Cartagena

Cartagena is a gorgeous seaside town that was a Spanish colony for many years. The Cartagena walls were to protect the city from such nefarious pirates as Sir Francis Drake, who attacked the city twice and was repelled both times.

cute animals fail

I could post this as simply a picture of me and kittens being cute, but in reality this shows a sad truth about Colombia that I'm realizing. Here, animals (even pets) are not neutered. What's happened because of that sad fact is that there are a lot of street animals - dogs and cats that are literally starving to death on the street and living by eating trash or hunting. It's rare to see a street dog that isn't limping from being hit by a car or who doesn't look like he has worms or is covered in ticks.

There's no way to solve the problem. The mayor of Santa Marta has police periodically round up dogs and then electrocute them.

I guess this makes me want to start screaming "NEUTER YOUR PETS" from the rooftops.

The kittens I'm holding are from inside our compound. Their mother is so thin that she's just skin and bone. I would love to start feeding her, but then what will she do when I move?

bagged milk

One of the things I've had to get used to here is the fact that bags are way more common than boxes, cartons or any other form of container. EVERYTHING is bagged at the market. Yogurt, water, and milk are the most surprising ones.



So, people have devised a way to pour/use milk in bags. It's a small, super expensive (because all plastic needs to be imported) container that you put the bags of milk in before you cut a corner and pour.

New new apartment!

Me and the two roommates:



The bungalos:



The mosquito breeding ground: