It's official

This visit to Colombia now marks the longest amount of time I've been out of New York City, other than college. My previous record for longest vacation I ever took was 2 weeks, a mere 14 days.

Wrong side of the bed.

This week got off to a bad start. As usual, I was out and on my way towards the airport at 5:30am to teach English to the petroleum executive. Upon arriving at the security gate, I was greeted by his assistant who said, "Hello Teacher. I have a message that he cannot do class today. He is called to a meeting at the other building."

Just great! I left her my mobile number, and received a call from my student later apologizing, and telling me that he would have to cancel most of this week's classes because of meetings and to pack for their move to a building up north. But we were a "go" for Tuesday's class, then off until next Wednesday.

The weather Tuesday morning was downright awful. Rainy, cold, perfect commuting weather especially when you only have a couple pairs of shoes, and weren't bright enough to bring your boots. Care package time! I arrive to class wet, cold, feet soaked through. We get on with the lesson, and my student informs me he will tell me where the new office is next Tuesday. I'm so glad I won't have to go back to that office. On the way back I enjoyed a muddy transversal of the highway to catch a bus only to become soaked even more thoroughly.

Unlucky Horseshoes.


While visiting an apartment, I noticed that a horseshoe hung over the front door was upside down. I figured it must had tipped over since the apartment was vacant. The apartment was terrible anyway. But it was probably the 12th or 13th apartment I'd seen, and I was starting to get down about finding a suitable place to live within my price range.

We then went to meet with the owner of a building I thought would be perfect for the gym. The price was amazing, the location fantastic so I thought we were in good shape. Now, a few days earlier when we called the broker, I noticed a person peering out a window of the second floor. But I could only see the top of the person's head, basically from the nose up - it was Kilroy! When we met the owner, my hopes were dashed in a flash. It turns out the owner lives on the second floor with his mother, and that they have lived there for 30+ years. They would leave cars in the front yard occasionally during the day. But once I told them I'd be having music blaring during classes at 5am it was a "no go." Now, what was funny was as we left I spotted Kilroy in the same spot!

I noticed more upside-down horseshoes there, four actually, and even more in another apartment we visited. I mentioned to my friend that an upside down horseshoe is bad luck. I explained that it was supposed to be up, to hold the luck in, and that when it's upside down the luck goes away and it becomes unlucky. The response I got was, "oh, that helps explain Colombia."
As we drove around looking for storefronts "se arrienda," my mood soured as we stopped at several excellent potential spots to learn they were either scheduled for demolition, or already rented. The whole day was miserable, rainy, cold, which just added to my frustration. I was beginning to think it would be a long time before I found a suitable gym space, let alone somewhere I can call "home."

No bull!

I got to sleep in Wednesday since I didn't have class, which was wonderful. If sleeping on a piece of wood with a pillow less than 1" thick can yield a wonderful sleeping experience. Nonetheless, I got much needed rest. I awoke to bright blue sky with scattered puffy white clouds. As I looked out the window, I noticed some people stirring in the bullfighting ring below.

They were practicing bullfighting! Awesome! I've never seen a real bullfight before, but I can say I've now seen a matador taunt a guy with a wheelbarrow-like object fitted with bullhorns. I wonder what that guy must have been thinking? "I'm a freakin' bull?! What did I do wrong in life? And I hate the color red, it reminds me of my mortgage and credit card debt. That matador's a jerk for waving that cape in front of me reminding me of my financial problems. I'm gonna plow that stupid jackass over. Charge!"

Anyway, now I can check that off my list of things to see before I die!

My guardian angel.

My friend was joking that I must have a guardian angel watching over me down here because of how much support I've gotten in my efforts to get situated. But she said, "she must have gone on vacation this week." We then arrive at an apartment we called about the day before, which turned out to fit my needs on paper. We visited, and the place was amazing. The price was right, the locale was right.

The broker was on time, and attentive, rare qualities here. My friend asked about possible storefronts, and the broker said he did have a property by Parque 93, which is an amazing
neighborhood with offices, apartments and restaurants surrounding a beautful park. We arrived at a former bar, located about 25 meters from the edge of the park. The place was perfect, but we expected a steep price tag. When we heard the price we couldn't believe our ears. The marketing value alone of being on the park was priceless. I told my friend, "Hit the Bid!"

As we drove away, my friend commented, "I think your guardian angel is back, and it's a woman, and she is in love with you."

