Gwen is packing! I am so sad! The group who she was working for bought her a plane ticket that was a little earlier than we would have liked... i leave Monday.
We've had a beautiful tropical time in Cartagena and have drank a lot of different fruit jiuces (and ate a lot of tropical fruit gelato). Yesterday we went out to Playa Blanca, an island with a gorgeous, picture perfect Caribbean beach, where we lay around and had fresh fish and shrimp and coconut rice for lunch. That night we went out eating and drinking and dancing in the Gethsemani neighborhood... a grittier and hipper place than the beautifully manicured old city. First, ceviche on a rooftop in a little restaurant run by two young sisters, then stuffed calamari at a very hip place called the Bazurto Social Club. Then some salsa at Cafe Havana. Then back to Bazurto for some reggaton/cumbia/everything else fusion performed by the most handsome band in the world (I am not kidding) and then back to Havana for a final mojito (with Cuban rum) and one more turn on the dance floor with old tipsy salsa-ing men!
This morning we slept in and then did a little sight-seeing, but spent more time drinking juice and talking to people like Mara, who sold us some fresh coconut water and with whom we had a great conversation about poverty, justice, the US, Colombia... Also saw a very powerful exhibit of masks made by women who were displaced during "the Violence" and spoke with the women who runs the center that works with them, A good reminder that underneath the beauty and the hospitality and the dancing, Colombia is still struggling mightily with past and ongoing problems.
I'll be back on Monday night. Sigh. I highly recommend a trip to Colombia to all... this is a special place.
m
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
more mountains, then tropics
Gwen and I are about to head out to have a sunset drink on top of the city walls of Cartagena. This city is colorful and hot and a great place to finish up. We are now officially on a relaxing vacation, as opposed to an adventure vacation....
But what an adventure it was. Briefly (because tropical drinks are needed soon!) we went from Manizales to Salento on Sunday. Salento is a little town near the Valle de Corcora. Just lovely. We stayed at a hostel a short walk out of town... a gorgeous spot and very friendly and relaxing. Lots of chilled out backpackers. After a nice evening in Salento on Sunday, shopping and eating trout (the specialty of the town), we woke to more rain on Monday. But it cleared up (as it does) and after some more time in town drinking coffee (it is the coffee growing region, after all) we went on a tour of a little coffee farm. Don Elias led the tour, and it was like the grandpa of Juan Valdez had come to life...
The next day we set off in the morning with half of the other backpackers in town for a walk in the Valle de Corcora... and incredible landscape of pea green mountains covered with wax palm trees. However, we managed to go left when everyone else went right, and instead of a leisurely walk through the valley, we climbed a mountain. With several other lost people. This is a tale I will tell you all at some point over drinks, because it was a fantastic adventure, but long story short, Gwen and I ended up spending the night in the very cold and basic but welcoming cattle finca (farm) of a man named Javier and his son Lucho. We were way the heck up there, and it was incredible. The next morning, Javier used his cell phone (no electricity but they did have a cell phone) to call a guy to come two hours up the mountain with some horses and we rode down. Those mountain horses are incredible! Took us 2 hours down. Took us 7 hours walking up!
We missed our 3;30 flight to Cartagena, but managed to make it onto a 5:45 flight... still unwashed and covered with finca dirt! Arrvied in Cartagena at 9pm last night, spent the first night in a pretty basic hostel in Gethsamani, and then moved to our fancy boutique hotel, the Casa Hortensia. I got a great deal on the internet, and it is like having our own little colonial house... but with a pool. We ate ceviche for lunch across the street at a plce that was on Athony Bourdain's show. And now those drinks are calling...
I can't believe I am sitting here in a sundress in beautiful Cartagena, when 48 hours ago I was huddled under a pile of blankets, covered in mud, trying to get warm in front of the finca's wood burning stove. And that's one of the reaons why I love to travel...
But what an adventure it was. Briefly (because tropical drinks are needed soon!) we went from Manizales to Salento on Sunday. Salento is a little town near the Valle de Corcora. Just lovely. We stayed at a hostel a short walk out of town... a gorgeous spot and very friendly and relaxing. Lots of chilled out backpackers. After a nice evening in Salento on Sunday, shopping and eating trout (the specialty of the town), we woke to more rain on Monday. But it cleared up (as it does) and after some more time in town drinking coffee (it is the coffee growing region, after all) we went on a tour of a little coffee farm. Don Elias led the tour, and it was like the grandpa of Juan Valdez had come to life...
The next day we set off in the morning with half of the other backpackers in town for a walk in the Valle de Corcora... and incredible landscape of pea green mountains covered with wax palm trees. However, we managed to go left when everyone else went right, and instead of a leisurely walk through the valley, we climbed a mountain. With several other lost people. This is a tale I will tell you all at some point over drinks, because it was a fantastic adventure, but long story short, Gwen and I ended up spending the night in the very cold and basic but welcoming cattle finca (farm) of a man named Javier and his son Lucho. We were way the heck up there, and it was incredible. The next morning, Javier used his cell phone (no electricity but they did have a cell phone) to call a guy to come two hours up the mountain with some horses and we rode down. Those mountain horses are incredible! Took us 2 hours down. Took us 7 hours walking up!
