I miss home and my people more today than usual. I'm also hungover. I'm not sure how related these things are.
This post doesn't really have a theme and it may not be very entertaining to read -- I just want to get a few things noted down before I forget.
On Thursday night after Francisco took me back to the hostel, I went out to a karaoke bar with one of the guys that works at the hostel, Anton. I wasn't sure if I should sing or not, and then Anton convinced me that I should sing a song in Spanish (even though there were totally people singing Britney Spears and Adele there, and I bet they would have been into some classic rock like Sweet Child of Mine), so I said I would try to prepare one for another karaoke night. We drank three different kinds of BBC beers (they are basically the official sponsor of my week in Bogota), laughed a lot, and I tried my best to practice Spanish. Karaoke ended around midnight, so then we headed back to the hostel. He grabbed a couple more beers from the fridge, and we stayed up talking until about 1:30am. During that conversation, I found out he is a Game of Thrones fan and his favorite characters are all the darkest ones: Ramsay, Joffrey, and Cersei. *Sigh*... I miss Game of Thrones.
FRIDAY
On Friday, I finally showered. (The last time I showered was when I was in Olympia, on Monday.) I think I was procrastinating it because I was afraid the water wouldn't be very warm, but I am also trying to just lean into the greasy hippie traveler look. The water was warm-ish but not hot, so it was no problem to limit myself to the 5 minute max.
Then, I made another attempt at getting that GD Brazil visa taken care of. I mentioned the hassle I was going through to get the visa to someone and said, "Brazil better be worth it!" and whoever I was talking to replied, "oh, Rio is one of the most beautiful places in the world, you have to go." So there you have it. I will make this happen.
After enjoying a lazy morning and getting a superb latte and ham panini at a bookstore-cafe about a block from the hostel, I got yet another taxi, and arrived at the Brazilian embassy around 2:00. I had my passport, the cash, and they already had all the other documents. However, I knew that I had to ask one final question before I handed over the 608,000 COP: "Will the visa be ready by Tuesday? I'm leaving Bogota on Tuesday evening." Nope. The visa wouldn't be ready until NEXT Friday, which means it takes a full week to process, and I would need my passport for ID for the flights to Cartegena, Medellin, etc.
IT'S OKAY THOUGH -- I can try again in Lima, Peru. And if I can't get it in Lima, I can try again in La Paz, Bolivia. That's the nice thing about Brazil being the fourth country I'm visiting -- there are a few opportunities for me to get this visa figured out. It's alllll gonna be okay.
I knew Francisco was working again on Friday, so I swung by over there to hang out for a bit (he told me I should, I wasn't being a creeper). Eventually the bar got too busy for him to just keep talking to me, so we exchanged numbers to get in touch with WhatsApp the next day and hang out over coffee or beer. I was having a hard time getting a cab (it was rush hour) and I needed to get some food in my tummy anyway, so I went across the street to Rock and Roll Circus, which was full of American rock and roll memorabilia and playing music videos. I had a quesadilla. It was okay. I need to start eating healthier and drinking less BBC soon.
By the time I got a taxi and got back home, I didn't feel like going out, and the hostel was surprisingly quiet for a Friday night (maybe everyone had already gone out?) I was on my computer in the living room and someone told me they were going to turn the light off but it was only 10:00pm.... strange, but okay -- I needed to get up early-ish anyway.
SATURDAY
On Saturday morning,, Jeannie and her boyfriend Felipe met me at the hostel for a day of Bogota site-seeing. (Jeannie is a friend of Mikyes, who used to date my friend Martina. When Mikyes came to my last comedy show and found out I was traveling to Colombia, he put me in touch with Jeannie, who met me at the airport and helped get me to my hostel, has been checking in with me to make sure I'm doing all right, and in general has been an absolute blessing!)
First, we went to the Museo de Botero.
Botero is most famous for his paintings (and sculptures) of very round figures. Exhibit A: Botero's rendition of the Mona Lisa:
Connected to the Botero museum is the Casa de Moneda (House of Coin), which is a museum about the history of Colombia's currency. I know it doesn't sound that interesting, but it was actually pretty fascinating to see all the old coins and bills, and be reminded that money evolves just like everything else. (By the way, when are we rolling out those Harriet Tubmans?)
