Thoughts on Barranquilla

Hello, i am going to back track a little bit today because i have just started this blog, and i started it several days after the start of a very exciting time, so i would like to back track a couple of weeks and make sure that i document all of my Colombian experience and i share all of the crazy things that have happened, with me, with you. I am going to talk about a couple of expierences that i had in Barranquilla during the Carnaval. The first being the pick pocket. I was standing on a cart that is used normally to pull around different fruit, pineapple, bananas, and other tropical fruit, by a donkey through neighborhoods, to be sold. But for four days out of the year, this cart is jammed up right next to a metal gate on the side of the parade. For 5000 colombian pesos (2.50 US dollars) you can stand on it to watch the parade go by. I was on the very back, wearing slightly baggy shorts, with my wallet chest level to somebody. While i was standing up there i was tapped and turned around and pulled off by an excited young man, 12 years or so, shouting some things in a caribeen creole spanish. Also worth note, to by suprise, he had my wallet. Apparantly, a man had stole my wallet, i fortunatly had all my money inside of my pockets, and while riffling through the contents a young man who saw the whole scenario chased the man down and aquired my wallet from the theif and brought it back to me. At which point i paid 2000 pesos (1 dollar) to the young man. Shortly after, in slight disbelief at the lightness of the theif´s (whom i never saw) fingers, i heard quite a ruckus coming from the left. I thought the police where breaking up a fight, or something a long the lines of a collegiate tailgate at a US university. Shorty after a large man with no shirt ran directly by me, looking over his shoulder, and in his right hand was a long sharp knife, ready for action. Shortly after a crowed of around 20 to 25 men where chasing him, chairs above head, broken legs off of tables, metal piping, and anything that could be used to beat the theif in to the ground. Wow, had i spoke a little more spanish maybe i could have helped, but in the scenario of a fleeing criminal with a knife ready to kill somebody, maybe it is better to be a spectator or bystanderded. After about thirty seconds of chaos and confusion, the party resumed as usual, back to dancing and mas rumba. Oh yeah, this was day one of a four day party by the way...