Tue May 4, 2010 (Martes)

Today was our last full day in any one place in Colombia. It was a difficult, draining, but ultimately very good day.

This was the day for family issues.

Papito is old, he isn’t rich, and his living situation with Nena is not good for either of them. It is a difficult situation, and very for Papito and Nena to talk. So this afternoon was all about opening the can of worms, communicating, and solving problems. We used our hotel room as a neutral space to meet.

In the end, we had a good clearing of the air, a straightforward accord among all of us, and some immediate next steps.

Afterwards, we went back to Nena’s. We had originally planned to go to Paula and Alejandro’s for dinner, up on the north edge of Cali, but Marta was not feeling well enough to drive through Cali or eat dinner. I think none of us felt much like being sociable after this afternoon. So we called Paula and Alejandro and cancelled, then ended up having a very quiet evening at Nena’s.

The weather today was positively sucky. The constant rain finally flooded the city. A kilometer or two below Nena’s house, a mudslide covered the road, just a few hours after Natalia took us home and that road and drove back. And apparently large parts of Cali (far from us) are flooded right now, with up to three feet of water in places. Today has had only spots of drizzle, but it has been chilly — yes, chilly here in equatorial Colombia — with 100% humidity. My favorite kind of weather.

We understand that Fort Collins weather has been lovely as well. The forecast I see for Thursday night calls for a low of 28 degrees. Blecch. At least it looks like the weekend might be kind of nice.

We’ll call it a day. Marta and I are both exhausted.