On my third day in Colombia, Sandra’s class decided to go to a free concert by Omara Portuondo in Parque de los Deseos. They asked Sandra if they knew of her and whether it would be any good, and she decided to tag along. They also invited their classmate from the previous week, Julian, who had encouraged me to join him in Medellin after we spent most of two months hanging out in Guatemala. I would have joined even if it hadn’t been to see one of the famed Buena Vista Social Club.

It was a great evening with great music and an awesome bunch of people, but the highlight was the beautiful, funny, vivacious Sandra, who was clearly adored by her students. She had lived in Australia for seven years until her visa ran out and she was forced to leave. Having recently had my life in Sydney fall apart, I felt that fate had pushed me onto the road again, and our meeting may have been destiny. When she found an excuse to put her number in my phone under the name ‘Sandra The Best Colombian’, I began to wonder if she felt the same way.