We missed our 3;30 flight to Cartagena, but managed to make it onto a 5:45 flight... still unwashed and covered with finca dirt! Arrvied in Cartagena at 9pm last night, spent the first night in a pretty basic hostel in Gethsamani, and then moved to our fancy boutique hotel, the Casa Hortensia. I got a great deal on the internet, and it is like having our own little colonial house... but with a pool. We ate ceviche for lunch across the street at a plce that was on Athony Bourdain's show. And now those drinks are calling...
I can't believe I am sitting here in a sundress in beautiful Cartagena, when 48 hours ago I was huddled under a pile of blankets, covered in mud, trying to get warm in front of the finca's wood burning stove. And that's one of the reaons why I love to travel...
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Tropics in the mountains
So I left Bogota on Wednesday morning... sad to leave the very hospitable folks at my hostel and the very interesting city, but excited to move on... first to Honda for the night, and then on to Manizales to meet Gwen.
Getting a ticket for the bus at the main bus terminal was easy as could be, except I ended up on Rapido Tolimas, which I later found out is not the best bus company! I was on a "buseta" which is a little bus, and as opposed to the very comfortable and modern big buses I had heard about, this one was very old, dirty, crowded... much more interesting, if less relaxing! Getting out of Bogota took forever, as the city sprawls and the buseta kept stopping to pick up passengers anywhere they could. But suddenly, it seemed, there were cows and fields, and after a bit we climbed up into the hills. (Beautiful, though not as beautiful as the next day.) And then we climbed back down onto the plain, where it got hot and sunny and tropical. Finally we got to Mariquita, a nice little town, where I was husted off to the bus to change to another one for the half hour trip to Honda (along with one or two other people who were Honda bound, as the bus was continuing on the Manizales). And then I got to Honda, got a cab to the Casa Belle Epoque, my fancier than usual hotel.
Lovely old colonial building, large room (I got upgraded) in the courtyard by the tiny but welcoming pool. A hammock and a jacuzzi and couches and antiques and oddities on the open second floor and a great crow's nest with a view of the town.
The owner, Luis Enrique, who spoke English, walked me down to the main square so I could buy some empanadas and then I returned to the hotel to eat, take a swim, and sit and read and relax, and watch the sunset from the crow's nest. Honda is a colonial town on the Magdelena River, which is like Colombia's Mississippi. During the colonial times and up into the 20th century it was the main source of transport of people and goods from the Caribbean port of Baranquilla to the Bogota area - it was the de facto port of Bogota, though it is still a good distance (6 hours by buseta!) away. First dugout canoes and later steamboats made the journey, until roads, airplanes, and the narrowing and loss of depth of the river ended Honda's glory years. Now it is sleepy and tropical and pretty, and a great place to pass a night.
That evening, Luis Enrique took me and an older German couple who were the other guests at the Belle Epoque down to the river for dinner. It is high season for fishing and so the fisherman were still working at night, casting their nets from dugout canoes in the very rapidly flowing water. We had fried catfish at a restaurant overlooking the river and chatted and watched the fishing. A very pleasant evening...
The next morning, unfortunately, it was raining! (It is rainy season, after all.) I was planning on getting up early and seeing the sights before it got hot, and then taking another swim before leaving around 2. Instead, I had a leisurely breakfast and then once the covered market opened and the rain had subsided a little, I headed out... The market was great - met lots of interesting people and took lots of photos, and my walk around the cobblestoned streets of town was very pleasant and pretty. And it was warm, if not sunny...
Luis Enrique drove me to the bus stand around 2, where I got a bus to Mariquita since more buses to Manizales would pas through there. But in Mariquita I was lucky enough to get a shared taxi instead! I had the front seat, and a very funny and careful driver, and 3 nice people in the back. And the drive to Manizales, which took about 4 hours, was so so gorgeous. The mountains were amazing and we had some stunning views of Los Nevados, the snow-capped mountains/volcanoes, in the distance. Stopped at a rest stop where I had a "cuca" which was a big brown cookies which tasted almost exactly like lebkuchen, the German cookie, and since a lot of Germans settled in this area, I think it might actually be a lebkuchen!
Also got stopped at a police checkpoint (there was a military checkpoint the previous day on the buseta, where all the men had to get out of the bus and be patted down). But unlike the military checkpoint, the police checkpoint seemed to exist to get bribes from divers. When our driver was asked to get out, he put a 5000 peso bill in his hand (about $3) and muttered "I'm not giving them more than 5000" and then had to show his papers, do a drunk driving test, got into the station, and finally came back. We drove away and he exclaimed, "In Colombia we don't have deliquents. We have those guys!"
The driver ended up taking me all the way to where Gwen is staying. I wish we needed a driver because he would be my pick in Manizales!
The next day in Manizales, Gwen had a workshop in the morning. I got up and the "senora de casa" (ie, housekeeper) Luz made me breakfast. Fresh juice, fresh pineapple, a fried egg with lots and lots of butter, and melba toast (which Luz encouraged me to cover with butter). Then met Clemencia, the woman whose house it is; lovely older lady who is a real estate hot shot and whose husband Olver is a cardiologist. Their apartment reminds me so much of apartments in Rome when I was a child... and they remind me of Romans.
