First days in Bogotá and Cartagena

Welcome to the blog, gentle reader!

We're at an internet cafe in Cartagena de Indias, a colonial caribbean town in northern Colombia. Here's a quick set of observations since we arrived on Saturday morning to Bogotá, the capital. My associate, Alejandro, and I, will hopefully expound on it in posts to come, and as time permits.

• Bogotá is a big city! We had as our consumate guide one of Alejandro's second cousins, Jimmy, who picked us, Nathalia, and Traci from the airport, and drove us around town and environs. I have to say that while it's extremely nice and convinient to have a local to take you around, it makes it much harder to get your bearings. I'm looking forward to trying out some of Bogotá's public transportation when we get back. There's a system of dedicated, express bus lines that criss-cross the city and are oblivous to the massive traffic jams that happen at peak times.
• People here are much more relaxed, but at the same time there seems to a very strong tradition of good service. At almost all the restaurants or cafés we've been, the waitstaff is super attentive and does their utmost to make you happy, including watching your car if it's not ideally parked, or finding a cell-phone minute dealer.
• What is a cell-phone minute dealer, you say? Well, in the old days of travel, to make a phone call you'd have to find a locutorio with cabins, or buy a card and use a public phone. In Colombia, or at least Cartagena, every block has a few people sitting or standing with a sign selling minutes, for 100, 200 or 300 pesos (1950 pesos = 1 USD). They dial for you from their cell phone, you talk, and pay them. Muy conveniente!
• Back to Bogotá. Motorcycles there are strictly regulated as a way to curb drive-by robberies or shootings. All motorcyclists wear a vest with their license plate clearly marked, as well as on the helmet. Even passengers need to wear the vest with the license plate letters. It makes it easier to identify people if something happens.

More to come!