A great ocean hike

I went on a really nice hike today, past Playa Grande another 45 minutes or so to some more secluded beaches.  It was a really nice trek, with some gorgeous views:

Playa Grande

View from the cliffs above

Found this HUGE grasshopper on the trail

Made it to that far peak in the distance

I rocked the trail solo and had lots of time to ponder the world, here were a few of things that came to mind...

Today I passed a blond girl who said ‘gracias’ to one of the locals, in an accent that rivaled that of Brad Pitt in Inglorious Bastards.  It’s also exactly how I say it, I instantly thought the blond girl and I should be best friends.

I can’t speak Spanish, barely a word, but I really hope I don’t do this to foreign people that don’t speak English back home:

• Colombian guy – ‘ sdfkjasdf;kl.’ Might as well be Chinese, I have no idea
• Kevin – ‘lo siento, yo no hablo espanol,’ rough translation, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t speak Spanish’
• Colombian guy – ’;dfj;fj;lskfjl;ksfhasfjkhajhasklfjhsfhsfhjsaklfhjslfjkhashjasdfhflksdjfhasklfj.’
• Kevin – blank stare

Why when I say 'I don’t speak Spanish,' it is code for blast this guy with a ton of Spanish, sorry man, I wasn’t lying, maybe try smaller words, or hand gestures.  Usually I just have a walk away while they're talking.

Made a quick friends with a Colombian drug dealer after a group shot of Aguardiente, which tastes a lot like Ouzo, or black liquorish.  I said, ’I like that!’ and before I knew it we high fived like 10 times and he was trying to sell me cocaine and weed. 

I got berated a bit about American politics.  I thought that might be over with Bush out of the picture, but people still don’t love the US.  It was about the Swiss banks and the US tax officials… those of you that know me best, know that I have no clue what they were talking about, even though it was in English.

I learned that this pink and white flower when made into a tea is a powerful hallucinogen, now if I could only find that recipe....

I can’t decide which is stranger - that I’m in Colombia, or that it doesn’t feel weird to be in Colombia…