Montevideo, Uruguay

A few months ago (or actually a few weeks ago... who am I kidding) if you asked me to point to Uruguay on a map I probably would have searched Central America or, sadly enough, Eastern Europe. Yep, that´s how much I knew about Uruguay. It turns out Uruguay is actually South America´s smallest Spanish speaking country and it´s sandwiched between powerhouses Brazil and Argentina. No wonder the country is often overlooked. Anyway, Uruguay also has gorgeous beaches and is only a short 45 minute flight from Buenos Aires. Perfection! How could I pass it up!?! So, I spent the last two days in the country´s capital, Montevideo, and, not gonna lie, I think I even prefer Montevideo over Santiago, Chile.

Montevideo is like three cities in one. The perimeter of the city is surrounded by the Rambla (Montevideo´s Lake Shore Drive). To one side of the Rambla are tall office buildings that make the city look like a distant relative of Chicago. To the other side of the Rambla are sugar sand beaches and a running/biking path that puts Chicago´s path to shame. It really much more resembles The Strand in LA. (Quick side note: Montevideo has a huge running culture. Nike and Reebok stores glitter between office buildings and the running path is always in use by people of all ages. I even saw three Nike Human Race jerseys worn by people looking all types of fresh and loose running down the path during my two day stay. I soooo wanted to trot along with everyone... grrr backpack for not being big enough to hold my running shoes and one little running outfit!) Anyway, only three or so blocks in from the Rambla, the city totally transforms. Small colonial style buildings and large shady trees line cobble stone streets while Clydesdales clip clop from building to building collecting garbage bags in their trailers. The tranquility and old-world atmosphere made me feel like I was on Mackinac Island or something. Montevideo (a.k.a. Chicago-LA-Mackinac) has everything: beaches, a running path, city bustle on the exterior and tranquil spaces on the interior. What more could you want? Paradise!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Wednesday October 28, 2009

On October 28 I saw the first cloudy day of my vacation... and it was cold. Seriously cold. So I wrapped up in a long-sleeved shirt, a sweatshirt and a scarf and at 5am (3am Chicago/Peru time) trudged to Buenos Aires´ teeny tiny airport reserved for domestic-ish flights . There, after going through minimal screening, ¨No worries about removing liquids from your bag or electronics... We are all on the honor system here!¨ I was ushered out to the tarmac to walk up the stairs of the world´s smallest plane (Did I mention I am terrified of flying?). So me and the twenty other passengers (I am not exaggerating here) took our seats and off we went dipping and weaving as the wind batted our little tin can around. As you may have guessed, we did land safely but I was disappointed that my 45 minute flight didn´t transport me to a tropical jungle of warmth and sun. Nevertheless, still bundled in the only warm clothes I brought, I went to the beach, plopped down and started reading. Oh yeah, this leg of the trip was going to be all about relaxation. No museums or tours for me. I only wanted to see the beach, my book and a few good looking Uruguayans... nada más.

So considering the conditions of my first few hours in Montevideo the pictures are a bit dreary and they definitely don´t do Montevideo justice. Sorry!

Birds on rocks in water... I promise it was a lot prettier in person.

Guy fishing. This guy was only the first of many to set up their ginormous fishing poles. I should have asked them what they were trying to catch... some sort of sea creature I think.

So eventually I passed out like a hobo on the beach (totally safe... promise!) and when I woke up the sun was shining and it got super hot super fast. So I went back to my hostel to change clothes and while I was there I met a fun/crazy Brazilian (Brazilians are all over Chile/Argentina/Uruguay... and they all have the same funny accent when they speak Spanish that makes it hard for me to decipher if they are speaking Portuguese or Spanish... or even English to me. Super tricky.) Anyway, she invited me to a barbecue that night with her and her Australian boyfriend. Real food!?! I will be there! Ahhh, the joys of traveling solo.... I get to meet really interesting people that I don´t think I´d meet otherwise. I love it.

But before the barbecue I returned to the beach for a little more reading and sun.

Walking to the beach. I did this photo on self-timer so it´s definitely not the best but watchya gonna do?

My things on the beach. Good times. So relaxing.

And then back to the hostel once more before nightfall for a little food buying and barbecue action.

We ended up going out and buying a ridiculous amount of meat. We bought the ribs pictured above, plus three delicious steaks and a couple sausages... all for about $10. Crazy, right? Besides all the meat we also bought tomatoes, corn, green peppers, onions and garlic and were able to grill it all up on the roof of the hostel. It was probably the best meal I´ve had in ages. Please note that I did not eat potatoes or rice. Seriously, best meal ever.

