Colombia!

We have been back for a few days, and what an interesting trip this was. I experienced a bit of culture shock which I hadn't in my other travels. The first night when we were sitting at a bar outside, I saw a man at the street corner giving hand signals, and assumed it was about the four gringas sipping beer! Looking back, I doubt that was the case, but I had a revved up sense of danger. We were completely safe the entire time, but didn't feel it the first part of the trip. We took a private car about 150 miles or so, and encountered police and military stops. Also a group of children surrounded the car with fake guns, billy cubs and dressed as guerillas- boy did we panic then! But it turned out to be "carnival" and the children were playing! Surprisingly on the ride back to Cartagena, the car ride seemed completely safe and we were all relaxed. It was amazing to me that what appeared very dangerous one day, appeared very safe and natural a few days later, when we had adjusted and understood the culture a little better! The power of our perceptions and how we see things based upon our filters was a huge lesson I learned from this trip.