other things I forgot to remember

Food. I'm still picky, I'm still waiting on that to change. But while I've been here I've tried 2 new things (hah well actually a lot more than than, but these are notable) 1 of which I like:
ANTS-not going to keep eating them
portabella mushrooms-mmm delicious, ate them when I went to Federico's for dinner with his family...probably the best meal I've had while I've been here...his whole family is vegetarian, and it was so glorious to be able to eat a lot of vegetables at one time.

I completely forgot to document how when I was in Manizales Cynthia and I stayed with an AIESEC member before and after the conference. One of the nights we were there, well actually at like 4:30 in the morning there was a robber! We had to wake up early that day because it was when we were climbing the mountain, and the entire family was up, we were like, "Wow this is nice, they didn't have to all wake up for us." We found out that it was actually because a 15 year old boy had stolen bike parts out of their garage the week before...and then came back and broke into the house. The cousin (who also lived at the house) saw him, but he didn't have anything in his hands, he was only wearing an AIESEC poncho. The cousin went and told the dad because he didn't know if it was a legitimate AIESECer because he didn't recognize him. Luckily, they live in a gated community, so the guard caught him before he got away. Manuel got his AIESEC poncho back. haha, I thought that he must have put it on because he wanted to blend in with the house...Cynthia immediately thought that it was because the AIESEC poncho was the one thing he really wanted in the house. I hope cynthia was right.

I saw the house where Pablo Escobar was killed yesterday, Anton showed us when he was driving us back from the finca. It's actually only a few blocks from where I live here. They said no one has lived in it since, but it still has quite the eerie look to it. It's interesting how different events shape and greatly change different countries. Everyone here always asks us where we were when we found out about 9/11. Colombians can remember where they were when they heard about Pablo Escobar's death in the same way that we remember.

I found out the family I live with also has a finca. I was like, well that's exciting. Then I found out that they haven't been able to go to it for 7 years becuse it was taken over by the guerilla...it's 3 hours away from here.

Life is intense.

Anyways, is the Michael who recently has been posting comments and says he reads my blog every day my dad? Because dad if it's you, I told you it creeps me out when you sign your emails to me "Michael." It's no different on my blog. I only have one dad so I vote that you start signing your comments dad. Thanks love ya :)

oh p.s. Cary, I think Ben was little spoon sometime during the christmas season

I don´t know, zero, nothing, whatever the system is

A select few (namely my siblings, who I´m sad weren´t able to join me on this journey) already know that it´s about horseback riding because of the title--listen to Jerry Seinfeld: I´m telling you for the last time, it´s glorious and you won´t regret it (even if you don´t like the show, it´s no excuse, because i´ve converted millions, ok millions might be a lie, but whatever)

So anyways, last night Lizi, Cynthia, and I ventured by bus to a finca in Santa Elena. In Spanish classes we always learned that the translation of finca is farm, but really it´s more like cabin...one colombian tried to tell me it was a summer house, but I was like dude, you live in the city of eternal spring, you can´t have a summer house. So anyways, Santa Elena is on a mountain, with intense curves and inclines to handle in a bus, so of course when our bus had to make a complete stop mid-mountaining there was no way we could get that baby in gear after...everyone had to get off the bus, walk to the top of the hill, and then get back on.

We made it successfully to the finca, where we joined lots of other trainees from Medellin, --Brazil, Slovakia, Mexico, Ukraine, and the U.S., originally. We sat around a camp fire, roasted marshmallows, and listened to music...it was glorious, but we headed to bed early because we had been out late the night before (a night that involved Cynthia, Lizi, and I being forced to dance on the tables at a club that we went to: what I thought would be only one song turned into at least 15 minutes and a contest! But we did win, so, another story for another day) Anyways, there was a shortage of beds for the 11 people sleeping there so Cynthia and I had to jump into a (definitely smaller than normal) twin sized bed. But not without her first asking, "Can I be little spoon?" haha I of course said yes, but not without first remembering that fateful night when Carybeth was big spoon, Ben was little spoon, and Ben insisted, "Molly, this is my bed," while laying on the carpet of our family room floor. It was really cold, but when I woke up I realized Jason had faired worse than I, as he was just wrapped in a clear plastic tarp on a cushion on the ground. All I could say was, "you WOULD do that."

