cartagena trip report part 5

(continued) We took Brasilla to Barranquilla, another $5 and about an hour later we arrived. The area around and leaving the terminal de transportes is very poor, runned down, BG had told me to expect this. We got in a cab and headed to her house, about a half hour ride. Like in any city, there are the affluent areas and the not so affluent-poor areas, BG lives in an affluent one. The houses in her neighborhood were beautiful, there were lots of new apartment buildings, shopping centers (if I remember correctly the area was called Villa Country) and that part of town was very modern.

Well, we arrived at her house and her family was waiting for us with open arms. If I had to choose a colombiana on family warmth, kindness and hospitality alone it would be very hard, BG's family, like CG's, was so great to me. BG's mom was beautiful, the kind of beauty that makes you say "she must have broken a lot of hearts when she was younger". Pictures of her mom that were hanging on the wall and around the house confirmed
this, she was a hottie in her day. Her dad was a great looking guy too, plus he had a sense of humor that had me in stitches. This guy was open and upfront with me and was cracking jokes left and right, I'm so glad I understand and speak Spanish as well as I do, without it I would have missed out on his humor and a wonderful afternoon, he stole the show. I could see BG enjoying the fact that her dad was making me laugh. We talked a lot about life in the states, family that they have living in the US, life in Barranquilla, what BG and I did in santa marta, all while drinking costenitas. We ate lunch, drank a bottle of red wine that I bought in santa marta, talked and laughed some more. The food was great, beef with arroz con coco, salad, potatoes and for dessert a cake(BG called it pudding) topped with arequipe (caramel type), it was all so good. Afterwards BG showed me photo albums, showed me around her house and around the neighborhood. I spent about 4 hours with them, unfortunatly, I was keeping
an eye on the clock because I didn't want to be on the roads back to cartagena when it got dark, everyone knew I had to leave by 4. The good byes were just as warm as the hellos, they said I'm welcomed whenever I'm in the coast and they said next time I should plan to spend more time in barranquilla. BG called a cab for me and within a couple of minutes I was giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek goodbye. She said she would call me in the morning from work the next day so I wouldn't have to pay long distance. I got in the cab and left. The bus trip was more of the same so I won't bore you with it, I'll only say that I used this time to think about what had happened during those few days in santa marta. I spent time with a wonderful woman, who I had a great time with and got to know her family, but the truth is that I didn't see our relationship going any further
than just friends, somehow I think she knew it too.

I'll forward to arriving at my apt. and calling CG. This was Sunday night, around 6:30. She picks up and is excited to hear it's me. "So how are you', she says "how was santa marta" "how was the trip" "did you like it" all these side questions until she finally says," ok, I have to ask you, mmmmm
here goes, one, two three..... how did it go with your friend from barranquilla?" I told her it went really well, told her what we did, that I met her family and had a great time. CG asked if the weekend was what I had expected, I told her that I would tell her over dinner. I asked if she would
meet me at the torre del reloj (clock tower) in the old city, she agreed and I quickly showered and changed and hopped in a cab. El Laguito is closer to the old city than where she lives so I got there before her. I waited a bit and then she arrived, man did she look beautiful. We hugged each other like never before, much warmer, longer and I felt close to her, plus she was wearing the perfume I had given her before I left, boy, I
was in heaven. I took her hand and said lets goto the plaza santo Domingo, she said ok. We got there, grabbed a table and began to talk. She started by saying she was really glad to see me and that she had missed me. I told her that I was glad to be back and that I missed her and was thinking about her. We talked about what we each did for the weekend, of course she was mostly interested in what I did. We talked about many things that night, at one point we got onto the topic of learning English. CG knows a quite a bit, more than she lets on and I'm surprised she
doesn't know more because her dad speaks it and one of her brothers (the one that was here for 5 years) also. We started saying things back and forth in English and Spanish, she understood most of what I said as long as I said it slowly.

Then I got closer to her and whispered in her ear saying how beautiful she was, how happy I was to be with her, lots of other things that she couldn't understand, so I repeated in Spanish. She told me what she was feeling for me after almost 8 months of knowing me though emails, many long phone conversations and finally in person. She told me how much her family liked me and how important that was to her. I told her how much I enjoyed the evening I spent with them, especially how warm everyone, including the men. Then I couldn't resist much longer, I wanted to kiss her but was afraid. I respected her too much and I knew from speaking to her, knowing the person she was, speaking to her mother, grandmother, knowing the kind of relationship and respect that she had for herself, father, brothers and family that CG was not an easy woman, meaning that she wasn't about to kiss just anyone and that a kiss had more meaning to her than most other women. I kicked it around in my head, should I or shouldn't I. I knew that she liked me a lot, that she was very interested but still I wasn't sure if she was ready for a kiss, so I left it up to her, I leaned over and whispered in english, "kiss me", she understood this without translation and slowly turned her head and proceeded to give me a very passionate one. We kissed for only a little bit, a few seconds, I knew she felt uncomfortable kissing in public in the plaza, I was also
uncomfortable, so I said lets go, it was getting late. We jumped in a cab and I took her home. During the ride she leaned on mean and held my hand but we didn't say a word, I was thinking about what had just happened and I knew she was also………(more later)