Then I got a cab to the Centro Columbo Americano, where Gwen is working. She was finishing up her workshop... met Clara, the director of the center, and then we went and had some coffee and pastry at a nearby cafe, and took a little walk around the hilly and cafe-filled neighborhood, and then hopped in a cab to go to the cathedral downtown.
Manizales is just stunning. It seems like an excellent city to live in... it sits up on a ridge and is surrounded by green, green mountains on every side, and though it rains quite a bit, the rain cleans the air and keeps the temperature mild through the year. (lows in the 50s, highs in the 70s) Gwen and I looked around the cathedral and then she went back to the Centro for another workshop, and I wandered around. Hung out in a little square and made friends with the old men who were also hanging out... took a look inside a mall, complete with Chinese food in the food court (lumpias instead of egg rolls... hmmmmm) and then took a ride on the amazing cable car which takes people in little cars from the center (on the top of the ridge) down to the bus station. So much fun... great views... floating over the city. And then walked back to Clemencia's house.
That evening, Clara took us out to dinner (along with Clemencia and Olver, old friends of hers, and her husband, and Elsa and Lena, two other employees of the Centro) at the Manizales Club, an institution in the downtown! Beautiful private club... very old school... delicious food, but with not a vegetable (except for potatoes) in sight! I want some spinach!!!
Today, took it pretty easy, doing a little shopping, strolling around the neighborhood, etc. Now we are trying to figure out plans for the evening... it might include theatre, might include dancing, but will certainly include a drink at a little bar around the corner filled with bull-fighting memorabilia!
m
Getting a ticket for the bus at the main bus terminal was easy as could be, except I ended up on Rapido Tolimas, which I later found out is not the best bus company! I was on a "buseta" which is a little bus, and as opposed to the very comfortable and modern big buses I had heard about, this one was very old, dirty, crowded... much more interesting, if less relaxing! Getting out of Bogota took forever, as the city sprawls and the buseta kept stopping to pick up passengers anywhere they could. But suddenly, it seemed, there were cows and fields, and after a bit we climbed up into the hills. (Beautiful, though not as beautiful as the next day.) And then we climbed back down onto the plain, where it got hot and sunny and tropical. Finally we got to Mariquita, a nice little town, where I was husted off to the bus to change to another one for the half hour trip to Honda (along with one or two other people who were Honda bound, as the bus was continuing on the Manizales). And then I got to Honda, got a cab to the Casa Belle Epoque, my fancier than usual hotel.
Lovely old colonial building, large room (I got upgraded) in the courtyard by the tiny but welcoming pool. A hammock and a jacuzzi and couches and antiques and oddities on the open second floor and a great crow's nest with a view of the town.
The owner, Luis Enrique, who spoke English, walked me down to the main square so I could buy some empanadas and then I returned to the hotel to eat, take a swim, and sit and read and relax, and watch the sunset from the crow's nest. Honda is a colonial town on the Magdelena River, which is like Colombia's Mississippi. During the colonial times and up into the 20th century it was the main source of transport of people and goods from the Caribbean port of Baranquilla to the Bogota area - it was the de facto port of Bogota, though it is still a good distance (6 hours by buseta!) away. First dugout canoes and later steamboats made the journey, until roads, airplanes, and the narrowing and loss of depth of the river ended Honda's glory years. Now it is sleepy and tropical and pretty, and a great place to pass a night.
That evening, Luis Enrique took me and an older German couple who were the other guests at the Belle Epoque down to the river for dinner. It is high season for fishing and so the fisherman were still working at night, casting their nets from dugout canoes in the very rapidly flowing water. We had fried catfish at a restaurant overlooking the river and chatted and watched the fishing. A very pleasant evening...
The next morning, unfortunately, it was raining! (It is rainy season, after all.) I was planning on getting up early and seeing the sights before it got hot, and then taking another swim before leaving around 2. Instead, I had a leisurely breakfast and then once the covered market opened and the rain had subsided a little, I headed out... The market was great - met lots of interesting people and took lots of photos, and my walk around the cobblestoned streets of town was very pleasant and pretty. And it was warm, if not sunny...
Luis Enrique drove me to the bus stand around 2, where I got a bus to Mariquita since more buses to Manizales would pas through there. But in Mariquita I was lucky enough to get a shared taxi instead! I had the front seat, and a very funny and careful driver, and 3 nice people in the back. And the drive to Manizales, which took about 4 hours, was so so gorgeous. The mountains were amazing and we had some stunning views of Los Nevados, the snow-capped mountains/volcanoes, in the distance. Stopped at a rest stop where I had a "cuca" which was a big brown cookies which tasted almost exactly like lebkuchen, the German cookie, and since a lot of Germans settled in this area, I think it might actually be a lebkuchen!
