Ponderances

Surviving one night in Bogota (to be well placed to catch the next morning plane) turned out to be no big deal.  The Bogota taxista didn't rob us - or even try.  And our hotel, Niza Norte, turned out to be small and friendly.  One of the employees even went about her day with a glowing, joyful smile.  Odd.

Since the neighborhood was purportedly safe, we even took a walk to a nearby mall to see a piece of big-town Colombian life.  Clearly the best selection of consumer "stuff" that we have found in this country can be found in Bogota.

Even still, I have to admit that being n Bogota makes me grumpy.  The only reason we're here is to go "home": you know, that place we left in early October; that place where we've already sold most all of our possessions - and even re-homed our precious cats; that place where our wonderful upstairs neighbors moved out while we were gone; that cold, wet, beautiful place that still remains our official residence.

Our original aspiration was to locate an area or a town in Ecuador or Uruguay we'd like to return to call home.  Obviously we never made it to Uruguay, as the trip was not recommended for Jeff when his typhoid fever was spiking. 

Did we find what we were looking for?  We're not sure.  Identifying places we'd readily pass over is simple - and the list long.  And identifying the qualities we're in search of has become much clearer.

But did we find them all in one area?  Or does the quest continue, even now?

Shall we return to Salento, to the coffee growing region that we came to love?  Shall we return to the more northern region that holds Villa de Leyva?  And then there's the one area of Ecuador that continues to pique our curiosity: Ibarra, close to Otavalo.  We went through there on a bus when Jeff was still sick and didn't stop to explore the possibilities.

One thing's for sure, the price of land and of living in general in Ecuador is much lower than Colombia.  Actually the main drawback to Colombia is that land prices are often as high as in the USA.

Another certainty is that Colombia has undergone massive changes in recent years.  Yes there continue to be dangerous spots there, though that's true of Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, etc., etc.  Also, in general Colombians are a most endearing people: clearly the nation's greatest natural resource.

Occasionally we ponder taking another similar trip, this time to Central America.  Perhaps our undeniable home awaits us in Belize or Nicaragua.  However that's a lot of work to go to.  This traveling around routine has its romantic elements, granted.  But at the same time it's a heck of a lot of work and inconvenience.

One of the most troublesome inconveniences is having to eat food prepared by strangers of whom I know nothing of their hygiene habits.  Even for as careful as we are with selecting our food, Jeff contacted  deadly disease and we still have no idea from which meal.  Where's the romance in that?

And speaking of the inconveniences of travel, we've worn the exact same very limited selection of clothes for 6 weeks, all continually whispering "reuse, rewash, rewear".  But boring clothes are of little concern when compared to the larger more consequencial issues at hand.

We'll land in Atlanta within the hour for an overnight before connecting with the final flight to Seattle.

I already miss . . . I'm not sure what I miss and I'm not sure why.