The continued search for God and a week in the USA

Artist's depiction of God. 

After finishing the kayak crossing from Panama to Colombia, I had 8 or 9 days to kill before the bicycle should arrive via shipping boat. The goal was to relax. 

I took a bus ride from Necoclí (where I sold the kayak) to Cartagena (where my bicycle will arrive) and considered walking 2-3 hours from the bus terminal to a hostel. It wouldn't be that hard, after all the kayaking. Wisely, I decided to take a taxi for 6 USD. The goal was to relax. 

The hostel had air conditioning, a pool, and english-speaking travellers. Such luxury. I paid about 13 USD per night, breakfast included. 

I met a lot of people very briefly at the hostel and had the same conversation like 30 times.

There were two New Yorker girls of my age there who worked in marketing and were in Cartagena for the weekend. Thanks to their outgoingness, I was able to meet a cool Swiss guy staying at a different hostel.

Me and the Swiss guy in the historic city of Cartagena. 

We hung out a few times during my stay in Cartagena and exercised together. He has been travelling the world for over a year (mostly by bus and plane). In Switzerland he taught auto mechanics. Now he works online as much or as little as he wants, creating teaching material for auto mechanics classes. 

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I tried Couchsurfing, too. 

The first two Couchsurfing hosts I contacted were unavailable.

The third Coushsurfing profile I contacted turned out to be a Christian Mission; 100+ people, mostly between 15-25 years of age, sharing a living space and studying the teachings of God.

This was one of the friendliest, happiest, most close-knit communities I've encountered. 

My 2nd night, I attended 'family worship night' where they all sung songs together about Jesus. I witnessed a deep, comunal, spiritual experience. Many people became emotional and seemed euphoric.

"Spiritual worship stock image"

They welcomed me. The same music and words were available to all. But I felt like a witness rather than a participant. 

How could I be a participant?

Later, we shared philosophical conversations about God. We agreed that there exist paradoxes in Christianity. The difference is that they believe in God despite these paradoxes.

I think this paradoxical belief enables the spiritual experiences of 'family worship night'. 

Eventually my bicycle arrived and I left the mission. I felt happy to have enjoyed a week with many kind people, but still I lacked a relationship with God. 

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I had to interrupt my trip for a week and fly to the USA for my grandfather's memorial service, aka 'Ashmegadon'. 

Because my bicycle arrived later than expected, I only had 48 to catch my flight leaving from Barranquilla, Colombia. 

Leaving Cartagena was the first night ever I couldn't find a free place to set up my tent. The first guy I asked wanted to say yes, but he wasn't the property owner. He accompanied me as I asked perhaps 10 other people, and nobody knew of a little space where I could set up my tent for 10 hours. It was getting dark, so eventually I gave up and rode to the next town where there would be a hotel. Camping in a public area would have felt too dangerous in this area. At the police station, they said I couldn't set my tent up there because "there is a war". 

So two police officers showed me where the hotel was, 800 meters away. After paying for my room, they took my passport and asked me to come outside. They asked me nicely for money. I asked for my passport back. They gave back my passport. They asked for money again, telling me I should tip them for leading me to the hotel.  They said the police are my friends. I gave them a little money, I think because I want to be respectful of tip culture, and because I had poor judgement. Those police were not my friends and I soon felt very stupid for giving them money. 36 hours to catch my flight. 

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A hot 8 hour day took me the rest of the way to Barranquilla, where I was warmly greeted by Eduardo and his family. 

Eduardo and his son

I left the next morning for my flight to the USA. 

Miami, Florida, USA. In the airplane each 2 minutes equates to roughly a day of biking. 

Just existing in the USA felt very easy in comparison to Colombia. The climate permits sleeping. People obey traffic signals, there are sidewalks, and manholes are covered. There is no war and the police don't ask me for a tip. I am not afraid of getting robbed. I know where I will sleep at night, and everyone speaks in my native language.

I spent a weekend with old friends in Seattle, Washington. Bike travelling, I make new friends frequently. Some I am still in contact with. But usually we part ways after only a couple days. And how much can I really learn about a complex human in that time? The company of people who know me, and whom I know, is something I've missed these past 11 months. This is a very difficult thing about bike touring for me.

Family and friends in the USA

Then I went to my Grandpa's memorial service, coined "Ashmegadon" by my grandma. I understand the "ash" part, but I don't know what is "-megadon" about it. 

Here are some pictures:

Old family picture

I spent an afternoon with my mom and it's already time to fly back to Colombia. 

I already miss my old friends here in the US and I'm afraid of getting robbed and I'm afraid of the Caribbean heat. Let's do it.