Bienvenido a Miami

Yes, it's true. I had an unexpected vacation in Miami with my sister Amy (sister kindness). I had an "issue" with my Visa, so I had to go to Miami to straighten things out. When Amy found out, she bought a ticket to Miami. Although I had to miss a couple of days of school (which is so not like me) to take care of the issue, we had a wonderful time.



Kelly and Vivian (Kelly's best friend and an all-around awesome person) were kind enough to take care of me in the evening before my plane left for Miami. Kelly and I went to Soledad, a suburb of Barranquilla where Kelly lives, and Vivian joined us at Kelly's house. We looked through a photo album of Kelly, and then headed to get something to eat. We rode in the most awesome vehicle (next to a Tuk-Tuk, of course). It was an open carriage attached to a motorcyle - basically a Colombian rickshaw. We went to the center of Soledad where we took the pictures. The first one is of me next to a Simon Bolivar statue straddling a canon. Kelly is pretending to light the canon (not to poke me in the bottom). The next picture is in front of San Antonio de Padua church. After taking the pictures, we decided to get something to eat. We sat on a bench in front of two women who were cooking at a picnic table with a plastic overhead covering. On the table in front of us was a selection of fried foods on a metal cookie sheet - empanadas, arepas de huevos, something de frijoles, and another thing with a name I don't recall. We took and ate what we wanted without the women paying attention to us. They just continued cooking more food to put on the cookie sheet. We also had a beverage, which was juice from the berries of one of the types of palm trees. Together, we ate 10 delicious items and had 3 yummy beverages. The total cost of the meal...$3.25. I thought I'd be generous:) and pay since Kelly and Vivian were accompanying me to the airport.


Once we got to the airport, Kelly and Vivian didn't just drop me off. I kept telling them I would be fine, but they were nice enough to hang out with me for hours. My flight was at 2:00 a.m. and they stayed with me until after 12:30. The picture of Kelly and Vivian is from the airport. I wanted to take a picture of the control tower, but when I saw the sign that said no photos are allowed, I decided I needed a picture of that.

Once I got to Miami, I picked up the rental car and headed straight to the Colombian consulate. It was nice to be behind the wheel of a car again. I had forgotten how much I like to be in control of the vehicle. The woman at the consulate was extremely nice. She told me she is from Barranquilla and she knows what a great school La Ensenanza is. That may have helped me in taking care of my Visa "issue" without issue.













Amy arrived in the afternoon with a suitcase full of things for me to take back to Colombia. It was kind of like Christmas. (Of course, when it came time to pack at the end of our "vacation," I realized I would have to take her larger suitcase back with me.) It was amazing and awesome to spend a long weekend with Amy. We talked, laughed, ate, laughed, drove around Miami, ate, hung out at South Beach, laughed, watched people, laughed, watched movies, ate, and laughed. She really is an incredible sister, which is why her new nickname of sister kindness (nothing is capitalized on purpose) fits perfectly. Anyone who wants to know why that is her new nickname needs to ask her or email me.


All of the laughing we did felt great, but that's not so true of all the eating we did. There were a few foods I had been missing in Colombia, so I unwisely decided I would attempt to eat all of them while I was in Miami. After each of the first several meals I ate, I had a horrible stomachache. It was as if my body was telling me it doesn't like fatty, preserved, unhealthy American foods any more. I, of course, would not accept that, so I kept eating. The eating pictures may not be clear enough to tell, but I am enjoying bacon, pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns, and toast at IHOP. Although I don't have pictures as evidence, during the weekend I also ate a hot dog, two burritos, a hamburger with fries, a smoothie, two KFC snackers, a footlong Subway sandwich, a can of wasabi almonds and a can of habanero almonds, a large box of Good and Plenty, a large box of Sugar Babies, several powdered donuts, a bag of peanut butter M&Ms, a can of cheese Pringles, two Ding Dongs, and I am sure many other things I have forgotten. I wonder why I kept getting stomachaches.

After Amy and I had our fill of Miami, it was time to pick up my "fixed" Visa. I am now happy to be the proud owner of an issue-free, one-year Colombian Visa to teach English at La Ensenanza School. Woohoo! Now all I have to do is go to the DAS (Colombian FBI) to get my ID card.