#i got one thats thick and course dead center in my part

[megabunnie]

I have found so many white hairs, and every time I find a new one it makes me giddy.

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression Ep 53 - Trying the pot shaped Baumkuchen

K: Hi, this is Dir en grey's Kaoru with this week's episode of The Freedom of Expression. Joe san, Tasai san, welcome.

T: This..*looks at large box on desk*

K: There's an impressive presence here. I feel a bit squshed.

J: Absolutely!

K: What do you think this is?

T: What is it?

J: This is...what is it? It has a red ribbon on it.

K: Yeh, just seeing this, its like....

T: Like a christmas present, with a wooden box.

J: Is the box made of wood?

K: Well, do you remember that story we did before... the antiques in the showcase, that you had to look twice to see what they really were?

J: Oh yes, that story! We did that a while ago.

T: The Baumkuchen?

J: The Baumkuchen! There's no Baumkuchen in Nishinari! That one.

K: Yep, its the pot type.

J: The pot. Its here!

T: The price is quite high, right?

K: I think so.

J: Ehh, where was this place again?

T: Was it Sakura Shinmachi?

J: Sakura Shinmachi? Oh yes, Sakura Shinmachi.

K: 'Baumkuchen Villon'

J: Villon san! We're doing this now?

K: Lets open it up and have a look, then we can eat it.

J: Yes please, I love sweet stuff!

K: You do, don't you?

J: Yes. 

K: Can I open this?

T: There are some wet tissues here.

K: Ah, I'll use one of those.

J: Yes, disinfect first. If this didn't have a red ribbon on it, I would have thought Kam was dead or something. Just at a glance, haha.

Kami: Kami is dead? Its cause I'm a Nishinari god. I don't recognize Baumkuchen.

J: Yeah

T: ???*1

J: Can Kami see us, he probably can't from up there?

Kami: I can see you.

K: Im gonna open it.

J: Yehy. Im so happy. I really am! This is the real deal!

K: Wow, amazing! I can't tilt it to show you, but there's something written on here.

J: Oh, there is...Baumkuchen. Ah, this is so exciting. I remember from the news story that there were various types, but this is massive.

*Kaoru lifts lid off box*

T, J: Oh!

Kami: You're good at opening it.

T: Good at opening it, haha. He's watching. Ah! I can smell it!

K: *Looking in box* Oh!...I can't see it yet.

J, T: Ahhh, haha.

J: Of course.

*K picks card out of box*

J: Ah, the shop's name is written on it. Western confectionary, Villon.

K: I can kind of see it a bit now.

J: Can you? How are you gonna get it out? Is pulling it out the only way?

K: Hm, like this? *pulls on inner plastic*

T: Hahaha

J: I'll support the box. I'll put my hand here.

K: I'll get rid of all this cushioning first.

T: Hand the rubbish over to me.

J: I'll support the box. If this goes wrong Im gonna scream....Are you gonna pull it out?

K: I guess so.

J: Right, cause theres no place to break the box apart. You'll have to pull it up. Get ready to see Kaoru pulling up this Baumkuchen, everyone.

K: Is this ok?

J: There's no other way to do it.

K: Isn't it written on the card how to open it?

T: You must have to pull it out.

J: Yeah.

Kami: Its like, however you look at it, its a Baumkuchen where you can only see the ribbon.

J: Yeah. Does it say how to get it out of the box?

K: No...

J: You sound like you might cry, haha.

K: It doesn't say.

J: You're just gonna have to pull it out.

T: Lets do it.

*K pulls cake out of box*

T, J: Woah!

Kami: Woah!

J: Incredible! This is totally amazing! What is this..?

Kami: Amazing!

J: Awesome! Its massive! How many portions is it??

Kami: Is this Baumkuchen?

J: Yes, it is. Well, the most important thing is the taste, right? How do you cut it?

T: I wanna look at it a bit longer.

K: I'll open the plastic.

J: Yes, lets do that first. Lets get everything off it.

K: Its pretty difficult to get this off.

J: Yeah, how do you get it off without breaking the cake?

