Trip to México

Day 1

I arrived in Mexico City airport around 3am, however getting luggage was such a pain. The airport does it in rounds instead of doing it all at once so you had to wai. My brother had to wait for an hour for me as it took an hour to get out of the airport and go through customs. When I arrived at my brother’s house and checked my luggage, I noticed that my lulo pulp had exploded 😦 Didn’t actually get to go to sleep until around 6am.

We woke up at 11:30 and decided to go to brunch. I got to try huevos rancheros which was so good but I quickly realized it’s too much spice for me in the morning. went to parque de Chapultepec by bike and it was so cool to bike around the city! The park was also so god damn big. We walked around and there were a lot of little stands to buy things at, a lake, games, zoo and el castillo Chapultepec. All I have to say was everything was spectacular to see!

Eating my first Mexican meal! Huevos Rancheros

Niños Héroes

At night we had dinner with the lovely Tamara at casa tono. I got to try some tacos, flautas, pozole, horchata and flan! All so delicious. Everything in Mexico is delicious!

My brother, me and Tam!

Day 2

In the morning we were headed off to Tepoztlan! We had to subway for about 20 minutes and then take another bus for 1.5 hours to get there. I fell asleep for the majority of the ride so it was fine!

Tepoztlan is famous for 2 things: el tepozteco and their ice cream flavours. The hike up el tepozteco took about an hour and was a lot harder than I had thought! It was so rocky and at times it was very steep. When you get to the top though, it is definitely worth the hike. The view is amazing, the pyramid is stunning, and the racoon like animals are so adorable! We even got to see them in action and steal food from a family who left bags of chips in their bag.

Rock formations on the hike up

el tepozteco

The ice cream flavour was so weird. They had flavours like lettuce, weird fruits, weird combinations, as well as normal flavours. I tried the Tuna, Tequila con Limon and Rice flavoured ice creams. They were actually quite delicious as well! After that we went around looking for the big cathedral, and it was so big and beautiful! Lots of windows, lots of wall art, and the scenery looking out the window was beautiful as well!

List of flavours!

Wall art in the church

When we returned home from Tepoztlan, I met up with Said and Sergio at El Ocho. It might have been one of the most hipster places I had been to in the last 2 months. But it was really nice to see faces I hadn’t seen in a year, and to just catch up and chat.

That night I didn’t sleep at all. My brother and I went to a bar to try these weird drinks and then took a taxi all the way to the terminal for our 2:15am bus ride to Acapulco!

Weird drinks

Day 3

Acapulco is hot and humid….like comparable to the temperatures in Hong Kong and Thailand. We checked in at Hotel Nilo and it wasn’t an amazing hotel but it was a pretty nice one! Rooftop pool, big nice rooms, amazing view from the room. We went to eat breakfast and it was so nice to see the prices were cheaper than in Mexico City. There was also a Walmart nearby ❤ It was my first time going to a Walmart outside of Canada. They had so many Acapulco items in there, it was fascinating to me being in there.

View from the hotel

We then finally went to the beach! It was my first beach in 2 years, the last one I went to was in Thailand. I got my hair braided, got beers, swam in the ocean, tanned a lot and got very very burnt. But overall it was really fun and nice to just relax by the beach, enjoy the sun, and listen to the waves.

The braids, the tan, the beach

At night I hiked to Si Senor for dinner. It was in the mountain so it had a stunning sunset view of the harbour, it reminded me of Hong Kong harbour. The food and drinks were very overpriced but it was worth the experience. I discovered my new favourite drink: Lime Daquiri! The fish was very fresh as we were right by the water.

View from Si Senor

Day 4

For breakfast we went to get a buffet breakfast; so much food, so much deliciousness! I felt terribly fat after. We went to see the big cross in the mountain which also had a church. It was a lot smaller than anticipated but every time you go into the mountains, you are taken away by the harbour views.

Then we went to see the cave paintings at Palma Sola. The hike was about an hour in total to see all the rocks. It was also a lot more difficult than I thought since it was the hottest time of the day and we didn’t bring any water.. But it was still awesome!

