The Week in Review: Week 18 2019

*****The beginning of this Amazon Adventure in the jungle is detailed in the previous post.****

The Week in Review: Week 17 2019

Monday- Final day of the Amazon Adventure

Our last day here starts the same way, local breakfast and into the boat. This time we cross the complete expanse of the Amazon river to the Peruvian side. There is a very small village called San Antonio de Cacao Island. Once there a Peruvian guide, Segundo, took over. We got into a small handmade wooden canoe and headed off into the flooded forest. Before starting, Segundo gave us a little “get ready” speech. 

“Don’t worry about bugs and spiders. They are harmless. If one lands on you or in the boat, don’t flail about or make fast movements, or we could tip over. Go easy. No worries!” 

Alrighty then! Of course, only about 10 minutes into the trip we see a GINORMOUS spider and he proceeds to say, “Oh, THAT one IS poisonous! You don’t have to worry about the small ones, but the big brown/black ones are very poisonous.” And then we proceeded to see so many of these giant ones! Some of them so close you could hear them skittering up the trees right next to the canoe! Whatever we were going to see on this tour had better be worth it!!! Only on an Amazon adventure! 

We did see a bunch of red macaws and lots of other flora and fauna. But the highlight of the trip was the biggest tree I have ever seen, with roots that came out of the ground and were taller than me! This ceiba tree was about 65-75 meters high! There was no way to photograph it and do it justice! As Segundo rowed us into the cove, we just went quiet in awe of this amazing work of natural beauty! 

Segundo pulled the canoe to the side and he and I both got out and walked around. There were about 18 inches of water to walk through. He told us this lovely real-life story about how the gods of the forest live in these kinds of trees and how he learned to respect them. (Once he made fun of them, and ended up spending the night in the trees because his boat and the clear channel disappeared until morning! He’ll never make that mistake again!) 

After we came back out of the jungle we had a very tasty lunch (Peru is actually known for their amazing food.) We headed back in the rain (we forgot our ponchos that morning!) to the Colombian side of the river to prepare to go back downriver to Leticia. 

What an incredible journey! 

We headed back to Medellin on Tuesday. The only thing we managed to do once we were home was to wash all of our stinky clothes ASAP and unpack. Our internet was down, so we were able to kind of keep that peaceful feeling without social media and pressure for one more day. 

Wednesday

It was May Day so much of the city was closed. But we took the opportunity to go to the center of the city and see the Botero statues and wander through one of the busiest and most authentically Medellin barrios in the city. Along with the statues, we wandered the fruit and veggies market as well as the regular stalls selling everything from balloons, to t-shirts, to shoes, to fake jewelry. 

That evening we went to a roof-top bar to gape in awe at the nighttime views of the city and eat delicious sushi. (But be warned EVERY SINGLE ROLL has some kind of cream cheese or mayonnaise in/on it. Kind of weird!) 

Thursday

We just kind of chilled around the apartment and realized we were still recovering from the tip over the weekend. We did make an appointment to get mani/pedis. After all that time in the jungle, we were in desperate need!

In the evening we met one of my Paisa girlfriends and a couple of other folks, (Paisa is a person from the Antioquia region of Colombia-  Medellin included) to play Tejo- the national game of Colombia.

Tejo is a game where people throw small metal projectiles into a clay pit that has triangle pads of gun powder in it. Yes… the idea is to get points by blowing up the gunpowder! It is also a game that is normally accompanied by copious beer drinking, as you could imagine! LOL It was fun to hang with friends and do something so authentic and local! (As always my BFF excelled at the competition, while I had the most points for being CLOSE, I never did blow up one of the little pads!) 

On a side note about Tinder and dating, I am still Tindering away. I also opened my search to ladies. We’ll see how that goes. I have often done that but never really matched with anyone, so gave up and went back to only men. (I have never been romantically involved with a woman, only sexually in threesome dating experiences. So I am a little worried that I don’t know the etiquette! LOL)  I also have semi-solid plans to finally see Alex over the weekend. We’ll see. But I have been slow to try to connect with new people since BFF is here. Once she leaves, I will have more time to be out and about. 

Friday 

BFF’s last day! (Everyone says awww…. Sad!) We hung out in the morning and just chat with my flatmate and relaxed. But then for lunch, we went to another recommended and very local place. The traditional meal here is called Bandeja Paisa and this place is known for their version of it. 

We sat down, again in plastic chairs at a plastic table on the sidewalk. The server came over, no menu, no nothing, nodded and said “Bandeja Paisa? For one or two?” We quickly reassured her that we could share one and off she went. OMG! This was an amazing meal. The Chicharrón alone was huge and so friggin’ delicious! Again, all this food for less than 16$ total. 

