Starting to feel like home

As 2009 opens, Bogota is starting to feel more and more like my home. That has been helped partially by my finally getting around to starting to buy some things for the apartment to make it more livable. Slowly but surely it will be a fully functional dwelling. And with Bogota's weather continuing to cooperate (over two weeks without rain), where better to start with adding creature comforts than the apartment's excellent outdoor spaces?

Terraza
Over the New Year holiday weekend, I received the supplies needed to build the roof in our terrace. It took two days, but I singlehandedly pieced together this bad boy, which now offers us a little privacy from the office building directly behind our building. It also provides a covered area for me to host CrossFit Bogota workouts since it rains here so often. I just need to buy a few more corrugated plastic sheets to finsih off covering the roof, and we're in business!



Above, you can see the pre- and post- construction phase, as well as Ernesto and his girlfriend Henrendina, who visited for the week from Mexico, safely standing beneath the structure I erected. You can also see a photo taken via reflection of the office building behind our building.

Unfortunately, I am only covering one-third of the terrace, not two thirds like originally planned. The original plan was to build two free-standing roofs, but after studying the drainage pattern in the terrace after heavy rains I noticed that the terrace is now well graded. While there are two drains in the center of the terrace, the water tends to pool in the lower left corners against the building. Which means that a roof over the left one-third of the terrace would be useless since it would prevent the rain coming down in that area, but not prevent the water pooling into a puddle. Hence, only one roof is to be built, which I think is more than sufficient for our needs. Now it's time for us to start taking advantage of the massive 50 sq meter terrace!

The first item on the list wasn't something as functional as a table, chairs or a parasol. Nope. It was far more important to have a BBQ! For some reason, BBQs are quite expensive here with a standard Weber grill retailing for nearly $200. Needless to say, I found that price absurd so I went with a local brand called "Premium." The instructions were easy enough to follow, but they ended up making things more difficult as certain steps should have been done in reverse as they were impossible to do in order. For example, adding the lid required me to detach some items that were already detached, and even reverse the direction in which the screws were inserted otherwise the cover wouldn't close. So putting this thing together took a bit longer than anticipated, but all in all the BBQ is functional, and was well worth the $40 or so. I've got some marinated chicken breasts just dying to give the grill a go tonight!

What's next you ask? Well, the apartment is still somewhat bare. Ok, it is bare. We have a few "puffs" or beanbag chairs in the living/dining areas, but we are still lacking in the following items:

• Seating - we don't have chairs, stools or a sofa yet
• Entertainment - other than our PCs hijacking one of our neighbors' open wifi connection, and my On Stage iPod speakers, we lack other typical entertainment capabilities (no TV yet)
• Eating surfaces - while the kitchen does have a counter, there is no dining room table, or outdoor table for that matter. And since we don't have stools, we're always eating standing up over the counter.
• Fireplace - there is a functioning fireplace, but we have not purchased any items that would render the fireplace useful. For now it is simple a rectangular brick hole in the corner of the living room which has a ledge that is very useful for locking your feet for doing sit-ups.
  

However, I plan on buying a table and chair set for the terrace as well as a breakfast/cocktail table and chair set for the balcony. I also plan on buying and hanging a hammock for the balcony. Notice how everything is geared towards use of the outdoor spaces, not the interior. I feel that after years of living in apartments with no outdoor space, and now finally having outdoor space (and lots of it), I need to focus my furnishing efforts there first.

Embassy Visit
No, I didn't go to the embassy. But as mentioned earlier, Ernesto's girlfriend visited from Mexico over the Holidays. She was the first official guest of the functional Embassy. She also tried CrossFit, which she liked although it made her sore for a few days. She gained the nickname Uchuva, a type of little orange fruit, which we plan on turning into a cool word here in Colombia in 2009. Hasta luego Uchuva! We went for some mojitos at Cachau, a Cuban-style bar over in Zona T before heading to Maroma. Their mojitos are damn tasty, and the atmosphere is awesome. Live salsa bands perform to the delight of the crowd.

La Policia at Maroma
The other night at Maroma, just as we walked in a squad of police entered despite the bouncer's effort to try and act as a human barricade at the entrance. They entered for what was a "routine inspection" to ensure the bar was enforcing the new indoor smoking ban, which went into effect a few weeks ago. The manager told us that this was the first time the police have bothered them since opening back in September.