Then we went to the political plaza area. Felipe told me that all cities in Latin America have a plaza in the middle that includes a church, the governing house, and the armory. I remember this from Mexico and Nicaragua as well, so he's probably not exaggerating. That's just how the Europeans (the Spaniards in Colombia's case) built their colonial cities.
Then we got lunch and I had the most amazing Colombian soup -- ajiaco. It has shredded chicken, potatoes, and capers in a creamy broth with half a cob of corn on a stick and a side of avocado. So good, but a little pricey, relatively speaking... where we went, we paid about $22.000 COP ($8 USD) for a bowl of it. I've been posting photos to a Facebook group, Michelle's Bonderman Trip Photos & Updates, so be sure to join that if you like having visuals for things (I've got photos of ajiaco and other meals on there).
After lunch, we went to Montserrate -- I'm not sure if that name refers to the mountain itself, or to the church that sits atop the mountain, but either way, the views were incredible. There was a path with Stations of the Cross statues as well, and I was told that during Holy Week, lots of people will come to do their stations of the cross meditations there. Montserrate also has a curious myth: it is believed that couples who go there together won't get married. (I assume this doesn't apply to couples that book Monterrante for their actual wedding -- apparently, it is a pretty popular venue for that.)
Then, it was time to get back to the hostel. Francisco said that he got off work around 4, so we were going to meet up around then for a couple hours before it was time for me to hop on the Party Bus and head to Andres Carne de Res (a very popular restaurant about a hour away, in a city just outside Bogota). However, when I asked one of the hostel workers about the Party Bus and what time it was leaving, I was informed that there actually wouldn't be one. I was bummed to miss Andres Carne de Res because it was so highly recommended by Jeannie, but I was not too bummed about the missed Party Bus experience.
Francisco arrived around 5:30, and we walked to a nearby bar that is owned by the same people as BBC, but called "Irish Pub." So it had the charm of an Irish pub, but much better beer (#sorrynotsorry, Guiness!) Somehow we ended up being there until 1:30am ... hence the hangover today.
SUNDAY
I tried sleeping in as much as possible but my hungover body was craving water and food. I got up around 11, got dressed, and made my way to the place where we had gotten ajiaco on Saturday. The ajiaco is the second most expensive dish on the menu, so I tried one of the cheaper ones - a pork and bean soup. It was good, and certainly did the trick of helping with my hangover, but not something worth knowing the official name of and encouraging you all to look up recipes.
After lunch, my belly was so full and I was still so sleep deprived; I could barely keep my eyes open. I came back to the hostel, started writing this blog, and then got a message from Jeannie that she and Felipe were on their way to the hostel. I was supposed to ask if I could check out a couple nights early to stay at Jeannie's instead, so I rushed to pack up my things and check out.
(A five-night stay at the hostel ended up costing about $50 USD. I'm finding that ~$10 a night is pretty achievable in Colombia, whether it's at hostels or through AirBnb. I'll try to dedicate an entire blog post to travel costs at some point -- I think you would find it very encouraging to know how little you can get away with spending somewhere if you're willing to stay in hostels or AirBnb instead of hotels, and in cities that may be less modern but still have a lot of great history and delicious food and plenty of beautiful things to see).
After I checked out of the hostel, Jeannie, Felipe, and I went to the Museo de Oro (Museum of Gold), which was a great low-cost activity since all museums in Bogota have free entry on Sunday. I'm not sure what exactly to say about the museum... it had a lot of gold artifacts. The collection was cool, but actually a bit redundant (you can only see so many gold nose rings and breastplates before you get the idea). The presentation, however, was very striking. I was impressed with the museum overall. I also found this little tidbit amusing:
"Coca was used by chieftains and shamans to help them to think and to renew and transmit sacred
knowledge, because of the effect it had in activating the powers of concentration, memory, and speech."
"Coca" users just don't get the same respect these days as they used to.
