First Days Away!

So our travels have officially begun! At 5:30 in the morning on January 5th, Lexi and I began an 18-hour voyage down to our cousins in Barranquilla, Colombia. Leaving just in time to escape the onset of Winter in the US, and enjoy the coastal Colombian climate.

Our first two days here have been pretty calm, although I have to mention that the driving in Colombia would terrify just about anyone from the US. Apparently there is no driver’s test in Colombia, only a brief “theoretical driving” course and a few drives with an instructor (or, if you don’t want to go through the hassle of learning to drive, you can just bribe a city official). It is readily apparent, as there is abject chaos on the streets of Barranquilla. Lanes are meaningless, traffic lights are mostly just decorations, and I’m not convinced that many drivers down here are even aware of the fact that they are not alone on the road. Even so, somehow the people just make the whole thing work.

Apart from the driving, everything down here has been pretty incredible for us. Our cousins are showing us around their city, we’ve visited a Colombian heritage museum, relaxed at a pool overlooking the coast, and tried all kinds of amazing new foods.

So now we’re settling in, planning out some trips around other Colombian towns, and enjoying messing with Pipo (pictured below)