K: Right...without breaking it..

J: Kaoru, use your dexterity.

K: Nah, its gonna break.

*K tears plastic*

J, T: Ohhh

T: Ah, but...

K: Ah, its working *continues tearing*

T: Oh, but I still can't tell....Oh, like that?

J: Yeah, that works.

K: Like, there is a platform at the bottom, but its kind of off centre.

J: Oh yes, its facing this way, its not centered.

T: This looks exactly like a pot, from the side.

J: If it was in a shop window, you'd think it was a pot. Even at home, you'd think it was a pot. It looks like one from any angle. This store makes regular sweets too, right?

K: Yeah, I think so, its not just this.

Kami: How do they make it?

J: Yeah, Im just having a look in the leaflet, but it doesn't say how they make it. I don't think it said in the article before either....Ah! Its open! It says they use special eggs to make it though.

Kami: Ah, it looks great.

J: Ah, it does look great. Can I take a photo?

T: Here it is!

K: Its really difficult to move it though. Can.I just leave it on here?

J: Yeah. Thats the safest way to do it.

K: It seems a waste to cut it.

J: Yeah, ???*2

K: It seems a waste.

J: How exactly are you gonna cut it though?

K: Hm, how should I?

T: This will show your personality.

K: Should we try to cut it in the most interesting way we can?

J: Ah, yeah, for the show.

K: It wouldn't be that interesting to just cut the top off, would it?

J: Right.

T: How about straight down from the top?

K: Ah, like this? Then we can see the layers on the inside.

T: Yeh yeh, I wanna see that.

J: Yeh, almost like disecting the cake.

K: Lets do that.

J: Ok, lets do it.

K: Can I get the knife?

T: You're gonna do it?

K: Here we go....There are people recording this on their phones *points to off camera*.

T: Yeah, I will too *gets phone out*

J: Just in case.

K: *cutting* Ah, its cutting easily. *To Tasai recording* Yeah, the viewers can't see this bit, so send over what you recorded later....Hang on a sec.

J: What is it? Did it get harder?

K: This part is more dense. Can you pass me a tissue?

J: Do you have to support the top?

T: Do we have any tissues that aren't wet tissues?

K: Ok, I'll use this fork.

J: I wonder why people order this type of thing? Do they use it for parties, or something?

*Kaoru making the second cut *

J: Ahh, how is this gonna turn out?!

K: Yeah, I wonder how this is gonna work.

J: Is it just gonna break apart after you finish cutting?....Oh, amazing!

K: Can you put a plate here? What should I do next?

J: Ah, the piece is already falling out!

T: I'll give you another plate.

K: Ah, this is really difficult! ...Should I like... *motions cutting it in half horizontally* ..I'm just gonna have to grab it with my hand.

J: Yeah, you'll have to. You did clean your hands before.

*K pulls out piece*

J: Ohh, amazing!

K: Ok, I'll put the knife here.

J: Wow, the top section is trembling. Look at the inside. Should we move the rest out of the way?

K: Hm, what should we do? I'll turn it round so everyone can see.

J: It looks so nice cut open.

T: Ahh, great.

Kami: You are good at cutting.

J: Kami said you're good at this.

K: Good at what?

J: He said you're good at cutting. He's complimenting you. Ok, should we try eating it.

K: I'll cut the bits that my hands havn't touched, and then we can eat those bits.

J: Ahh, Im looking forward to this. It looks delicious.

K: I'll just put this here.

J: How many portions is a regular Baumkuchen?

K: Yeh.

J: Which is the best bit? I get the feeling the end section might be good.

K: I don't know really.

J: Ah, is that bit crispy? Its like we're filming a regular ???*

T: ???*3

Kami: Where was the shop again?

J: Sakura Shinmachi.

T: Yeah, Villon in Sakura Shinmachi.

J: Ah, it looks delicious. Thats the thing, its made to look like a pot, but Baumkuchen is also usually really delicious. It says here they use really fresh eggs. As to why it has such a deep flavour, its because they use fresh eggs. Eggs from chickens fed a specific diet.

T: Ehh. By the way, how much did this cost again?

*K hands piece to J*

J: Oh, thank you! Ok, should we try it? This looks so good! Isn't it really yellow?

T: Oh, yeah.

J: Ah, it smells good.

T: Which part is this piece from?

K: I don't know.

T: I wanna make it into a puzzle, like fit the pieces back in, haha.

J:*takes fork* Ok lets eat! Sorry Kami, you can only watch.

Kami: Its nice for you.

J: Kami is this the first time you've seen people eating Baumkuchen?

Kami: Yeah. But I've got alcohol.

T: Im gonna try the outside 'pot' bit.

*everyone eating*

J: Mm

K: It tastes good.

J: Mmm.

T: The outside bit smells good.

J: You could just go on and on eating this.

T: Yeah.

J: The shape is unique, but the taste is like a really simple Baumkuchen, its delicious.

Kami: Is it sweet?

T: Its really good, Kami.

*K passes pieces from the neck of the pot out*

J: Ah, from the neck.

T: Its from up here, right?

J: Yeah. Ah, this bit from the top tastes really good. How to describe it..?

K: Its a bit like bread.

J: Yeah, its a lot like bread. Its Baumkuchen, but the top but is closer to bread.

T: Yeah, its well cooked.

J: Its so nice.

K: Its impossible to finish this.

J: Yeah, its impossible between four people.

T: It probably serves about ten people.

J: We are living in times where we can't have parties and stuff..but when we can again, then...

K: Well, you could have it at home, share it with your grandma and grandad.

J: Oh, yeah, that would be good. Ahh, this is great.

T: Its pretty interesting.

K: So this would originally be like a tall cylinder shape..they've probably just shaved some of it off here to make this shape, right?

J: I guess so.

T: I wonder...

J: How did they?

K: Or did they like brush it on?

T: Well, maybe they put a lot thin layers on this bit and put it on more thickly on the other bit.

K: But ???4 *points to horizontal surface of pot*

J: Oh yes, thats right.

T: Joe san!

J: Ha, I don't know.

K: Don't you think it was originally the same thickness all the way up, then shaped down?

T: Well, yeah, you can see that bit, its cooked like that.

J: Yeah, cause Baumkuchen is made on a long bar, and usually sliced up. But if they shaved it into shape while it was still on the bar..

K: Yeah, like when you make pottery, shave it down while turning the bar around. Thats what it seems like to me.

T: ???*5

J: Yeah, its baked.

K: Yeh, its like that at the top too.

T: Oh, ok.

K: Hahaha

J: You agree now, right. Well, if the store staff who made this are watching, please write in the comments how its made.

*On screen note with close up of cake: They emphasized this idea, but it appears to be totally wrong*

T: Its nice, isn't it?

J: Yes, I enjoyed it. Thank you.

K: This was a very 'youtube' type idea.

J: Yeah, but this was the biggest expense of the show so far.

T: Hahaha

J: So please give us some views everyone, haha.

T: Yeah.

K: Ok, lets finish here this week.

J: Thanks for the meal!

K: It was delicious.

J: It was.

K: Thank you very much.

Kami: I didn't eat annny!

*1,2,3,4,5 Couldn't catch/figure out.

To top page

[huntsman-ash]

RWBY V8 Livethought Stream: Episode 1

And as I have done for the last couple of seasons, here is my live thoughts as I watch the episode. Spoilers below, of course, for RWBY Volume 8, Episode 1: Divide.

First shot we get is of Cinder cleaning a floor. Dammit, and I was hoping she was secretly a whore in Mistral. Ehh.

Convinent that the Grimm Whale has LANDING PADS on its side. Quite a few of them actually. Do Grimm launch from them like VTOL attack craft?

Neo and Cinder are flying a new as of yet un-named vehicle. Im going to call this one the Remora cause it kinda looks like one.

Im getting massive Leviathan vibes from this whale. Wont lie. Mixed with a bit of Hive influence from Destiny.

