Colombia check!!!

Hello all! Well I am back in Ecuador! I can now say that Colombia is super fun and beautiful and exceptionally safe! Other than the mysterious disappearance of our animal crackers and some other traveler stealing ten dollars out of my bag I had not a single problem. We went out at night and stayed out until the sun came up! Let me catch you up!

First off, I have changed my plane ticket! I will be missing my ten year high school reunion and a super fun river float-concert in Austin. But hopefully i will live ten more years to make the next reunion and I can look at drunken pics of my friends at the concert on fb! Im kinda playing with idea to stay until the sunday before school starts. But we will see!

So after our incredible and challenging trek to The Lost City, Laura and I came back to Taganga then went straight to Cartegena. This is the city where all the pics are black and white. The city was super beautiful! And of course any city that has pirate ships gets tons of cool points automatically. (You must know that some guy just sat by me at the Internet Cafe and he smells terribly.) However, Laura and I didnt get to enjoy the city as much as we wanted because we both got super sick!!! TMI starts right now......... So for about three weeks I have had what I thought was traveler`s tummy, which is just when your tummy gets upset from the new water and foods and well you have to go to the bathroom lots. Well after our trek my stomach was in all sorts of cahoots. I would eat something and need to be at a toilet in about ten minutes. I would get this warning growl in my tummy and ruuuuuuuuuuuun to the bathroom in my hostel which I shared with two other dudes. Our introductions were a bit awkward when I had to immediately apologize for continuously spray painting the only toilet that we all had to share. Apparently I had a parasite which pepto could not cure. So I literally had to dispose of the little guy naturally. I`m just glad it wasn't Dengue or Malaria. I also caught a head cold but that was the least of my problems.

When Laura and I felt about 10% better we went to Cali!!!! Cali ladies and gentlemen is the Salsa captial of South America if not the world. And Ladies.....I DANCED!! When there wasnt any more room on the dance floor, I was on a chair dancing or on a huge speaker or in front of the smoke screen! One of the nights we wound up dancing until the sun came up and then some more in this open huge club. There were mountains surrounding the club in each direction! It was absolutely breathtaking and loads of fun. My calves are killing me! Cali has some of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. I will be the first to admit that I have super hot friends but these women in Cali were BEAUTIFUL!!! So if a trophy wife is what you want then you need to come here! However they were touched up with lots of plastic! I`ve had my fill of seeing fakes asses, boobs, lips and calves. I have LOVED being in a latin american country during the world cup. The games were on in every restaurant, little store, police speaker, small radio....you could go outside walking and know what was going on just by walking and listening. On our last day in Cali we watched the World Cup in a park filled with about 2000 other people. Each missed goal or groan was echoed 2000 times as loud. The atmosphere was loaded with cheap food, beer and Spain paraphernalia! There was no other place I would have wanted to be but there watching the game on the HUGE screen with a bunch of happy strangers.....The hostel that we stayed at has been by far my favorite hostel that Ive ever stayed at! The hostel owner had suppers for everyone to eat at. The entire hostel came together for BBQ Sunday and ate this huge meal of steak, chicken and sausage! One of the nights Laura was still sick so I went out with complete strangers and had a BALL!!! Actually, my best friend Jason and his buddy (also mine Pat) have a band called Hostel Strangers. If you`ve ever stayed at a hostel then you will understand the name of the group. A bunch of strangers stay in the same place and magically become friends in a matter of hours.

Currently, I am in Quito and will leave tomorrow to go to Northern Peru to a town called Mancorra to get my s`s. Sun, sand, surf, sea food, salir, scuba and sexy singles. I might stay on the beach the rest of the time or continue wherever this gypsy wants to explore. Laura and I split after tomorrow! She has been to say the least a BLAST to travel with! I`m off by myself but look forward to some more character building!

Ill send more notes and stories later! Lots of love and plenty of laughs!
Cass

Side notes: I forgot to mention that all throughout the Trek to the ciudad perdida there were tons of indigenous people and tribes. It was fascinating to step into their world and see how they lived!

Men: rule of thumb - when traveling in a mobile unit whether it be a plane, train, bus, boat or submarine and you have to share the bathroom with females you need to sit and tuck not stand and aim. Im just saying its gross when your liquid sloshes on my feet.