Death Scooters
Julien had a colombian friend from back home who lived in Armenia, so I decided to go with him to check at the "Zona Cafetera", the area known for most of the coffee plantations in the country. I was excited at the prospect of hanging out with some locals, and finally getting off my guilty tourist ass. Luckily James lived up to his colombian reputation and was a wonderfully hospitable host, considering I came along sort of sans invite.
The very first evening James immediately invited us out to his cousins wedding. I was so excited! i was expecting crazy latino dancing and late night partying, but when I arrived I noticed that everybody seemed oddly reserved. James informed me that these cousins were "religious", that there was to be no alcohol or dancing, and that his entire family was bored to tears. Still, they snuck me a shot of aguardiente under the table, a popular alcohol in colombia which tastes suspiciously of sambuca. At first I tried to refuse--my stomach was still killing me and I just was not in the mood to drink anything, but then I realized that I couldn't bother, nor did I really want to explain to 30 of his cousins that I had stomach issues and was, frankly put, asian. So I downed the nasty drink down and made a pained face, which all of his relatives found a lot of delight in.
I conked out early that night, and readied myself for day two, clinging for dear life in a pink helmet to Julien, who was driving a scooter for his FIRST time ever. Normally I am not terribly scared of riding on the back of motorbikes--i don't like the feeling of tilting, nor can I stop thinking of my parents warnings and recountings of my uncle's gruesome bike accident as a youth, but I'm usually okay, as long as I feel like the driver knows what he is doing. But knowingly getting onto the back of a bike with somebody who admittedly doesn't know one thing about driving a bike made me downright NERVOUS, even with the damned pink helmet (hideous and forbidden color, but a reasonable fashion compromise for keeping my head intact). I expressed my concern to James who flippantly waved me off and told me Julien had been practicing all morning and would be fine. Obviously I survived unscathed otherwise this blog post wouldn´t exist or would have another tone altogether, but I felt my heart nearly jump out of my chest at least 10 times. After one particularly hairy escape, Julien turned to me and said,"uhhh..did you piss your pants? Because I just did."
Other than the death defying moments spattered throughout the day, the trip was AMAZING. The sun was shining in the most cheerful way, the countryside is, dare i say it, almost uncomparable. We sped along on little roads passing by small town after small town, coffee plantations, and little remote guesthouses. We stopped in Salento for the markets, and two other towns whose names escape me, but each time we stopped we had fantastic local food. Garlic simmered salmon (AMAZING. best meal I've had in a LONG TIME), iced coffees (tasted just like frappucinos!), corn patties with cheese, etc. etc. It was just eat, ride, look at beautiful stuff. eat, ride, look at more beautiful stuff. I was enchanted by the area, and immediately fell in love with colombia and the colombian lifestyle. and at the end of the day, i decided it was best that we did it recklessly whizzing along on a tiny scooter.
The very first evening James immediately invited us out to his cousins wedding. I was so excited! i was expecting crazy latino dancing and late night partying, but when I arrived I noticed that everybody seemed oddly reserved. James informed me that these cousins were "religious", that there was to be no alcohol or dancing, and that his entire family was bored to tears. Still, they snuck me a shot of aguardiente under the table, a popular alcohol in colombia which tastes suspiciously of sambuca. At first I tried to refuse--my stomach was still killing me and I just was not in the mood to drink anything, but then I realized that I couldn't bother, nor did I really want to explain to 30 of his cousins that I had stomach issues and was, frankly put, asian. So I downed the nasty drink down and made a pained face, which all of his relatives found a lot of delight in.
I conked out early that night, and readied myself for day two, clinging for dear life in a pink helmet to Julien, who was driving a scooter for his FIRST time ever. Normally I am not terribly scared of riding on the back of motorbikes--i don't like the feeling of tilting, nor can I stop thinking of my parents warnings and recountings of my uncle's gruesome bike accident as a youth, but I'm usually okay, as long as I feel like the driver knows what he is doing. But knowingly getting onto the back of a bike with somebody who admittedly doesn't know one thing about driving a bike made me downright NERVOUS, even with the damned pink helmet (hideous and forbidden color, but a reasonable fashion compromise for keeping my head intact). I expressed my concern to James who flippantly waved me off and told me Julien had been practicing all morning and would be fine. Obviously I survived unscathed otherwise this blog post wouldn´t exist or would have another tone altogether, but I felt my heart nearly jump out of my chest at least 10 times. After one particularly hairy escape, Julien turned to me and said,"uhhh..did you piss your pants? Because I just did."
Other than the death defying moments spattered throughout the day, the trip was AMAZING. The sun was shining in the most cheerful way, the countryside is, dare i say it, almost uncomparable. We sped along on little roads passing by small town after small town, coffee plantations, and little remote guesthouses. We stopped in Salento for the markets, and two other towns whose names escape me, but each time we stopped we had fantastic local food. Garlic simmered salmon (AMAZING. best meal I've had in a LONG TIME), iced coffees (tasted just like frappucinos!), corn patties with cheese, etc. etc. It was just eat, ride, look at beautiful stuff. eat, ride, look at more beautiful stuff. I was enchanted by the area, and immediately fell in love with colombia and the colombian lifestyle. and at the end of the day, i decided it was best that we did it recklessly whizzing along on a tiny scooter.
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