Aye, aye, aye-aye...so many updates

So its been what feels like forever. So long in fact that I can't even remember if I told my class I was giving them their quiz this week or next week. There has been so much that has happened in the past 2 weeks that I don't think I'd be able to dedicate the energy or time into blogging it all. Instead, I'll do one of those super-easy, super-cheezy bulleted list of things that should infact all have their own post. If there's something that catches your eye and you want a juicy story on, let me know and I'll blog about it later.

• Having Syd here was freakin amazing. I just wish I wouldn't have been in such a horrid funk for most of it.
• Sometimes all it takes is one stray thought or reminder to send you spiraling into a state of confusion and unnecessary panic.
  
• Tayrona is paradise and pictures won't do it justice. Nuff said.
• I have serious problems when it comes to heights. Trekkin it to Pueblito was a real challenge, not because it was a hard hike (which it is) but because I was on the verge of panic attacks for 2/3 of it.
  
• HoboHookahs and hammocks are amazing on their own, but when you combine the two, now that's just even better.
• Cruise ships are f-ed up and need to stop making life miserable for those foreigners who aren't the "omg-i've-set-foot-in-colombia-and-even-though-i'm-here-for-5-hours-i'm-going-to-buy-people-tons-of-souveniers-so-everyone-will-know-and-it-will-look-like-i-know-the-real-country" tourists and, oh i don't know LIVE THERE
• Cartagena is hot. Mompos is hotter.
• Traveling makes it easy to turn acquaintances to new friends to old friends almost instantly.
• I have a new perspective and appreciation for Catholicism.
  
• Cock fights are not for me.
• "Safe" is a relative term and in reality, any place can become unsafe circumstantially.
• Horrible things can sometimes take you from terrified, to angry, to frustrated, to appreciative all in one fell swoop. And in the end, after shaking you to your core, change your outlook for the better.
• First impressions are often wrong. However first impressions that you have about an entire population for 2 months shouldn't be able to be destroyed in 2 minutes by 2 assholes. No, this first impression is sticking like super glue: Colombians are the most genuine, caring, and supportive people I've encountered to date.
  
• I think I'm the first trainee ever to need to replace a second cell phone in a 2 month period and I think I deserve some sort of award for that.
• Don't box people in based on their previous reactions; sometimes they may surprise you.
• The more Spanish I learn and speak the harder it becomes to speak proper English. It frustrates me beyond belief but I know I have to let it go or my Spanish will suffer.