Greetings from Colombia

[RagingInMiami]

Hello everybody,

I have been in Bogota this past week visiting family. I will be in Cartagena later this week. Hopefully, I will have plenty of photos to post when I come back January 5th. I hope everybody has a happy new year.

Raging in Colombia

[priller]

1. Good to hear from you!

Look forward to seeing those photos.

And you have a happy new year, too.

[Maestro]

2. Buenos RIM

Can't wait to see what you come back with. Stay safe!

[Blue_In_AK]

3. Have fun down there, Raging...

Looking forward to your photos.

[JeffR]

4. Pix pix pix! Can't wait to see 'em

Safe trip & Happy New Year!

[babylonsister]

5. Hello, Raging, and Happy New Year! I look forward to seeing

your pix and picking your brain about Cartagena and Colombia. :hi: :party:

[regnaD kciN]

6. Looking forward to seeing them...

The one time I was in Bogota was when my interest in photography had waned. I didn't even bring a camera on the trip. Hopefully, you can make up for my shortcomings. ;-)

[RagingInMiami]

12. The frustrating part for me

Is that I have a very large family down there and they insist on never letting me out of their site for a single moment for fear that I will get robbed, kidnapped or killed. I know things are dangerous down there, but they do tend to get exaggeratedly overprotective of me.

I'm pretty street smart and know how to take care of myself, especially when I'm out taking photos, but it was impossible for me to break free from any of them to go wandering and discovering, which is when I take my best photos.

And it's pretty hard to take photos of something when I have an uncle or a cousin waiting for me and asking me "ya?" as in, "are you done?". I'm the kind of person who can photograph something for an hour just to get the right shot, but there was no way for me to do that in Colombia because I always had an impatient family member around.

Nevertheless, I got some decent shots in Cartagena, but not a whole lot in Bogota because I had spent three days with an uncle running all over the city trying to secure my Colombian national ID in order to get my Colombian passport, which would enable me to enter Cuba as a journalist once Castro dies.

I used to have dual citizenships when I was studying down there at the age of 15, but that expired because I never applied for the for the national ID like all Colombian citizens are supposed to do when they turn 18.

So I was able to get my temporary national ID when I was just there because they still had me on record from when I was a minor. Now I have to wait a few months to get the passport, but I'm going to see if my uncle can pull some strings to make it quicker.

Then the rest of the time was spent at my uncle's ranch outside Tenjo, a small pueblo outside Bogota, where we spent Christmas Eve and Day and New Year's Eve and Day.

[intheflow]

7. Cool!

I can't wait to see the photos. I hear its a beautiful country. Be safe!

[RagingInMiami]

8. Well, I got back on Friday and I still haven't fully unpacked

But I had a great time and took some nice shots that I will be posting soon.

[Blue_In_AK]

9. Glad you made it back safe, Raging.

Are you coming up to DC on the 27th? It'd be fun to see you again. :)

[RagingInMiami]

10. Now I really feel out of touch

I have no idea what will be going down on the 27th in DC. Whatever it is, I would love to go just to see you again, but two weeks in Colombia have dwindled my travel budget for the time being.

How many hours is it from Alaska to DC again?

[Blue_In_AK]

11. 9 hours and 35 minutes in the air.

United for Peace & Justice is having another march on the 27th of January. I'm going to be meeting up and staying with InTheFlow and UsedToBeSick. Here's the info...

http://www.unitedforpeace.org/

Maybe you could hitchhike. :)

[RagingInMiami]

13. When I flew to Europe more than ten years ago

I remember it being like an 11 hour flight. Thank god for alcohol.

[Blue_In_AK]

14. I always take the red-eye and "try" to sleep.