So Colombia. I am officially very much in love with it already. From the moment I arrived, I noticed that it is much different than most places I have been to. Here's some of them:

• you can drink the water. and it doesn't taste bad!
  


• you can flush toilet paper down the toilet. so very nice to not see brown-streaked toilet paper overflowing out of the trash bin.
  

• you can pay with credit card pretty much anywhere (very financially helpful for me at this point in the trip...) and all I need is my CA driver's license. Everywhere else I have needed my passport. Not a fun thing to carry around in my purse all day. STRESSFUL

• there is regular, decent, relatively easily navigated public transportation in most cities.
  

• people are so ridiculously friendly, wanting to help you even when unsolicited

• groceries are a little more expensive, but produce still stays cheap cheap cheap. here's to eating vegetables for every meal!

• I am living in a city of 8 million people where I can easily occupy myself daily (for under $5 a day) without work or other obligatory activities.
  

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Thank you, Colombia. Life is good.