We spend breakfast nursing headaches and listening to Frank Sinatra’s Luck be a Lady Tonight, Strangers in the Night and The Girl from Ipanema.  All tunes that get stuck in Leanne’s head for the rest the day. Corey woke up feeling much better with the doctor’s medicine having done its work. 

We are going to take advantage of Bibi, the super local, to ship a shed box back home as shipping an international package can be very complicated in non-English speaking countries. A shed box is where everyone contributes to one box the not being using or our souvenirs.  We are done with the cold weather part of our trip for a while so we ship a lot of cold weather gear.  It takes a while and we have a big box.

As a result, we get a late start to go back downtown to the two museums we want to enjoy today which are Museo Botero and Museo de Oro (Museum of Gold). Saffron is super excited for the Museum of Gold while John is super excited about the works of Botero.  Both John and Saffron have to be back at 2pm as John has a last minute lesson with his voice coach back in CA and then to prepare for the concert. 

After a bit of wait, the taxi van arrives.  Kyle has asked again at the concierge what the price of the taxi van should be and has been told 50K pesos.  Kyle is determined not to fall for this same scam so he gets the bell hop and goes to the van and asks the bell hop to confirm the price with the taxi driver.  The taxi driver responds 65K.  No, no, no, I tell the bell hop that the concierge of his own hotel said 50K. 

He goes in, confirms, and comes back out.  The bell hop and the taxi driver go back and forth at lighting pace and the bell hop turns to me and says it will be the 50K.  YES!  YES!  YES! Updated score – Colombian Scammers 8, Huebner Touristos 1.  We did it! We didn’t get shut out. Leanne gives Kyle a quizzical looks as she comes out and sees him hopping and dancing around on the sidewalk.

At the apartment complex, we had to wait for the large taxi van to come.  Then since we left, the traffic has gotten worse and the Google Maps estimated time of arrival keeps getting later and later.  Kyle does the mental math that by the time we get there, John and Saffron will have exactly 5 minutes before they have to turn around and come back in order to be back by 2pm.  That’s two hours in taxis for 5 minutes in the museum.  Deciding that’s a bad return on time invested, John and Saffron pull the chute and abort taxi and walk back together to the hotel.  

 The rest of arrive at Museo Botero because yes, of course, the show must go on. The first featuring the collection of and works of the 20th century Fernando Botero, arguably one of Colombia’s most famous artists. The latter is the museo del Oro with its extensive collection of gold ornaments, jewelry and spiritual items from Pre-Hispanic Colombia. Both museums are great in a sort of Goldilocks sort of way. Not too big. Not too small. JUST RIGHT.   We get through both in an hour flat each and head back to the hotel for concert prep. 

Back at the hotel, Bibi and Kyle, lugging his big package, head to the DHL which is only two blocks away.  We arrive and there are only two people ahead of us but it seems to take an eternity as the clock ticks closer and closer to when we have to leave for John’s performance. Finally, it’s our turn, we go through the whole process. Finally the clerk says it will arrive in two days.  No, no, we don’t need it that fast, I want it is a slow and cheap that still has tracking he tells Bibi to tell the clerk.  Bibi comes back that it is a DHL Express and they only offer overnight service by air.  

Kyle heart drops through the floor.  Our packages typically cost ~$150 - $200 to ship back via slow ground delivery. In the US, overnight can cost 4-5 times more which would make it $800.  Add to that this is a larger than normal box and you are over $1,000.  Now add that it is Colombia and they jack the pricing when they have you over a barrel and Kyle is bracing for a $1,500 bill.  And there is no other option as we need to get back for the concert.  

Kyle shuts his eyes and tries to control his breathing as the guy calculates the price. He tells Bibi the price in pesos and she tells Kyle who in his panic, has forgotten his conversion trick and whips out the phone.  The conversion comes out to $166.  Kyle is convinced that it must be $1,166 and he missed heard or mistyped something.  But no, it actually is $166 and Kyle collapses into the chair in relief. 

Opera in Small Bites is a musical collaboration concert conceived by John and Saffron.  It augments Johns other professional performances he’s done on 5 other continents. Tonight’s performance marks his sixth continent he’s performed on since last June. Parents think this accomplishment Guinness Book of World Records-worthy but teenager John just thinks “it will make a decent fun fact about me during all future awkward group introductions.”  It’s probably somewhere in between. 

Saffron, John, Leanne and Justin pack a cab full of reception cookies and cheesecakes, drinks and tablecloths and head over to the United Church of Bogota.   UCB has generously offered the space and invited their congregation tonight as the church is excited to return to  performances like this that were commonplace before “La Violencia”, the years in Colombia when violence and murder were all too common in this city. The church is beautiful with a vaulted cathedral ceiling, a shiny grand piano, and outstanding acoustics.  The folks greeted us so sweetly, thankful we have chosen their church for tonight’s concert.  This was meant to be. 

Justin and Leanne prep the reception table while John and Saffron practice before guests arrive.  Saffron runs to the back of the church to find Leanne in sheer panic. “We need to call Kyle to bring another book of music tonight from my bag.  We have the wrong key in the music for him tonight,” explains one frazzled Saffron.  

John has battled altitude sickness and a lingering cold so he is probably better off switching the key at the last minute.  The switch somewhat impacts his standard pre-performance jitters that have decreased tremendously since a few years back in his first musicals.  Leanne even catches her son genuflecting and praying towards the massive white cross, a beautiful display of his faith.  

“Oh geez mom, do I have this?,” texts John. “God’s got this,” Leanne texts her son back.  During the performance John emerges in all black adorning the silver and emerald cross we purchased for him as a gift for his hard work on singing.  It must have helped as John nailed it. 

In the reception after the concert, guests mingled and we met many of Doralis’ and Bibi’s family and friends.  It was like being invited to a “beautiful peoples party.”  Every guest looked like they just walked off the pages of “Colombian Vogue.” Perfect hair, perfect outfit and huge beautiful smiles.  What is in the coffee here?  It was a great nice crowd and we see the beautiful collective hardworking spirit that we know is the real modern day Colombia. We meet other family members of Doralis and Bibi.  Here in the comfort of friends and family, we experience Colombia in its very best form — its people!   

Doralis and Bibi introduce us to their two sisters Miriam and Patti.  Neither of them speak English so they ask Kyle and Justin to talk to them in Spanish. Thus Kyle continues his Spanish immersion sessions chatting all night away “Yo creo” this and “Me gusta” that.  He even makes Colombians laugh in Spanish, while we haven’t quite figured out if they are laughing with him or at him.  The clan-best Spanish speaker though is Justin fresh off two years of daily middle school Spanish classes and Duolingo sessions. 

We learn tonight that Justin even inspired Bibi’s nephew Juan to want to learn English. Years ago, Justin talked to Juan regularly via FaceTime when Justin was 7 and Juan was just a toddler.  Today, Juan attends an English immersion school.  “He really wants to learn English .... because of Justin,” his mother Miriam proudly shares.  It was a wonderful tidbit to hear the positive impact that your kid can have on another. Organically! The two caught up via FaceTime.

We end the night with Doralis, Bibi, Patty and Saffron plus the clan at the Hard Rock Cafe.  After a late one last night, we have a quick goodbye dinner and give big hugs to our “host daughters” that we will surely miss.  Both text us to ensure our cab arrived at our hotel safely — taking good care of us while are here. 

Despite a rocky start in Cartagena, coming to Colombia felt like coming home in a sense.  Reconnecting with the women so instrumental in our kids’ open mindedness about the world was uplifting — giving wind to our sails for our final four months of our yearlong journey.  

Adios y te amo, Doralis y Bibi.  Muchas gracias por un semana muy asombrosa!