Returning to Cartagena

When I stepped off the plane midday in Cartagena, the humidity welcomed me like a lost friend.  School started two days later, and getting up at 5:30 again was a wee bit difficult.  Of course, viewing the sunrise every morning while eating breakfast helped me to return to the old routine. 

I had missed Cartagena's landscape.  While returning from the gym one evening, I had this sunset on one side and the double rainbows on the other.  It just doesn't get much better.  

There are about five new teachers this year, so we did some of the same activities as last year:  the Crib Crawl to check out each other's apartments (one couple lives on a boat) and renting a boat to see Cholon, a popular island for partiers.  

Rachel's boat was my favorite stop for the Crib Crawl, especially since they served homemade focaccia bread and sangria. 

The day after our boat trip, lightning struck down
the Virgin Mary statue in the bay.  

Swimming in the crystal-clear waters on the first stop to Cholon.

School has been going well.  The new sixth graders are really sweet, and the seventh graders have matured a lot since last year.  

A crab just hanging out one morning by a classroom door. 

Every weekend there seems to be something to do, whether it's celebrating someone's birthday with dinner, drinks and dancing, playing games on the beach, or hanging out by someone's pool.  It has been a terrific start to the new school year.  

A band playing in an open-air bar on the wall. 

Elizabeth's apartment building's pools....three of them.

Wine and pizza picnic by the ocean.  Oh yeah.