Tag: Campestre

End of The Home Stay

Brian is here. My days in Campestre are over. I am now living the life of a tourist with Brian in the walled city of Cartagena. For me, it’s the end of the home stay in Cartagena.

Brian’s welcome to Cartagena

After Brian’s arrival (late), I welcomed him, got him settled in to the airbnb, and we walked around the old town a bit. But soon it was time to meet the family! We grabbed a taxi so he could meet the important people in my Cartagena experience. I took him back to the barrio!

a visit to campestre

Marcela greeted us followed by Libary soon after. We got some photos of the whole gang before we separated for good.

People
Me and Marcela out front of her house
Continue reading “End of The Home Stay”

Last Day in Campestre

Today is my last day at Marcela’s house. Three weeks plus three days have flown by, that’s a fact. Now it’s my last day in Campestre, Cartagena.

Reflections of Living with a Host Family

It was an adjustment for me, absolutely, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts. I had to lose some privacy and control over my surroundings. While I met and shared dinners with Marcela’s husband and adult son, and they were nice and welcoming, I didn’t get to know them very well. This was probably my weak Spanish skills and general shyness about those skills. It also was tiring to try to speak Spanish all the time, with no breaks!

I am still glad I tried, and immersed myself with the family rather than stay on my own or with other tourists. It’s crazy to think how much I’ve learned and done since I first stepped foot in Cartagena.

Home in Campestre
House in Campestre

What’s Next?

Brian is on his way to Cartagena as I write this and I will be moving out of my barrio home to the touristy side of the city with him.

Last Day in Campestre Celebration

We are having a little “meet and greet” at Marcela’s this evening so Marcela and her family and Libary will meet mi esposo (Brian). I will post photos for sure!

No Sugarcoating Cartagena Problems

So I don’t want you to think this is all a bed of roses and I am handling all the differences with no problems. I have had some setbacks along the way. In this post there is no sugarcoating Cartagena problems.

Getting lost

I’ve gotten lost twice, and it’s highly likely I will get lost again. So much of Cartagena looks a lot the same to me. The inner barrios are full of short apartment blocks mixed in with stores and restaurants. The stores and restaurants sometimes look like homes as well. Probably because they are or were at some point. I get lost! There’s no sugarcoating Cartagena problems.

The first time I got lost was on Monday night – I took the wrong bus from volunteering. The bus line was correct, but I forgot to ask if it was going to “Campestre” and, sure enough, it wasn’t. After about 30 minutes of riding, I looked for a suitable place to get off. I chose a location at a busy intersection with a gas station, figuring taxis would be by at some point. It took about 5 minutes to find an empty taxi and then I was ok and got home about an hour late, but still fine.


The second time I got lost, or “perderse” (lost myself in Spanish), was walking to Libary’s house on Tuesday for my Spanish lesson. I didn’t walk far enough and started walking in circles and got nervous. I What’s Apped her and she came and got me. Embarrassing. I was 30 minutes late for a Spanish lesson, and she lives a 10 minute walk from Marcela’s house. Embarrassing!

Continue reading “No Sugarcoating Cartagena Problems”

Where I Am Living in Cartagena

So I have mentioned that for almost four weeks I am staying with a Colombian family in Cartagena. They live in an apartment in a middle class barrio called Campestre. I stayed with them for two nights in their old place, but they have since moved to a bigger and better place a few blocks away. This post is about where I am living in Cartagena Colombia.

Overview of where I am living in Cartagena

This is by no means the lap of luxury. Part of my plan in coming here to volunteer was immersion, and living with a family was better for that than living with other foreigners or by myself. This is a simple home with enough amenities but not everything we are accustomed to having. I realize everyday here how spoiled we are at home and how little we actually do need to get by. I am not saying I am thriving in this environment because I’m having some internal struggles being a spoiled brat. But it’s going OK so far, and the people are so great it helps a lot! Still, there have been a few times I’ve dreamed of checking in to a hotel for a night – with AC of course, including a search I did on hotwire a few hours ago!

I took some photos of the common areas and my room so you can see where I am living in Cartagena.

Continue reading “Where I Am Living in Cartagena”

Roll with it 

It’s been a little crazy the last 2 days because my host family just moved. Yes, I know! I got to their place on Monday night, stayed two nights and then was moved to another family’s house to stay while the first family moved. It sounds complicated.  Maybe it is. Either way I am trying to roll with it as it happens.

So Wednesday night I stayed with the volunteer coordinator, Libary, and her family. Then last night we were told the new place my family moved to still didn’t have air conditioning so could I stay another night? Roll with it Melinda!

Self Improvement

This is my new mantra to myself. Part of my reason for coming here was to hopefully change some things about myself, even a little. One of those is my lack of patience. Another is my need to be in control. So here we go! I tend to like having a plan and sticking to it. haha. Roll with it. This isn’t that bad.

So I am now in the new house but it doesn’t have wifi. So short post now via my phone and my local data plan. I also can’t take a shower because my towel is at Libary’s house with some of my other things since I stayed there for 2 nights. Trying to figure out the transportation from a new location is tricky too!

Continue reading “Roll with it “