Sunday and I have no plans today, on purpose. We arrived back at 8:30 p.m last night. and enough is enough. I had planned to go to Cartagena, but it's not going to happen. I wake up for once without setting an alarm clock. I lazily stay in bed reading for a while and then head off for breakfast, the exercise room, and the hot tub. I like being alone sometimes, and that hasn't happened since the beginning of this trip. Maria is off with a friend all day. I can go for a walk later in between working on my blog. Ana texts me midmorning and we make plans to meet at noon for lunch and walk around the most elegant mall in El Prado, the stylish Northern section of the city. The timing is perfect. I need a break. Ana and I go to a wonderful Arabic restaurant and I feel close enough to her now to tell her in Spanish of some of my tough times with the culture here- the offensive teacher, the rude director. We get it all sorted out and she explains the teacher breaks the ice upon meeting a new person with jokes. That he is actually a good person. I figured this out earlier, but I am glad she confirms it. She says the director is very brusque with everyone and not to take it personally. We also talk about the little kids calling us gringos and she explains that means Americans to them and it isn't meant as a derogatory term. Now an adult saying it would be different. Ana treats me to frozo mal for dessert. It's a chocolate ice cream with cherry syrup on top and a sugar cookie on the side and very delicious. We browse the mall and find examples of a popular blouse women like to wear here called blusa campesina. It is worn off of the shoulders. I see women wearing it at the mall, as well as at the salsa concert in the park last weekend. Two more days here in Barranquilla and I return to Bogota. I will miss this quirky non touristy town with a big heart. I want to come back to visit Ana and bring my husband to Colombia.