Natali (fun/crazy brazilian), me and Lu (another Brazilian).

Natali and her Australian boyfriend, Matt. Matt has been sailing around the world since April (no joke). After he´s done with South America he and three or four other guys are heading to South Africa. Can you imagine? Anyway, really cool guy.

So that was my first day in Montevideo. Good times. Good people. Perfect.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Thursday October 29, 2009

So day two in Montevideo didn´t really involve much at all but I was happy. There´s just not much to write about. I woke up, had some breakfast and rented a bike to ride around the perimeter of the city. I was perfectly content and stopped a couple strangers to take a picture of me. The sad thing is, my camera has completely run out of batteries (I can plug my battery charger in in Peru but it doesn´t work here... and my converter doesn´t work either) so I can´t even upload the picture to a computer. It breaks my heart. Tomorrow I´m going to head out and try to find another converter. A guy I was talking to in the airport said they´re really common in Buenos Aires but we´ll see. Anyway, I´ll post the photo tomorrow if everything goes as planned. Keep your fingers crossed. So yeah, day two was food, biking and then off to the airport to catch my little plane once more. Luckily this time it was all blue skies and smooth sailing.

So a little wrap up on Uruguay: Gorgeous! While I usually prefer city life, Montevideo was a good change of pace for a little while. Next time I go to Uruguay (and oh there will be a next time) I want to head up to Punta del Este, which is only a two hour drive from Montevideo and supposedly has even better beaches. I guess it´s where all the beautiful and wealthy Argentinians go to party it up. Sounds like fun. I definitely could spend a whole week in Uruguay alone bouncing from city to city. So now I am in Buenos Aires again. Tonight I am taking it easy but I have two full days to roam before heading back to Lima on Sunday.

Hasta luego!

Santiago, Chile

If Europe and South America had a baby, baby would look something like Chile. If baby then, for one reason or another, had a little too much to drink, baby would sound like a Chileno. "Buenodiaprecio..." Yep, total drunk baby. Still, despite baby's slurred speech she's just beautiful enough that I figured I would keep her around for awhile.

Chilean Coast

While Bogota, Colombia was pure latin spice, Santiago is something else all together. A forgotten European city.

My hostel located in Barrio Paris Londres

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Saturday October 24, 2009

Okay, so I feel like such a wimp. The plan for day one in Santiago was to arrive and go out and listen to some fabulous Chilean music.... but I was really really really tired when I arrived (tear tear) and after trying to sleep in a bumpy bus riding from Huancayo to Lima the night before, waiting in the airport for countless hours (I arrived in Lima at 5:30am and my flight was at 12:30), and flying in an airplane I just couldn't think of anything better to do than to wander the city a little bit before retiring to my lovely, quit hostel with a Corona (first time I've seen one in several months). So sorry, I wasn't too excited day one but here are some photos.

Modern architecture in Santiago. At night lazers images are shot up on to the side of the building.

Central Santiago.

Statue at sunset.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sunday October 25, 2009

So it turns out everything closes on Sundays... everything but the museums and parks. So that's exactly what I did museum, museum, museum, park, museum, museum, park, museum. A highlight of my museum tour would have to be the Pre-Columbian Art Museum.

Apparently gods dress themselves in the skins of other creatures: men, women, monkeys. This god just so happens to be dressed like a monkey.

Creatures covering up their jiblets.

Apparently, when you die (in pre-Columbian times of course) you get one of these above your grave sight. Sweet!

I also got the chance to hike Cerro San Cristobal... Gorgeous!

View from the top of the mountain

I also got to see this crazy catwalk during my tour of the city of Sunday. An architect's dream...

Crazy house in Santiago.

One of the many parks in Santiago.

After a long day of walking, it was finally time to eat (all day long I'd just been gorging myself on ice cream... one of these days I am going to have to figure out how to feed myself). Anyway, like I said, everything was closed so I searched my travel book and found a fabulous pizza place (and one of the only places open on Sundays) in a neighborhood far away from my own. So I decided to walk it instead of taking the metro. Why not, right? What else was I going to do? So anyway, an hour and a half later, I finally arrived (my feet are still crippled... I think it might be best to amputate my toes). So ya, I arrived and asked for a table for one.

"One!?!" hostess guy replied.

"Ya, one."

"You're alone?"