Anyways, this morning we rode horses on the mountain...I have to say, I remember myself being more of a pro from my girl scout days on the Swinging W ranch...I can´t say that I ever got to the point of being one with the horse today. Instead I have bruised inner thighs and I´m quite certain my butt bones were physically widened from all of the trotting. I did not get to ride gluestick or almostdead, I think my horse´s English name was Unruly, or maybe just I´majerk (I can think of a few others too, but I´m going to keep it G-rated) Anytime I pulled on the reins to stop Unruly would just rear it´s head at me and keep running.

And boy did he like to run. Picture this: these horses were rather skinny, so I felt like I was sitting on a peak, his spine, rather than a solid and flat surface (I like fat horses, because on a fat horse you don´t feel like you could fall to either side any minute). These saddles were not strapped on or underneath the horse in anyway, it was a square of blanket with a free floating saddle on top, and reins attached. I take that back, if you were lucky you had one little string-like thing that looped from the saddle underneath the tail, that I´m pretty sure was actually doing nothing. So anyways, this setting can make things all quite frightening when your horse is running 90 miles an hour and you realize you, and your saddle since it´s not attached, are now lifting at least 10 inches into the air and smashing back down again at each gallop. Needless to say, stop commands in spanish, english, No´s, and Oh´s were not successful. My last attempt was, "Don´t you want to just take a damn break?" As you can imagine that also worked to no avail. The situation finally resolved itself when we caught up to one part of my group whose horses were walking. Thank heavens peer pressure is alive and well in horse packs, herds, flocks? Alex from Ukraine asked me what you call a group of horses this weekend...anyone know?

Oh hello, Marta?

Well I never blogged about this, because I kind of forgot/figured she wouldn't call, but she did, so now I must.

About a week ago I ended up being on the subway at the same time as the senor and the uncle from my house. I had already taken the metro to work on my own for a couple weeks successfully from our new house. But seeing as they think I can't really speak Spanish, I don't think they had very much trust in my metro navigational skills either. (they were actually correct in the navigational part--I don't have trust in my own navigational skills..but seeing as the metro is only one line with 2 offshoots I generally do pretty well there) So anyways, they repeatedly were talking me through what I was going to do...Okay you're going to switch lines, and then you're going to get off at Alpujarra, and then you're going to...Ok, so tell me, what are you going to do? During all of this another woman overheard the excessive direction giving and said, "I'm going that direction, I can just bring her if you want." yes yes. "Ok, now Molly, you're going with this woman, she's going to the same stop as you, do you understand?" yep, I got it.

So this nice, approximately 40 year old woman, named Marta accompanied me to the correct Metro Station. We made small talk, very very small talk, and then as I was leaving she said, "wait, what's your cell phone number?" I wasn't really sure what 40 year old Marta would need my cell phone number for, but I was like ehh what the heck, I'll give it to her, maybe she wants to be able to call and check up that I made it the 3 more blocks to my actual building. To be perfectly honest, I gave it to her right away without thinking, it wasn't until I was walking out of the metro station that I was like, "You just gave your cell phone number to complete stranger 40 year old Marta." It seemed perfectly natural to give my number away, stuff like that just happens in Colombia. I can't say I walk around giving out my number to middle-aged randoms in the United States. (sorry, some of you are probably thinking, heyyy wait a minute, who are you calling middle-aged. I guess 40 is still up for debate)

Anyways, Marta called me today, apparently also on Sunday too, but she thought I must have been sleeping and that's why I didn't answer. She called just because she wanted to see how I was. That is a representation of how legitimately nice Colombian people are. Granted, I ran out of things to say when she asked me all 20 forms of the greeting how are you in spanish...I'm sure she grew weary of my bien...si, bien responses. But thanks Marta, for being so nice, wherever you are. Actually, you're probably a block away from me right now, cuz I know where you work from our small talk. She was worried that I didn't remember who she was. Of course I remember who you are Marta, how many metro randoms you think I give my number out to a week? :)

