My Last Night in Colombia

Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, when I figured I had my three, my streak of bad luck had to be over.....well it wasn’t. The story of my life, drama to the very end, I wouldn’t have it any other way though.

I said goodbye to a friend and went to a Juan Valdez coffee shop to buy presents for friends. I thought I could walk back to my friend’s house as it was only a few blocks away but the rain was so hard that I was getting soaked through and through. After witnessing a fight on the street between two businessmen I quickly got in a cab. Relieved to be out of the rain and saving my newly done hair. I was in a hurry to get out and in the house completely away from the rain. In my rush I had left one of my Juan Valdez bags in the taxi, which I realized after finding myself locked out of my friend’s house. I was stuck in the pouring rain, wet and cold, with no presents just a stupid bag of coffee. I wanted to scream. This reminded me of my last night in Panama last year. I was locked out of my friend’s apartment in the rain, seems to be tradition.

I called my friend several times but I only got the voice mail and I left a few panicky upset messages. I tried calling the friend I had just gone to a cafe with but again no answer. I rang the door bell again and again even though I knew no one was there. I tried to get a key from the neighbour but on the one side the maid had no idea what I was talking about and the other neighbours weren’t home. My bag of coffee and I were getting wetter and wetter. Eventually I discovered the number of a friend of the guy I was staying with, in my phone. I was given his number because he wanted to talk to me about opening a hostel in the north end of Bogota; we never ended up talking though. I felt a bit weird but I decided to give it a try and call him. It was that or stay in the cold pouring rain all night until someone came home. Fortunately he was in a meeting only a few blocks away and when I told him my situation he said he could pick me up.

I didn’t really know who was picking me up just some random guy that was in my phone but I remembered I actually had met him for a brief moment before the wedding I went to in January but didn’t remember what he looked like. I was delighted when a very stunning young Colombian guy showed up in a SUV. He got me out of the rain and put his suit jacket around me. I was quite upset and told him my long drawn out story of every shitty thing that had happened to me. He decided I needed to have a good last night in Colombia, seeing as how my friend was not answering his phone and it was close to 9:00pm. I had visions of a lovely dinner with my hair and nails done in my nice dress but that was never going to happen, he had to work late.
So after numerous beers and jokes about midgets we were feeling quite good and all the recent shitty events, my stresses, and my emotional upset about leaving Colombia washed away. My friend arrived home after 11:00pm to find me not there and my text message on his phone saying, “Please call me”. He got really concerned and tried making a missing persons report to the police. Which they wouldn’t do before 48hours, it’s a good thing! I wasn’t missing I was having a good conversation and getting pretty drunk, I knew exactly where I was.

Eventually he got a hold of me but I was having too much of a good time to leave, translation I was drunk and happy. We did finally leave as I had an early flight and my new friend has a very serious job that he needed to be at quite early.
Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea for the gentleman to have driven me home, we were followed by the police who pulled us over and caught him for drinking and driving. Like I said before just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse. The police took his shiny SUV to some place far from where we were. My friend was trying to call us all night but we were a bit preoccupied with the situation. Nothing we couldn’t handle though and eventually a nice bribe did the job.

By this time it was stupid O’clock in the morning and I had to get to the airport. My friend hadn’t left me a key outside like I instructed him to and the door was locked. I tried calling him and the house but no answer. This time it was serious I needed to get in to pack and get to the airport. The maid who didn’t look too happy finally appeared at the window and let me in, I felt like an ass. I quickly packed and tried to say goodbye to my friend but his door was locked and he wasn’t answering his phone, so I left. I felt bad for leaving without saying goodbye and I had a huge lump in my throat. I should have spent my last night with him. I wanted to go back in time to fix things but I couldn’t. I was exhausted and tired from everything and lack of sleep. I was emotional and upset; it wasn’t a good feeling waiting in the Bogota airport. I guess life can’t be sunny beaches all the time; you need to mix things up a bit to appreciate it all.