First Impressions

I base many of my tastes on first impressions.

A nice smile, a funny joke, sincere questions: let's go out for coffee again soon.

A late arrival, endless self absorption and a rude remark: I place you in a box, lock and throw away the key.

Bogota first showed me a face of indifference, millions of eyes staring straight ahead. Features that are piecemeal, thrown together without thought or plan. And no matter how hard you stare, it is hard to find much beauty in the cruel eyes of reality. However, over time, you begin to see a sly smirk. A generosity and kindness exists beneath the surface of it all. Beauty, humor and culture scatter about like freckles. And you finally begin to see the magic of the place when Bogota finally smiles.

But then you meet Cartagena, and realize what an enchantress truly is. She surrounds you at once with sweltering heat and idyllic palms. The echo of your feet on the cobbled streets ring of history from long ago. The colors vibrate off the walls of the haciendas and the fruits of the tropic. I round the corner of the narrow street and am overwhelmed by the beauty of a Palenquero woman. She balances a bowl of fragrant fruit atop her head as her traditional canary yellow dress swishes to and fro. I try not to gawk at the picturesque scene while I pinch myself to know that this is not a dream. I walk to one of the many plazas and seek shelter beneath a tree. A tall thin black man doses next to me on the bench and the empanada stand bustles with students. I take a deep breath of the steamy air and realize that I have only been in Cartagena less than an hour. Already she has undressed me to my underclothes and covered me  with a shimmer of sweat. I relax on the bench, drinking the sweet nectar of cool mango juice. I try to remind myself that not all that glitters in gold, that beauty can be deceiving.  But it is too late. I have been seduced. Under her spell, I love her for glamour and overlook her flaws. So I decide to sit back and doze while the heat envelops me. Cartagena's first impression is irresistible, and I am merely human.