The Morning of Misadventure

I don't remember when it all started, but I think it was around approximately 4:30 AM (I, only having gone to bed 4 hours previous, really just wanted to sleep) However, uncle Ramiro's alarm clockS (that is correct 2) wanted otherwise. Two alarm clocks, clearly he's had trouble waking up in the past, and today was no different, as they were going off for no less than 14 minutes. These 2 alarm clocks had an almost identical beep, Almost, the almost contributed to an awesome disharmony that wasn't exactly conducive to sleeping. At 14 minutes I'd had enough and got out of my bed to turn them off myself.

Soon enough, not only was uncle Ramiro awake, papa Antonio was also awake...and they decided that this early hour would be a good time to have a disagreement...granted everyone here while just talking regularly talk REALLY loud, so it was only magnified during the disagreement.

Next, randomly and I'm not sure from where, a bowl of cat food appeared on the bedside table right next to my head. And when I say right, I mean directly next to my head. I had the privilege to be so close because I share a bed with Cata, and Cata's a snuggler while she sleeps. The "I'm gonna snuggle you into this side 8 inches of the bed and then put my face really close to your body so you couldn't turn over if you wanted to" kind of snuggler. So the cat relocated from my stomach to my pillow to eat perhaps the hardest food in the world, (or she's just a really loud chewer) for the next 7 minutes.

Shortly after this, the yappity dog decided it would be a good time to play a game of "I'm going to see if I can really loudly make an echo for my own barks." Luckily, about 5 minutes into this shenanigan she realized it was nearly impossible, and if it were, it would be a neverending game. Thank you, Luna.

This somehow brings us to 8: 15, when my alarm started going off. I got up to go shower, but .2 seconds before stepping in vetoed that process because it was too damn cold to take a cold shower. Did a once-over in the mirror before I left and decided that the morning shower process will be reinstated, active: immediately. Already looking really charming from my lack of shower...I think the musty smelling clothes I put on really sealed the deal. (I elected 4 days ago to have my wash done....it rained and was humid for the following 3 days, thus my clothes stayed in a constant state of wetness for 72 hours. Now, all of my clothes, and as a result my room, smells bad...and I don't think I'm allowed to re-wash them. It was a brilliant morning.

In other news: I saw the new HP movie last night! Which I actually really liked (I don't know what your problem is CB). I got a ride home from a guy named Edwin who was born in Colombia but left when he was 2 and grew up in Miami. He has dual citizenship and has been back for the past 8 monthes teaching english; he's currently trying to decide whether he wants to stay or leave. He offered an interesting perspective as we swapped commentary on cultural differences, etc. between the United States and Colombia. He said his life here feels really complete, but that he was expecting to come and feel like he was missing a lot, whether it be material, emotional, etc. But that he doesn't feel like he's missing anything besides his family. We talked about how things in the United States are very much so material oriented, and you don't even notice it that much until you leave the country and are living somewhere else...things in Colombia are very in the moment and right now oriented, there is also a lot of importance placed on personal relationships. The conclusion we came to was that things are just very different here and there, and hard to compare. He said he could live the rest of his life in Colombia, or the rest of his life in the U.S. and really enjoy both, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be COMPLETELY different.

Still, it was nice to be able to talk to, and listen to the radio of, an estadounidense. I'm starting to miss my family, friends, and culver's grilled cheese sandwiches a little bit. I reminisced of the states when we rocked out to The Fray "Over my Head." I was truly reminded I was in another place when Bright Eyes "Bowl of Oranges" came on his ipod...as that song won't be making the Colombia Top 40 list any time soon. Heck, I don't think that song even has a chance of making the American Top 40 list any time soon. (But that doesn't mean I don't love it.)

paz y amor amigos!

yo creo en colombia

"Paradox" is the term most often applied to Colombia. To be sure, as can be seen in the international press, the country is marked by a violent, internal conflict, to a great extent fueled by the drug trade. Less visible, yet highly significant, are the country’s tremendous assets -- its civilian, constitutional tradition, a record of sound economic management and performance, and educational, cultural, and scientific prowess.

