The Week in Review: Week 16- 2019

**** Finally a week settled into Medellin that is a little bit slower and less active. It is Semana Santa here in Latin America. This means many people are on holiday or staying on their family homesteads outside the city. It also means that on Thursday and Friday very few stores or restaurants are open.****

Monday

My BFF is still here in Medellin with me! YAY! Since we have been gone all weekend, today is a low-key get back into the flow of work and other mundane things around the house things. We walked to the mall and did our grocery shopping. That was exciting! 

I did post one of my very last real-life Sex Scientist stories. Since I’ll be gone for a long time, I think there is one more I have and then I will have to start writing them as fiction. But for now, please enjoy part two of this super hot intense experience! 

The Sex Scientist Files- Double Dildo – Part 2

Tuesday

I was supposed to go to the dentist for my last appointment but I was totally not in the mood. I canceled and spent the day on the couch working. Did some writing too. We were going to go to this cool roof-top bar up on the hill, but a big storm came through and we didn’t want to go out in the heavy rains. Eventually, they stopped, so we stayed local and went to a cute little cafe not too far from home. There were twinkle lights and a small stream running through the property. Food was only OK, but as always chatting with the BFF was great. 

Every Day Pain

Wednesday

I ordered groceries from the delivery service today. Talk about feeling lazy. But we have two very tall, very uneven staircases to get into our flat, and I really could not face carrying the marketing up those stairs. I also was not much in the mood to go out. (Once you get in the habit of staying in, it gets easier and easier!) 

I didn’t have a ton of work today and I thought I might be meeting one of the nice Tinder guys for an afternoon coffee. In the morning he indicated he would have time, but then when we started to narrow it down. He was off with friends and “not sure” he could make it. I didn’t hear from him for the rest of the night. (Actually, I didn’t hear from him until Saturday afternoon when I was bored and sent him a message! LOL)

My friend Alistair always says my chances of “actual dates” is usually around 50/50%. It’s no joke. The struggle is real. That was Berlin odds, he is starting to lower my Colombian odds since I’ve only had one date so far. LOL 

We did get out and go have some sushi for dinner. Every single roll had cream cheese in it and 90% of them were not raw (sigh) but there was a 2X1 special so we got two rolls anyway. It was nice to get out and about for a bit for sure.

Thursday

We feel like we have been cooped up in the house all week. That’s the thing people don’t think about this life, it’s still just life. I normally work all day (except Fridays but that means I work longer the other days!) Sometimes you don’t feel like going out after work. For people who work at home, we have that feeling too, but then it means we are “stuck” in the house sometimes for days at a time unless we make a real effort to get out and about. 

Tonight, we needed to get out! My flatmate, BFF, and I went for a wander around the neighborhood. We got out just as Maundy Thursday church was getting out so there were tons of people on the street. We stopped for some delicious Dulce de Leche ice cream over by the church. It was one of the only places open today, as it is a religious holiday. 

Our neighborhood is a lovely middle-class neighborhood. It’s not touristy, there aren’t that many gringos here, yet. It was nice to walk around and see where all the little stores and shops are. There are quite a few tienditas that have little tables outside, like a Berlin Spati. You can buy a beer or aguardiente, and sit at the tables outside and chat and meet neighbors, etc. 

Friday

Today is not only our day off but it’s Good Friday. In this deeply Catholic country, today has huge significance. It’s one of the most important religious holidays of the year. Almost nothing is open today and there are religious processions all day. 

Before we left for the day, a very large processional went by our flat. We stood on the patio and watched them come from the intersection above our place. Then they stopped mid-way down or block again for the next station. I understand there are 14 stops on some of these types of processions. Not sure what number they were on our street, but I am sure they still had a ways to go in the bright direct sunlight! 

We found a museum that was open, so we headed there for the rest of the morning. It was the Museum of Memories. https://www.museocasadelamemoria.gov.co It is a museum dedicated to the civil conflicts that have torn Colombia and specifically Medellin apart for many years. It is especially dedicated to the memories of the people killed or disappeared during this time. We found it extremely interesting and touching. It definitely makes me want to read even more of the history in a more chronological order to understand better what happened here. We thought maybe we would walk around a bit after that, but the museum is in a pretty tough neighborhood and everything was closed for Holy Friday so it felt even more unsafe. We grabbed an Uber, came back to our neighborhood for some lunch, and then walked back to the apartment to hang out on the patio for the afternoon. 

In the evening we went to the main park in our barrio. There is a big central church there that is famous for their processions. What we didn’t realize was that as we sat in the park to wait, we would end up sitting through two hours of sermons about the Siete Palabras (7 Words.) But honestly, that was fine. A- My BFF and I can always find something to talk about. B- We were experiencing something uniquely local and interesting. There were hundreds of other people mostly quietly waiting, chatting softly, hanging with their families, listening or not to the sermon as it blasted out over the park. 

