Came for one night, 3 days later still here.......

i came back to this town for 1 night then to leave.......i had the most awesome hamburger outside my hotel......i saw them being made outside store where i bought my beer from 7 days ago and was dreaming of having one ever since.
It was burger with all the fixings as normal plus shredded chicken,fried onions, garlic mayonnaise, pineapple sauce, mozza cheese and crushed up potato chips.....it was awesome. Although next day i woke up to stomach cramps and the runs that weren´t so awesome....................oh well it tasted great and was worth it.....(may get one tomorrow for the bus as i am only headed 3 hours and if i eat on the bus....i should be checked into a hotel safely before the shits will hit me!,...it really was that good!). i watched t.v. as i didn´t wanna ride bus with stomach problems, then 3 hours later i went for lunch at a nice Italian place. They told me lunch was 2.50............cripes i thought for out here that is expensive for an almuerzo.........what are they serving , caviar on a gold plate................i decided to try it and was actually worth the extra money.,..........real silverware, spotless clean glass and fancy plates.....plus they played music of birds chirping and jungle noises in background...............Laura woulda loved it.................food was good though and clean bathroom that i had top use before eating(1/2 the reason i went inside was to use a clean looking bathroom........strange though rest was also their house and there was 3 toothbrushes in the bathroom that public used.................called me paranoid but would u leave your toothbrush in bathroom strangers used........there are a lot a sick people out there...........i wouldn´t!) on the wall they had paper saying there was a mariachi band plus 2 others playing at 8:00 that night......i love mariachi music so fate decided for me to spend another night.

The concert was awesome in this really old theatre like 20´s or 30´s era. Had seats on floor then 4 levels of balconies in semicircle along the walls with fancy gold coloured flowers and woodwork..................really old school. Before concert, i asked 4 tourist policemen outside if a bar i heard played mariachi after the concert really did have it.............all four took me into this back office started looking at phone book for number to call the bar to confirm, then the hottest looking mid 40´s lady (bet Laura will look hotter though at 40!) came in and said it was true.......she was hot.
When the concert finally started this was the woman speaking introducing the bands.....the m.c. of the night.............she was hot! wow! i bought the cheapest tickets i could........5.00 2nd level balcony and in front of me there was 1 man 2 woman in 40´s and their daughter..........man had plastic Pepsi bottle of what i think was rum. They passed it round and gave me 3 shots through out concert...............nice of them plus i saw many other people pouring shots as well Colombians are boozer i guess........strange to see old people bring in booze drinking it in straight shots then passing round a cup of water after to chase it
Mariachi band was awesome 10 players 2 singers all in traditional costumes. concert started about 8:45 - 12:15, and at intermission i went for a smoke and outside were 3 older men chatted with me. They knew Winnipeg had the Pan Am games years ago and they had squeeze bottle of booze......i had 2 big squeezes..............then walking back to my seats in hallway met another older couple the man shook my hand asked what country i from, then poked his wife in ribs, said something in Spanish and she pulled out plastic Pepsi bottle of booze and he gave me a shot...right in front of ticket guy. Obviously this is allowed!......crazy how nice people are here.

And that old people all drink at a concert i did feel kinda bad though as it was like going to the opera and ladies in dresses some men in suit jackets..........me sandals n shorts. Luckily I had grabbed a shirt from my bag that morning, unluckily, it had been worn a few times before, and i spilled some of that expensive lunch from the bird music restaurant on it, so stain totally showing...............my mom raised me better than that........i felt like a slouch and bit embarrassed but i didn´t know would be so formal.
After concert i walked with group of people towards my hotel then i asked a couple if they thought dangerous for me to veer off from the crowd for the final 2 blocks they said a little................so i decided to get a cab(to go 2 blocks around a footbridge..........oh well won´t risk my life for a 1.50 cab ride(see mom i am cautious)....while a waited the 3 older guys i met smoking outside came by. I explained where hotel was and they said they´d walk me as dangerous 1 person but no dangerous 4 people....makes sense.................i was a bit worried though what if they wanna rob me.
But they were dressed nice, plus i did see a policeman at end of footbridge so i went and we chatted. They walked me to my hotel door, rang buzzer, then shook hands and they walked back over the footbridge back to where they were originally going.....................how nice was that? The people here are so freakin nice, plus who is to say they wouldn´t have gotten robbed themselves walking over the bridge with me or on their way back...............people at home wouldn´t do that for a stranger...................no way! we´re nice but not that nice!

Those shots from the concert kinda had me awake so i cabbed it to that mariachi bar, to find out no live music and beer were 2.50 , 3-4 times normal price! So i cabbed to a a salsa bar. cabbie told me 2.50 and my previous ride was way longer so i thought he was charging too much I refused to pay and only gave 2.00. Later i found out ride actually shoulda been 2.50 was farther than i thought..i wonder if there is a APB out cautioning drivers not to pick up a fat tourists in a red jacket as he refuses to pay the full fare when at his destination...........haha

oh well at this bar i met this local guy practised my Spanish and helped him with his English...........he offered to pay for my beer afterwards..........totally nice guy. Hopped in cab gave them card to my hotel and said entiendo?.do u know where it is basically? he nodded then at red light he was asking car next to us directions then asking me in Spanish . I had no idea so we drove round quite a bit finally i saw footbridge, which we totally had to drive around(i didn´t have my 3 buddies to escort me across)........when we finally got to hotel i was expecting a problem so i just said in broken Spanish , it isn´t far, u didn´t know where it is, i am only paying 2.00. He didn´t say anything but pointed to bridge and told me it´s name in Spanish so i´d know where to tell other cabby's. Obviously he was happy............that was quite an experience today

Before leaving went to the bird music restaurant again....awesome lunch.......walking back i saw a stage being set up under this footbridge next to hotel. I asked a worker and he said is a big salsa concert tonight until 11:00 pm , free and no doubt all the locals will have Pepsi bottles of booze So i am bringing my own to share with others tonight............as i type i can hear the music outside and saw loads of people walking there.
Fate has changed my plans again as i decided to stay another day here. I went out of town to zip lines.............9 of them Totally awesome in hilly countryside was 8.50, but with rock climbing up a wall included. Got bus to road there then had to walk 2 .5 kms up and down on mountain road, that sucked. You put a harness on and attach to steel cables strung from tree to tree.........i went pretty fast and some were really high up.....i was just thinking how i would totally be severely hurt if i fell or equipment failed. On walk back i hitched a ride with one of the workers going home. When he dropped me off he said no money but i gave him 1.50 and he was quite happy(rule of thumb, u pay what bus fare is and that was double), and I pointed to steak house I walked by before and was going to treat myself to supper. He prob thought your supper will cost what i earn in 2 days...............as young kid at zip lines doesn´t make much here.............and was fancy steak house.. Like the keg back home...expensive compared to other rest´s . well my supper was a huge steak, baked potato sliced in 1/2 with mozza cheese and salad. Cost more than my hotel room at 8.00 but it was good.............my father in law in Russell sure woulda liked it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was pretty good actually . well i am all of a sudden quite saddened...Laura just told me there is water leaking into our basement and here i am in Colombia unable to help, plus will be expensive to fix for sure!
Don´t feel like typing anymore................crappy