"Ya alone... table for one please"

And on and on in circles we went. I don't think people were meant to travel alone. For example, I wanted to go white water rafting. At first it was priced slightly over $100 for eight hours of rafting, a meal, blah, blah, blah... but then, when they found out it was just me, they hiked up the price to over $400. Seriously!?! Also, earlier in the day on Sunday I came across a travel agency, ran instead and tried to utter the words "I would like to go on a tour of... you know, wine farm..." Turns out the correct term would be "viña - vineyard." Anyway, once I finally got my idea across the tour guide set me up... only to totally take it back later. "Sorry, I just talked to my boss and we can't do it for just one person." Ugh! Oh well, actually, the wine tour ended up working out perfectly. I got to pay a low price, see more than what I was first scheduled to see and only had to do it all in Spanish. Totally good with me. Anyway, back to my meal. It was delicious! I ate the whole pizza and had an espresso martini as well. Love it. Then, I trekked the hour and a half back home, arrived around 11pm, and passed out. Nice!

Vegetable Pizza

Espresso Martini

Photo of people hanging out in one of the many parks and green spaces in Santiago that I came across on my way back from dinner. I think Peru could learn something from Chile (and Bogota for that matter). Green spaces and places to run, bike and roller blade make all the difference... seriously. I think in undergrad we even learned about the effects of having green spaces and trees around housing projects. It lowers the crime rate. Anyway, this was the first time I have smelled greenery in a long time. Being in Santiago strangely transported me back to Champaign.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Monday October 26, 2009

Viña day!!! In the morning, I met up at the travel agency and was taken (along with a couple Brazilian girls) to Casas del Bosque, a boutique vineyard and winery. I had such a great time!

Beautiful beautiful barrels of goodness.


Baby Pinot Noir grapes.

Me and the barrels.

Trying some wines and totally pretending like I know what I am doing.

Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah and some mixy wine (I totally forgot the name but it has four different types of grapes).

And while we were there, two women from California (San Diego to be exact. Do you know how hard I had to hold back the, "Do you know my Chrissy Barthel!?!") also came for the tour. Apparently they were drinking Chilean wine one night and decided, "Hey, let's go to Chile and try wine down there!!!" They were a lot of fun and it was so nice to see some Americans!"

After the winery, which took about five hours or so, we went to see the town of Valparaiso. It was a super crowded/somewhat poor port town.

Me and my Brazilian friends, Fernanda and Milene overlooking the port in Valparaiso.

Lunch! Yummy fresh fish right from the sea.

I am totally addicted to colorful S. American houses. If I ever buy a house in the U.S. I'm painting it lime green for sure.

After Valparaiso we went to Viña del Mar, a super ritzy ocean town. Apparently, the statue above is the only statue that's been taken off of Easter Island. Rummer has it that if you run around him three times and he smiles, you'll have good luck. Unfortunately, there was no smile for me. How sad!

Beach! And look at the people running!

Beach shot two. I could have spent a whole day there.

So I ended my last full day in Santiago going to the Opera. Bet you didn't know that I was all types of fancy like that. Anyway, it was a good time. I saw La Italiana en Argel, about a bunch of Italian slaves in Turkey who dress just like Audrey Hepburn. Very funny... and I enjoyed the music too but I couldn't help but think of Adam Sandler as Opera man when they sang. I mean seriously, if the whole comedy thing doesn't work out Adam Sandler could totally go into Opera. I am sure of it.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Tuesday October 27, 2009

So today has been an interesting day, to say the least. I had my first travel issue ever.... an ATM ate my debit card (a.k.a. my only access to cash). I can't say I handled it to well either and kept breaking into tears (f0llowed by laughter because I could hear how ridiculous my broken spanish sobs sounded) as I would try to explain that my card was stuck inside the machine. Anyway, all 500 of the silly Chilenos that I spoke to about my card could not do a thing, so I had no other choice but to leave my ATM card in Santiago. Thank goodness I have a few other credit cards and was able to talk to the kind people at VISA who gave me my pin number. Ahh, crisis adverted.

So now I am in Buenos Aires just for the night and tomorrow I'm heading up to Montevideo, Uruguay for a little fun on the beach! Cross your fingers that I am travel snafu free from here on out.

To be continued....

Chile/Argentina/Uruguay Fabulousness

Just wanted to let you know that I am heading out to explore a little more of S. America tomorrow. Here´s my itinerary:

Saturday October 24 - Lima/Santiago, Chile

Sunday October 25 - Santiago

Monday October 26 - Santiago

Tuesday October 27 - Santiago/Buenos Aires, Argentina

Wedensday October 28 - Buenos Aires/Montevideo, Uruguay

Thursday October 29 - Montevideo/Buenos Aires

Friday October 30 - Buenos Aires

Saturday October 31 - Buenos Aires/Lima, Perú

I´m hoping to update my blog every couple days with my travel adventures so make sure to check back often.

