With the quarantine set to extend beyond 2 weeks, we decided to challenge ourselves to do something new every day. Some examples included working at the breakfast bar, trying a new recipe or doing origami. One night we decided to order in and have a romantic date on the balcony.
Sandra’s favourite restaurant is a chain called Crepes & Waffles, which makes a huge variety of the aforesaid, with representations from all over the world. It’s a chain we like to support because all the staff are single mothers.
I chose my regular hot mexican crepe and Sandra chose prawns. We got dressed up and moved the table and chairs out to the balcony to enjoy the balmy evening air and the view of lights of Communa 13 spilling down the mountainside.
We broke out a bottle of wine, which we were still enjoying long after we had devoured the Fruit of the Forest waffles for dessert.

We chose to visit the next town on our list, Jerico, on the weekend before my flight back to Australia. It was everything we’d love for our future home – comfortable climate, warm people, beautiful scenery, good food, a cultural centre with regular live music, and generally not too noisy.

Our B&B was 1.5 km out of town and had a fantastic view from the balcony and even from the bathroom. We visited the Christ statue overlooking Jerico proper, walked through the Botanical Gardens and around town, had cocktails and dinner in the open air Cultural Centre and chatted with a number of locals.

Two things spoiled the weekend. First was waking up on Sunday morning to learn that if I returned to Sydney as planned, I’d have to spend two weeks in isolation. At best, I’d lose half my trip to no purpose. At worst, I wouldn’t be able to get back to Sandra. While Sandra was happy, I was torn between disappointment that I wouldn’t be able to catch up with friends and family, and relief that Sandra and I would weather out this madness together.

Our second concern was that the town was set to lose its charm. The locals were worried about a company that wanted to mine copper nearby and while some supported it, probably restaurants and hotels that were already benefiting from the traffic of company’s prospectors, but most were worried about what it would do to their water. They had managed to block the mine, though couldn’t say for how long, but while they were distracted by that, approval had been granted to build an apartment complex of about fifteen five-storey buildings on the edge of town. Apart from destroying the look of Jerico, this will likely attract foreigners and richer Colombians, which will in turn inspire restaurants and shops to cater for those with more money to spend and potentially drive locals out of the market.

I wouldn’t want to live in a town with that right on the edge, and if it’s happening in Jerico, it’s probably happening or will happen in other towns around Medellin. We may have to look further afield to find our future home.

On the other hand, we found the time and a place to hold our own private commitment ceremony. We bought love knot bracelets for each other in Cartagena almost a year ago, but had been waiting for the right time to exchange them. Our relationship has been stronger than ever recently, as we’ve gone through the process of finding a new home, buying furniture and planning our future together. We chose a quiet bridge in the Botanical Gardens to exchange feelings and bracelets and to express our commitment to each other. Then returned home to share a three-week lock-down together.

Sandra heard about the local zoo this week, so we decided to check it out. We were distressed at the state of some of the habitats, but really enjoyed seeing the lion sleeping on his rock with the lioness on her back in the cave below, he antics of the various monkeys and the cuddling Macao parrots. I also managed to take one of the best photos of my life (auto, unfortunately) of a squirrel perched on a fence post. All in all, we had a good day, but I think the zoo in Pereira is far better.

After months of looking, we finally found a flat we liked in early February. We’d been living in a great furnished flat, but wanted to save on rent and to be able to make our home our own. The new place is only a few blocks from where we were, and is even closer to Sandra’s school so it’s very convenient.

The place is very bright, and facing west, it’s also very warm. It’s quiet and spacious and everything we wanted, including a balcony with a great view. My favourite part of how we’ve set it up is the flexibility. The table and chairs can be set up near the kitchen for lunch, on the balcony for breakfast with a view or dinner by sunset, or folded out of the way. The sofa is often folded out into a bed while we watch a movie. Bean bags and a low table can be brought out when we have guests or used in other places otherwise. The balcony can be used for eating, lounging in a hammock or cleared to give a good view from inside.

Of course there was some compromising done due to my preference for a minimalist environment (including blank walls) and Sandra’s desire to have everything absolutely spotless at all times (which means mats and cloths everywhere), but we generally wanted the same things and are loving our new home.

Sandra had never done a jigsaw puzzle before, and I thought it would be fun to do one together, so I gave her one for Christmas. She loves dogs and her favourite flower is the sunflower, so I was delighted to find a 1000 piece puzzle (a good starting size) with a puppy sitting next to a pot of sunflowers.

As with most activities that Sandra is new to, she took a bit of time to find her way through the process, but quickly got the border sorted out, and became faster and more accurate as each day went by. I was going to let her finish the last section by herself, but she insisted on taking turns to find a piece, and finally it’s done. Now we need to find a picture frame so we can hang it on the wall.