Neos look of confusion and fear is at the same time both amusing and adorable. Also, she has no shirt over her bellybutton, which I find slightly amusing.

Salems throne has some kind of link to somethign else in the Whale, there’s no other reason for it to have that glowing power bank on the back. Also it seems to be made of bone, as is most of the rest of the interior. So...presumably, Salem shaped this entire thing like a bonesinger.

Salem still got the titties out uniform AND I STILL HATE THAT HER VOICE IS JEN TAYLOR!

Salems got Grimm bone arm bracers. Interesting..

LAMP

Neo is literally saving this entire episode for me with her silent adorable sass.

And Tyrian with the ABSOLUTE FIRE. Also hey hes back, guess he got up here somehow.

Note on the throne Room; all the doors we see are connected to Salem’s throne via those glowing lines, which seem to curve and go elsewhere. I think this is the Whale’s nerve center. And it looks like its on the back if the huge bone in the reare near the teeth is its spine.

And Neos like ��hey wait I didnt sign up for this”

Correction; its not a door, its a MOUTH. Wall mouth.

ANNNNDD new designs for everyone on the evil team. HAVEL BE BEAR BRO. TOTAL GAY ENERGY. It looks like he tore the sleeves of a nice dress shirt and just BELTED it in place. And Merc looks like a fucking GOPNICK, HA! What the fuck does he have hanging from his right leg though. 

Yeah, knew it. She touches the throne and the whale responds. Its her command seat, literally.

And Salem putting that bitch IN HER PLACE. You do it queen.

And now to the bottom of the hole under Atlas. THIS. THIS IS WHAT I ALWAYS IMAGINED MANTLE TO LOOK LIKE. VINDIFUCINGCATION AFTER FUCKING 6 YEARS!

Old dudes and faunus. Interesting. OLD DUDE FAUNUS WITH LIKE GIANT FUCKING MOLE CLAWS, DAMN.

Fuckin scramble the moment RWBY shows up. Man that was fast, I was hoping Oscar would be lost for a bit longer.

I still cannot believe how THIN the wall defending Atlas is. ITS LIKE TWO FEET THICK AT THE MOST! A METAL BARRIER WITH CONCRETE SUPPORTS! WHAT THE FUCK ATLAS

And Mantle proper slowly decends into what I have always seen it as. Good.

And May takes out a drone with her weapon like a chad. Nice. I guess Atlas doesnt keep track of their drones...wouldnt shock me

Ahhh resistance headquarters inside an old bar. The Huntress’s moving personnel...nice.

Oscars like “no dont touch me” and then “oh wait, titties, oh yeah...” Poor confused farmboi

OH MY GOD. VODKA IS CANON IN RWBY! HOLY SHIT YES!

Huh. Who’s the eyepatch chick with the cute faunus on the wall there. Interesting.

May Marigold; no nonsense. Good

“Largets Grimm Horde ever seen”. Okay, sure. Doesnt seem that big to me honestly.

Interesting. Ammunition cases on Remnant are nearly identical to ours, down to the large rectangular lockingn flap on one end.

Hmm. Casualties, judging by the watch and dropped material. No surprise. The weak get eaten in this world.

Also hey, faunus Futaba

Oh wonderful, no free-launch for the stadium. BECAUSE WHY THE FUCK NOT RIGHT?

Also, Stilltskin on the wall there. Some kind of whiskey

Main Atlesian Military Compound. Prepping myself for a MASSIVE dissapointment...

“Operations room”. Well, I guess it fits, but I would ASSUME its more accurately called a command and control center, or possibly command information center, depending. We’ll see soon enough.

Salems out in open war? Good. Time to break out the fuckin heavies people.

NGL this whole scene feels really oddly hamfisted. Its...strange. Doesnt feel like its flowing naturally.

Noras got a point but like, bruh, its Remnant. No ones got fucking militiares. You sat on your fucking hands for 80 Y EARS AND THIS IS HOW IT SHAKES OUT FOR YOU

And there’s a difference between division emotionally and splitting up to handle two objectives. Ruby, please stop being a civilian for 20 seconds and THINK

Cute, Penny’s gone full maiden depressed. First thoughts; self sacrifice.  Good idea. But make it more brutal, Penny. Make it a frontal assault that will make that bitch BEG for the end she cannot have. You have lasers, you have maiden powers, hit that whore with an alpha strike that will make Nicolas Kerensky wince!

Goooood. Pennys going for Atlas. CUT THEM TO RIBBONS POLENDIA!

Two teams, two days. Two seperate stories and things get messy.

IRONWOOD LITERALLY CALLS PENNY ON THE PHONE ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS.

Remnant is doomed. Lol, jumped a head a little bit buddy? Get out for a little bit mate. See some of the other kingdoms, check how they’re doing.

Atlas has defenses? Sure they do. Something tells me we’re not seeing that...

And guilttrip. Wooooooo not impressed.

Awww Marrow sadboi.

Actually the aces all look sand OH BECAUSE ITS CLOVER. WHY IS HE THERE? ARE THEY-OH DONT YOU FUCKING DARE RT. DONT YOU FUCKING DARE BRING HIM BACK.  FUCK YOU IF YOU DO. HE SERVED HIS FUCKING PURPOSE AND NOW HES DEAD, LEAVE HIM FUCKING BE!

ALSO HES FUCKING DUMB AND USELESS AND WE NEED HARE TO LEAD THE ACES NOW OKAY? We need someone willing to draw blood, not a showboat

Hare’s commentary is mine. Angry snort indeed.

Winters there too, looks like shes still beat to shit. Annnd there’s Ironwoods new arm.

Adorable specialist is adorable. Huh. Wonder if I can use her for something.

Medical brace for Winter...odd. Did she suffer burns or something? A stimm sleeve like in Gears?

Blah blah giant Grimm force blah blah okay yeah whatever

Atlas has hardlight shields. Okay, good. But we know how useful those are against proper attacks...You got anything else? Missiles? AA batteries? SOMETHING?

Seriously its a giant flying army, fill the fucking sky you morons!

Oh look its the two useless members of Atlas’s council.

YEAH! FUCK YEAH! THATS WHAT I WANNA SEE! GET HIS ASS IRONWOOD! FUCK YEAH! NOW SHOOT THE OTHER BITCH TOO! MAKE IT CLEAR THEYVE SERVED THEIR PURPOSE!

That POSTURE. THE CASUALNESS! THE PROPER FIRING STANCE! UGH ITS SO GOOD!

Wish we coulda seen the dude get smashed though. Damn ratings. I wanna know what a bullet does to a person in this universe.

Hare’s face here was the perfect ending to the situation. Confusion, wonder...acceptance. Exactly.

Same with Winter actually.

Huh. Wonder who Salems talking to.

And now for the new opening...

Everythings going to shit, shocker. Nic ecallbacks to other stuff. Oh great does Salem have WINGS now?

This last part reminds me of the trailer for Halo Wars 2

Wonder if the shadow under Crescent Rose at the end means anything.

Annnndddd thats it for this episode! See you all next week!

[sarakuper]

San Rafael; Work Away

Stop #3, December 21-January 7

Our time in San Rafael was very relaxing, thrilling, and interesting. Some days we spent doing little to nothing, which was nice for a few days but too boring for me at some points. Other days Sean and I did some awesome activities pushing us both way out of our comfort zones. Lastly, we experienced authentic Colombian culture first hand. Being there for holidays and festivals meant we were there for some of the most quiet and exciting days of the year.

When we arrived on Saturday we had no idea what to expect. This stop being our first WorkAway, we wondered…what work would we be doing? How many hours were expected of us? Are any meals included? For that first day we hung out and enjoyed the beautiful location at the hostel, which is located on a steep hill, completely open and overlooking the city. It’s totally lush and absolutely beautiful. The view alone is a reason to spend all day in the hostel relaxing. 

There are 3 people who own the hostel, all Colombian, and all in their 20’s. Lili was there when we arrived, Manuel arrived the next day (Sunday), and Laura arrived after spending Christmas with her family in Medellin. Immediately after arriving Sean and I fell in love with their cat Canela, which is “cinnamon” in Spanish. We thought she was a kitten because she isn’t full sized, but it turns out she is an old lady! She lived on the property with the previous owner, who was thought to be not very kind to her. When Lili, Laura, and Manuel bought the place about a year ago, Canela was pregnant with a dead litter. They paid to have them surgically removed, and since then Canela has been their beloved pet. She is so cuddly and sweet. She jumps on your lap for pets or a nap, and she answer to your calls. She’s the kind of cat that acts like a dog. We immediately fell in love with her. It’s not like we are trying to fill a void or anything... :)

When Manuel arrived on Sunday we discussed the work we would be doing; we would redo the kitchen (and it really needed it) and lunch would be provided. We started making plans for this work Monday morning. I was going to repaint the kitchen and organize it differently while Sean would build some cabinet doors and shelves. Our work load was different each day. Sometimes we felt good with the work we were doing that we spent hours doing it. Other days we did little to nothing. Either way, Leidy and Karen came every morning to clean the hostel, and during our first week Leidy cooked us lunch too. And wow did she cook us the most delicious healthy food!!!

Leidy and Karen live in the same building as the hostel/language school in a separate apartment. Leidy is probably in her late 30’s or early 40’s, and Karen is her 10 year old daughter. Neither of them spoke a word of english, but they quickly became a big part of our trip in San Rafael. Since Karen was off from school she came to help her mom cook and clean every morning. One morning I was doing some henna on hands and legs when Karen told me “linda!” which means “cute” or “pretty” in Spanish. I asked her if she wanted one, and when she said yes I told her to ask her mom first. Next thing you know, I was giving henna tattoos to both Karen and Leidy; mandala type flowers on their legs and their names written on their wrists. I wish I took a photo of this, but I didn’t :(. I did however take a picture of my henna, and finally took a picture with Leidy and Karen on our last day.

From then on, Karen and I would hang out together almost every morning. She would help me study Spanish while also helping her mom work. I would pull up a new vocabulary word I wanted to learn from an app on my phone, and she and I would practice using that word in a sentence. She would then correct my awful grammar before moving on to the next new word. Some evenings after that I saw Karen and Leidy hanging out outside or walking into town. We always talked and all made efforts to communicate as much as possible. My broken Spanish was enough to connect with both of them, but what it really highlighted was that you don’t need to speak the same language to express love and kindness.

Over Christmas Eve we joined Lili’s boyfriend, Brandon, at his house where he was hosting a BBQ. And that’s exactly how Colombians celebrate Christmas; they BBQ on the street with beers and loud music. And they were kind enough to grill lots of veggies for me :)

During our time in San Rafael we experienced some epic thunder storms. It rained almost every night, and being in a hostel where the common area is wide open made the storms so fun. Normally when we went into town we did so in the evening and nights, only because the days were so hot, and so walking up and down the hills to the city center was a bit warm… but, every time we went out at night it was like a guessing game if we would get poured on. Every night was cloudy, so there was really no telling. It made it a little more fun :) I love rain in warm weather! 

Another day, after working and panting in the morning, we went to the nearest watering hole for a quick swim. Lili’s mom was in town, so we went together plus Bendzhi, a Chinese girl staying at our hostel long term. The watering hole was amazing for people watching. So many locals go there to cool off and swim. Kids ands dogs run around everywhere while vendors sell snacks from fresh fruit to churros. I wish I had photos, but it was better to bring little to nothing since we were ditching our stuff to go swimming.

Steve was another guy at our hostel, probably in his mid 40’s, and from Canada. We spent a good amount of time with him, especially after hiking to a waterfall with him, and Manuel. The hike was pretty short but beautiful. We walked right by horses and cows/bulls before approaching the waterfall.

Just before NYE Lili left to spend time in San Carlos, another town about an hour west, for the next month or so. Laura and Manuel both went to meet Manuel’s family, and so Sean and I had the hostel to ourselves. We went out in town and hung out at a bar until midnight, when everyone got up to hug and kiss each other. Soon after Sean and I went home to hit the hay. Neither of us were feeling great (my throat was sore and he had an allergy attack), plus we don’t particularly care much for this holiday.  