Eventually, they came outside and started the processional. We were disappointed because my friend had said this church was famous for their service etc and all we could see was a glass coffin in which they put a statue of Jesus. As we walked behind it to the corner, a huge Santo/Statue of Mary joined them on the corner. We had seen more than that in the morning processional so we hooked off the path and went to dinner at the big food court/Mercado on the way. 

After we ate, we had to walk back through the park and we realized our mistake. It was now after 10:30 pm and there were still hundreds of people watching the procession which now had at least 6 different floats and Santos and scenes. There were also people walking in between the floats, like the police cadets, a military police contingent, and local officials.  We got some pics but being night and street lights, it’s tough to see but I’ll add some here anyway. 

I also finally wrote about that stressful date experience I had. It was difficult to write and was even more difficult to press “Publish.” There are so many things around consent and the conflicting ways we are raised to think about sex and pleasure and a woman’s responsibility in that area. UGH! Anyway, here is the link for that. 

Conflicted Consent

Saturday

Today we spent the day out and about. I walked for 5 miles! OY! My knees! We walked to the Metro and took it to the MetroCable (the cable cars that are part of the metro public transportation system.) From the MetroCable we went all the way up the up into the hills of Medellin and to the National Park at the very top- Parque Arvi. 

The altitude of Parque Arví, which is located on a high plateau above Medellín, is between 2.200-2.600 meters (7.218-8.530 feet above sea level), while Medellín has an altitude of 1.500 meters (4.291 feet). It is 16.000 hectares, 1.760 hectares of the park contain natural forests.

Once there we walked around the handicraft market and got ourselves a yummy Empanada. Then we wandered around a bit. We walked down the big hill and went to one of the little tienditas and had a beer and just sat and people watched for a while. There are horses to rent for an hour with a guide, lots of buses and tourists and even some real cowboys on their dancing horses. It was a nice time. When we saw the clouds starting to accumulate, we hopped on a bus back up the hill, grabbed some yummy fruit, and headed back down the mountain to Medellin. 

It was a lovely busy day, but we still had to get home. It was pouring when we got to our train stop, but we always have umbrellas since it’s the rainy season! We went to the market, got more empanadas for dinner,  (we decided it would be the “Dia de las Empanadas!”) and lots of snacks because it is 420 today and we were headed home to smoke and relax! 

We had a very relaxing and snacky evening, and I hit the hay early! 

Sunday

Mostly a chill day, everyone slept in and relaxed. I wrote most of this post. It was one of those days all three of us stayed in our separate corners and gave each other some space. Much needed. 

I finally had a date in the afternoon. A real, go out, meet in public, and have coffee together date. Alex. (Ohhh Alex….) He is so hot and cute, and sweet. We connected as soon as he walked in the door, laughing and talking and turning towards each other and touching hands, arms… He is working full time and doing his bachelors in Education to teach English. His English is also very good, which is not that common here. AND… He is taller than me. Not by much, but we both appreciate this perk. 

After we had a coffee, we walked around the area a little before settling on a small burger place for some food. I swear, we laughed and GIGGLED the whole meal. I love the beginning, flirty, giddy phases of meeting someone. All that NRE just comes gushing out. We kept saying how much we were enjoying each other’s company and that this was a great first date. At one point, he came back from the bathroom and told me, I have to say this in Spanish, so I am sure I say it right, then he told me how great he thought I was and how he is looking forward to meeting me again and enjoying my company again. So sweet! 

So, we’ll see. I was very honest with him about polyamory. (I feel like I need to be, even though my loves are long distance.) He said he can only focus on one person at a time, and he doesn’t have time or the lifestyle right now to build a serious long-term relationship, as he hopes to move to Canada within the year to start his Master’s degree, but he is open to the fact that I have these other relationships in Germany. So, of course, I’ll keep you guys updated on that! (He already figured out that he would be the subject of my writings if we dated! Smart man!) 

TOTALS: 

• 2 daytime adventures in Medellin with BFF 
• 2 Easter Processionals 
• 1 awesome date with Alex 
• 12.5 miles of walking 
• 4 days for #30DayOrgasmFun
• 1 night of GOT with my roomies 
• Lots of relaxing 
• Texting every day with Benjamin 

SUMMARY: 

This was a very chill relaxing week. Sometimes you need those. This week should be more of the same before we head off on a new adventure this weekend. Can’t wait to tell you about that! 

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Don’t forget to check out all the brilliant writing submitted for Wicked Wednesday!