Seldom does it appear in newspapers that Colombia is the leading supplier of flowers to the United States, that it is a pioneer in private philanthropy throughout Latin America, and that, despite the problems, it remains highly attractive for oil and gas exploration. Granted, such accomplishments do not easily lend themselves to appealing headlines. But they are critical to come to an honest picture of a country endowed with considerable advantages, struggling to pursue a productive course.

http://www.yocreoencolombia.com/en/

fundacion mi sangre

-445 Colombian boys and 125 Colombian girls have become victims of landmines between 1990 and february 2007
-Colombia is the leading country of victims caused by landmines, followed by Afganistan and Camboya.
-Only 3% of the international resources directed to the issue of mines go to Colombia.
-On average, there are three victims per day in Colombia.
-31 of the 32 departments of Colombia are affected by landmines and un-exploded ammunition.
-660 municipalities are affected, that makes 59% of the whole country.
-100% of the victims are below the poverty line.

www.fundacionmisangre.org


p.s. can anybody tell me how to link stuff on a mac using safari?

it`s times like these

It`s times like these that you wish there was a better translation to Spanish for the word awkward. The closest they say they come is "strange," but extraño just doesn´t have the same ring that awkward does (for those of you who know me well enough
you´ll know what type of voice inflection that last awkward had).

It was 12:15, I had woken up about 3 minutes prior when the Señor of my house is standing with another man when I walk out of the bedroom. Molly, te presento mi sister. Um, brother? No, no, el es mi hermano. ahh yes, brother. In Spanish I explain the difference between brother and sister. He explains to the brother that I am from the U.S., the brother makes a witty joke and calls me chiquitica (means: really really tiny girl, oh why thank you sir, haven´t heard that one before) Then the señor says, "She is pretty, no?" -In spanish, I don´t know if he was counting on me not understanding that one or what, but the 7 seconds that followed where the 60 year old brother looked me up and down in my pajamas and finally said, "mmm, yeah." REALLY called for an awkward. I mean heck if I´d known the 60 year old brother was coming over to size me up TODAY, I would have at least taken a shower.

In other news, I still get confused trying to find my house in the dark in a taxi (due to my brilliant inner-map and also the fact that I spent a week in another city--lost practice time) and also because I live really close to a metro station and the genius who designed the metro station decided to make all of the outlying blocks designed exactly the same (trees, parks, billboards, etc.) Nice move! So when I get in the taxi and tell you the address, what are you doing asking me "Is this the exit I take?" Sir, all you do is get in your taxi and drive till your dead, you should already know the answer to that question, you don´t look like you were just born, so I´m not really sure what your excuse is. Your ONE job is to know the layout of the city, and seeing as you practice at least 8 hours a day, I´m not sure what the hold up is.

Well we made it, and I guess no harsh feelings towards my cabbie...he probably has a case of the mall syndrome like me (You walk out of a store and you can´t remember from which direction you walked in)

NEWS TICKER: this just in (like 5 days ago) Benjamin Michael Reddy (my brother) is coming to visit me on August 8th (Ben we also need to go to Tayrona Park because we can sleep in hammocks!) hasta pronto, mono!

mas fotos

link for more pictures:
http://wisc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2256885&l=7d203&id=8644178

Went to a kitchen that serves 75 students lunch every day in a poor area in the north of Medellin. The kids loved me (obviously) and wanted me to talk in English. They also wanted to know what their names would be in English...uhhh Maria is Maria. Sometimes I just made ones up because I remember asking that same question when I was younger and always being disappointed that my classmate Jon turned into Juan, but I didn't exist or stayed the same.

The kids were wonderful, but there is something about kissing a little girl with a wide open mouth full of rotted out teeth that makes you thankful for the opportunities you've had.

