Guatape and El Peñol

I have been to Guatape before, but I had never been to El Peñol. I had seen this ginourmous rock, but always wanted to climb it. So thats precisely what I did one Sunday. We woke up early, ate breakfast, and made our way to El Peñol. We passed it because we were going to conquer that last.
First we stopped in Guatape.

On the weekends the towns people set up their booths along the lakeshore. So of course, since crafts are my favorite thing, we hit the booths first. They had a lot of interesting things, lots of food. There was a lady that was very, and I mean VERY, spiritual. Yea my aunt decided to talk to her, why I do not know. We ate some delicious ice cream while my uncle ate corn on the cob. We made our way back to the car and were headed to El Peñol.

El Peñol is a huge gicantic rock. The spiritual lady tells people its a huge meteor, I dont know, all I know is that I wanted to climb it. My aunt didnt want to so it was up to my uncle and I.

She stayed in the truck, the sixth car from the bottom

It cost about 2 USD to get in and 4 USD to climb the rock. I heard someone say there are like 350-400 steps to the top.

I was ready. I started out great thinking "Yea this is nothing, I can totally climb this rock fast." Boy was I wrong. I stopped like 5 times to catch my breath. The steps are steep and its super tiring. When I got to the top I was sweating, hot, and exhausted. But the view was amazing.

We stayed at the top for a while taking pictures. When it was time to go down, geez that was another hurdle. Theres a crowd of people all going down at the same time. There were two sets of stairs, one set going up, one set going down. The steps are super tiny and slippery. By the time I made it down my right leg was shaking. There were booths lining the street when we made it down, so of course, I did some shopping. I am a total sucker for crafts. So I bought a couple of earrings that were hand made. We got to the car and my aunt had locked herself out of the car with BOTH sets of keys inside. Two hours later, and about 5 different people attempting to open the car, we finally made our way back home. Exhausted.

Cabalgata (Longgggg Horse Ride)

So a few days after New Year's we decided to go ride horses. The last time I rode a horse it threw me off, ripped a chunk of hair out of my head, and then almost stepped on my head. I think its safe to say I was absolutely scared to get on a horse. They had to convince me, bribe me basically to get on. When I first got on the horse I almost burst into tears because I had no idea what I was doing and it kept moving around.

I got the hang of it (or at least calmed down enough to listen to what everyone was telling me to do). I was doing okay, but I still wouldnt let both my hands go from the reins (this is why I dont have many pictures in the beginning). I got really scared when it started going faster because I felt it would throw me off. Since I didn't want my horse going fast I was way at the end of the group and one of my aunts had to stay with me the whole time (yes I know, I'm a baby). We stopped at a couple of bars so that they could drink.. I got a gatorade :) My uncle ended up getting really drunk and charging his horse at everyone. Then hitting all the horses in the butt so that they would go faster. Yea. So fun.
Actually it was really fun, minus the him getting drunk part. And the scenery was absolutely beautiful.

However from what was supposed to be a 2 hour horse ride came a 5 hour horse ride. Yep. Sore. Very sore.

New Year's Eve

I was invited to spend New Year's with my aunt's family at La Gruta. Normally I don't like going to La Gruta but my aunt invited me so I went. Her sister is so awesome. And soon they "adopted" me haha. One of the girls went and bought poppers, lights, masks, hats, foam, you name it, for New Year's Eve. The whole night was spent dancing, talking, and drinking (on their part).

Left to right: Melissa, Natalia, Sara

Cata & Natalia

Tio  Juan & Tia Alba

Melissa, Tia Alba, & Natalia

A few of them ran around with suitcases. They have a tradition/ belief here that if you run around the block with a suitcase at midnight on New Year's, you will travel that year. One aunt ran out with a bra because she wanted a boob job... and a couple of weeks later she got it :) All in all it was a great time with new friends and family. And a Happy Belated (very belated) New Year's!

Happy New  Year!!!