Bill's Blog

Päivi and Santeri

Betty and I met Päivi and Santeri eight years ago in Buenos Aires. They are from Finland, but they have been citizens of the world for the past eight years. They are nomads, living here and there and everywhere. They are both 42 years old. We met them again six years ago in Cambodia, where we traveled together for two weeks. We keep up with them on their blog spot and on facebook. We consider them good friends.

When we first announced our trip to Colombia, we got a note from them saying that they might join us in Colombia. They were planning to visit Jamaica and Trinidad. Much to our surprise, they arrived a few days ago. We spent a long time talking with them, catching up with our lives and changes in our lives. It was wonderful.

We shared several meals with them doing all the cooking. They have become vegans in the years since we last saw them. Except for the morning oatmeal, Betty and I are totally incompetent in vegan cooking. What they prepared for us was very good. We explored a bit of the city together, especially visiting the open-air market. Betty did not go to the market. The last time we visited the market, she almost got sick from the odor of the hanging meats.

We had been really enjoying the house we rented in the city. It is far from perfect, but it is an old colonial style house. The only fault has been the afternoon heat. We must close up the living room in the early afternoon as the temperature rises. How hot is it? When we wake in the morning, it would be 75f (24c) and 95f (35c) in the late afternoon. The heat has become unbearable for Betty, especially because the house is not aligned well to catch the wind.

Again - other than the heat - the house has been great.
That is until last Tuesday, shortly after the arrival of Päivi and Santeri. We were all siting around our kitchen table in deep conversation, when the landlord's agent - Pedro Torres - just walked in. He has said that he would need to get things from time to time from a backroom that we cannot use. Suddenly he had a hostile attitude. While I do not speak Spanish very well, I understood that he did not like that our friends were visiting. He did not seem to care that they were sleeping at a nearby hostel. Just their presence set him off. He sent me a hostile and hurtful email, where he told us to vacate when our month was finished on the 15th of March. We think all his bluster was made up, because he wanted us to move so he could rent to other people. We had been thinking about leaving early anyway, because of the heat. The next day he came again to show the house to other potential renters. After they left, he picked a fight with me. I told him that we would be gone on the 15th. There is no way that we would stay longer. Santeri told me that they too have had problems with landlords in the past. Generally, they leave immediately - to lessen the risk of them stealing something. I think that it is good advice.

Päivi and Santeri left yesterday. They enjoyed visiting us. They were not sure where they were going but they let me know that they went to Cartagena. They liked it less than Santa Marta. They would like to leave Colombia, but there is no inexpensive way to head north. There is NO road to Panama. The sea voyage by speed boat is very uncomforatable and costs more than $200. The airfares are very high, $280 to $360, for a half-hour flight. They are going to try to find a little village, somewhere NO tourist tread. We wish them well.

We are going to stay here another two weeks. Then we are going to Barranquilla for a few days. Then we will go to Cartagena for a couple of days. After that we will be going back to Florida. The cost of changing our tickets was almost what we paid for them to begin with. So the advertised $50 change fee at Spirit Airlines is totally false. One must pay $125 per ticket and the fare difference. The total change cost for the two of us $630, which is just about our original return ticket cost. Nuts!

Toasting Santeri

Posted by bill at March 1, 2013 01:57 PM