Also got stopped at a police checkpoint (there was a military checkpoint the previous day on the buseta, where all the men had to get out of the bus and be patted down). But unlike the military checkpoint, the police checkpoint seemed to exist to get bribes from divers. When our driver was asked to get out, he put a 5000 peso bill in his hand (about $3) and muttered "I'm not giving them more than 5000" and then had to show his papers, do a drunk driving test, got into the station, and finally came back. We drove away and he exclaimed, "In Colombia we don't have deliquents. We have those guys!"
The driver ended up taking me all the way to where Gwen is staying. I wish we needed a driver because he would be my pick in Manizales!
The next day in Manizales, Gwen had a workshop in the morning. I got up and the "senora de casa" (ie, housekeeper) Luz made me breakfast. Fresh juice, fresh pineapple, a fried egg with lots and lots of butter, and melba toast (which Luz encouraged me to cover with butter). Then met Clemencia, the woman whose house it is; lovely older lady who is a real estate hot shot and whose husband Olver is a cardiologist. Their apartment reminds me so much of apartments in Rome when I was a child... and they remind me of Romans.
Then I got a cab to the Centro Columbo Americano, where Gwen is working. She was finishing up her workshop... met Clara, the director of the center, and then we went and had some coffee and pastry at a nearby cafe, and took a little walk around the hilly and cafe-filled neighborhood, and then hopped in a cab to go to the cathedral downtown.
Manizales is just stunning. It seems like an excellent city to live in... it sits up on a ridge and is surrounded by green, green mountains on every side, and though it rains quite a bit, the rain cleans the air and keeps the temperature mild through the year. (lows in the 50s, highs in the 70s) Gwen and I looked around the cathedral and then she went back to the Centro for another workshop, and I wandered around. Hung out in a little square and made friends with the old men who were also hanging out... took a look inside a mall, complete with Chinese food in the food court (lumpias instead of egg rolls... hmmmmm) and then took a ride on the amazing cable car which takes people in little cars from the center (on the top of the ridge) down to the bus station. So much fun... great views... floating over the city. And then walked back to Clemencia's house.
That evening, Clara took us out to dinner (along with Clemencia and Olver, old friends of hers, and her husband, and Elsa and Lena, two other employees of the Centro) at the Manizales Club, an institution in the downtown! Beautiful private club... very old school... delicious food, but with not a vegetable (except for potatoes) in sight! I want some spinach!!!
Today, took it pretty easy, doing a little shopping, strolling around the neighborhood, etc. Now we are trying to figure out plans for the evening... it might include theatre, might include dancing, but will certainly include a drink at a little bar around the corner filled with bull-fighting memorabilia!
m
Friday, March 23, 2012
Hunger striker, indigenous healer, lots of fruit... and North Bogota
I got to Manizales yesterday evening after a really beautiful afternoon's drive through the mountains. Gwen was there to meet me at the lovely house she is staying in - she has a lovely little rooftop suite that belongs to a very nice family (who have a very nice housekeeper who cooked me up breakfast this morning). I took a shower and then we headed out to see a play with some of the friends she has met here. (She has been teaching combination theatre and English workshops to numerous schools and theatre companies for the past 3 weeks.)
The show was one woman and all in Spanish, and neither of us got much of it, but afterwards we had a great time with the cast and crew hanging out on the back terrace of their theatre, drinking local rum and talking art, politics, and tongue twisters. The view was amazing from the terrace, but every view in Manizales is amazing. The city, which is incredibly clean and prosperous, is nestled among the mountains and manages to feel surrounded by the mountains but full of open spaces just the same.
The past days have been just as good as the first ones...
It rained on Monday, and it was also a national holiday, so many things were closed and many things were too wet to enjoy. But the fact that there wasn't much to rush around to meant that some special things could occur...
First stop was the Botero Museum. It was one of the best museums I have ever been to. Botero himself donated both his own paintings and works from his collection (a couple of Picassos, some Calders...) and he arranged the paintings. I had seen his work before, but standing in front of them I found them so very moving. So human. Funny and sad at the same time.
The Botero Museum is part of complex that also contains a museum on the history of money and coins in Colombia (not that interesting to me, though well presented) and some other galleries with art ranging from colonial times to the present day, There was a mindblowing black and white photo series of feet and legs, with maps written on them. The legs belong to people who were displaced during "the violence" and the maps are of their journeys and what happned to them along the way (crossed mountains, massacres, car bomb, etc.).
Had a "chocolato completo" (bread, hot chocolate and a chunk of soft white cheese that you melt in the hot chocolate) at a Bogota institution called La Puerta Falsa, and then a coffee at Juan Valdez (yes, Juan Valdez), the Colombian Starbucks, at the Gabriel Garcia Marquez Center, where you could sit outside covered from the rain and watch people slosh by. And then I went down to the Plaza Bolivar to visit Alejandro, the man who is on a hunger strike to start a dialogue about peace. He invited me into his tent, and I accepted, and we sat in there taking shelter from the rain and talking for over an hour. People would come by to talk every so often (including MexTel, who was looking for me... but didn't stay for too long because he spotted another tourist to talk to). But Alejandro is in need of someone to manage his campaign... anyone know a community organizer in Bogota? He is a pretty amazing person...
