Zebra shoes

The official end to the Colombia trip

It's already August 4th at 2:46am. This day started when I woke up at 6am on Monday to get ready to leave Bogota. Esperanza called at 8:30am to say that she'd found me a driver to go to the airport and would come get me at 10am to go for a walk around the neighborhood before the driver arrived at 11:30am.

We walked past the theatre that had a comedy about semantics playing, something I would have loved to have seen if I could have understood any of the Spanish, and down toward the main road. As we walked Esperanza pointed out people who lived in the houses, houses that had been sold and switched from residences to businesses, and the Christian coffee shop and residences. She also took me past her church and the local park (that some people have been advocating to turn into a parking lot for business). We ended up on the main road and stepped into yet another mall. I spotted the Artisanal shop that was closed in the other mall and we went in. I walked out with an array of leather and mola purses and coin purses. The mola art comes from the indigenous tribe of Panama, the Kuna, but is also found in the northwestern areas of Colombia that share culture with Panama, once under Colombian rule. I also walked out with a purse that was a gift from Adela. She hadn't forgotten that she wanted to buy me something (remember the browsing at the Gold Museum?). I love my red leather and mola purse.

We arrived back at the hotel at 11:30am, but Esperanza told me she had to head home to meet the cab. When she returned, about 10 minutes later, her mother was also in the car. They decided to accompany me to the airport. We stood by the back of the car thinking the driver would put my suitcase in the trunk, but he informed us that he did not have a trunk and put the suitcase on the front seat. The three of us squeezed into the back seat along with my overstuffed backpack. Along the way the driver got off the highway and then circled around to get back on toward the airport declaring that he'd forgotten that we were going to the airport. He was headed toward home. Esperanza told me that she knew this driver since they were children together.

Despite the traffic we arrived at the airport at 12:30pm and I checked in and went through security. The security has often included a pat down, but you keep your shoes on and you don't need to take out computers or liquids. I bought a water once I was inside and was surprised that I had to go through another security check at the gate to the plane from Panama to JFK and give up the water. They also had us take off shoes and watches.

The airport was mostly rows and rows of duty free shops; names brands from around the world. I stopped in three different stores of Colombian goods, but the prices were all in US dollars and much more expensive than on the street. The bags I bought at the market for $22 were selling for $135. I was glad I had done my shopping during my trip. I did end up spending all of my pesos before getting on the plane to Panama by picking up last-minute gifts. I also had my first black coffee since Juan Valdez in Barranquilla. It's very hard getting coffee without milk! Turned out that the shop was Peruvian selling coffee from Peru (with a large display comparing it to Colombian coffee).

We landed in Panama City and I walked the whole length of the airport to get to the gate for the NYC flight. I had the very last seat on the plane, 33A, by the window. A man was in the aisle seat across from his family, a woman and two boys, and he was more comfortable with the arm up so that he could sit in a little more than one seat. A woman came to take the middle seat, but hardly had room to sit and was moved before we took off. I had been thinking that I should have upgraded for this flight to enjoy some space and quiet after weeks of being close to lots of people; I think she got upgraded to first class. With no one in the middle it turned out to be a good seat. I watched movies and slept. I woke up to look down as we were flying over Cuba. I noticed a lot of lightning as we were flying. Is there lightning up in the clouds that doesn't make its way to the ground?

Arriving early to the airport meant that my luggage was almost the last suitcase to come down the belt. There are now automated machines for checking passports and customs declaration so it was a quick trip to the baggage claim. It took an hour to get the luggage. My cab driver was from Bangladesh and he chatted all the way to Riverdale about travel and the excitement of seeing countries around the world.

So now to spend the next few days unpacking and unpacking the experience.