Cave paintings

We then went to the Acapulco Museum where they had the history behind Acapulco/Mexico. It was fascinating to read about the history; who knew there was so much indirect Chinese influence, as well as direct influence from the Philippines and Spain?!

Acapulco is known for their pozole, so we had to try it! The waitress was lovely and let us sample all 3 pozoles before ordering. We ordered 3 tamales (sweet, green and red), and the green pozole. I have nothing else to say but delicious.

Red, white and green pozole

Sweet, green and red tamales

We walked to this cliff where there are famous cliff divers who do daily shows. I was stunned to see how many people showed up to watch them dive. The scenery was stunning. The dives were flawless. To know they risk their lives every day for these shows… ❤

The cliff

Day 5

We decided to eat breakfast on the street instead of going to a restaurant. It was quite disappointing, I thought it would’ve been a lot better than it really was. Food is food though! We then went to the beach to relax as it was our last day. I got a pina colada and I swear it was more alcohol than anything else. My brother got a coco loco, which was my first time trying coconut water, and I am most definitely not a fan. 

the coco loco

After the beach, we walked around the area one last time and got some fish quesadillas and tacos at this one place. They were toooooooo expensive for what they served us. We weren’t even full after! We went to another taco place after to eat more tacos before leaving 🙂

steak tacos

When we got to the bus terminal, we had purchased VIP tickets so we got to wait in the VIP lounge. Worth every penny. Free drinks (soda, coffee, water), A/C in the lounge, everything was just so much nicer. The bus had more than enough leg room, each person got their individual TVs, leg rest, cup holder, it was like a dream. However, despite the luxury of having a nice bus, our 5 hour bus ride turned into 7.5 brutal hours. We didn’t end up getting home that night until 12am. But when we did get home, we decided to go out for more tacos again!

that leg room ❤

late night tacos ❤ taco al pastor

Day 6

I woke up at 6:30am so that I could finish packing as I had a lot of things I wanted to do before leaving. I met up with Juano and Ross for breakfast at around 7:30am. Biking to an unknown area alone early in the morning was so confusing and exhilarating as it was like an exploration 🙂 It was really nice to catch up with them as I didn’t get to say my goodbyes in Canada. After that we went to visit AIESEC Mexico MC office which was so much smaller than I had expected. I can’t believe they have to fit 17 people in there D:

Juan & Ross!

I then went to Zocalo with my brother, and damn that cathedral is so gorgeous. Mexican architecture is just breathtaking! We were in such a time crunch when we were there, we quickly went to El Pescadito for some mouth watering fish and fried shrimp tacos omggggggg. 

Zocálo

best fish tacos

My brother took me to the airport, and of course, my luggage was overweight -_- #typical 

Last Week in Colombia

Day 49

This was the last day I spent with my host family. Since they asked me what I wanted as my last meal, my host mom had made me food I liked and it was the last lunch with host family :(. After that I hung out with Gerardo and Andrea 1 last time. We got our last beers together, our last fries together, it was a very sad day 😦 Then I packed my bags and headed off to Cali.

last ice cream with Gerardo and Andrea 😦

Day 50

I went to the stadium to watch IAAC, Cali 2015 with Juan, Daniel and Roberto. It was very interesting since I had never seen track and field events live. My favourite event was definitely the hurdles, but I was amazed how many people were at the stadium for an event that wasn’t very big. At night we went to Route 66 for beers…they literally played all my old favourite songs, it was just so nice to be able to sing English songs again :P. When we got home, Danny took us to McDonald’s, god damn fresh fries when you’re not sober might be the best thing ever ❤ 

watching Cali 2015

Day 51

Went camping for the first time! We took a bus from Cali to Salento, with a stop in Armenia ❤ We met up with the interns from Cali in Cocora. It was so god damn beautiful there! Tall palm trees, lots of greenery, just stunning. It was a lot colder than I had thought it would be though 😦 At night we had to cook dinner and we really roughed it out with cooking sausages on sticks off the ground, but hey it was fun! However I did end up burning my knuckle because I’m not the smartest person.

absolutely beautiful

i love fire ❤

Day 52

In the morning we woke up around 6:30am…it was still kinda chilly but it was really beautiful in the morning! Roberto and I just walked around and decided to get water because we had drank all the waterthe night before #badidea. But it was really nice to just chat about the previous night adventures. We ate breakfast with everyone else after and then went hiking in the valley! It was kind of annoying to hike there because people would be riding horses down the path and we would have to move over every once in a while and there was also a lot of horse poop.

