to the beach!!!
And of course, just like our Colombian friends back in BA, the Colombians really do have the best onda. They are always offering their drinks, snacks, ect. to you, they are so happy to show you around, and we are the victems of this amazing Colombian hospitality right now! If we come home fat is Rox's mom's fault. We are staying at their beautiful apartment and this morning she fed us arepas with cheese and eggs and fruit and drinks. I was in heaven!!!! By the way, arepas are a corn flour based food item here in Colombia that is made into a flat disc and fried. You can eat anything you want on it or stuff it with a egg and then fry it again. Needless to say they are amazing.
So expect more posts from Colombia soon!! We are so very happy to be here but as we get closer and closer to the United States we are missing people more and more who are south and north of us. Anyway, its almost time to go to Rox's finca, or farm house where her grandma lives. Don't be too jealous!!!

Cali

We got to Cali in the early evening, intending to hang around until we could meet up with our friend Carlos' sister. So what did we do? Obviously we went to the movies!! with our hiking backpacks and everything. It was great. We saw Date Night. If you don't see it you are missing out big time, its the best movie I've seen in a long time and while I was laughing way harder than everyone else (some of those jokes just don't translate) I didn't mind. Soon enough I'll be in a cinema filled with native English laughers.
When the movie got out we couldn't get in touch with the sister and we didn't have the address, so after hanging out with some kids that work at the mall we headed to one of the hostels in our guide book. Hostel Iguana is located in the nicest neighborhood in Cali and our room had a BIG bed so we sighed and overlooked the 20,000 per person a night fee.
The next day we went exploring. While we had heard not so great things about Cali from non-Colombians the city proved them all wrong. It gave us a sunny sunny day and being a walkable city, we walked it all. We soaked in our first big Colombian city and even enjoyed celebration for the 100 year anniversary of provence's existence with free shots of aguardiente, an orchestra and a group of autistic folk musicians. We then headed back where I discovered that one can get a manicure and a pedicure for 10,000 pesos. That's about five dollars for those of you still catching on. Five dollars. I told Josh and he said get one! I said you should get one too!!! and surprisingly he agreed.

proof of Josh's first pedicure (he kinda liked it and now his nails are so shiny)

After we got all dolled up and headed to El Solar, one of Cali's best restaurants, for the cena de la mes where we stuffed ourselves silly with amazing amazing food.
The next day we were tired and the weather was poopy so we hit up the artisinal market and then caught another movie. (Clash of the Titans - all that enthusiasm I have for Date Night...that's how much negative enthusiasm I have for this movie - I know many of you could have told me this anyway but don't see it). We hung out in the hostel and made a salad (salad, I'm so glad you are back in my life, I missed you) and then caught our eleven o'clock bus to Medillin. Here ends our quick visits, from now on we will be staying longer and enjoying more that Colombia has to offer in each city!! And we only have one more long bus ride...
And now for a few photos:

what seems to be the smallest merry go round in the world

a drink made with cane sugar and lemon - a must try - its delish

one of my favorite parts about Cali was the plaza filled with small tables and type writters. There were older men sitting at the tables typing away, or chatting and waiting for more business. I think this could be taking off in the States any day now, so dust off your type writer if your out of a job and take it to the streets!!!

St. Agustine

We arrived in St. Agustine at night, and our cab driver/tourist info guru/local profe/sketch ball convinced us to stay in an apartment called Apartamentos Diana with our own bathroom and tv for 20,000 a night. That's around ten dollars which is what a bed in a six person dorm will cost you per person in some hostals. Sketchy but sweet. Bright and early the next morning we woke up ready to see the main attraction in St. Agustine which just so happens to be ancient statues. Some nearby volcanos got busy and had somehong like a shot putting contest five thousand years ago with volcanic rock. The locals decided to take advantage of this phenominon and got artsy. The often grotesque and sometimes straight up silly statues that resulted wee used to gaurs man made hills where the two local tribes buried their dead. We split our day into two parts. The morning was spent stretching our legs in the hills of St. Agustine. Los people do this leg of the journey on horse back, but when we heard we could save fifteen dollars each on the horses let alone what we would have had to pay for the guide and his horse by doing it on our own we jumped at the chance to avoid soar butts and empty pockets. Instead we had soar legs but we got to spend the morning and mid day wandering around looking for adventure and silly statues that no longer guard anythng and stand awkwardly together under protective rooves and fences.

getting silly with ten second time and some statues

As promised by our brand new Lonley Planet, the scenery is much more interesting than the statues encountered alone the way. As I puffed up hill after hill and my almost atrophied legs burned, I repreated: it about the journey, it's all about the journey, under my breath. And what a journey. Seeing the way people live outside cities has been one of my favorite parts of our jouney and this did not change that. As with the gold miners in Boliva, the poorish farmers (by US standards) of the mountains live surrounded by intensly colorful flowers that people in the States pay good money to import. The front porches were just filled with pots hanging from the ceiling or sitting on the floor just dripping with flowers. And nearby are their coffee or lulo plants and always always a banana tree or two or one hundred. We checked out what a coffee bean looks lime before roasting and by the way, it's white and slimy. Who the hell figured that one out. If anyone knows more about the history of coffee I'd love some comments about it!
After hiking back to town we had lunch and fruit juice at El Folgon and a conversation with Alexander from Switzerland And then headed to the archiological park. The entrance fee is 1500 but worth as the path is nice, they've got a lot of the good statues, and there is a museum exaining everything making our decision not to get a guide a good one.

by far the silliest of the faces

After the park my legs are dunzo but it was great to get out and hike again, something I hope to do more of in the future. We also tried some of the local fruits and fruit juices. The lulo was my favorite even though I'll always be a sucker for limonada. Josh also liked his maracuya juice and his mango juice was a bit watered down for me but tasty none the less. This morning we left St. Agustine and arrived in Cali in time to catch what for us is the new movie Date Night. It's the best movie I've seen in a long time and I think you should all go see it asap. I can't wait to be back in the states thougt for US comedies. Our rediclous slang just doesn't always translate and I'm just always laughing way louder than everyone else. Yes, I'm that girl. But I can't help it. Tina Fey is just so funny. And not to ramble, but besides this movie the high point in my day was eating good tuna fish for the first time since leaving the States. It was amazing... Ok enough for now... I'm just giddy with free wifi!

and back by popular request: pictures of Josh with exotic fruit: