first weekend in Manizales, Colombia

hi everyone. everything in manizales is going great. unfortunatly i dont have internet so i cant stay in touch and update as much as i would like to. a few days ago i went out to a bar with my friend from worldteach angela and my boss from the ministry of education andres. we met his colombian friends and they had tragos, shots of aguardiente, this is the typical drink here in colombia, it tastes like anis, mostly the guys and not girls drink it though, becuase its really strong. the plaza is a nice bar located on the main avenue here called santender. the two may avenues are santender and paralela. angela lives closer to santender, while i live near paralelo, but everything is a walking distance in manizales, since its a small city, or you can easily grab a buseta,small but, or taxi from anywhere. after friday night at the plaza bar, on saturday i took a buseta to the center called la plaza bolivar. there you can see a really nice cathedral, the town hall, and there is also a mirador, a place where you can go up and see all of the city of manizales. The bus ride to the center of town takes about half an hour, compared to 7 minutes in a taxi, becuase people can request stops wherever they please. it was a nice tour of manizales with the pleasent music on the bus. people here are very friendly. on the way back i talked to the bus driver and he invited me to sit up in the front sit of the bus. we had a very deep conversation in spanish about the difference between christianity and judaism, he told me about his faith, his family in manizales, and things to see and do here. the landscape keeps amazing me everytime i look around, i feel as though im in a city, but then i look out the window and i see green mountains all around me. outside most of the mall there are ecuadorian musicians in thier typical garb and playing indiginous ecuadorian instruments. there are also many artists on the streets selling indiginous artwork, bracelets, and typical colombia bags saying, quiero a colombia, i love colombia. also there are other vendors on the streets that sell gum, candy, and snacks on thier carts. there are also juice vendors, whom sell kiwi, guava, mango, blackberry, and any time of natural juice you can think of. the streets are a really busy place with everyone walking, music, vendors, colorful statues by a manizales artist and much more.
i feel that i fit in pretty well with colombia, one becuase im short, becuase i know spanish pretty well, and becuase i have a darker hair color.
on another note the other night i got a little bit lost, and its a bit scary at night, becuase the streets are not well lit, and no one is around at night. luckily i met one of my neighbors who was walking her dogs and she accompanied me home. on one had during the day i feel like a colombian, having a grasp of the language, and not standing out as far as looks wise, but on the other hand i feel akward, not knowing the city very well, and being in a foreign country. so far everything is good, y mucho mas para venir
besos