Day 53. We’ve been looking forward to visiting Helene all day. We headed out of town in the evening rush hour as crowded buses sped out of town and pelicans sat calmly above the hubub watching the world go by.
Pelicans
Helena’s house is a lovely colonial style building off the main street. We were warmly welcomed by her and all her pets. (Their names are already fading away, but one of the cats is definitely called Adolf on account of a dark patch under its nose). We were also introduced to a couple of one week old additions to the family:
Kittens!
We sat down to a meal of chicharon (pork crackling), patacon (squashed fried plantain) and papitas (breaded egg, meat and potato balls) washed down with a glass of guava juice. We chatted about life in Europe versus Columbia (her children still live in Europe), how Columbia had changed over the years (for better and for worse), and what the elections taking place this Sunday might mean for the country. We also exchanged recipes and agreed that a kebab shop, non-existent in Cartagena, would do very well here!