Ya me voy! Ciao!

Adventures in Micro-lending - Working for PROMYPES

Every morning starts the same... with kisses. Buenos dias, May (kiss). Hola, Sherli (kiss). ¿Qué tal, Howard (kiss)? ¿Comó estás, Maga (kiss)? and so on and so on. Eleven times to be exact. For this reason I have learned to be the first person at work. This way people have to come up and greet me. I don´t have to make the rounds. Selfish? Maybe, but I´m from the U.S. and not used to such, um, closeness. I can only imagine greeting people like this at my old job. Awkward! Still this is only one of the many changes I have come upon working for a micro-finance organization in Perú... one of the many welcome changes.

Huancayo

My new place of employment is small, maybe 800 sq ft. It is composed of a reception area and a conference room. There are no individual offices or cubes delineating hierarchy. In the morning everyone simply trickles into the conference room and seats themselves around an eight-person table. Around us, in the conference room, are white boards, poised and ready to display the cases of potential clients.

From left to right: Karina, Jessica, Victor and Magaly organization receipts for the days collections.

First up to bat today to present a potential client to comité (a.k.a. me and my co-workers) is Jonathan. He floods the white boards with green marker. His potential client is a 28 year old woman named Rosario who rents out her car six days a week for approximately US$10 per day. We, comité, review Rosario´s financial statements and learn that between her and her husband they are able to net an income of about US$100 per month. Rosario would like to borrow US$250 from PROMYPES to fix the suspension of her car and would be willing to repay the loan over 16 weeks incurring a 5% per month interest rate. Comité pokes and prods at Jonathan´s case until they find a weak spot - Rosario´s business has only been around for two months. Not long enough. Frustrated, Jonathan sits down. Next up is Jessica.

Jonathan defending his case.

Jessica presents a 32 year old bodega owner, Ida, who sells anything from vegetables to beer to wooden and glass shelving units. Ida is single with children and is able to net about US$100 per month. She is asking for a mere US$170 so that she can buy more rice to sell to her customers. Ida would be willing to repay the loan over 12 weeks, one payment per week, with a 5% per month interest rate. Comité is able to dig a little deeper with Jessica´s potential client. Does Ida own her own home? In sorts, she and her children sleep in the back of her bodega. What is the community´s perception of Ida? Good. She is a well respected, hard working woman in the eyes of her neighbors. Does she pay her bills on time? Yes, although she doesn´t have many gastos familiares without electricity running through her home/bodega. This throws comité for a loop. If she doesn´t have electricity, then she is only able to keep her store open until 6pm when the sun disappears below the horizon. Is that enough time for Ida to make a reasonable profit? Comité ultimately decides not to hold it against her. What bothers them more is that Ida´s brother-in-law is already in PROMYES´ database of clients and he is a mora, slang for someone who pays late. If Ida´s brother-in-law can´t pay on time what are the chances that Ida will do the same? Comité hymns and haws for a while before deciding to accept Jessica´s client. Jessica leaves to deliver the good news to Ida.

Jessica preparing to present her potential client.

It always surprises me who comité decides to accept and reject as analysis is based more on gut instinct and the clients integrity rather than the clients ability to repay the loan. In other words, what the potential client´s neighbor has to say about the client has much more influence in comité than the potential client´s liquidity or pro forma debt coverage. But that is one of the defining characteristics of micro-lending. It is a business based on social trust.

Comité fills most if not all of the morning work hours from 8am to 1pm. After a 2 hour siesta we return to work at 3pm and from 3 to 7 we takes to the streets for cobrando (the collection of loan payments) and promocionando (the promotion of PROMYPES). We walk the neighborhoods of Huancayo, stopping in many of the shops along the way, handing out business cards, chatting, visiting PROMYPES´ existing clients and simply getting to know our neighbors in Huancayo better.

Jonathon and Michael promocionando in the streets of Huancayo.

Jonathan learning more about his potential client - a man who owns a blood analysis laboratory.

Uñas - a nearby town where I have gone to promote PROMYPES.

Victor collecting a payment from a local butcher in Uñas.

Through these processes - comité, cobrando and promocionanco - PROMYPES has accumulated 150 active clients whose average préstamo [loan] is a mere US$170. And like most other micro-finance organizations, PROMYPES has an unreal repayment rate: 99%.

Although there are a few thing PROMYPES does that I don´t agree with (ex: they refuse to lend start-up capital, they won´t take in older business owners as clients, and they, without exception, charge an exorbitant 5% per month interest rate) working has given me purpose. I actually enjoy going to work every day. Not only do I get to work with numbers but I get to help people (and mostly women!!!) in the process. This is exactly what I want to do with my life... So whats the next step? Finding a way to stay in the micro-finance industry after my job ends in December. Then, eventually, I would love to go back to school and get my PhD in third world economics (if I can convince some poor school that I am smart enough) and end my working years teaching. Now I´ve just got to make it happen.