After the museum, they took me to a more affluent neighborhood in northern Bogota, where we got some coffee at Juan Valdez Cafe (which is basically latin america Starbucks) and I ordered a small mocha, forgetting that in places that are not the U.S., small might actually mean small (they listed the volume in milliliters, but of course I'm used to ounces, so this didn't clue me in either).
Then, we walked around the "T-Zone" which is an area of restaurants, bars, clubs, and expensive shops on two pedestrian-only streets (one perpendicular to the other). Jeannie stopped to get a traditional snack at a food cart labeled "Dulce & Sabor" (Sweet & Savory); I'm not sure what the snack is called, but it had thin strips of mango drizzled with lime juice and sprinkled with salt and pepper. I had a taste, and I would definitely get one of my own next time. Mango, lime, salt, pepper = yummy apart, and yummy together.
Then, we headed to Felipe's place for dinner: spaghetti with chicken and a side of bread. Simple, but delicious. After dinner, Felipe asked me to look over his resume and cover letter for a job he was applying to (for an American company), which was great for me, because FINALLY I was able to be helpful and offer something in return to these people who have been such gracious, welcoming, and generous hosts to me. Felipe has already put me in touch with his brother, who lives in Cartagena, my next stop (his brother doesn't speak English, but it will be good for me to go without the language crutch for a few social events anyway.)
Some thoughts about hospitality
Their hospitality has really got me thinking about hospitality as a value that I would like to prioritize as a person, and one that I would like to see as more of a national priority as well. It is hard and scary and uncomfortable to be in a new place, and whatever your reason for being there -- provided the reason isn't to do harm to the place or its people -- I think it is good/right/virtuous, etc. for locals to make a point of doing what they can to help someone feel welcome and safe. It reminds me of when Canada was in the process of receiving thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of refugees from Syria, and Justin Trudeau greeted them at the airport saying, "You are home. You are safe at home now." It almost brings tears to my eyes -- the kind of tears that you get when you are overwhelmed with gratitude, and you are nearly in disbelief that someone, especially someone you don't know, would show you unconditional love and acceptance like that. I am sure that one of the ways travel shapes people for the better is by putting them in positions of vulnerability as they encounter unfamiliar territory over and over again.
If someone responds to your vulnerability and naïveté by stealing from you or taking advantage of you, you learn to overcome that adversity and figure out how to make do with what you have left. You learn that even when people do harm to you, you can handle it.
If someone responds to your vulnerability with generosity and kindness -- offering safety, food, a warm place to stay, and treating you like a special guest rather than a burden -- you remember that sometimes humans really do choose to treat each other as family, that strangers can take care of each other.
I look forward to being back in my home country and being able to practice hospitality toward others the way that Jeannie and Felipe have toward me -- I am so, so grateful for them.
Thoughts that don't have any particular theme
I can't believe it's been less than a week since this travel adventure began. I am doing fine so far, but it's a bit overwhelming (and exciting, of course) to think of how much more there will be... this is only the first city in the first country! When I feel frustrated with my Spanish, it really helps to remember that, though. It's been less than a week. There is lots of time to improve. According to Duolingo, I am now 17% fluent. I find this very hard to believe, but I have to admit, the fast progress is keeping me motivated.
Speaking of Spanish, I have noticing (mostly in my conversations with Francisco, but also with Jeannie) that they will want to know how to say something in English, like "what's the word for when someone is a great leader who inspires passion in people with what they say?" And almost every time, I have to say, "ummm, there isn't a word for that, or I don't know the word in English for that." It's just interesting to me how some languages develop a whole word for specific ideas like that and other languages just have to talk around the concept.
Something else I've noticed is that I don't feel unsafe at all here. I am still taking precautions, of course, but it certainly doesn't feel "dangerous country travel waiver"-level scary at all. I would think maybe my "resting bitch face" could be intimidating people, but I'm pretty sure that most of the time, I've been walking around with a goofy grin...
My apologies for the fact that this post has been all over the place -- I'm sure my writing style will evolve as I do this more, but for now I'm just trying to get thoughts down and I hope it isn't reading too much like a diary (as someone who has read her own past diaries, I know it does not make for pleasant reading).