Things I forgot to remember

2 funny things from the national conference:

-one night all of the trainees were called up in front of everyone at one of our night time fiestas. I was like oh this is nice, they`re going to introduce us to everyone...instead they auctioned us off to the crowd! I´m glad I got to go in a pair with Lizi from Brazil...we sold for 13,000 pesos. I know you`re impressed, the exchange rate is go good that`s like 13,000 dollars (lies), someone really wanted us. Don´t worry there were no contracts or anything involved, and conversation is the only thing that followed!

-for our role call (the opening dance), Cynthia, Jason, and I got put right at the front-- and apparently we did a good job because afterwards the crowd started chanting "U.S. solito! U.S. solito!" It baffles me that the Colombians couldn´t lean this relatively simple choreography...but they all insisted that they can´t learn a dance, they dance by feeling the music. I think they`re actually right because Colombians are amazing dancers!

-Today was the 2nd time the secretary at my office told me I needed to get my purse off the floor because otherwise people will think I`m poor. I´m not really sure where that line of thinking came from, I mean if Cameron Diaz comes in and sets her Gucci bag down on the floor, will people think she´s poor?

An excerpt from an email from my sister Emily (:) love ya em, mean it):
I think I am going to have tables in my classroom, instead of desks, to conserve space- since I will have 29 children in there with me, we will need as much space as possible! (Sorry, I just realized this is probably boring, you don't need details whether I am utilizing tables or desks)

Despite what you may think I love hearing about space utilization, among other things, so you should all send emails my way and I´ll be sure to respond: mollymreddy@gmail.com

ok, this is what i'm actually talking about

I finally got my computer on the internet, that only took more than a month...and the other computers in the office are fixed! hooray. I will slowly try and upload all of my photos...but for now, here are the first batch:

http://wisc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2256563&l=62c0c&id=8644178

oh, and the joys of being on my own computer, for some reason I am not offered the option of linking things on my computer...so I guess yall just have to copy and paste that link.

That´s what I´m talking about

haha, actually I wish it wasn´t what I was talking about, because...
I have effectively destroyed the internet connection to almost all of our office computers. I haven´t been able to get my Mac online here (because did I mention that the internet here SUCKS, at least all that I´ve had access to) But someone told me all I needed to do was buy a wireless router and I´d be good to go. So I bought it and I tried installing it on my computer, didn´t work, obviously. Tried installing it on another computer that had a previously working cable connection, didn´t work, and now the internet doesn´t work there either. And another, with the same outcome. So I´ve taken down 3 of 5 computers, and I´m pretty sure if you give me until the end of today, I´ll be able to take them all out.

I just want to get on my computer so I can upload some darn pictures!!

On another note, I felt like my boss and I connected for the first time yesterday. This connection took place over a half hour where he danced around my office pointing at his feet going, "socks, shoes," etc. etc. while we both just cracked up the whole time. hahaha

Home Sweet Home: Medellin

Well I´m finally back in Medellin today, and I have to admit, I really did miss it. Being in another city with people from all over Colombia I realized that Medellin does have the nicest people, the most welcoming households, and a general feeling of optimism. Don´t get me wrong, all Colombians are very nice, but there´s something about the way Paisas say: "Tranquila," whenever you´re worried or feel bad about something, and actually mean it. I don´t know that I have ever heard one word with such a comforting effect. The world needs more people who say tranquila and mean it.

I arrived back to my house (the new one) where in true fashion I am still waiting for a bed, but the family has now acquired a cat! (I had a conversation with the dad about 2 weeks ago where I told him I preferred cats over dogs, they already have a dog, so I hope I was not the sole influence of this purchase because I would feel bad) The cats name is Lupe, and when I told my brother also Fiasco, he believed me! At dinner tonight I sat down to watch the uncle eat an ENTIRE fish. They asked me if I wanted some, but I told them that if I have to eat meat I usually prefer it doesn´t have a face. haha, don´t worry they laughed too.

The conference this past week was amazing, read my blog entitled PM NATS on the Madison blog (the link can be found in my sidebar, Madison: go big or go abroad) It appears I am developing international notoriety, as during the opening plenary of the conference a random guy came up to me and said, "Molly, it´s so nice to meet you I love your blog." Turns out he´s not so random, shout out to my new favorite blog reader, LUCAS FLOREZ! (a member of the incoming Colombia MC) I am so glad I had the opportunity to go to Manizales.

