Cartagena

An Atlanta Photographer in Cartagena

If you follow me on Facebook, you know I had a crazy week last week. 

I'm with my son, DIL, and granddaughter in South America, specifically Cartagena, Colombia. 

It's a beautiful place with lovely people but we had some moments getting settled. Our first Airbnb had a gas leak in the laundry/water heater closet, so we changed our plans quickly and got out of there. 

We thought we'd have to cancel our plans and fly back to Georgia which would have been incredibly disappointing because this was a much-planned venture.

It turned out it was so expensive to change flights that we ended up in a hotel for a week. In the meantime, my DIL found an Airbnb that was available on the 3rd. 

Whew. 

We got into the new place yesterday and with much relief noted no odor of gas and everything appears safe. 

We're all working, and I'm watching my granddaughter during the day. It's challenging because it's so hot and humid that I don't like having her outside for extended periods. 

The sun here is fierce with temps in the high 80s, and low 90s, and humidity in the mid 80% range. 

But, we're adjusting to a little schedule and I love being somewhere that's new and different. I love learning about other people, places, and cultures. 

It's also good to be reminded of the many things we take for granted in the U.S.

We have so much with so many conveniences.

Any day of the week in Georgia, I can go to a huge grocery store that's convenient to where I live and expect a vast array of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as other staples. 

That's not the case in many places, including here in Cartagena. The stores here are much smaller with far fewer choices. 

Taking a bathroom break? That's fine but do not put your used toilet paper in the toilet. That goes in the garbage can. The sewer systems can't handle TP.

Central AC? Not so much but we feel blessed that our place has a unit in each of the rooms.

We've got two small bedrooms, two tiny bathrooms, a small kitchen, and a sitting room. That makes it important for me to get the baby out during the day too so that my son and DIL can get their work done. 

I made a complete rookie mistake yesterday evening when we went out to check out the beach. I forgot to change the battery in my camera so it died just as the sun was setting - yikes! 

That's part of the issue of getting adjusted to a new place. I need to figure out regular places to plug in and charge things. 

Little problems. 

As I mentioned in my last Facebook post, I'll be here most of January. I don't have the best setup for photo editing but I'll try to keep up with at least a few posts a week some of which will be from my iPhone. 

I'm hoping to get out and get lots of photos, though it's a little challenging with taking care of my granddaughter. 

I'm so grateful for this time with my son and his family. 

The photo above was taken in the early evening on the beach with my iPhone. I've never been to a beach that had so many tents and people as well as cars and motorcycles driving right near the water. It's amazing. 

Hope you had a nice holiday season and you're looking forward to a great new year!

See you between the raindrops!

xoxo,
Susan