At one point a man dressed in indigenous clothing came by with a girl and gave Alejandro some coca leaves. They are helping him get through the hunger strike; he gave a few to me to chew. They do give one a lift (and are legal in Colombia... they are not cocaine... cocaine is a derivative of the leaves) that was pleasant and did not make me as jittery as drinking too much coffee.
So after I left Alejandro, I ran into the coca leaf man and his girlfriend. His name is Sek and she is Marisol. He didn't speak English, and so he called his roommate, a German professor who speaks English and we made plans to meet at Plaza Bolivar at 5pm.
And that's what we did. His roommate James was a funny, awkward, geeky science guy. Sek is a Nasa (or Paez) Indian who is the first person to be employed by the Universidad de los Andes as an advisor on bringing traditional indigenous philosophy, healing and spirituality into play in the university's curriculum. He was really an amazing guy! We went back to their apartment near the univeristy (which is near my hostel) where we had tea and Sek explained the Nasa cosmology to me, how they use coca leaves for spiritual purposes, etc... He also is an artist and showed me one of his paintings; he uses all natural pigments from the earth and often leaves his work outside in the elements in order to have them transform and influence the work.
So it was a day of meeting two very interesting men. Glad it rained!
The next day, it was also overcast but I decided to take the cable car up to the top of Montserrate, the hill and church that overlook the city, anyway. Because going to the top of Montserrate is the sort of thing that tourists are expected to do... The church is not very interesting, and all your could see were clouds once you were at the top, but the cable car ride was fun, and after I was up there for about a half an hour, the sky cleared and you could see the huge expanse of Bogota. Which goes on and on and on!
After stopped by a photo exhibit at the Univesidad de los Andes (the Vargas Brothers, who took photos in a provincial city in Peru in the first part of the 20th century; http://camara-de-maravillas.blogspot.com/2010/02/estudio-de-fotografia-los-hermanos.html) I got a cab to Paloquemao, a huge fruit and vegetable and meat and many other things market about a half an hour from the center of town. Really interesting... once again, so many fruits that I have never seen before! Bought some Colombian passion fruit and some mangosteens. Then got a cab to the Museo de Oro, which is a really beautiful and relatively new museum about the history of Colombia's indigenous people told through the motif of their use of gold.
And then hopped in another cab and headed up to North Bogota, near the Zona Rosa, to meet up with my friends Thaddeus and Tatiana. North Bogota is like another world. It is the new part of town, where well-off people live, and where all the real action is. Thaddeus and Tati have a great little apartment on a quiet street right near a beautiful park and lots of restaurants and shops. We went to a special supermarket that just sells fruit and vegetables (Alex Moede! This one's for you!). The great thing about that place was that they have labels on everything, so I was able to take photos with the names of the fruit attached! Bought some more fruit... a feijoa, a something costeno, and one other...
Then we went to take a look at Andres DC, an over-the-top story restaurant that is the Bogota version of a place called Andres Carne de Res, a place out in the countryside that is an institution. It's hard to describe... they have actors who do little skits, and live music, and eclectic decor, and apparently great food. We went to eat at Andres' new place - Plaza de Andres - which is a food court. This was great becaues we could choose a bunch of different things. And I really had not been having great food... filling, yes, but not too flavourful. But what we had was really delicious. Arepa de choclo - a sweet arepa stuffed with cheese - and a steak and an assortment of chorizo and these little papas criollas - baby potatoes that were delicious. And juices... Tati had a combination of passionfruit and blackberry in milk, I think I had feijoa, and Thaddeus... lulo?
It was great to see them and their side of Bogota. Bid goodbye, got a cab back to the old part of town, and packed... Sad to leave Bogota, but happy to start exploring other parts...
We are going out soon to dinner with Gwen's hosts and the organizer of the program she is working at... so more later...
x m
The show was one woman and all in Spanish, and neither of us got much of it, but afterwards we had a great time with the cast and crew hanging out on the back terrace of their theatre, drinking local rum and talking art, politics, and tongue twisters. The view was amazing from the terrace, but every view in Manizales is amazing. The city, which is incredibly clean and prosperous, is nestled among the mountains and manages to feel surrounded by the mountains but full of open spaces just the same.
The past days have been just as good as the first ones...
It rained on Monday, and it was also a national holiday, so many things were closed and many things were too wet to enjoy. But the fact that there wasn't much to rush around to meant that some special things could occur...
First stop was the Botero Museum. It was one of the best museums I have ever been to. Botero himself donated both his own paintings and works from his collection (a couple of Picassos, some Calders...) and he arranged the paintings. I had seen his work before, but standing in front of them I found them so very moving. So human. Funny and sad at the same time.
The Botero Museum is part of complex that also contains a museum on the history of money and coins in Colombia (not that interesting to me, though well presented) and some other galleries with art ranging from colonial times to the present day, There was a mindblowing black and white photo series of feet and legs, with maps written on them. The legs belong to people who were displaced during "the violence" and the maps are of their journeys and what happned to them along the way (crossed mountains, massacres, car bomb, etc.).