Fresh and Loose

For as long as I can remember my Dad has been a runner. As a little girl I remember him coming home from his long jogs - his face slightly flushed and hair slicked with sweat. I remember his running shoes and bank robber-looking face mask he wore to brave the frigid central Illinois winters. I remember not exactly understanding why he would want to get up at a ridiculous hour in the morning, gear up and run through the dark alone but nevertheless, somewhere along the line I was inspired to follow suit ...and good thing I did because what I have learned from family and friends while running has become invaluable in life in general and indispensable in Perú specifically.

The Running Rink´s chillin´ before a silly silly fun 200 mile relay race in 2007. From left to right is Chad, Joanie, Joe, Jim, Steve, Tim and Dad.

¨Fresh and Loose¨ was a term coined by childhood family friend, Jumpin´ Johnny Kennedy. The moment of it´s inception went something like, ¨How ya feelin´ after that last run Jumpin´?¨ Johnny´s response, ¨Fresh and Loose!¨ Simple enough but from that point forward the phrase took on a life of its own. Why? Who wouldn´t want to feel as Fresh and Loose as Johnny Kennedy after a grueling run? Jumpin´ Johnny has the rare ability of being endlessly positive. He is practically the epitome of the phrase, ¨Success is 80% attitude 20% aptitude.¨ Like Jumpin´, my Dad, aunts, uncles and cousins, are all accomplished runners in their own right but it´s their positive, fresh and loose outlook on life that makes them successful. I am just lucky to be able to run with them... and pick up a few life pointers along the way.

Jumpin´Johnny finshing his second Iron Man for the year at Lady Lou.

My uncle Steve completeing the same IM. Next up for Johnny and Steve - IM AZ in a few short weeks.

So that brings me to Perú - here I am after being dropped into a small town in the Andes, in a strange culture, not knowing the language and devoid of my support group from home. Not gonna lie - things get tough here at times. Like in running, I have felt every emotion possible. Sometimes I feel like I am flying and other times I feel like I can´t take another step. Fresh and Loose has become somewhat of my mantra down here and I let it ring in my head when I´m feeling lost. Thank goodness I´ve had you guys to pound Fresh and Loose into my head over and over and over again... it´s a lesson I´m still trying to learn but I hope that I´m getting closer and closer every day.

My running group from last year just after we completed the Nike Ready to Run 20 Miler - Carrie, Jen, Sarah, Brady, Jennifer, John, Angie, Me, and Amanda.

So since this weekend is marathon weekend in Chicago I can´t help but reminisce about the fun we had last year, but I also want to say good luck to everyone running this year especially John, Sara, Angie, Bob, Brady, Ashley, Jen, Betsy, Sarah and Jumpin´Johnny. You totally should have made shirts with my face on them so that I could be with you when you run... but since you didn´t, I guess I´ll just be there with you in spirit. I hope you guys have a blast!

My best friend, Paige, and me before the marathon in 2008.

Next up for me on the running schedule is the LA Ragnar Relay in April with Paigie and ten other women. We´re going to have a great time! Then it´s Utah´s Ragnar Relay in June with some of my favorite runners including six Rink´s, my good friends Annie and Shane and a USA 25k National Champion... the name of our team? Fresh and Loose. Love it!

Also, just thought I should mention that it isn´t just us who are aware of the Fresh and Loose mentality... right now I´m reading the book Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. Christopher McDougall is an accomplished journalist - a former war correspondent for the Associated Press, he´s also written for Esquire, The New York Times, Outside, Men´s Journal and Men´s Health. His writing is equal parts brilliant and hilarious and I definitely recommend the book. Anyway, in the book, McDougall writes about his search for the ¨hidden tribe of super athletes,¨ the Tarahumara Indians, who can run for literally days without injury or following basic race strategies such as a balanced diet, tapering before a race, goo consumption, etc. Turns out that part of the reason why they can run as they do is because of their positive, loving attitude that goes for all things including running. Looks like they may be on to something...

Colombia

In a match between Colombia and Perú, Colombia wins... always. Hands down baby. No contest. The energy´s just different there. It´s electric. No wonder Colombia was voted the third happiest country on Earth in 2008 (Denmark took first place and the U.S. a distant 23rd). I totally believe it. Colombianos have a zest for living and trust me, I think they know what they´re doing.