Something I loved about staying at this hostel was that on most days a group of small monkeys would come looking for food. Of course we bought bananas in preparation of this, and fed them quite often. They are so small and so cute!!! They would call at us until we fed them their beloved bananas.

The most exciting thing we did during our time in San Rafael was a canyoneering trip with Manuel, his sister Julianna, and her husband Freddy. We hiked to a spot along a river, got into wet suits and harnesses, and began our decent in the river. We slid down the rocks, jumped off cliffs, and repelled our way through the river. Sean’s fear of heights kicked in during the last part of the activity. But, there we were.. and there was no turning back! This trip was short, but seriously one of the coolest things we’ve done. We were so high on life from the awesome adventure it was!

Another day Manuel and Laura invited us on a fishing trip again with his sister and brother in law. We fished along a river, and although Sean and I both didn’t catch anything we still enjoyed the experience very much. Colorful birds where flying all around us, calling out to each other, and it was really beautiful to watch. Eventually we made our way to a waterfall where we “parked” our boats to go explore. We climbed to the top of the waterfall where we found a beautiful swimming hole to enjoy all to ourselves. We explored deeper, climbing up the next small waterfall. It was absolutely stunning, and easily the highlight of the fishing trip. We swam and jumped off the rocks (don’t worry- Manuel, a certified guide, checked to see that they were safe first) while enjoying all the beauty around us.

The next day we had the opportunity to visit a Panela farm, watching its production from start to finish. Panela is the natural sweetener widely used here in Colombia, and I think a lot of Latin America. It comes in thick blocks that are chipped at and use as sweeter for many of their drinks, specifically chocolate (the drink) and natural juice. We started by crushing the sugarcane using a machine, followed by a long cleaning process to purify the juice before it crystalizes into a sugar. The colombian family that owns the farm has been making Panela all their lives. The whole operation is run between 4 siblings; 3 brothers and 1 sister, all in their 70’s. The abuela welcomed us into her beautiful home and made us breakfast, and then lunch once it got late enough in the afternoon. I am so grateful to have been welcomed to this family’s farm and home with arms open wide. The love they put into this work, and the history behind it all makes it so special. For so many reasons this day was one I will never forget.

One of the last events that went on while we were gone (and yes, wow, a lot has really happened) was Festivo del Rio, festival of the river. We are not sure how the name is related to the celebrations, but what we do know is that this small town fills up with tons of Colombians from all over the country to come celebrate this festival at San Rafael. Restaurants were packed, the hostel we stayed at was fully booked, and the streets were crowded with happy people. On Friday night we watched part of the parade, where structures of mythical creatures ran the streets breathing fire and pure fun.

At the beginning of this post I wrote that times during this leg of the trip I was bored, yet I didn’t get to writing any of this post until the bus ride out of town. I didn’t realize how many special experiences we had until it was time to write about it. But thats exactly why I do this :)

And now that I am writing this while on the bus leaving San Rafael, it feels bitter sweet to leave. This town is so authentically Colombian. The only other English speakers we met were 3 others from our hostel, one Canadian, one American, and one Chinese who spoke English fluently. Saying goodbye was so sweet, as Laura told me that seeing my face is like getting a dose a diabetes. There’s a bit of a language barrier there.. but what she was saying is that I’m so sweet and she feels that every time she sees my face 😂. As for Leidy and Karen... well Leidy starting to cry. I told her “I miss you” in Spanish because I have no idea how to speak in future tense to say “I will miss you”. Karen, her 10 year old daughter who was my best friend on this leg of the trip, gave me hugs goodbye. I will miss practicing Spanish with her very much. She actually knows how to explain things to me better than the adults!

Anyway, I am so looking forward to Josh’s arrival! This is just the start of what I think will be a very fun month with friends (Sam and Victoria next week) and then my mom and cousin Maria in Cartagena! 

Thanks for reading fam, love you all.