We met with the broker again the next day to hammer out terms, which continued into Friday. So, I am now expecting to have a home, and to open the gym, on or about November 1st. What a week!

Beatdowns - Served up daily.

Well, after the first week of trying CrossFit workouts, my friends are all addicted. They drank the kool-aid, and love it. The blog for CrossFit Bogota is up and running at crossfitbogota.blogspot.com. The trainers at the local gyms watch me with my friends with contempt as they must know they are about to lose a lot of clients. The workouts I conduct draw attention from both other gym-goers and their trainers. On Saturday and Sunday we decided to take the show outside, and on Saturday in Parque Virrey a number of onlookers and passers-by watched with confused interest. On Sunday, we braved cold, rainy conditions at Club Rincon, my friend's country club, where they had a similar outdoor set-up for us to use. There, members, their children and the staff watched wondering why a bunch of crazies would workout for 20+ minutes while getting wet and muddy. The guerilla marketing efforts to promote CrossFit Bogota has now moved beyond the gyms, and into the streets.

Shirt? Shoes? Still no service.

One thing I've come to grips with is the amazing poor quality of service at restaurants, bars, well, just about everywhere. But one example this week simply amazed me. I had a teaching seminar where one experienced English teacher shared pointers with the rest of us. I could have skipped it, but figured, what the hell? Anyway, the seminar was from 1-3pm, and snacks and drinks were to be served. Well, an hour into the seminar, we took a break. A few minutes later they emerged with tiny cups of coffee called "tinto." Food? Water? Nope. Though, as we re-entered the seminar we were told, "we're going to get empenadas. Who wants chicken? meat? veggie?" So with excruciating hunger, we got back to the seminar. At about 2:30, food arrives, along with some beverages. However, rather than serve them, they sit in the back of the room. I motion to one of the employees to pass the bags, and she just smiles and waves, but does nothing! The seminar ends at 3pm, and that's when we finally get to eat the cold empenadas! Luckily, those suckers hold in heat pretty well. I scarfed down five in about 2 minutes.

Central Park.

Bogota has numerous parks, and my host family's father is the manager of one of the city's major parks. I have to admit, the park was quite amazing. The parks were incredible, and from certain vantage points you would not have known you were in a city.



I forgot the name of the Park, but it is a triangular park featuring several man made ponds and a library, and it is located next to Simon Bolivar. If you visit Bogota, I highly recommend checking these parks out. I had no idea parks like this existed in Bogota, but I am glad I know about them now.

It's a small world after all.

My friend Lucho is back in Bogota this weekend, and after a torturously late night on Thursday night featuring every afterhours night spot, he invited me to a dinner celebrating his friends' engagement, which happened to be down in La Macarena. Literally two blocks for where I'm staying. Finally, I'd go out locally!

I meet a bunch of the people there, a great bunch, mostly Colombians living in Miami. Although I met the fiance's brother, who similarly left the world of finance earlier this summer (he left Lehman Brothers in July - damn good timing), to move back to Bogota. He and I have similar mindsets, and recognized the massive opportunities here. And then Lucho introduced me to a girl named Divina that looked familiar. She said, "you look familiar, we've met somewhere..." which is when I cut her off saying "New Years in Crans Montana." Stunned, she said, "oh my god, that's right." She lives in Miami, is friends with a bunch of my high school friends from New York and it turns out is friends with Lucho as well in Miami. Another friend from the States, Brodie, who hasn't been in town the last few weeks drops in for a drink as well. He happens to live two blocks from where I'm staying in La Macarena.

As Colombians may just be the warmest people on the planet, I was invited to the engagement party in Usaquen Saturday night. How could I say no? They rented Cinema Paradiso, in the neighborhood of Usaquen for 200 or so guests. Cool place, where a slide show of photos played while Mariachis did their number on the mezzanine, it was quite a scene.

Holiday!

Colombia, I've come to learn, has quite a few holidays, especially Mondays. My friends tell me that there are 12 Monday's off, which makes 3-day vacations to the coast quite popular. This Monday is one of those holidays. Unfortunately, I don't get to go on vacation as I still have a long way to go before being totally settled in. Before I start visiting other parts of the country, I need to make sure I secure the lease for my apartment, and get the business off the ground. But, I'll gladly welcome a Monday where I get to sleep in. Since we didn't get to go to Andres last night, perhaps tonight we'll have to go since no one is working on Monday.