Is it fun, or is it exhaustion?

Until now, I’ve been posting all of the fun stuff to Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook, and posting the more serious stuff on here — but that’s because it’s so EASY to post images to social media.  

So, I’m learning how to organize and share Google photo albums, and I’ll try to post more of them on my blog because I know many of you don’t have social media accounts. But for those of you that do, feel free to stalk my Snapchat (@wallene1) and Instagram (@wallenelynn).

For all of you who’ve asked if I’m actually working, the answer is YES.  Remember, there are more than eight hours in the day 😁.  And to be totally honest, this has been fun, but EXHAUSTING!  Thanks to menopause (my excuse for a lot of things), I’m generally awake somewhere between 3:30 and 6:30 AM, with the exception of this past Sunday after climbing that crazy rock (pictured). Thanks to the rock I actually slept in until about 8:00 AM. HALLELUJAH!

I’ll be honest that before this trip, I worked an average of six hours during the day, and then worked random hours during the evenings and weekends (but it was never consistently eight hours at a time).  Now, I tend to work a few hours before 9:00 AM, easily six to seven hours at once (with a brief break) during the day, sporadically in the evenings, but NONE on the weekends.  There’s always something to do on the weekends (and nearly every weekday night), even when I plan for a day with nothing to do! Simply put, my days are LONG.

So far, I’ve gone on a walking tour of Medellin, gone salsa dancing, shared countless meals (and drinks) with tramily members, toured Comuna 13, visited to Guatape (climbed over 700 steps to the top of the rock!), rode a few miles on top of a van, swam in a lake, made trips to the supermercado, had five Spanish classes, walked countless miles, and climbed the six flights of stairs to my apartment more times than I’ll ever know.

What have I gotten out of this? I am growing and learning everyday. Mi español is coming along very slowly, but I can order food, ask for the check, pay my bills, and be cordial — whoop, whoop! I’m learning to follow Google Maps a lot better; I’m very directionally challenged, and I’ve realized just how bad I’ve been about not paying attention. Yesterday I walked without purpose to places I’d never been (and didn’t know how to get back from),  but I was comfortable doing it, and that’s a big step for me.