Had a "chocolato completo" (bread, hot chocolate and a chunk of soft white cheese that you melt in the hot chocolate) at a Bogota institution called La Puerta Falsa, and then a coffee at Juan Valdez (yes, Juan Valdez), the Colombian Starbucks, at the Gabriel Garcia Marquez Center, where you could sit outside covered from the rain and watch people slosh by. And then I went down to the Plaza Bolivar to visit Alejandro, the man who is on a hunger strike to start a dialogue about peace. He invited me into his tent, and I accepted, and we sat in there taking shelter from the rain and talking for over an hour. People would come by to talk every so often (including MexTel, who was looking for me... but didn't stay for too long because he spotted another tourist to talk to). But Alejandro is in need of someone to manage his campaign... anyone know a community organizer in Bogota? He is a pretty amazing person...
At one point a man dressed in indigenous clothing came by with a girl and gave Alejandro some coca leaves. They are helping him get through the hunger strike; he gave a few to me to chew. They do give one a lift (and are legal in Colombia... they are not cocaine... cocaine is a derivative of the leaves) that was pleasant and did not make me as jittery as drinking too much coffee.
So after I left Alejandro, I ran into the coca leaf man and his girlfriend. His name is Sek and she is Marisol. He didn't speak English, and so he called his roommate, a German professor who speaks English and we made plans to meet at Plaza Bolivar at 5pm.
And that's what we did. His roommate James was a funny, awkward, geeky science guy. Sek is a Nasa (or Paez) Indian who is the first person to be employed by the Universidad de los Andes as an advisor on bringing traditional indigenous philosophy, healing and spirituality into play in the university's curriculum. He was really an amazing guy! We went back to their apartment near the univeristy (which is near my hostel) where we had tea and Sek explained the Nasa cosmology to me, how they use coca leaves for spiritual purposes, etc... He also is an artist and showed me one of his paintings; he uses all natural pigments from the earth and often leaves his work outside in the elements in order to have them transform and influence the work.
So it was a day of meeting two very interesting men. Glad it rained!
The next day, it was also overcast but I decided to take the cable car up to the top of Montserrate, the hill and church that overlook the city, anyway. Because going to the top of Montserrate is the sort of thing that tourists are expected to do... The church is not very interesting, and all your could see were clouds once you were at the top, but the cable car ride was fun, and after I was up there for about a half an hour, the sky cleared and you could see the huge expanse of Bogota. Which goes on and on and on!
After stopped by a photo exhibit at the Univesidad de los Andes (the Vargas Brothers, who took photos in a provincial city in Peru in the first part of the 20th century; http://camara-de-maravillas.blogspot.com/2010/02/estudio-de-fotografia-los-hermanos.html) I got a cab to Paloquemao, a huge fruit and vegetable and meat and many other things market about a half an hour from the center of town. Really interesting... once again, so many fruits that I have never seen before! Bought some Colombian passion fruit and some mangosteens. Then got a cab to the Museo de Oro, which is a really beautiful and relatively new museum about the history of Colombia's indigenous people told through the motif of their use of gold.
And then hopped in another cab and headed up to North Bogota, near the Zona Rosa, to meet up with my friends Thaddeus and Tatiana. North Bogota is like another world. It is the new part of town, where well-off people live, and where all the real action is. Thaddeus and Tati have a great little apartment on a quiet street right near a beautiful park and lots of restaurants and shops. We went to a special supermarket that just sells fruit and vegetables (Alex Moede! This one's for you!). The great thing about that place was that they have labels on everything, so I was able to take photos with the names of the fruit attached! Bought some more fruit... a feijoa, a something costeno, and one other...
Then we went to take a look at Andres DC, an over-the-top story restaurant that is the Bogota version of a place called Andres Carne de Res, a place out in the countryside that is an institution. It's hard to describe... they have actors who do little skits, and live music, and eclectic decor, and apparently great food. We went to eat at Andres' new place - Plaza de Andres - which is a food court. This was great becaues we could choose a bunch of different things. And I really had not been having great food... filling, yes, but not too flavourful. But what we had was really delicious. Arepa de choclo - a sweet arepa stuffed with cheese - and a steak and an assortment of chorizo and these little papas criollas - baby potatoes that were delicious. And juices... Tati had a combination of passionfruit and blackberry in milk, I think I had feijoa, and Thaddeus... lulo?
It was great to see them and their side of Bogota. Bid goodbye, got a cab back to the old part of town, and packed... Sad to leave Bogota, but happy to start exploring other parts...
We are going out soon to dinner with Gwen's hosts and the organizer of the program she is working at... so more later...
x m
Monday, March 19, 2012
Hola from Bogota
Greetings from Colombia... it is now Monday night... I´ve only been here two and a half days and already have more than I can write about in one sitting. So the first part was composed on Sunday, and the second right now...
I really love it here. People are so, so nice. So... simpatico. Looking forward to my last day in Bogota tomorrow, then heading down to meet up with Gwen...
Part 1: Saturday
Arrived in Bogota yesterday afternoon and quickly found out that the rumours are true: Colombians are incredibly friendly and kind people. My taxi driver from the airport was a hoot - very patient with my non-existant Spanish - and very eager to just be... a really nice guy.
