Semana Santa in the Sun!

Happy Hump Day readers! I am back to school with the sniffles again but now a little tanner from last week's vacation on the Caribbean! I journeyed with some fellow WorldTeach volunteers to Cartagena and Santa Marta along the Colombian coast. These are two of the most popular tourist destinations in Colombia and for good reason. The beaches are gorgeous; the culture is strong; and the weather is HOT! Semana Santa aka Holy Week is a national holiday in Colombia and most of Latin America. It seemed like the perfect chance for us to meet up with some other coastal volunteers and relax after our first few months of teaching. Let me share the highlights with you through some visuals...

This is Cartagena. The view is from the Castle of San Felipe (you know how those Conquistadors love their medieval architecture!)  Cartagena includes the neighborhoods of "Boca Grande" which looks like little Miami with skyscrapers and city lights and "El Centro" which is the oldest, walled-in, and very colonial part of the city-- a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This is the Pegasus Plaza. Appropriately named for its massive Pegasus statues. Also you see the yellow clock tower. This was the entrance point for Africans brought here during the slave triangle trade. Cartagena is still rich with Afro-Colombian culture and much of this history remains well preserved.

Here I am at La Cevicheria! As seen on No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. It's my first time eating ceviche (I had the cod with lime and coconut) and I was a big fan. 

 

 

 

This is where the Summit of the Americas is being held a week after our visit! Obama and nearly all other heads of states from the Americas will be in attendance. Barack, we checked out the city for you. I think you are going to like it here!

And these are my perfectly normal travel companions, Brighid and Natalie, also hailing from Bogota by way of New England. Together, we make a spectacular team! (Fish not included.)

And then we went to the beach. The two beaches we went to were ironically called Hollywood and Los Angelos. This was Brighid's first time to the Caribbean! An upgrade from the Long Island Sound.

Los Angelos. A little different than the one in the USA. Note the mountains in the background and the beach to ourselves.

This is Santa Marta. Smaller than Cartagena but just as charming. It's supposedly one of the oldest cities in South America.

These bags are wildly popular all over Colombia. And they are mostly made by women here in Santa Marta and by indigenous communities nearby. This woman (and her adorable son) is adjusting the straps to my yellow and black striped purchase. I feel like a local with it now.

Sunset on the wall of El Centro in Cartagena. A beautiful place in a beautiful country.