Popayan Again

And I am trying not to look as tall
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After the long horrible bus ride again, I went back to Popayan to relax and catch up on some Internet time.  Again my friend Samir helped me out by putting me in contact with some of his friends here.

His friend Claudia walked me around the town.  She didn't like the fact that I find the areapas (bread pancake) in Venezuela much better than in Colombia, so we tried to find a place with good areapas (sorry, but I still like the ones from Caracas!!!).

The next day I got up early (8h30) and went for a small hike with Claudia and her friend Martha, to a hill even higher above Popayan then the one I had previously climbed.

Claudia, Martha and Me
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Then they invited me to join them camping with a group of "Boy Scouts" for people of all genders and ages.  It was a really nice experience.  About 50 young people met outside of the city on a small farm.  They were all totally friends and I got a standing ovation of an introduction... just for being the only gringo (just what I like being the center of attention).

The girls had organized (created) a group building game for everyone.  It involved breaking up into "families" of 3, mom, dad, and kid.  I was to put a blind-fold on because I was blind, my wife was taped up because she was paraplegic, and my daughter had her mouth taped because she was mute... what a family!!!

Presenting the collage
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Anyway we had a few activities that we had to do... like get the family from one place to another, which meant my wife go slung over my shoulder and I was lead around by my mute daughter.  We also had to make some type of collage expressing the experience, and then present it.

After that there was a little bit of dancing... too many eyes were on me so I kept a low profile. And then everyone sat around a huge campfire telling jokes, and singing songs.  If I was only prepared there would have been some marshmallows!

Everybody trying to move as a group
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And the one small detail missing from this whole camping experience was the tents.  Everybody else had them, but we didn't.  So in the end, we went back to town, slept in warm comfortable beds.  A perfect camping experience... all the fun, none of the pain!!!

Another great time... Thanks Claudia and Martha for inviting me!!!