Back to Cartegena

Before I wrote about my second trip to Cartagena, I had to include a picture Tina Herman "enhanced" of Sr. Cecilia, Sr. Elivira, and me relaxing on the lounge chairs.








While Srs. Cecilia and Elvira were here, we went to Cartagena. Although I had been the week before, I was not at all upset to be going again. I felt like I had only touched the surface of the city, so I was excited to go back. As when I went with the Barranquilla nuns, we first stopped at Crespo to enjoy the Carribean Sea. Because I had a meeting at school the next day, I couldn't spend the night, but Srs. Cecilia, Elvira, and Anita reserved rooms at the retreat house. The first pictures are from Sr. Cecilia's room. Pretty nice, especially considering the retreat house is less than $45 a night and it includes all meals. From what I can gather, the public can also stay there. If anyone wants to visit me, we can take a journey to Cartagena and stay at Crespo for cheap.


















After we enjoyed the ocean, including watching fisherman pull in their fishing nets in which there were almost no fish, we headed to the old city. Our first stop was the castle. When I went to Cartagena the week before, we only stopped outside the castle. This time we went into the castle and on a tour. I loved it. The design and location of the castle are amazing. There are tunnels, towers, elevators (hand-drawn), cannons, hidden gun holes, etc. There were several times I felt like I was on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (minus the boat, of course). We went through a couple tunnels and one of them is quite narrow and decends over 450 feet. We could not go to the end because the rains had flooded it, but we got very close. Sr. Cecilia kept asking the guide if she could hear Sister's voice. It was extremely funny. Sr. Elvira somehow got next to a nice young man who helped her through the tunnel.















After the castle, we walked to the old city to experience walking along the walls of the city. That was the thing I wanted to do the most. It was great. The walls are incredibly thick, as hopefully the pictures show, and they helped keep the city safe for years from many invaders. The walls surround the entire old city, and there are small and short openings periodically which allow cars to enter.








For most people, my final Cartagena adventure would not really be an adventure. Since the sisters were spending the night in Cartagena and had to return to Barranquilla, I had to take both a van and a taxi to get back to the convent. Sr. Anita was so nice to insist that the van driver who was taking me (and 14 other people) to Barranquilla take care of me. She told him to make sure I got in a taxi once we got to Barranquilla. I must admit I was a bit afraid, but it ended up being extremely easy. I asked the driver how much it cost to take me to the convent ("Quanto?") and showed him the address I had written on a piece of paper. Within 5 minutes I was in the convent. I think the reason I was so afraid is because many people are convinced I will be kidnapped and killed in Colombia. I got neither kidnapped nor killed during my first solo taxi ride, so I think I might do it again.
















When I got home, I headed straight to dinner. Although Srs. Cecilia and Elvira were in Cartagena, Srs. Basiliana and Gilbert from the Congo were here. They had been in Medellin at the big Company of Mary meeting and decided to stop by Barranquilla for a couple days. After dinner, they said they were going to do a raffle. The raffle actually ended up being a song and dance followed by a interpretive dance in which they gave Sr. Ana Elisa a beautiful painting of a mother and child. I guess their singing and dancing reminded the Barranquilla sisters how much they love to dance and next thing I knew, it was a dance party. Sr. Auxilia (I spelled her name wrong before) danced first with Gilbert, followed by Sr. Olga, and then to the side Sr. Ana Elisa was dancing. It was a wonderful sight to see. I, of course, enjoyed the show.