Sitting in my room in Victoria, I try to snap back into reality and realize that it was a dream and that is why I am so addicted to it. Reality is me sitting in my room by this computer hoping to dream again. Hoping to escape and become the free spirit I am when I let go of all my possessions and find myself walking the narrow alleys in another side of the world.
These are my most memorable experiences and highlights of
Colombia:
There is a 500 year old Plaza in the centre of Bogota. There are thousands of birds playing and hanging out in it. We visited the plaza just before the sunset… Bogota sits on a mountain. The fresh and misty air flew softly in the Plaza.. I walked into the centre and ]I bought some seeds and spread my hands to feed the birds. I smiled so wide that my cheeks hurt.
I met the most intelligent, interesting and kind 18 year old who was Colombian by blood. We spent many nights sitting at one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, San Andreas. We’d buy $1 beers and walk the beach up and down, sit on the white sand and talk about our lives until the sunrise.
My two best friends from Canada flew into San Andreas. We stayed at a beach hotel, layed in Hammocks and drank the most delicious Pina Coladas for days. The locals blasted music on the street and I tried my first Areba there. I still remember the taste. Fresh hot bread filled with cheese with a site of fresh Mora juice.
I sat at Hotel Holiday in Cartegena with a 40 year old guy who’d just sold his entire business and was on a world tour for 5 years. He traveled on his bike and had seen things no one else had.
I met two of the coolest, most confident and independent girl backpackers in Taganga, a small beach town. We were inseparable for days and we partied and laughed like there is no tomorrow. So many dramatic and fun stories came out of our adventures…. all of those remain between the three of us.
I scuba dived and saw a parrot fish with its baby. The fish was about 3 meters long and 1 meter high. It had the colors of the rainbow. The baby fish swam behind it. I felt like I was in a fantasy world.
We went to Tayrona, the second most beautiful beach in Colombia and slept on Hammocks. One night I slept on the beach by myself and I woke up feeling incredibly peaceful the next day. AColombian guy woke me up by the sunrise and we watched the sun come up… 
A guys waited for me on the beach (without moving or eating) for 12 hours and after he did not see me return, he took the bus for 6 hours the next day and found me in another town. No one had ever looked at me like they loved me or that I mattered to them so much after a couple days like he did.
I met three amazing Israelis. 2 guys and one girl. Each incredible in their own way. The girl was absolutely stunning inside and out. The two guys were brothers and in love with their country and culture. I ate some Israeli food, learnt a bit of the language and sat by our porch overlooking the ocean for a few nights, drinking, la
ughing and listening to music. It was sad to say goodbye to them.
I sat in a bus for 20 hours. I got to meet the 3 drivers and they let me sit in the front of the bus with them and introduced me to the best fruit I have ever tasted.Sapotes grow in Colombia and fall off trees on the road. They taste somewhere between a Mango and a Peach. I ate about 20 in 3 hours. We got stopped by the police for drug checks about 7 times, but they never searched me. I listened to Raeggeton and promised the bus boy I would marry him one day. I think he was happy that day.
In Medellin I stayed at the Black sheep hostel. The most exciting time in Colombia happened in this city. I met so many interesting people. David and John were two genius brothers who took me on city tours and told me alot about Colombia and their life back home in the USA. I grew very close to John and I have never laughed so hard at someone’s jokes as I did with John’s. He became my best friend in Colombia. Two tall British guys showed me that I can be intimidating as little and harmless as I may look! Mariana was a 20 year old Colombian living in the US. Funnest girl ever. I partied alot with her. A Brazilian guy walked into the hostel and turned all girls’ worlds upside down. He now has a fan group on Facebook and he doesnt even know about it. A German guy Fabian has stayed in my mind. He was so pure and simple and kind. I will never forget any of these people.
The cleaning lady, Alga, had a five year old cute daughter. I bought her daughter shoes and I saw tears in Alga’s eyes. She never charged me for doing my laundry…
There is so much more to say, but so little space and time. I documented all of this so that when I look back at me 20 years down the road, I will still smile and remember these moments.. these larger than life snap shots of a dream.. a dream that can never be duplicated or repeated. A dream that will make me feel light, free and happy.
Someone asked me “what is the best and most memorable childhood experience you had?”. After thinking about this question for a few minutes, I looked at him and said ” I cant tell you or decide. Because as a child, you just… are… you dont think whether something is fun or not. You just take is and stay in the moment. Everything has the exact same value as the other. You dont expect, you dont discriminate and you dont analyze”. I cant help but wonder which one is better? being in the moment and having no opinion of things or discriminating.. making something better than the other. Then cherishing the good and regretting the bad… splitting your moments, your experiences. Longing for what was good in the past and blaming what was unfortunate and painful. Learning or watching? Judging or letting it be?
Either way, I am not a child anymore.
As humans we tend to take things for granted. As we grow we realize that we are taking things for granted, and even in the moments of realization, we are too lazy to snap out and enjoy the moment. I think that’s the biggest problem.. realizing that we are doing something wrong but not doing anything about it.
Here in this strong, peaceful and insanely orderly country, rules and logic is what we go with. Yes, we are orgainzed and hassle free. Yes its convenient and practical… but we got all of this at the cost of losing our senses, our feelings, our emotions, our connections, our culture, our people, our closeness. Most of us are fake. Our smiles are fake, our politeness is fake. We just do what we are supposed to do. We dont do what we feel like doing.
I remember when we first immigrated here. School was tough. Not speaking the language or not having friends in your teenage years was one side of the story, but the cold and dry sense of people around me destroyed me for a few months. I remember one day I cried from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon at school, and not a single person came up to me to ask me what is wrong. I was so lonely, so sad. A couple people would look at me and feel sorry, but it was too much to break the norm and avoidance was better than approach. Saving our face has become such huge of a matter, that we override our basic senses of kindness and help to achieve it. After a few months I forgot about being me and being warm. I learnt the culture, I learnt how to be fake and selfish. It’s second nature now. I hadnt notice this change in me until I set foot in Colombia.
If reality here is supposed to tell me how I should be instead of giving me a chance to be how I am and who I want to be, then maybe this kind of reality is not for me. Maybe I do not belong here. Maybe a genuine smile and a warm hand will mean more than the money and the comfort I’d make/have here. Maybe I want to be selfless and giving instead of selfish and self absorbed. But then again, you can find genuine and giving people anywhere in the world.. .it’s just that here, these qualities are not the norm and dont always work in your favor.
I will try my hardest to be me.