After the conference I got zipline through a canopy, go on a chiva tour (a crazy open air bus with a live band on board), climb the mountain Nevado del Ruiz, and end the day in a natural hot spring.

If all goes well I should be able to get a wireless connection tomorrow on my beloved Mac, and then watch out because there are going to be pictures like whoa.

MANIZALES

I am currently in a city called Manizales for the AIESEC Colombia National Conference: NATS. Manizales is located in the coffee region and has the steepest hills you could possibly imagine.

I'm not sure if I will be able to get on the internet at all in the next week...but I just bought a wireless transmitter or whatever so I should be able to use that at work once I get back, and upload pictures!!! For now, I have some pictures here, but my upload kept failing so it's just a random mix.

Colombia is still wonderful and I think I'm not going to want to leave come August 27th.

Even if you watch the News

Even if you watch the news, this may be the first time you´re hearing this.

While I´ve been in Colombia I´ve realized there is either a huge communication gap between international news sources, or a legitimate apathy towards international news. I began to realize this when I was talking about school shootings with Colombians and someone said, "But the only two that have happened were just Columbine and Virginia Tech, right?" No, there have been a TON more, some of them minor, some of them major, but a lot more than 2. My initial thought was that school shootings in the United States stopped making international news a long time ago, whether it was because they were occurring too often, occuring only in the U.S., I wasn´t sure of the reason.

Today, I realized this communication gap or whatever it is, goes both ways. I was talking to my brother in gmail chat and I said: "oh, I have to go because I`m going to a peace march for the 11 government members from Cali that were killed by the FARC, you heard about that, right?" He was like, "No I haven´t seen anything in the news." When he searched for it online he still couldn´t find any news articles. I was thinking there has to be some, but when I searched in google I had no success. I had to search here to find these three articles. When I talked about it with my friend Andre and told her that my brother hadn´t heard anything about it she said, "That`s because the news that`s important to us, isn´t important to the United States. All of the news that gets played about Colombia in the U.S. is really old." She just might be right. One article said there was also going to be a peace march in New York, another article said the following cities (including New York) were either holding a peace march, or a moment of silence...I`m interested to know if either of those took place.

On the other hand, I got to be part of the largest peace demonstration in Colombia since 1999, and it was amazing! Everyone was dressed in white, waving white flags and Colombian flags, with whistles ready to blow in unison at 12:00. I also received a text message from my cell phone provider telling me what to chant at 12:00: "No al secuestro, si a la libertad!" (sidenote: this company sends text message ads all the time and it´s usually really annoying, but I liked this text from them) The streets were unbelievably crowded, and I took lots of pictures so as soon as I find somewhere fast enough to post my pictures I will post lots! The walk started in Simon Bolivar Park and finished at the Mayor´s office with a concert (okay, 2 songs, but it was still AMAZING) by Juanes! The whole experience was surreal, I loved it.

on another note: I am now capable of maintaining spanish conversation with complete strangers...this morning a man asked me if he was heading in the right direction on the metro, and I successfully informed him he needed to be taking the other line. A man just came in for a meeting with my boss, we talked for a few minutes and then when I didn´t understand something I said, "Sorry, I´m from the U.S. and my Spanish needs work." He said, "Really? But you speak so well, where did you learn?" noice.

P.P.S.

whoops, but these are important

I had my first celebrity sighting yesterday...and I was the celebrity! A guy recognized me from watching "Sin Rodeos" on TeleAntioquia. "Hey, you're from AIESEC, aren't you?" "Why, yes I most certainly am."

Tomorrow is the 4th of July, and I'm pretty sure it will come and go here without any notice...before I could check the date I actually thought today was the 4th of July. But tomorrow, is Colombia vs. the U.S. in futbol

Yesterday night was spent learning the most intense role call ever! I don't have much past experience with role calls, but I'm positive of this one's intensity. Let's just say this one starts out with us making the colombian flag with our painted hands, and segues into a really fast paced dance. This one definitely has to be recorded and posted on you tube. For all of the non-aiesecers, a role call is done by each local committee at the conferences, it's usually dances, songs, craziness...something of the sort.

