Thu 2021 Feeling a bit dissatisfied and lightly edgy about tomorrow. In theory it's no big deal but with a taxi to the airport, two flights and thus probably two security screenings and a taxi at the other end (which is probably going to cost 80k fixed fee if MG is to be believed) it feels a bit of a bugger.
Didn't sleep super well, IIRC I was woken up about 6am by sunlight streaming in through window. Ultimately got up properly maybe 10ish and think after dicking around I finally left hotel maybe 11-1130 but can't really remember.
I had checked out an internet cafe on GM but it didn't seem to exist. Vague plan was to head over to museo de antropologia so I wandered in that vague direction. I wasn't that desperate to go and in a way it was quite nice just to be wandering the streets. Was warm but slightly damp synthetic long-sleeved T-shirt after yesterday's wash actually sort of alleviated things a bit at first.
I did eventually stumble on an internet cafe not far from MdA and paid 1k to print the e-ticket so I have that if I need it. (I always forget "how" I'm going to do this and I think I always re-invent the same solution eventually, ie create a public link to file on Dropbox and type that in on net cafe PC.) I then went and had a fairly decent lunch at Food Time (IIRC) nearby, where you go up to a sort of counter and they serve you pseudo-buffet style; only 8.5k, I handed over 12k and woman seemed a bit mystified and handed me the 2k note back but I said it was tip. Arguably unnecessary as there was no table service but never mind, still cheap and food wasn't bad and if it wasn't airconditioned in there it somehow managed to be pretty cool anyway.
Totally failed to find MdA, even got GM out on phone in street. I walked past where it was supposed to be and even saw buildings with similar street numbers but it apparently doesn't exist. I wasn't deeply bothered about going but it was a bit annoying as I sort of felt I needed to "do something" today. I did luckily stumble across Confamilia (from memory, not sure) and nearly didn't go in but a security guard encouraged me in as I peered through door, and although I didn't go upstairs they had a small carnival-themed art exhibition around the ground floor library which was quite good (didn't take photos as not sure if allowed). GM shows museo romantico in approx same location so it may be that, but it didn't say that outside. Didn't see MR as a separate entity. I was considering the Bolivar museum just down the road but it looked a) as if it was undergoing renovation b) as if it might be more of a university/student-ish building and I didn't go in through the off-to-one-side gate where various young-ish people entered intermittently.
I then went and had a couple of new-to-me juices (zapote and nispero, 4k each - not unreasonable, but mildly insane/indulgent to spend nearly as much on two juices as on lunch-pre-tip - oh, and I "had" to make the juices 10k total with tip anyway of course) somewhere on calle 76 on walk back to hotel and made a point of looking out at the (not "bad" , but not particularly scenic) street view a bit in the hope of soaking up a bit of atmosphere. I had flirted with getting a couple of cold beers to drink back at hotel room but in the end I settled for a couple of cold bottles of soft drink (from a supermarket).
Been slacking off in hotel since got back (maybe 3-4pm-ish). Probably tied in with flight tomorrow but while today in itself has been fine (I enjoyed the walk and I sort of saw the city a bit and the little art exhibition was cool) I am kind of feeling I "should" be having more fun and/or "doing more". But meh, fuck it. It is what it is and I am who I am and TBH the idea of charging round like crazy trying to pack hours of " stuff" into each and every day sounds hellish. Don't get me wrong, a bit more "fun" might be nice, but then in my current mood I'm probably inclined to write off little successes like eg last day or carnival and the four day tour. Also I suspect to some extent those "should" goals conflict; trying to continually squash "formal" tourist activities in would leave little time for random serendipitous bits of fun to arise.
It's silly but I'm a bit worried about getting something to eat in Medellin if I am arriving only an hour or two before dark. But I'm sure it will be fine and it wouldn't kill me to not eat for a day if things really go tits up. In a way it's a pity I am arriving on a Friday as I may feel a bit extra BNM not going out on the Friday night. It's just possible I *will* go out even if just for a couple of beers *if* somewhere attractive is very near the hotel, but I'm reluctant to stray far afield in a new city after dark.
I need to pack - re-pack really, obviously it would be easy to just squish everything into my bag but given I'm flying and there's security shit to deal with I kind of want to take everything out and put it back in neatly and compactly (to minimise chances of crap with airline staff deciding bag is too big for carry on). This really won't take long but been putting it off.
I am disposed to like Medellin unseen but we'll see how I actually get on. If I am there for a while (or even if I'm not) I may try some CS/meetup events there (and other lang exch things if I can find them) and see how that goes. I may consider studying Spanish there but I've no idea how cost effective that would be and I'm obviously only doing that if I do decide I would like to stay there for a few weeks. (I have to bear in mind the relative cheapness of one-on-one classes in Guatemala, among other things.)
2106 Incidentally, it's possible that (mostly due to the accident of using MG for miscellaneous travel advice) reading the odd article on there about being an ex-pat and emigration and so forth makes me think about the idea (both scary and sort of inspiring) of forming a new life in a new city/country where I don't know anyone, and that perhaps makes me reflect on my life back home which isn't all it could be (but not to be morbid; it is in many ways pretty sweet, and I do have all kinds of options including various nuclear ones if I really cared to exercise them) *despite* it being "my own country" and having lived in London for well over 20 years. (In part this is simply a fairly natural drift of friends out of London as they get older, but that doesn't alter the fact it reduces the number of friends I have locally.) I don't blame my mildly "down" mood today/tonight on this particularly, I just mention it as one of the thought complexes rolling around loosely inside my brain.
And of course in a way it's slightly sad to be leaving BQ/the north coast. Not forever as I've already said, and it's not as if I've fallen in love with them, but still. And as I always say, better to be sorry I'm leaving than delighted.
2145 FFS. Lucky I did unpack the bag, I noticed a strange patch of light inside it and the fabric has ripped just beneath where the main strap holding the top shut attaches to the body of the bag. I honestly don't think I've terribly abused it - it sure as hell hasn't been overloaded in terms of weight, it has been packed a bit tight on some occasions but within the adjustment capabilities of the strap. Fuck knows. Just maybe something happened to it while it was strapped to the horse on last day of four day tour. I've patched it with some tenaciouis tape and it will probably - fingers crossed - be fine but this isn't exactly reassuring. The small rip on the top pouch didn't seem too bad (I also patched that back in SM) and was easily justifiable as perhaps over-packing that top pouch during four day tour or perhaps something catching on it during that tour.
At least I've spotted this and hopefully been able to patch it up and stop it spreading.
2354 Did at least find Howsarlock (in zipped pocket of fleece) while packing. Slightly camp sounding guy making half-intelligible phone call on adjoining balcony. He sounds a bit Italian but I think he is speaking Spanish; do wonder if he's maybe Argentinian though can't say I specifically recognise the accent.
The HTC just locked up solid in the middle of a YT video and is now "Optimizing app 1 of 1" for a hell of a long time during the ensuing reboot. Fingers crossed it's OK.
Fri 0010 Not exactly tired but sort of need to be up early (so I can get to airport insanely early if - as fingers crossed happens - nothing goes wrong) and might as well be in bed reading (will stop YT now) as loitering around room reading.
0015 Jesus, he's still burbling on. This is not a quiet hotel room anyway with all the traffic (tho less noise at this time of night) but having this voice drifting in from "nearby" feels a bit fricking intrusive. I'm sure he'll have to shut up eventually.
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