Colombia!! El Amarillo, El Azul, La Roja!!

Bienvenidos from Colombia!!

We have finally arrived...After more than 24 hours in the air or waiting at the airports and getting through the customs, we have finally made it to Bogota!!!

First things first: We have Awesome Parents!! Our bad luck started as my (jon) parents were saying goodbyes. My Honda limped into the departure terminal parking area before sputtering to a halt. By battery was dead, no juice, no life, nadda. And here Kase and I were about ready to leave the country for at least a few months, saying, "Here dad, take care of this mess" We did get a hold of AAA who I assume was able to get the car back down to our mechanic in Lacey. But more stress than we were willing or expecting to take on at that time. Oh well, one crisis averted. On to crisis numba two. As we are trying to get our bags checked at JetBlue, the attendant informs us that we must have a flight or bus ticket out of Colombia or we cannot even get on the plane from Seattle to NYC!! Armed with Galaxy tablet and anger we furiously begin searching for a flight that we could book out of Bogota, just so we can have proof of continuation of travel. Neither mine nor Kasey´s Credit Cards worked, the airport internet was incredibly slow and unreliable and we are stumped.

Kasey´s parents to the rescue! They were able to book a flight for us, saving the day.

Back to the attendant to get things started. Bags checked, security passed, flight was fine.

We landed in NYC (JFK) on time and were able to make our next connection to Orlando since we had a 5 plus hour layover. It turns out that we got out of NYC just in time, upon our arrival in Orlando we begin hearing that many flights are being delayed due to snow! Another bullet dodged!! Our connection out of Orland was doomed though, one of the flight crew spotted fluid on the starboard wing, above the engine, as the problem was not going to be fixed soon, we had to wait for another plane. We had to wait 2.5 more hours, our flight would be leaving at 8:30 pm or later getting us into Bogota at about 1 am. Once we touched down in Bogota, getting through customs took a while, and we were finally able to see if our backpacks made the connections too!! Reunited with our bags we started the process of hailing a taxi.

This is Kasey now, Jon had to shower(smelly boy).. The taxi ride was more scary than fun for me, as my seat belt didnt work and our driver was a speedster and I dont think he could see very well (he had to flash his brights everytime we went through weirdly lit intersections or hard to see areas) But he was very kind and dropped us off right at our hostel, which I was extremely grateful for, since the streets were for the most part completely shut down and deserted. Windows barred, doors shut and locked, no lights on, and only a few people wandering the streets, some of them men dressed in fatigues and carrying what my imagination put as machine guns. Needless to say, I dont think we will be out much past dark in Bogota...I am fine hunkering down in the hostel for the evening reading books and practicing spanish.