Cell Phone Etiquette

The more accurate title would probably be, "Cell phone non-etiquette," because it absolutely does not exist here. People answer their cell phones here at what would be perceived as the most inappropriate of times in the United States. Yesterday, when in a conference with peace NGOs from around Latin America, the cell phone of a woman began to ring during a presentation. I started panicking a little bit for her thinking, "Man she must be embarassed right now." She searched frantically for her phone to turn it off, right? WRONG. She searched frantically for her phone to ANSWER it, and then proceeded to talk on it for at least 30 seconds in a normal voice before exiting the room, while this other woman was giving a presentation.

On another note, the family I live with moved yesterday, and I moved along with them. I am glad because we moved to the neighborhood Estadio, which means absolutely nothing to you, but it is SO much closer to all of my friends and basically, everything. The metro is basically one line in Medellìn, and I used to live in Bello which was the second to last stop. Estadio is basically in the center of the metro line and only requires one small transfer. The only downfall of the new house: there is no hot water, none, and there´s probably not going to be any ever. So this morning my shower consisted of me turning the water on putting only my hair in, turning the water off, shampooing, turning the water on to rinse, turning the water off, repeating with conditioner. This process was accompanied by me making little crying noises (haha, alex knows which ones I'm talking about--the ones that I made the entire time I had hives, haha sorry about that by the way) because this water wasn't just not hot, it felt like it was refrigerated prior to being shot out in one solid stream from the wall. I think my body made a cameo appearance in the shower for all of .2 seconds. Would we call that clean? Claro.

Just a heads up to all of my friends in Medellìn, there's a good chance I am going to start mooching hot showers off of you ASAP.

p.s. things I think are funny I had to come all the way to Medellin to do:
1. Move houses- I've lived in good ol waukesha my whole life, and I don't think moving into a dorm really counts, so yesterday was my first moving experience
2. Attending a national AIESEC conference- I don't think it's weird that I'm going, because I am so excited (going to Manizales on Sunday for a week)! It's just that my first national conference is in a nation that's not my own, how cool is that?

whirlwind adventures

I need to start blogging more often- I get so busy and don´t get the chance, but I don´t want to forget all of the little things that happen to me in between the big ones. (This post will probably be a modpodge (yeah yeah I know it´s hodgepodge, but don´t you just love to decoúpage things-i know deborah does) of all the things I´ve done the past 5 days.

I realized tonight that I´ve become very comfortable with bugs...with no glass panes on the windows they tend to be around like ALL the time. I used to be so afraid of bugs in wisconsin, but here if I have less than 5 (small to medium sized) bugs in my field of vision I am happy...we´ll call that progress. However, that does not mean I was okay with the inch and a half long cockroach that was hanging out in the entry way when I got home tonight. EEEEEEEEK. Cata and I´s screams may have woken the neighbors.

After going out 4 nights in a row (Dad, I´m just trying to mesh with Colombian culture)I discovered my new favorite drink: Caipiriña. I´m not sure exactly what´s all in it, but Ben you will be happy to know that I´ve been told it doesn´t contain girly liquor. It´s limey and oh so delicious.

Night 1: Parque Lleras (where all of the young people in Medellín hang out and drink beer with twice the alcohol called "Brava: viva la noche," among other things, haha. Here there are also bars that have happy hours lasting the entire night, from what I understand, where you get 3 cocktails for the price of one.