After we finally finished our meal, we headed to one of the largest malls in the area for a bit of a wander. It was a nice relaxing way to end the five-week visit with my BFF. At home again, she packed, we watched Netflix and pulled out the twists in her dreadlocks so she would look all amazing when she gets home and goes to her big family event on Sunday.  

Saturday

Sent BFF off at 4am and was awake for another two hours! I thought my roommate was going to be out on a hiking trip and I was so looking forward to laying on the couch alone, watching Netflix, writing, being alone after a month in almost constant company with my BFF. But when I woke up I found out she was still here AND she hadn’t made enough coffee to share (She ALWAYS makes coffee for the whole house!) That put me in a cranky mood right off the bat!

I did manage to write all of the last week’s review and most of this one so that was good. I went to the mall to charge the data on my phone and pick up a few things and then had a nice pizza for lunch. I have been craving pizza and that was on my to-do list for today! A lovely solo lunch date. Much needed!

Later that evening I went to the Medellin Poliamor meeting. I was late because the traffic was totally backed up due to a Cannabis Demonstration in the center of the city! LOL 10,000+ people smoking weed and wandering around! No wonder there was a traffic jam! But I eventually made it.

There were about 30 people there, mostly women. They did breakout sessions about defining what is important to you in relationships. They were good activities. I had a bit of trouble hearing the leader of my group, due to background noise, which also made it VERY difficult to understand the Spanish. But I managed somehow.

There was a moment, I still need to talk to them about, where the leader of my small group said some things I definitely did not agree with around consent. (You know I am feeling some kind of way about that if you read this post.) But I am going to write to them, and I’ll probably write something about it in the blogs too.

Conflicted Consent

Anyway, regardless of that little blip. It was overall a nice experience. I didn’t really socialize too much afterward, people sat around having a beer and chatting, but I am really bad at these things, and notice that unless you put yourself out there, people are generally not going to come to you. There was one triad group that came up to me though. One of the ladies told me how she had noticed me when I came in, (my hair, my skin…) and she knew she had to say hi to me before they left. Her “Pareja” was backing her up, so I said hi to them too. It was sweet and flattering that she wanted to talk to me and they were supporting her in coming to say hi!

Sunday

Oh man, by today I was just done! My neck and back were sore, I could hardly turn my head. So after waking up at 3:30 and not being able to go back to sleep, I got up and watched Netflix for a few hours! Eventually, I went back to sleep and woke up but not feeling any better! So I took a muscle relaxer.

BAD IDEA! I haven’t really taken medicine in years and this thing hit me hard. I was in and out of consciousness for the rest of the day! Napping in my room, laying on the couch watching Netflix with my roomie. It was rough. I feel like I lost the whole day.

I did manage to force myself to go to the ATM (have to pay for my massage on Monday in cash), grab a snack for Game of Thrones tonight, and get a burger for dinner. It was nice to walk and try to wake up a bit.

Back home to watch GOT with the flatmate and then since I had slept on and off all day, I was awake laying on the couch for a few more hours.

The good thing about this was I had plenty of time and “energy” to flirt on Tinder. I was chatting with at least 3 guys and one lady. One guy seems sort of promising and I even talked to him a bit about non-monogamy and polyamory. Another guy did actually ask me to go out with him but then he said, “I will bring the champagne and we can drink it in the hot tub in my hotel room.” Uhm- No. Not going to a hotel room and drinking with you in the hot tub on a first date. (I am desperate for sex at this point, but not dumb!)  The woman seems really nice, but I can’t tell if we’re flirting or making friends.

Lots of the women’s Tinder profiles say “No soy lesbiana!” but they are open to women contacting them so I am not sure exactly what they are looking for. Earlier in the week I actually asked a woman, what she was looking for, and she said: “Friendship is the only option.” But then later said something that made me ask, “So is it the only option? Or is it not?” She unmatched me! LOL So maybe trying to date women for the first time here is NOT going to be the easiest place to start, but HA! Since when do I pick the easy way?!

SUMMARY

• Final moments of our Amazon adventure
• 1 day in the Amazon jungle and 1 preparing to fly home from Leticia
• 3 days slowly exploring Medellin with my BFF on her last days here
• a bunch of Tinder pans in the fire
• 1 polyamory meetup
• 1 day lost to back pain and pain meds
• 1 much-needed mani/pedi
• 1 amazing Bandeja Paisa lunch
• 1 very sad morning when my BFF left

This was a great week, we did expect too much by thinking once we got home from the Amazon we would be able to go sightseeing and on tours every day. We were way too tired for that! But it was nice to go slow and just focus on US time before my BFF had to leave and go back home after 35 days here!!

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This is submitted to Wicked Wednesday! Check out all the amazing smuttiness and stories. I am the judge this week, and I’d love to read your entries! 

Prompt #362: Unmentionable