Neiva

Well, I had planned on posting yesterday and had entered everything but then accidentally deleted it all. Suffice it to say, we made it to Neiva yesterday and checked in to our hotel. I will give you the details later, but the flight to Neiva was "interesting" (in the 50-seat plane and the turbulence) and we ended up with a nice suite at the hotel (thanks to our attorney's negotiation skills).

Neiva is the capital of the Huila region (the region where Yamile lives), with a population of about 300,000. As I've told people, though - don't think of Neiva as a small city, think of it as a large town - Fallon on steroids. Everyone warned us about how hot it is in Neiva, especially the folks in Bogota, but it's not much different than Fallon in the summer. The temperatures are in the mid-90s, but there is more humidity.

We notice eyes following us wherever we walk in Neiva. It is primarily because of Annalisa's and Rebecca's blonde hair. They are the only blonde-haired people we've seen. We also stand head and shoulders above everyone else around.

Not counting the hotel, it appears the prices in Neiva are very reasonable. Yesterday, we had lunch at a local panaderia - lunch for five (including our translator) cost us 12,600 Colombian pesos (about $7). Dinner last night was a little pricier as we went to a Mexican restaurant and paid about $30 (57,000 pesos) for a dinner for four.

Today isa very exiting day, as we get to meet Yamile at 11 AM at the "Entregada". More on that to follow.