October Break

So, most of October break was pretty relaxing for me since Dereek was working. I got to get a lot of catching up on grading and cleaning done during the week, but we did take some long weekend trips. The first weekend of break, there was an electronic music festival out on a finca. It was gorgeous where we were and really nice to get out of the city. We went over at about mid day when it was still pretty quiet and set up our tent since we were camping there over night. Around dinner time it started getting more crowded, and by night it was definitely a party. They had djs going FOREVER. We got there early afternoon and music was already playing, people played through until about 2am when they kicked out everyone who wasn't staying over night, then the party started going again and apparently didn't stop until late at night THE NEXT NIGHT. We didn't stay that long though. At about 11am we were too hungry to party anymore so we went home, though had we wanted to keep dancing, there definitely were still people there. Probably the longest, nonstop party I've been to.

Got our tent sent up

View from our tent

The stage and where the party would be taking place

When we first got there, we went for a little walk around some of the farms.

The drinks we got had glow sticks!

We were also given masks at some point during the night

Still partying in the morning

Our tent made it through the rain, even though we didn't sleep in it

And they had this really nice pool, we were a little disappointed we didn't know to bring bathing suits

The next weekend we went to Medellin for a few days. We left by bus really early on Saturday morning. It was about a 5 hour bus ride from Pereira to Medellin. It was long but really really pretty. It was so long because the road winds through the mountains; the actual distance isn't that far. When we got there we took a cab to the hostel, it took us a little while to adjust to the city and how to get around. Once we figured out the subway system things were a little easier. The first day we just walked around A LOT and went to the botanical gardens. We went out for a bit at night to some bar type places as well. On Sunday we got up and went to the metro cable, which is a really long cable car that is connected into the subway system. It gives beautiful views of Medellin and at the top is a big nature preserve that we walked around for a bit. We were about to head down, then got held up at the top for a while because of a lightening storm. We got back down only about 45 minutes later than we thought and then headed to parque explora, which is a science museum. We had a ton of fun hanging out and playing with all the things there. There is also an aquarium in the science museum. Finally, we went out at night to dinner in a really nice area of the city and had Thai food! Foreign foods always seem really hard to find and I love Thai and Indian food, so to be able to find some was awesome. And it was really good. We had some drinks at a cool bar in the area and then went back to the hostel. On Monday we went home. We were lucky and one of Dereek's students was in Medellin too so he drove us back to Pereira. It was really nice to be in a car instead of a bus for the ride back. It was a good weekend overall. 

On the bus to Medellin, we were high in the mountains and literally in clouds. 

The views while we were driving were amazing, unfortunately it's hard to get good photos out of a window. 

Walking around Medellin when we first got there

At the botanical park

There was a butterfly house in the botanical garden. So we got to see some pretty butterflies

Another butterfly

This pond was in the gardens, too

And this interesting looking duck

Entrance to the gardens

The entrance to parque explora, the science museum

This was outside the planetarium, it looked pretty neat, but we didn't go in

Views from the train back to the hostel at sunset

The common area of the hostel

Another view of the hostel

Getting ready to board the metro cable

Dereek taking pictures from the gondola 

Such pretty views, and we were lucky to have such a clear day

Up at the top at parque avri. I love all the pine trees, it's cold enough here for pine trees!!!

It was a pretty nice walk, those roots were really cool looking

Heading back down the mountain on the metro cable

Views of Medellin

More views

still more

I love this picture

Medellin, it's a really spread out city

Passing another car going up

Turtles at parque explora

and a frog!

Inside one of the rooms in parque explora

We were in a comic strip while at the science museum

And Dereek saved me from a sea monsters - there was a whole section dedicated to tv/movies with lots of green screens

Overall a good vacation. Didn't travel anywhere drastically far, but it was nice to get better acquainted with where we're living and the cities near us.