Spain in Colombia? And some scaaaary bug bites!

We arrived to Cartagena in the evening and got to the hostal area of town where we left our bags with nick at a bar so Sarah and I could go find a place. We found the spot, then went to have our first tacos in Colombia, delicious and only ten dollars for six! There were also humungous Chilean empanadas for two dollars nearby which we enjoyed, all of it with lots of salsa of course! The next morning we went into the older part of town which literally looked like Spain cut out and pasted on the coast of Colombia. It was beautiful, with balconies above the streets with lots of flowers hanging off. By this time, Sarah's bug bites were bubbled up and truly infected, it was clear her body was doing some serious fighting! Within 10 minutes of being in the town, a man came up and immediately directed her to the drogueria to get some strange astringent because calimine lotion wasn't cutting it! We walked around the colonial area all day and then went to find a nice place to eat. I saw a van in the plaza near the restaurant that said Argentina a Alaska, aprendiendo a viajar. I went to chat with a guy and his girlfriend who were artisans coming up from Argentina in this van, selling their fused glass jewelry, which i couldn't believe they carried the massive oven for it in the car, and were making there way up to Alaska. Very inspiring and sweet people, offering me connections and their email in case i needed them at any moment. Sarah and Nick had to fill me in when I came to find them after chatting with my friends that they got some of the scariest looks while relaxing the plaza for Sarah's God-awful wounds on her legs. We decided that everyone must be assuming that she had arrived to South America to introduce the PLAGUE....duh duh duuuuuh, and that's how the world would end. One day being enough for us, we headed back to the hostel to get a bus to the terminal to get on our way to Medellin. But first, we had to get some food for the overnight bus ride, and luckily we came across some of the GREATEST indian food! And of course, I was ecstatic to have a meal with just vegetables since meat seems to be the main component of my diet here... What a bus ride we were in for to get to that terminal. Us three with our packs waited at the bus stop when one approached that was pretty much full, but with my rough estimation, I knew we could squish in and the driver and his assistant agreed. We hopped on the hot bus decorated in neon red lights, tassled curtains, and loud cumbia music. Within 5 minutes I was dripping sweat, thankful I hadn't showered, and I somehow got nestled towards the front of the bus right behind the driver. Things were getting heavy with my pack and the sharp breaking and turning of the bus, but I was entertained by the oddity of it all, especially the communication between the driver and his assistant who hung far out of the entryway of the bus, particularly how the driver couldn't see anything around the bus nor the front of back doorways of it. Just my luck, two guys that were sitting up front with the driver had to get off, so my pack and I each got a seat :), but I did feel guilty for Sarah and Nick still wobbling around top heavy towards the back. I chatted with the driver temporarily about the busses of the city, because I couldn't imagine that our elaborately decorated bus could be city owned. And in fact it wasn't, aside from city busses, people buy their own busses and run it all on their own, which explains why they were in for stuffing as many people on it as possible! Anyways, we arrived to the terminal after all where I insisted on cheaper tickets than what was initially offered. Although it was sketchy and I felt that we were maybe being scammed or that the bus would leave without us, it all worked out, and we saved about 12 dollars each on the ride! Another money saver on transportation to use on an expensive meal later!!!