Bogota!

Through a haze of sleep and music from my iPod, I registered the captain's announcement over the loudspeaker that we would shortly be descending into Bogota, and that it was time to fill out our declaration forms for Customs. Excitement dawned on me, as I realized we were landing a half hour early, a nice departure from my delayed flight from Dulles to Newark and from the 7 hours I spent pacing around terminal C in Newark. I figured that by the time we landed and I passed through Customs and Immigration, I would be perfectly on time to meet Whitney. It was clearly too long since I'd traveled in Latin America.

After nearly two hours of waiting in lines, I finally gave Whitney a hug and we proceeded to hop into a taxi autorizado (authorized taxi) and hold our breath for the next 25 minutes until we arrived at the Musicology Hostel, located in the La Candelaria neighborhood of Bogota. That guy could have been a driver in NYC, no sweat...

We were buzzed into the front hall of the hostel, where I met a few of the people that worked here. Entering the inner courtyard, I immediately received the impression of having walked into a jungle. Filled with lush tropical plants and hammocks, the courtyard was lined by the various dorm rooms of the hostel. After checking in a receiving a brief tour from Whitney, we enlisted her friend and hostel worker Francisco to come with us in search of food. We made our way through the windy, hilly, and architecturally rich streets of La Candelaria before arriving at ???, where we ordered empanadas and hamburgers. While the little place at 3 y A in El Vedado, La Habana will always be, to me, the best burgers in the world, this place was a close and delicious second! The company was also fantastic; Whitney and I were able to start catching up, as well as talk more to Fran, who came from Argentina a month ago and works at the hostel in exchange for bed and board. As we were on our walk, we passed the stroke of midnight, and he turned 26, so Whitney and I (more so Whitney) treated him to an impromptu rendition of "Happy Birthday" in the streets of Bogota.

After a few more hours of chisme and catching up here, we turned the lights out- and began talking with Yoav, our Israeli roommate of 23 years old. Somehow, despite the lack of sleep over the past two days, I was also awake by 7 AM. Those of you who know me well can begin to imagine my pleasure at being able to step outside my door, climb into a hammock, and read for an hour with nothing to disturb me. Life is beautiful! After breakfast (which, along with dinner, is apparently included in the already-low cost of $10/night that I pay to stay here), we'll begin an exploration of Bogota. More to come soon :)