We finally got to the waterfall and it was quite cold there but it was very beautiful! A lot of people decided to jump into the water or at least dip their feet into it, I chose otherwise. After we walked back, we got water again because damn, hiking after a night of drinking is a horrible idea.

waterfall!

We headed back to Cali afterwards and there was so much traffic everywhere. It took us a lot longer to get home than anticipated. But when we did get home we just chilled since we were all extremely tired.

Day 53

The original plan was to head up to Tres Cruces for the early morning, however when we woke up in the morning it was pouring rain 😦 But back to bed I went! Juan’s mom bought me all the ingredients I needed and I made pancakes for the whole family. It was so weird making so many pancakes, I felt like I was just a non-stop working machine, but it was fun! After that we went to the Cali Zoo. It was quite amazing there as there were so many animals that I had never seen before, especially birds. As I tended to describe them as “ugly but cool”. Then we went to a mountain with some monument, and it was my last beautiful view of the whole city. Literally an amazing view. My last dinner in Colombia would be, obviously at Areperia! I was so happy I got to go there, the food, sauces, potatoes….delicioso!

half the stack of pancakes

cool ugly bird

llamas!

last areperia 😦

Day 55

My last day in Colombia 😦 We went to Tres Cruces in the morning and this time I didn’t hit my head and I improved my time by 11 minutes 😀

After Tres Cruces, Juan took me shopping for last minute things: coffee flavoured treats, Wayu bags, bracelets, lulo, maracuya and buñuelo mix. It’s a lot harder to find everything, especially at good prices too! Then we went back to the house for my last meal in Colombia and with Juan’s family. It was a nice, lovely, and sad all at once 😦

After lunch, Juan’s mom gave me her favourite book and inside it, the whole family wrote messages in it. It was so sweet of her! I gave them a postcard of Toronto with a minature Canadian flag as well. It was a very sad moment as I had to say goodbye to all the family members 😦 

Then it was time to leave the house forever. Juan drove me to Unicentro to show me one of the malls, which was pretty gorgeous. I love the outdoor concepts of the malls in Colombia! We bought my buñuelo mix, and then went to a panaderia for more last minute bread, however it was so expensive! 😦 The one bread I couldn’t find in bakeries was buñuelos! 😥 I wanted it so bad and I felt bad that Juan literally drove everywhere looking for it; but we had no luck..

We then headed off to the airport, and it was so weird that you have to pay to cross a toll to go to the airport but it was a nice drive through a lot of open fields. I am so thankful to know Juan, have him take care of me so well and drop me off at the airport!

See you later Colombia ❤ 

Day 48

Today was the last day with the rest of the EPs who are still here. We spent the morning just the four of us (Gerardo, Andrea, Gyna, and I) shopping for last minute souvenirs, last beers together, clothes that we found at discounted prices, etc! I ended up buying a café liquor for my host, a magnet for the fridge at home, some cafequipe, 2 dresses, a shirt, a Colombian flag, 2 bottles of aguardiente, ice cream and some beers.

We later met up at Maxi Pan by Courtney’s house to eat some fresh Pan de Crema (which I must say was amazing). Then we just sat and talked for a while before Courtney had to leave for the airport. I had to stop her every time she tried to say something cute/sweet/sad because I probably would’ve cried at the end.

As we walked out of her place, Andrea started saying how it’s the last time we’ll see each other as well and it really hit me, my 7 weeks in Armenia are over. The time I spent here has gone by so fast, and the friends I have made here are all going home. I’m going to miss this family of 6, it was honestly one of the most amazing summers I have ever had.