With the music stopped, the lights on and everyone still with drinks or bottles in hand, the police asked men to gather on right and women to gather on the left. They then proceeded to inspect womens' purses and frisk men allegedly to look for cigarettes. There was an overweight, hideously ugly woman dressed in civilian clothing who seemed to be the one in charge of the police squad. Erendira got a great photo of them in Maroma just over my shoulder (above). Some other girl tried to take photos with the police officers, but was denied.

As soon as the police were done with their inspection, the music started back up, the lights went down and the crowd cheered and de Rumba restarted.

Andres SunDay (Family) Funday?
It is hard to imagine Andres as a family restaurant, but that is what it is. And on Sunday I went to Andres for the first time during daylight hours to enjoy a family lunch with Marco, Paula, her brothers and parents, Ernesto and Herendina.

First off, I never noticed that as you pull into Andres there is a mountain staring down at you. I also never really was able to see all the tiendas, restaurantes, bars, etc. lining the road to Andres during the day, so it was interesting to see the city of Chia come alive. Not that it was dead at night, it was dark with lots of lights and cars, but you didn't really ever get a picture of what was there.

Then entering Andres was, um, different. The music was low, there were tables on the dancefloor and there was sunlight beaming into the restaurant. While most of the restaurant was still largely dark just because of the sheer amount of incredible details and decor, it was rather surreal to see sunlight in Andres. Seeing sunlight in Maroma on New Year's Eve is expected, their roof opens, but to see it at Andres was rather strange. The same staff that we usually have on Saturday nights was there, and welcomed us warmly "Feliz ano!"

We proceeded to gorge ourselves on an absurd amount of food, all of which was delicious. However, we veered clear of any alcoholic beverages, though, after all the food we ate I'm not sure there was any room for drinks anyway! In total, we had six steaks of different varieties, two orders of chorizo, about 18 empanaditas, 4 arepas de choco, we sampled every juice they had including Uchuva, which was excellent, and postres that for me included a chocolate malt, Mmmmm. Needless to say, I ended up with food coma, and just vegged out for the rest of the afternoon.

Next weekend at Andres promises to be off the charts as everyone starts returning from Holiday vacations, and from what I'm told, want to go to Andres to show off their tans. Of course, Monday is a holiday, there are over a dozen Monday's off in Colombia, so next weekend could be a real bender...

Goodbye 2008... Hello Sunshine in '09!

This year marked the first Holiday Season I spent away from my family. While I missed the food and sight of the Christmas Tree at my parents and grandmother's houses, Colombia offered up some fun and unique cultural experiences to make being away from home a little easier.

Lights...
Like I said previously, Bogota, and from I understand all of Colombia, proudly displays its love of the Christmas Season by absolutely bathing its parks, buildings and streets in Christmas lights. I still haven't gotten to see the other seasons in the city's other parks, but I did take a few more photos of Parque Virrey where summer is the theme. Also, the snow lights of Zona T are really cool, and I'm going to miss them when they take them down in the coming weeks. They look amazing...



Christmas Eve
The tradition here is to spend Christmas Eve with the family, and to shoot off fireworks at midnight to welcome Christmas. Hopefully Santa and his reindeer already know this because I'd imagine the skies would be quite dangerous for a fat man riding a sled pulled by eight reindeer. Their moonlit silhouette would make a tasty target for young kids who play too much XBox, and I'm sure their radar signature would be pretty significant too, and the bells can probably be heard from some distance. Well, I'm sure it would be smashing a giant pinata if he were ever shot down, raining presents all across the land.

Anyway, I digress. So after Christmas dinner with the family, many younger people venture out to the bars and clubs to party in what some people told me was "the biggest party night of the year." Now, I had to train some folks on Christmas Eve, so I missed out on the family dinner thing with friends. Instead, I got much needed rest, and slept from 7pm until about 12am, just after midnight to the sound of fireworks and Fanny Lu. I then headed out to meet some friends at Alma, which was one of the few spots open for Xmas Eve frolicking. At around 1/1:30am it was relatively quiet, but as the night wore on the place got more crowded. We left to visit a place called Cinema, which I'd never been to before. The place was jammed, the techno music was earbleedingly loud and the energy was jumping. This place is normally open until 8am or 9am, but because it was Christmas Eve they were staying open even later. I didn't care to find out how late, as it was obviously a more drug laden hangout than I was used to. But there were plenty of happy Catholics celebrating Christ's birth in epic fashion. I left at 8:15am or so with a girl I met and danced with for the better part of several hours.

And what better way to celebrate a Christmas Day guayavo (hangover) than with wings, and where else than Hooters?! Hooters was pretty much the only place open that day, and I must say the wings were fantastic for a change. One of the waitresses noticed my dilapidated state, then shared her analysis with the others, and they put the awning down to protect me from baking in the sun and kept the water flowing.

