Friday, November 29, 2013

Day1


Thursday, November 28, 2013
Day 1
Our day started at 3:00 am to get to BWI in time for our flight.  The airport was very quiet and we had no problems with our luggage.  Craig was concerned about his batteries that he knew he needed to carry on board but the TSA found no problem with them.  The flights from Baltimore to Ft. Lauderdale and then on to Medellin were really uneventful.  The real adventure started when we arrived in Medellin and went thru Immigration.  Immigration Officer number 1 stamped our passports   relatively quickly after we presented the letter of invitation our host Deiter thoughtfully obtained for us from the
Immigration Officer number 2 was the one we were really concerned about. We could have been made to open all our luggage for inspection but when we presented the letter of invitation, he smiled and nodded and said proudly..."You are welcome to Colombia!"  We responded with "mucho gracias!"  We then proceeded with all our luggage to find our hosts, Deiter and Marcela.
The journey from the airport in Medellin to Girardota was interesting. The main highway was 2 lanes and splattered with ninja like motorcyclists zooming in and out of traffic without regards to the actual lanes.  We did encounter some construction so at times traffic was halted.  During a time when traffic was at a slow crawl, a taxi passed us on the right and we heard a bang.  We quickly realized the taxi had come along beside us to try to rip off the mirror of Deiter's truck!  Craig had his elbow hanging out of the window and we were fortunate his arm was not hit.  Marcela told us to make sure to keep our arms in the vehicle, especially since we were wearing watches, as it would not surprise them if someone came along side of us and tried to steal our watches!  We got the license number with the intention of reporting it to the local transit policia. When we did report it, we were in the wrong district and there was nothing they could do about it.   Shortly after this incidence, we got our first awe inspiring view of the valley of Medellin. We were speechless.  Still driving along the 2 lane highway, we looked to the east and saw lush, green mountainous ridges dotted with coral roof covered homes and some tiny, dirt covered pathways that Deiter explained was a shortcut to where they lived.  He had decided ahead of time he would stick to the highway because the traveling would be too rough for our first trip.  As we got closer to Girardota and the place that we would be spending the next 11 days, our curiosity, along with my anxiety, began to peak. We continued up, up, up and winded thru many, many bumpy barely 2 lane roads. As we initiated our final ascent to the home of Deiter and Marcela, we were both speechless.  When Deiter and Marcela announced we had arrived,  they unlocked the gate, pulled the truck into the drive, and we got our first view!  Did places like this really exist???  We were amazed!  Here we were, like it or not.  Time to settle in and relax.




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