Tonight will also be my last night with my host family. I bought them the café liquor and wrapped it in Canadian stuff and wrote on a Niagara Falls postcard with my final messages; it was nice to see their reaction and when they were reading the post card 🙂 They even asked me what I wanted to eat as my final meal with them tomorrow, which is hard to choose because I honestly love everything I have tried here, except the liver 😛

Today also marks the day that I killed my first cockroach…took like half a bottle of spray but I did it. I also left in the laundry room because I didn’t want to touch it. I think that thing is going to come back to haunt me, it was so hard to kill 😦

But off to Cali tomorrow, one last time!

Trip to Medellin

My trip to Medellin consisted of day 44, 45, 46, 47! Definitely one of the most beautiful cities in Colombia that I have gotten to visit!

Day 44

I randomly ran into Gyna on the bus, which was honestly a weird coincidence as we never planned it! I am so glad I ran into her though because the traffic police came onto the bus to ask for Passports, which I didn’t have, and they talked to Gyna and she explained to me.

It was a pretty terrible bus ride to Medellin as I was so hungover from the night in Pereira, however it was oh so beautiful! The mountains in Colombia are breathtakingly stunning.No pictures can truly capture the beauty of the mountains.

When we all met at the hostel, it was so nice to see everyone again as it had been a few days for me! We lived by a street with quite a few bars and clubs, and decided that we had to dance as we hadn’t gone dancing in a long time. But other than that, we were so tired from travelling to Medellin.

‘Jerry’s Angels’

Day 45

GUATAPE! I know I use the words, beautiful, stunning, amazing, etc. But like…..just look at this place. We got to the city a little later than we had hoped, so we couldn’t do everything we wanted to do. However we did get to climb 659 steps of La Pierda to see the view! 3 of us climbed the stairs in 10 minutes, with the others in 15 minutes. It felt like the worst exercise I had ever done, however it’s so worth it! The worst part about the climb is your legs feeling like jelly and the fact that they keep shaking after.

659 steps to get to the top of La Piedra

Guatape from the top of La Piedra

The drive back to the city from Guatape was the worst. A 2 hour drive turned into nearly 3.5 hours because of traffic. I also managed to hit my temple on the side of the bus and now it is bruised 😦

Day 46

We woke up early as it was our last day in Medellin and we wanted to explore as much as possible! Originally we were going to go to Parque Arvi, however plans changed. We went to the Botanical Gardens of Medellin where there were a lot of butterflies, turtles, ducks and I think it’s an iguana.

After that we went to Plaza de Botero to visit the fat statues and see the beautiful palace next to it! I unfortunately witnessed a homeless guy peeing by the statues…literally got to see everything >.< The statues were really cool but weird, kinda curious as to why he was inspired to sculpt those.

1 of the statues

Palace next to the statues

After that, we visited the Plaza Bolivar and another parque, however that was closed 😦 At night we just hung out with Courtney’s host’s friend, which was really cool as it was very hipster and I probably never would’ve gone there myself.

Day 47

We decided to cook breakfast instead of going out for breakfast like we always had and it wasn’t that bad! I was in charge of the eggs and peppers, and I think I did a pretty good job 🙂 After breakfast we got a taxi to the terminal, and unfortunately we ran into a creepy driver and a lot of traffic. I guess the perk was that he gave us a discount!

hostel breakfast!

The 7 hour drive back to Armenia was a lot longer and stuffier that I had hoped, but being able to see this view one last time was honestly something I needed.

I can’t believe I am leaving this country in 7 days 😥 Time has gone by so fast

Trip to Pereira

My trip to Pereira was part of day 42, all of day 43 and part of day 44, so about 2 full days in city.

Day 42

Juan had invited me to go to Pereira where his grandmother lives, to just visit for a few days. The morning was a little complicated with Courtney and I trying to figure out the bank stuff and also trying to figure out the best time to arrive in Pereira! While I was waiting at the Terminal in Pereira, this girl next to me decided to start talking to me. I’m so surprised about how much I understood considering she spoke no english at all. 19 year old girl named Valentina, lives in Medellin, born in Pereira, back for 2 days to see a doctor because she got in a motorcycle incident and hurt her leg, wants to study medicine, and works in a restaurant in Medellin. *pat on the back for myself*

When Juan picked me up, he drove to his grandma’s house and oh my god….it’s absolutely gorgeous. There are honestly no words to describe how beautiful the place is and I was in love. His grandma fed us lunch, which began my streak of eating like a little girl…and then showed me all her paintings, her house, the lime, orange, tangelo trees, and the pineapple plant! It was honestly breathtaking!

Then we all drove to Centro. I got to try this weird fruit thing that tasted like it should be a potato, got to see another Plaza Bolivar, but this time he’s naked, and Juan’s mom showed me the church that she got married at!

Plaza Bolivar, this time he’s naked.

Afterwards, we went to one of the most beautiful malls I’ve been to in Colombia, Parque Arboleda. It has such a good variety of different stores, and it’s just stunning to look at. We met up with Juan’s friend and her friends, which was quite interesting to me as I’m always so awkward in situations. But they were really nice! We got to eat some crepes and then went for a pint of beer. Then we took a taxi and 2 buses back to his grandma’s place which took a little over an hour, but it was an interesting trip!

Day 43

I woke up extremely early this morning; around 6:30am. I got to feed the birds which was so cool because there’s so many different types here! I had a conversation with Juan’s mom, aunt and grandma for a good 2 hours in Spanglish, it was honestly pretty entertaining.

After a long morning of breakfast, swimming, and looking at old photos, we went to the Botanical Gardens! It was yet again, so beautiful there. Lots of guadua bamboo, different ecosystems, different birds, just was extremely cool to be there. We walked around there for a good 2 hours, I honestly understood little to non of the tour, but it was fun being with everyone!

Then we went for dessert to this really good ice cream place, however it was too sweet for me to finish. Then at night we went out with a larger group of friends for these 4 drinks below.. It was literally all I drank that night, and I must say it was the most drunk I had been in Colombia. Each glass is filled with either vodka, tequila, whiskey, or rum and you must spin once before your first glass, twice before your second, etc. After staying there for a while, we went to a club; too much reggaeton 😦 Overall it was a really fun night!

#regrets

Day 44

Hangover was so real. Honestly wouldn’t have been that bad if I didn’t need to get to the terminal to travel to Medellin in the morning. But the family was so caring, it’s literally like my second host family in Colombia <3. Juan and his parents drove me to the terminal and waited for me before I boarded my bus. It was also the first time I got my ID checked, which was a little terrifying, but so thankful for this family. 🙂

🙂

Day 41

Last day of class for me 😦 It was nice to see that more students came out to class! During one of the recesses, a little girl was given a puppy from a stranger saying that she found the puppy in the park and it’s a free gift for her. We ended up taking care of the puppy for the rest of the class, it was such a big distraction. The puppy was literally less than 2 months old and she was so adorable!

At night, Hung invited all of us to his house for dinner, including the puppy as we couldn’t find her a home! Hung made us some paprika chicken which was so good, however Courtney and I both decided to add 1 full dried chilli that Gerardo was carrying…worst mistake of my life.I didn’t have it as bad as Courtney, but it was honestly so spicy. It was also a sad night as it was my final night with everyone together (the 6 of us), also the final night I got to see Hung’s host family, who were such gems.

Day 40

Class today was quite brutal. Only 11 kids came today because school has started for the rest of them. Which meant most of our good kids are no longer coming 😦 The energy in the room was so dead and the kids just don’t want to learn anymore, it’s horrible! It’s such a bad feeling when the class is like that.

We all met up at Unicentro again to just hangout since it’s our last few days all together. Andrea had found a french fries place earlier in the morning and we knew we had to eat there. But why are french fries so expensive??!?!?!?! 😦 We got a small container of french fries for 3500 COP..so good but too small!

We got ice cream after (because why not), and we just sat around talking. It was nice to reminisce over the last 6 weeks and the random laughs we had. I’m really going to miss everyone here, it’s like my 2nd family ❤

Gerardo’s ‘ice cream’

After the ice cream, we started walking people home, but on the way back Gerardo and I kept talking about why we drink so much in Colombia. #1 Beer in Colombia is so cheap, $4 Canadian for a 6 pack or about 60 cents for a can… #2 you can drink on the street, no need to be confined to your house or restaurant, it’s just so relaxing.