Fresh air.
A few friends invited me to visit a private golf/sports club called Guayamaral, which was located outside Bogota in the north near Chia (think Andres). This place was absolutely incredible. The views of the surrounding mountains, and the vivid green color of everything was beautiful. The fresh air was just what the doctor ordered.

The place is a wonderland. Two golf courses, a massive clubhouse with pool, dozens of tennis courts and much more. Membership is quite pricey, even by U.S. standards, but it is something to see. Like other clubs of its type, there are no signs marking the entrance or its location on the autopista, simply a flag of the club's logo that passersby would not know the meaning of. What was really funny was that next door is a cattle farm, and I guess it was mating season. While we tried to play a game of doubles tennis, we were seranaded by an orgy of cows mooing their lungs out. Some moos converted into high pitched screams of ecstasy that we couldn't play through because we all broke out laughing hysterically.

While walking around the golf course we came across a dead tree covered with orange flowers and deep green vine growing up its carcass. It was stunning, and unfortunately this photo doesn't do it justice at all.

El Niño
If you look closely at those photos from Guayamaral, you'll notice something odd for Bogota. A sunny day. But something has happened in Bogota that doesn't make any sense. Something I can only attribute to El Niño, the body of warm water in the Pacific ocean that causes US weather shifts every 5-7 years. It hasn't rained in a week! It has been sunny, and warm. My friend Marco told me that a few years ago Bogota was sunny and rain free from Dec through Feb, a statement to which Ernesto and I laughed mockingly. "Yeah, right!" Bogota without rain? Impossible! No, it's not only possible, it's a fact. I've had to suspend my 2:45pm alarm that was to make sure I get indoors by the daily 3pm rainshowers. Who woulda thought?!

Feliz Ano!
Due to a few reasons, I didn't get to head out to the coast to rendezvous with dozens of friends ringing in the New Year in Cartegena. Instead, I stayed in Bogota with a few friends. The night started similar to Christmas I suppose, dinner with family and friends and then marinated in alcohol through midnight. We enjoyed a beautiful night on my friend Marco's rooftop terrace, and proceeded to consume ridiculous amounts of a wide variety of alcohol - Midori, Malibu, Baileys, Vodka, Champagne, Whiskey, etc.

There are a few peculiar customs here in Colombia that I found interesting and amusing. There are some long held superstitions about things to bring good luck and fortune in the new year, and I got to partake in a few first hand.

Burning Man. Families make or buy dolls, sometimes life sized, that they stuff with fireworks or other household flammable agents like rubbing alocohol, and burn at midnight. Why? Well, you write down all the negative things from the previous year that you want to do away with, stuff them into this dolls pockets, orafaces, etc., and then light the sucker up. Here's the before and after photos of our doll.

Lentejas (Lentils). Everyone gets a handful of these dry lentils and dumps them into their wallets, or pockets in the event you have a money clip like myself. They are meant to bring you fortune in the coming year, and they represent money. Unfortunately, they're not an official currency as I tried to pay for a bottle at Maroma and was told Lentejas weren't accepted. Good thing Amex was!

Maleta (suitcase). Another custom is to run around the house/block with a suitcase if you want to travel in the coming year. I didn't partake in this exercise since I'm traveling no matter what at least a few times already, but several folks went running around the house with a suitcase. I asked if it should be packed, and was told only if you expect to go somewhere right now!

Uvas (grapes). You also stuff your face with 12 grapes, representing the 12 strokes of the clock at midnight. It's a little tough to do with the seeds, so one of my friends actually deseeded his grapes beforehand. I didn't, and ended up chewing them up or trying to spit them out. I forget what this signifies, but it tastes great with champagne!

We also wrote down a bunch of things we hope for in the coming year, and then burned them in a yellow candle to make them come to fruition. There's a few other customs which we didn't indulge in that night. Whether any of these acts amount to anything, only time will tell. But 2008 is over, Bush is out of office and the USD looks stronger against the COP!

Sit Anywhere.
One thing I've noticed is the tendency of people to sit on the floor in Transmilenio buses when there are no seats available. I understand the desire to be comfortable if you're taking a long ride from north to south or vice versa, but sitting on the floor? I don't think I've ever seen anyone riding a subway or bus in New York while sitting on the floor, not even homeless people are on the floor in the actual subway cars. Sitting on the floor takes up room, which makes the Transmilenio buses even more crowded than they need to be. There's plenty of handrails and straps to hang onto, and the floors are dirty. Stand up!