Night 2: Unsuspectingly went to the most strange theater I´ve ever been to. I went with Federico, Jason, and some other friends...Federico invited me because he had been told it was a good theater, he felt so bad afterwards he thought I was going to want to go back to the U.S. The name of the production was "Un beso por Dicki." (A kiss for Dicki) Let´s just say it was the longest 2.5 hours ever, full of more simultaneous un-plot-furthering nakedness than I ever wanted to see. As you might have guesed from the title, this production included all kinds of hook-ups across and within all genders--which wasn´t the uncomfortable part, the uncomfortable part was that the scenes were done completely naked and graphically in a way that made them seem quite real, i´m still not positive they weren´t. Anyways, I can´t really do this justice here, so ask me about it when I get home because it was one of the most bazaar (bizarre?) experiences of my life-and makes for a funny live story, Marco, a trainee from Mexico, laughed so hard he stated crying for a few minutes. Afterward the theater we went to a bar en el centro that had a cool open roof--still cool even though it was sprinkling for part of the time.

Night 3: Went to Tatiana´s house for an AIESEC party, and this time I got to enjoy her beautiful patio, instead of her beautiful bathroom while being sick, like when I first arrived 2 weeks ago.

Night 4: Went to a place called Las Palmitas that was outdoor and had the most beautiful view of the city. Afterwards we walked across the street to "The Pub" to see a concert of one of the most famous bands ever to come out of Medellín. The concert was really good, I just can´t remember the name of the band right now.

night 5: this one gets a lower case n because it doesn´t really count...but tonight I went to parque lleras again to watch the Colombia vs. Argentina futbol match. I only drank one beer, it was a national beer though and they aren´t very good here...what am I saying, I really just don´t like beer very much. Everytime Jason is like, "You´re from Wisconsin, you should drink more, you should drink beer." ehhh, well. I did get to meet the new AIESEC EIA trainee from Brazil tonight named Lizzy, she´s really cool!

The past couple days were also amazing, but the most worthy of recognition would be Day 4 because we went paragliding in the mountains! For some reason I wasn´t worried at all on the drive up...but then when we got there and I saw people taking off I was like oh man. I felt a lot better when I had to sign the page long in Spanish contract which they said had an english translation of: if you die, you
can´t sue us, grreeattt. Turns out it was one of the most breathtaking experiences of my life, both figuratively and literaly(at first). From up there the mountains were beautiful, the city looked beautiful, and I saw a really long waterfall! I brought back 2 souveneirs from that day 1: a RED sunburn on my face-didn´t dawn on me to wear sunscreen- didn´t think it was an all day affair, felt cold on the mountain...but HELLO molly you were on a mountain, pretty damn close to the sun. souveneir #2: bruised and cut wrists that were an exlusive gift for me and no other riders...you have to hold on to an area that is underneath the connecting straps of the parachute while you´re taking off...normally these straps fly up right away with the parachute, however the wind at my takeoff time made us conveniently hover in the air with the parachute stretched out behind us, thus the straps had a few minutes to rub vigorously on my arms, niiiice. I liked the trip a lot better than the souveneirs.

My newly acquired sunburn gives Colombians all the more license to shamelessly stare at me for LONG periods of time (world record: for no less than a half hour on the metro, a about 30 year old man situated his face 1.25 feet away from mine and like a champ did not break gaze once) When I look back some will do the polite shifty eyes, like "no I was not just looking at you." Others acquire a look like, "What, sunburns are very rare here" (CB I hope you got that reference-chickens on land fish in the sea). Others do not care at all.

I am quite loved by the neighbor kids, who apparently ask Cata constantly while I´m out; "Where is the gringa?" They love me because I have taught them essential english phrases like: "My favorite food is a hamburger" (which clearly I tailored to their interests, because we all know that´s not my favorite).

While the neighbor kids are worried about where I am, Cata´s dad is worried about whether or not I have a boyfriend. When I first arrived, "Do you have a boyfriend in the U.S.?" no. The next day, "Do you have a boyfriend in Colombia now?" no. Today, about 4 times, "Do you have a boyfriend? Are you going to get a boyfriend?" Today two of the Do you have a boyfriend questions came 5 minutes apart. Well no sir I don´t have a boyfriend because nothing has changed in the last 5 minutes, but thank you for thinking I have such mad SKILLZ that I would have the ability to acquire one while sitting watching TV and having no contact with the outside world including telephone calls for these last 5 minutes.

¿Qué más?
MUCHO-but I will finish my adventures tomorrow!
chau pues.