But anyways, on the way back, Gerardo, Andrea and I just ran and ditched the group to get beer, obviously they followed after, but it was just so random and fun at the same time. I love the Mexicans ^_^

Day 39

When I arrived to Hung’s house before class, his host mom was asking about where Gerardo was. She ended up messaging him from my phone and going to pick him up to bring him to our class. It was so random but awesome at the same time 🙂 So Gerardo helped us teach the kids today because we taught them a bunch of verbs and he was our translator :P. It was also the day where the little girls decided to bully Hung by making him sit in a chair, messing up his hair, chasing him around everywhere, it was quite hilarious.

After class, we went to Unicentro where I bought 2 new pairs of shoes 😀 (i love shoes) and we got to meet with the 2 new interns! One is from Peru named Alex and the other is a Brazilian named Alana. It was really fun just getting to know each other, talk about anything and everything.

But it’s the last week of teaching, 4 days left…wow. Where has time gone 😦 I’m going to go to Pereira and Medellin this weekend though 🙂

Last 3 days

Every weekend is starting to become a “last 3 days” post, but I love it. So the last 3 days (days 36-38) were interesting, a lot more things happened than anyone would have thought.

Day 36

Gerardo and Andrea came to our school today which was a nice addition to our normal class! Since the children have been bugging us for so long about going swimming, we finally all went swimming as a class for 2 hours. I don’t think I have ever been in such a cold pool before, but it was really fun being around the kids and seeing them so happy and excited!

Gerardo and I

After class we went to Hung’s house for a bit, where I got to play Guitar Hero using a controller instead of a guitar…man I miss playing video games sometimes, I felt so in the zone 🙂

Later at night we met up with Gyna and Courtney as well to talk about upcoming plans, chill, and drink. We decided to play King’s Cup and played with American rules, it was actually really fun and interesting! I really love this group ❤

Day 37

We went to Santa Rosa in hopes of going to the hot springs after we had gotten there. We arrived in Santa Rosa around 2pm, had lunch and then found a hostel. The hostel we stayed at was $13 per person, which wasn’t too bad, however their service was terrible. The lady working there told us to buy tickets with her, for the same price, but skip lines. Then the cost of transportation would be an additional 10,000 COP or so, which no one had the money for. We also had asked her if we could pay by credit at the place, where she had told us no. However her co-worker came in and accidentally told us that we could….She made the mistake of lying to us to begin with. We decided not to go that day and go tomorrow, early enough that we could get transportation for cheap as well. The lady was not happy at all and tried to argue saying we had to go etc, etc. We were so done with her lies and poor arguments.

After all of that, we just all wanted to relax with some drinks and watch the finals for Copa America (Argentina vs. Chile). It was honestly a very boring game, but it was fun ‘celebrating’ 4th of July for Courtney 😛 Chile ended up winning from penalty kicks, which were so embarrassing to watch.

the girls

At night, we decided to stay in and play more King’s. A makeshift refrigerator was created for the beers by yours truly :3. It was a really fun night just getting to know each other some more, just playing games and not worrying about going home and responsibilities. There were some issues at night, like missing people, drama, things like that, however, it’s what made it also such a memorable night with these lovely people.

King’s

Day 38

The previous night’s sleep might have been one of the worst sleep I’ve ever had. There was a thunderstorm all night and you could hear the downpour. Then early morning there would be people yelling, and playing music.. was a pretty bad way to wake up so many times.

In the morning, we headed off towards Termales de Santa Rosa (hot springs) in a Willy. First time riding on the back of one of those things and it’s kinda scary, but very fun! The view the whole way there was absolutely beautiful! When we got to termales it was even more stunning, the amount of green space in Colombia is amazing.

We soaked in the hot springs for an hour or so, went into the waterfalls, and just sat around talking, eating and enjoying every minute of the scenery!