'Linda'

It is hard not to love a city where you can called beautiful every day- sometimes even by blokes not staring at my chest. Some of them don´t even want me to buy anything! One guy was so struck with my beauty that he literally had to stop to admire me better. He asked me where I was from, in English, I told him that I didn´t speak English, in Spanish, which confused him no end. I had an answer in Korean all worked out in case he persisted.

I am still in Cartagena, ah man, do I ever want to leave? I have reached an understanding with the guys selling emeralds, they invite me into the shop and I smile, nod and walk past. I am too easy once I am in the shop- I got sucked into one place and left with a pair of overpriced earrings and I don´t even have pierced ears. Every street that I walk down I seem to recognise but I can never find the place that I am looking for.

I always seem to end up at back the Plaza de Bolivar (there is one in nearly every city). I was drwan there last night by the sound of drums. And drums there were, accompanied by some crazy fast African dancing. I tell you, this was so fast that I still couldn´t believe it when I played back the videos this morning. I watched until all the money from my purse had gone into the dancers' proffered hat- until the money did indeed run out- I smiled and nodded the next two times it came round but began to feel cheap so I left.

Turns out that they had finished anyway as I turned another corner and found them setting up the show just inside the city gate near the statue of the founder.

Today I have booked a trip-which I will tell you about if it turns out to be interesting enough- chatted online to some random Colombian guy who was trying to speak to his friend, who was mysteriously logged into a version of messenger that I couldn´t find to log him out of. All in Spanish. Maybe I am getting better.

I have bought some suntan lotion, having lost mine a few days ago and being fed up of keeping in the shadows. I couldn´t find anything between factor 2 and factor 30. the guy behond the counter took one look at my pale skin, between the patches of red, and tried to sell me factor 50. I tried to tell him that if I used it I would be white forever but he didn´t seem to understand. The next shop was the same but when I made anxious faces about the lack of tan he found some factor 16 and I was back in business. So my skin is all sticky again now after two days off. But at least I shouldn´t get much redder.

I went to a fort on a hill too- El Castillo de San Felipe Someone or other. It was cool. And windy which was good. I looked around, I took photos, I got talked into buying a silver bracelet that I will probably never wear. It was a good day.

Right, I know that you don´t have the attention span to read this long without photos so I will leave now.
Chao