Week number 2 almost in the books in Colombia. As mentioned last time around, I went on a city tour of Bogotá last Saturday.It was a whopping 8+ hours starting from 8:30am and lasting until just a little before the sun went down.A lot different from what I expected, but still very cool.Rather than a tour in the city through the major parks, plazas, and avenues, the tour, unbeknownst to me beforehand, was designed to be around the city; that is, up and down, in and around the many mountains that surround Bogotá and therefore seeing the city from a variety of aerial, panoramic angles to get a bird’s eye view of its urban layout.We saw the major avenues from afar and the municipal construction projects in progress to connect them in order to ease traffic flow.We saw the patterns in city planning change shape with the gridded, organized layout in the northern part of the city giving way to the more chaotic sprawl the further south you went.I was playing around with the panoramic assist mode on my camera so I took a bunch of shots which I share below.All in all the city is just way more immense than I imagined.I live extremely far north in the city (Calle 145) and my point of reference for “downtown” is more or less where the government buildings are, roughly Calle 30ish.But we ventured so far south past the Calle 30ish area that the high rises in that area were just mere specks in the distant horizon.
Colombia, like I observed Brazil to be, is a pay-it-forward, elevator etiquette country.Meaning, you get in an elevator and you exchange greetings with the person standing next to you.The door opens on someone’s floor and you each exchange pleasant goodbyes.Wham, bam, thank you ma’am, how hard is that??That’s the way it should be.You acknowledge the person whom you are sharing a cramped space with for that fraction of your day.You don’t have to talk mutual funds or vacation plans.Nor are you obligated in any way to say a single word in between “buenos dias” and “hasta luego.”It can be a painfully awkward long ride of silence from the 1st to the 15th floor but it will at least be bookended by a pleasant hello and goodbye.I personally appreciate it a lot and the minor gesture of a total stranger wishing me a good morning or afternoon speaks volumes.It’s something that goes too much unpracticed in the US.
Sticking to the themes of mindless observations, several things near and dear to me in the wide world of sports have drawn my attention.
1)Carlos Beltran.As if the Mets don’t have enough problems (i.e. first base, starting pitching, and Jose Reyes’ scotch tape hamstring) now they are getting hurt before the season starts.CB15 gets knee surgery just last week putting him on the shelf for at least the first month of the season.Why he didn’t get it in October, November, or even December?IDK, why did Chris Farley and David Spade drive away from the gas station after paying but before filling up in those SNL skits?I guess they wanted to punk themselves.
2)Stephon Marbury signs with a team in China.11 words: “Coach, please go get me a sandwich during the next timeout.”Let’s see how that experiment works out.
3)Thierry Henry.FIFA just ruled that he will not be punished for his handball against Ireland.Granted, his hand was on the ball long enough to make you think he was gonna slam dunk it in the goal.But the idea that he could be professionally sanctioned for a rule violation that occurred within the parameters of a game is mind-boggling.He didn’t punch a fan or spit in the ref’s face.He broke a rule of the game.The penalty for a handball in soccer is a penalty kick, free kick, or a card, depending on the situation….not banishment from the World Cup.That’s like suspending Albert Pujols from the World Series because he missed homeplate on a slide when it was the umpire who did not call it.
4) Pablo Escobar in MLS: http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news-lite/97-news/7802-pablo-escobar-to-play-for-american-soccer-team.html
5)Lastly, although this is not sports related I just came across this link on Yahoo!
The article is entitled “How not to feel humiliated when dining alone.”They offer 8 respectable tips but I think left out the 9th and most important….uuummm, don’t give a $h*t that you are dining alone!
Hallelujah to the first entry of 2010.To appease the peanut gallery, i.e. Chris, I’m throwing up a little posting.However, I don’t have much to write about to be honest.At least nothing terribly exciting.Got back to Bogota on Friday late afternoon and unbeknownst to me it was the start of a three day weekend.The holiday?Three Kings Day/Epiphany which is celebrated every year on the same day, January 6..Yes, the rest of the world celebrates it on January 6 and in fact that is the principal gift exchange day of the Christmas season in Spain.But the Colombians chose to celebrate January 6 on Monday January 11 because, well, duh, it gives them a three day weekend.Clever.
Prior to Bogota I was in Paris for a little under a week for my company’s annual meeting.Yearly recaps, team building exercises, project updates yada yada.We did organize however a pretty cool scavenger hunt through the Louvre followed the same evening by a gala dinner on a boat on the Seine parked just outside Notre Dame.There was enough champagne going around to overflow the river.Which really isn’t a river as much as a canal in my opinion.I had a full day in Paris and managed to cruise the stores and minimally enjoy the awesomeness of the post-Christmas sales.In some stores they were practically giving stuff away.
I’ve hit a string of luck with sitting next to cool people on my flights, the most recent one being a US Foreign Service officer stationed in Bogota for the past three years.However, that has been somewhat neutralized by an equally bad luck string of sitting near or around crying babies.But the babies on my most recent flight were far enough away from me so it wasn’t too bad of a ride.The French man, they know how to run their airlines.Fly French or fly home is my new motto.I’ve fallen in love with Air France.Great service, practically a four course meal with each serving, ample leg room, and about 45 movies, 6 TV shows, and 10 different games to choose from on your personalized monitor.The fact that they thought they overbooked the flight and paid me 150 euros to wait on stand-by adds to the pleasant experience.Who doesn’t like to get PAID to fly????
Things are picking up with work in sunny Bogota.This week has been perfect.75 degrees and clear blue skies all day everyday so far.I’ve been doing a lot of interviews in Spanish this week which has been great practice and a tremendous learning experience.But funny at times to say the least.The Colombians probably think I’m retarded.My name alone makes them think I am pure blooded Hispanic.On top of that I have a pretty decent accent and pronunciation but far, far from perfect grammar and vocab.So all in all they probably think I am a weird native Hispanic who is still learning Spanish.I’m going on a day long organized tour of the city on Saturday so will come back with much more real stuff to say rather than this banter.