A month or so into my six month stay in Perú, I decided that I needed to treat myself to a little vacation, which I would take at the halfway point of my stay here. Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, was an easy choice. It´s located only three hours by plane north of Lima and a friend of mine from grad school, Lina (she was getting her Masters of Finance while I was getting my MBA) lives there. So I booked a quick four day trip (a nasty habit left over from trying to work and vacation at the same time in Chicago) and last Friday my date of departure finally arrived. I took off from Lima, met up with Lina and Guillermo, my beautiful uber-generous guides to all things Bogotá, and quickly learned that the theme for my vacation was going to be, ¨... and you moved to Perú and not Colombia, why???¨ I´m still trying to think of a good answer...

my decent into Bogotá

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Friday, September 25, 2009

Friday night Lina, Guille and I went to Gaira Cafe, a bar/restaurant owned by the brother of Vallenato (a type of Colombian music) legend, Carlos Vives. Gaira Cafe is a definite must for anyone visiting Bogotá as it serves great drinks, great food and an unbelievable live show. There is really nothing better in the world than live music, especially live Colombian music. Welcome to Colombia!

Lina, Guille and me hanging out at the bar upstairs before we got a table for dinner. If you go to Gaira Cafe I recommend arriving early - this place gets packed! Luckily there is a large selection of yummy drinks that are uniquely Colombian waiting for you upstairs.

Once our table opened we ran downstairs for some delicious arepa de choclo. It kinda of tastes like sweet cornbread. This particular dish was made all the better with cheese.

We also had patacónes. Sorry, I can´t even begin to describe what´s all included but it was fabulous!

Soon after we finished eating the music started. Amazing! I have no other words... Plus, I think it would be worth staying in Colombia just a bit longer if only I could learn how to move like the woman in the above video. Once again... amazing!

...And then Guillermo Vives, the brother of Carlos Vives, took the stage. I´m in love. Swoon...

After the live show ended, music was pumped through speakers and people stood up to dance in between the tightly packed tables. Let me just stop now and say thank you, Lord, for introducing Africa to Colombia... they get along splendidly and I could not be happier to hear drums rather than the incessant panflute that I am so used to in Perú. Love, love, LOVE Colombian music - so much so that Guille gave me a CD by Bomba Estéreo due to my constant professions. I love the CD. Thanks Guille!

Guille trying to teach me how to dance. I´m afraid I´m hopeless but it´s soooo much fun!

Guille and Lina showing me how it´s really done. Very impressive!

Cute photo of Guille and Lina.

Lina and me.

Fabulous, fabulous night... I couldn´t ask for anything more for my first day in Bogotá.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Saturday, September 26, 2009

If you only have one day to see the sites of Bogotá let me show you how... It´ll be crazy but definitely worth it.

Saturday morning, Lina had things to do and people to see so Guille picked me up bright and early. And so commenced my nutty day...

Our first stop was Chorro de Quevedo, Bogotá´s origin, located in the lovely La Candelaria neighborhood. I recommend taking a quick photo and moving on... P.S. Try not to disturb the sweetly sleeping hobo in the fountain located at the bottom right hand corner of the photo.

Next stop - Museo Botero (named after the famous Colombian artist, Fernando Botero, who paints all things chubby) and Casa de Moneda. Both museums are located in the same gorgeous sprawling mansion. Anyway, before we entered the museum, Guille and I stopped at a Juan Valdez Café. Juan´s coffee could definitely rival that of Starbucks and his cafés are just about as prominent in Bogotá as Starbucks are in Chicago.

Guille suggested I try some achiras with my coffee... not gonna lie, they kind of remind me of Cheetos but they´re tasty all the same.

After finishing off our tintos and achiras we entered the museum. Above is a perfect example of one of Botero´s works of art.

Botero even painted a dead FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) leader chubby. Nice!

We also got to see some Picasso´s... I love the saturated green in this one.

... and some sculptures. I totally feel for this sculpture and her overly bulbous bee-bum.

One last picture in the museum´s gorgeous garden and Guille and I were off to our next destination...

La Puerta Falsa - a super cute, overly cramped (it only made it that much more charming!) two-story café/restaurant located across the street from Guille´s old secondary school. Here you can order any type of sweet imaginable or a tamal. My travel book recommended that I order a Chocolate Completo and so I did. A Chocolate Completo includes hot cocoa, buttered bread, cheese bread (I forgot it´s specific name), and a block of cheese. The idea is to break off pieces of the cheese, throw them in your hot cocoa and fish them out again once they´re all good and melty. Yummy!

Plaza de Bolívar was our next stop. It´s a huge plaza surrounded by many of Bogotá most important government and historical buildings. The plaza is actually quite a bit bigger than the picture lets on and the abundance of pigeons and people selling pigeon food make the plaza look a lot like a brother of Piazza San Marco in Venice.

Bogotá´s beautiful cathedral is also located in the plaza.

The president´s house, called Casa de Nariño, is located within a block or so of Plaza de Bolívar. Surrounding the president´s house on every street corner are cute baby-faced Colombian guards with big mama guns who would smile sweetly at me as they asked to search my bag. What else could I do but comply? ... they were just too cute (and they were holding those big guns).

The final stop for Guille and me was Museo del 20 de Julio. This place was almost worth skipping since the only thing worth looking at inside is the above pictured florero [vase]. But the vase supposedly spurred on Colombia´s independence so, you know, it´s a very important vase. Anyway, the story goes that a local creole, Antonio Morales, demanded the above vase from Spaniard, José Gonzáles Llorentes. This led to a fight and the vase was broken. Apparently this gave the creole an excuse to then start the revolution for independence.

At 1pm Guille and I met up with Lina. Guille took off and Lina and I started marching towards Cerro de Monserrate - a mountain whose summit is located 10,341 ft above sea level. The trail up to the top is currently closed (I was sooo looking forward to hiking it!) so Lina and I took a cable car up instead. The view was breathtaking and a must see for anyone in the vicinity of Bogotá. Below are some photos from our walk around the summit.

After walking around Cerro de Monserrate other people may have called it a day, gone home, rested and prepared themselves for a fabulous night out... but, you know, Lina and I choose another option... we walked to Museo del Oro. Why waste a single minute in Bogotá, right? Museo del Oro is full of intricate golden artifacts from the pre-hispanic societies in Colombia. I should have taken a thousand pictures but I didn´t... I only took one and I´m selfishly going to keep it all for myself. ;-)

Two hours later when I made it out of Museo del Oro, Lina suggested we take the TransMilenio (Bogotá´s super safe/clean/efficient/metro-like transportation system) to Bogotá´s dreaded south side. She wanted me to see the whole of Bogotá, not just the ritzier areas and I totally agreed. My travel books warned me not to go to the south side and Lina herself had never even been. We talked to Guille about it and decided that maybe if we sat close to the conductor, only looked out the windows and kept my camera in my purse we´d be fine. So, we braved the trip and road to the south side. What did we find? Only the nicest of places. I mean seriously unbelievable. There were tons of shops, restaurants, nicely dressed people... in short, the supposed worst parts of Bogotá remind me of only the nicest parts of Huancayo. Now this doesn´t mean that poverty in mass doesn´t exist in Bogotá... it only means that the TransMilenio doesn´t go there and perhaps the south side has cleaned up it´s act in recent years.

Unfortunately, after riding the TransMilenio from the north to the south and then back to the north again, Lina and I were exhausted. We had planned to go to Vinacure, a bar that specializes in drag show karaoke (sounds fabulous, right, but for some reason I don´t think Guille was too excited) but instead decided that going home early sounded like a better idea. So if you are in Bogotá and feel like some drag show karaoke action (and who wouldn´t!?!) please visit Vinacure at Av. Caracas No 63-52 and let me know how it is. Sometime´s it´s just hard to chose between guys in drag and a comfy bed. This time the bed won out.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Sunday started with another bright and early morning. Lina and I met up with her brother and aunt and went to eat at Banco de la Republica´s (did I mention that Lina is a very important employee there?) country club. I also asked Lina if the Banco de la Republica is looking to hire any Americans... she said no. Anyway, gotta love the perks that go along with working at Colombia´s most powerful bank. Breakfast was delicious and what was even better was that Lina´s aunt spent the morning explaining CIREC (Centro Integral de Rehabilitación de Colombia) to me. CIREC is a government organization whose mission is to improve the lives of disabled Colombians, most of whom have become disabled due to landmines that dot the countryside. The government helps the disabled in part through lending start-up capital (micro-finance!!!) for small business thereby changing the social status of the disabled person while at the same time changing the community´s perception of what it means to be disabled. This is definitely something I am interested in and if I could find a position associated with CIREC in the United States that would send me to Colombia once a month or so it would be perfection...

But back to reality because I don´t think such a job exists... after breakfast I sat and watched Lina at her band practice. That´s right, Lina and some other Banco de la Republica employees are in a band. Who knew a group of bankers could have so much soul and rhythm?

Lina and her co-workers.

Video of Lina´s band. They´re seriously good. I only wish I had more video to show you.

A little after 1pm Guille picked us up and off we went to Andrés Carne de Res, a 100% MUST SEE restaurant located outside of Bogotá in Chía. I´ve never seen anything like it. I mean, how am I suppose to describe such eccentric craziness!?! Carne de Res sprawls for what seems to be blocks and blocks and blocks and every inch of the interior is filled with eccentric, crazy, artistic, junkiness that it somehow beautiful and brilliant in its collection. Andrés, the owner, is obviously crazy because I´m not sure how else a person could think up a place like this.

Soon after Guille, Lina and I sat down at the restaurant some of the equally eccentric actors, who are paid to wander around the restaurant (great gig!), came up to our table to entertain us. First up to bat was a crazy guy with a uni-cycle and basket filled with letters. He asked us if we needed mail services. Guille said no... wrong answer but I think we were just caught off gaurd. He wandered away (the guy with the uni-cycle not Guille). Then a card magician performed for us (amazing!) followed by St. Peter. St. Peter was trying to convice Guille to join him and some of the other angels for a soccer match at 4 o´clock against the devils. What were they playing for? The key to heaven of course. Toward the end of our meal the devils appeared in the restaurant and we followed them outside to watch the game. We saw the devils score one goal (they so cheated!) before we headed back in to watch the waitresses perform a dance. The whole experience at Andrés Carne de Res was amazing and utterly indescribably... excellent entertainment and excellent, top-notch food. Now if we can just figure out a way to bring a restaurant like this to the States. I think we could make millions...

Some of the kitsch that lines the ceiling, walls and counter tops at Carne de Res.

Guille and Lina deciding what to order... the menu was huge!

I tried some lulada, a drink made from lulo, a fruit that can only be found in Colombia. Delicious!

Our appetizers: Chicharron (fried pork), choclo and empanadas. The choclo (it looks like pizza in the above photo but is really more like cornbread and cheese) was definitely the best.

I told Guille and Lina that I wanted to try something specifically Colombian so they suggested I order ajiaco, which is the typical dish of Bogotá. Basically it´s chicken soup with potatoes and corn. A bunch of stuff also comes with it, which you are supposed to dump into the soup. I was given sour cream, avocados, capers, some green garnish and a banana to throw in. I guess everything was very typical besides the banana but might I add that chicken soup with banana is delicious!

My ajiaco after I dumped everything in. So much food!

Above is a photo of Guille cradling a baby devil. The baby devil, a grown man, was wearing a saggy adult diaper. Hilarious! But what makes it even better is that the grown-man-baby-devil with saggy diaper spotted Guille, screamed and jumped into his arms. Love this place... you just can´t get this kind of service at TGI Friday´s.

After hours and hours spent in Andrés Carne de Res and hours and hours stuck in traffic with full bellies trying to get back to Bogotá the only thing Lina, Guille and I could think to do was go to the mall to see a movie. You should have seen this mall. It was ridiculously fancy with stores like Lacoste and Dolce and Gabbana (Colombia is a third world country? Seriously!?!). Anyway, we decided to see Rescate del Metro 123, The Taking of Pelham 123, with John Travolta and Denzel Washington. It was a nice relaxing way to end the weekend that was comfortably reminiscent of being home.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Monday, September 28, 2009

My last day in Bogotá was spent on my own (Lina and Guille were both at work) hopping from Juan Valdez Café to Juan Valdez Café and in between walking around barrio La Candelaria, Bogotá´s bohemian neighborhood filled with cafés, restaurants and universities. I am completely content existing just like this - drinking coffee, reading books, taking pictures and walking. For me this is bliss....

Below are just a few of the pictures I took on my last day in Bogotá of the beautiful streets of La Caldelaria.

My departure on Monday came way too fast and saying goodbye to Lina, Guille and Colombia was heartbreaking. I NEED to go back! There so much more to learn, place to see (Cartagena anyone!?!), people to meet, food to try, music to hear and dances to inevitably mess up. Sigh, sigh. Tear, tear. One of these days I´ll be back... Maybe even before I move back to the States but if not before then, Bogotá is only two hours off the coast of Florida, right? Tricky geography...

So anyway, to help heal my broken heart I have found two new countries to fantasize about... in 21 days I´m off to Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina for nine days of fabulousness! I´m super excited but we´ll just have to wait and see if my new countries can measure up to the ever enchanting Colombia...

Lina y Guille - ¡Muchas gracias por todo! Mi visita a Colombia no hubiese sido la misma sin ustedes. Tenemos que encontrarnos otra vez muy pronto en Colombia... ¿Quizás en Cartagena? Ya harblaremos. Un abrazo. - Heather