Likewise the folks who run my quirky little hostel. It seems like nothing is more pleasing than trying to figure out what I am saying...
I am staying in La Candelaria, the old quarter of Bogota, which has a lot of hostels, colleges and students, stray dogs, stray hippies, and grafitti. And beautiful little buildings, hilly streets, cobblestones... After I arrived I took a walk around, had an empanada. Storm clouds were coming in, so I went back to the hostel and took a nap. Once it stopped raining really heavily, I went back out. Walked around La Candelaira again, ending up at the Plaza de Chorro (I think that is the name) - supposedly the place where Bogota was founded, now a little square where students and travellers hang out. Had my first Colombian juice - lulo fruit with milk. Kind of like an orange mixed with a kiwi, but sour so they put sugar in. Then I went and had a canelazo de aquardiente in a really cute little bar on the square... tiny and wooden with a fireplace and a chair right by the door and, once again, the nicest of people. The canelazo is a hot drink with suagr and cinnamon and this one had an anise liqour in it.
Then I walked down to the Plaza Bolivar, the main giant square where the government is. It was all lit up and very impressive, with just a few people wandering about. (But lots and lots of police.) An older man had camped out at the foot of the statue of Bolivar. He is on day 19 of a hunger strike in order to encourage dialogue, peace, reform, revolution. I spoke to him for a while tonight (not last night). His name is Alejandro and he speaks very good English. He was an engineer with the Merchant Marine and loved Philadelphia when he was there. An amazing and gentle man... I hope to visit him again before I leave.
A bad seque from hunger strike to what I had for dinner, but I went to a little place that served a soup-stew that is a specialty of Bogota - ajiaco. It was very, very comforting... potatoes and chicken and capers and corn... I slept well that night.
Part 2: Sunday
Today was the day of the Bogota Bike Tour. (bogotabiketours.com) We left at 10:30am and didn´t get back until around 4! Mike, a journalist from CA who has lived in South America for about 15 years, runs the bike tours. He was great and it was great. We went to a lot of places that you would normally not go (like the red light district... prostitution is legal in Colombia but confined to certain "tolerance zones".) It was also the Ciclovia, which is a 30 year old tradition of closing down many of the main streets to cars on Sundays and holidays so that bicyclists and pedestrians can roam freely. Amazing.
Towards the end of the tour we stopped at a market so we could sample some of the numerous fruits Colombia has to offer... tree tomato, lulo, soursop, ground cherry, some amazing version of passion fruit... Then we went across the street to a tejo parlour. Tejo is the national sport of Colombia and consists of tossing a lead weight at a wall of mud in which is embedded trangular pieces of paper filled with gunpowder while drinking lots of beer. Make any sense? No, not really. But it is fun. We stayed an played quite a few rounds, thought none of us scored. I was the only person who made any gunpowder explode, and that was because I threw my weight so far off the mark is skidded across the floor and hit some paper-filled gunpowder that was lying to the side.
I have to say: it is a boy´s fantasy game. You get covered with mud, you throw heavy objects, you make things explode, you drink beer, and they have the urinals in this particular parlour pretty much out in the open so you barely have to stop playing while you pee.
It started to pour rain while we were playing tejo, but eventually we donned plastic ponchos Mike had brought along and rode back. Went to my hostel (Hospedje Cacique Sugamuxi). Got dry, took a little nap, and then headed out. What was great when I went out walking this time was that the tour had oriented me to the city... had a tamal in a little bakery on the way to Montserrate, bought a thing whose name I forget from a little old lady street vendor... two wafers filled with caramel (forget the Colombian name...), ended up back on the main drag of the city (Carrera 7) that w had ridden down while on bikes. Folks were still out walking and shopping a little. Went to a supermarket and picked up some things and just looked around. Then headed back towards Plaza Bolivar, stopped in to Iglesia de San Francisco on the way. The oldest church in Bogota, I think, with a magnificnet gold altar. Mass was just finishing up.
And then got to the Plaza Bolivar and met Alejandro. Sat and spoke with him for a while, along with Alejo (from Argentina) and Juan Carlos (from Ecuador). Then we were joined by a guy I´ll call MexTel, based on the logo on his windbreaker. A homeless man, a drunk or a drug addict, who spoke good English and had also been a Merchant Marine. Jumped ship and went and worked in Texas for a number of years. One of those people who you know are trying to scam you, and is also sort of annoying, but also interesting and worth a little of your time.
But eventually Alejo and Juan Carlos and I left, and wandered around La Candelaria for a while. And then we headed back to our hostels. At Sugamuxi, I had a nice talk with the sister of the owner, who had lived in the States for 10 years when she and her husband were students. She loved Philadelphia, though they lived in the South. The family who owns or runs this place are so, so, so nice. You really feel like a member of the family. I also met the couple´s son earlier. He is visiting from Germany with his (German) boyfriend and helping the family redecorate the place. A real sweetie.
So, slept well again. And now I am going to go to sleep once more...
I really love it here. People are so, so nice. So... simpatico. Looking forward to my last day in Bogota tomorrow, then heading down to meet up with Gwen...
Part 1: Saturday
Arrived in Bogota yesterday afternoon and quickly found out that the rumours are true: Colombians are incredibly friendly and kind people. My taxi driver from the airport was a hoot - very patient with my non-existant Spanish - and very eager to just be... a really nice guy.
Likewise the folks who run my quirky little hostel. It seems like nothing is more pleasing than trying to figure out what I am saying...
I am staying in La Candelaria, the old quarter of Bogota, which has a lot of hostels, colleges and students, stray dogs, stray hippies, and grafitti. And beautiful little buildings, hilly streets, cobblestones... After I arrived I took a walk around, had an empanada. Storm clouds were coming in, so I went back to the hostel and took a nap. Once it stopped raining really heavily, I went back out. Walked around La Candelaira again, ending up at the Plaza de Chorro (I think that is the name) - supposedly the place where Bogota was founded, now a little square where students and travellers hang out. Had my first Colombian juice - lulo fruit with milk. Kind of like an orange mixed with a kiwi, but sour so they put sugar in. Then I went and had a canelazo de aquardiente in a really cute little bar on the square... tiny and wooden with a fireplace and a chair right by the door and, once again, the nicest of people. The canelazo is a hot drink with suagr and cinnamon and this one had an anise liqour in it.
Then I walked down to the Plaza Bolivar, the main giant square where the government is. It was all lit up and very impressive, with just a few people wandering about. (But lots and lots of police.) An older man had camped out at the foot of the statue of Bolivar. He is on day 19 of a hunger strike in order to encourage dialogue, peace, reform, revolution. I spoke to him for a while tonight (not last night). His name is Alejandro and he speaks very good English. He was an engineer with the Merchant Marine and loved Philadelphia when he was there. An amazing and gentle man... I hope to visit him again before I leave.
A bad seque from hunger strike to what I had for dinner, but I went to a little place that served a soup-stew that is a specialty of Bogota - ajiaco. It was very, very comforting... potatoes and chicken and capers and corn... I slept well that night.
Part 2: Sunday
Today was the day of the Bogota Bike Tour. (bogotabiketours.com) We left at 10:30am and didn´t get back until around 4! Mike, a journalist from CA who has lived in South America for about 15 years, runs the bike tours. He was great and it was great. We went to a lot of places that you would normally not go (like the red light district... prostitution is legal in Colombia but confined to certain "tolerance zones".) It was also the Ciclovia, which is a 30 year old tradition of closing down many of the main streets to cars on Sundays and holidays so that bicyclists and pedestrians can roam freely. Amazing.
Towards the end of the tour we stopped at a market so we could sample some of the numerous fruits Colombia has to offer... tree tomato, lulo, soursop, ground cherry, some amazing version of passion fruit... Then we went across the street to a tejo parlour. Tejo is the national sport of Colombia and consists of tossing a lead weight at a wall of mud in which is embedded trangular pieces of paper filled with gunpowder while drinking lots of beer. Make any sense? No, not really. But it is fun. We stayed an played quite a few rounds, thought none of us scored. I was the only person who made any gunpowder explode, and that was because I threw my weight so far off the mark is skidded across the floor and hit some paper-filled gunpowder that was lying to the side.
I have to say: it is a boy´s fantasy game. You get covered with mud, you throw heavy objects, you make things explode, you drink beer, and they have the urinals in this particular parlour pretty much out in the open so you barely have to stop playing while you pee.
It started to pour rain while we were playing tejo, but eventually we donned plastic ponchos Mike had brought along and rode back. Went to my hostel (Hospedje Cacique Sugamuxi). Got dry, took a little nap, and then headed out. What was great when I went out walking this time was that the tour had oriented me to the city... had a tamal in a little bakery on the way to Montserrate, bought a thing whose name I forget from a little old lady street vendor... two wafers filled with caramel (forget the Colombian name...), ended up back on the main drag of the city (Carrera 7) that w had ridden down while on bikes. Folks were still out walking and shopping a little. Went to a supermarket and picked up some things and just looked around. Then headed back towards Plaza Bolivar, stopped in to Iglesia de San Francisco on the way. The oldest church in Bogota, I think, with a magnificnet gold altar. Mass was just finishing up.
And then got to the Plaza Bolivar and met Alejandro. Sat and spoke with him for a while, along with Alejo (from Argentina) and Juan Carlos (from Ecuador). Then we were joined by a guy I´ll call MexTel, based on the logo on his windbreaker. A homeless man, a drunk or a drug addict, who spoke good English and had also been a Merchant Marine. Jumped ship and went and worked in Texas for a number of years. One of those people who you know are trying to scam you, and is also sort of annoying, but also interesting and worth a little of your time.
But eventually Alejo and Juan Carlos and I left, and wandered around La Candelaria for a while. And then we headed back to our hostels. At Sugamuxi, I had a nice talk with the sister of the owner, who had lived in the States for 10 years when she and her husband were students. She loved Philadelphia, though they lived in the South. The family who owns or runs this place are so, so, so nice. You really feel like a member of the family. I also met the couple´s son earlier. He is visiting from Germany with his (German) boyfriend and helping the family redecorate the place. A real sweetie.
So, slept well again. And now I am going to go to sleep once more...
