Popayan, Colombia

I am writing to you from Popayan, Colombia a quaint Spanish Colonial town in the south of Colombia. It was a little crazy getting here because the bus was soooo cold, I mean we literally did not sleep because we were to cold to fall asleep/ couldn´t stop shivering until Linnea convinced the bus driver to let her get her sleeping bag from under the bus during our 6am stop- but then we slept like babies so that was wonderful. We are legitimately taking our sleeping bags on the next bus ride!!! We got in around 10:00 this morning and we now have a lovely hostel room complete with toilet that you can´t flush tp down :) We are headed off to see all the sites available in the town today haha- which consists of a few museums, some churchs, and 2 old bridges. The town is very cute but we can definitely see it in one day so that´s lovely. Tomorrow morning at 6 am we are off to St. Augustine which are some ruins pretty close to here and we will be taking a bus to Ipiales at 9:30 pm. That is the town next to the Ecaudorian border, we will arrive there at 5:30 am and then take a taxi over the boarder because then we can avoid additions from the bus company to the border tax- don´t worry its legal!

So you think you're up for backpacking...

We are leaving tonight on a trip to southern Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile- real backpacking. Now please take a look at the 2 vacuum sealed bags- those are my clothes for a month. There is a sleeping bag, mat, and liner for sleeping in questionable sheets. A towel, my camera, meds,and a water purification pen... and that's it... for a month. And literally that is all that fits in the pack and its heavy! So next time you think, hey backpacking sounds awesome, maybe it's something I'd like to do, just keep in mind what you are actually proposing.

Did that just happen?

Well Saturday was a very eventful day for us. We had our first real work, an English immersion in the town next to Bogota called Chia. We did the immersion for a company so everyone knew each other and it was a blast- it hardly seemed like we were working at all. The company was split into 2 groups elementary and intermediate basically and each group spent half the day watching a movie and answering questions about it and the other half doing communication exercises. For the elementary that amounted to grilling us about ourselves and for the intermediate we did role plays of different situations which was hilarious.

Then came the end of the day, first one of the women had a dead car battery. Instead of having one person stay to jump the car, everyone stayed and put on music and danced while one of the engineers procured some covered wire and jumped the car. Oh and before that they tried to get the car to turn over by pushing it down the road, which didn't work but they continued to try because it was fun.

Then once we got that car jumped everyone got in their cars and started to head out when we realize that our car, the one our boss was driving, also had a dead battery!!!! So then everyone just turned around and resumed the festivities. So we got the car jumped and we started heading home at which point our boss decides we aren't going home, instead we're going to a place called Andres Carnes de Res for drinks. Andres is literally a cultural icon, WHEN you all come to Colombia you have to go there. It opened about 25 years ago as a small BBQ place and has just expanded like crazy, it's huge- there's a full dance floor, full restaurant, the decorations are a combination of flashing neon and religious icons- its quite the combo. In addition to the music that's playing over the crowd noice, they also have bands that come around and play for your table and give out random stuff- I got a beauty pagent sash and Linnea got a bandana haha.

So our company there was our boss, another woman teacher in her 50s, and this crazy grunge girl from Canada who literally wore jeans and a jamaican flag colored jersey to the immersion (everyone else was wearing blazers)- so quite the medley. Robert, our boss, ordered a bunch of delicious Colombian appetizers so we got lovely sampling and...margaritas for everyone. Then after that he decided well the appetizers were good but we should probably get a steak for everyone to share and another round of margaritas (dont' worry not one for him, he was driving). So that's when things started to get a little crazy, when the 50 year old women with a PhD started saying how drunk she was, great.

So we manage to get out of Andres in one piece. Then on the way home we get stopped by the police just to check the car's paperwork, which happens pretty regularly here but the cop was giving Robert an unnecessarily hard time. Apparently that put the other two women over the edge- shortly after that we had to pull over so that the grunge girl could lose her dinner and the 50 year old woman could relieve herself...on the side of the highway- with Linnea and I sitting in the back seat watching with horror.

They finally got themselves together and we went to take home the grunge girl who lives in Old Bogota which is pretty questionable at night...where we proceded to get a flat tire. Luckily there was a policeman there so we told him, hey we have to change our flat tire can you just make sure we dont get mugged, lovely. So as our boss began to fiddle with the tire, Linnea and I took over...and changed the tire in about 5 minutes. So just imagine this scene, its night time in a questionable area and there are 2 white girls changing a tire in blazers and heels while a man watches- it must have been quite surreal to see haha.

So that was our night. Luckily our boss paid us more than he said he was going to, I'm not sure if it was for changing the tire or for putting up with the craziness that was the other teachers but hey, we'll take it!

Work- we finally have some!

As for work, thus far, we have only been training with Juana but Thursday we did our first shadowing with other teachers who work for the agency with whom we are going to be working. The class was at 6:30 am! before the work day which starts at 8 so it makes for quite a long day for the students. Linnea went to an elementary class and I went to the next level up because using her Spanish, Linnea will be able to teach the most elementary students, which would be much more difficult for me. The teacher that Linnea was with is from Canada and Linnea said she did a pretty good job. The teacher that I was with is Colombian and he speaks great English but the class wasn't quite as good. Although, its kind of hard to judge because he was filling in for another teacher who is out sick but it was still pretty bad. I'm sure that we can do a much better job! Previously we had only seen personal classes but these classes were for groups so that was fun. We are both excited to start teaching because we think it will be a blast.

Tomorrow we are working at a full day English immersion and we are going to get paid for the first time!!!!! So we are excited to see how that is going to go and see how reasonable it would be for us to host our own immersion since it would have a very low overhead cost and potential for some pretty significant income for only a day's work. That's all for now, we'll let you know how the immersion goes tomorrow :)

Guasca

We go to Guasca (pronounced Wasca) every weekend and it's AMAZING but we haven't really posted much about it so I want to fix that! Guasca is about an hour and 15 minutes outside of Bogota and it is definitely in the country!! Juana and Manolo have a studio there and a bit of land- a small finca, if you will. They don't have beds there so they don't stay overnight but they would like to add on to the studio and perhaps retire there. The studio itself is tiny, no electricity, and limited running water but its a complete haven! It has a fire place and lots of Manolo's art so you couldn't ask for much more. Its especially a treat when you're in there in front of the fire listening to a rain/thunderstorm, which is pretty much a guartentee. This weekend we went for a walk up the road that the studio is off of- incredible, everything is so colorful. We can hardly imagine what the warm climate plant and animal life is going to be like! We also took a short cut through the forest to get to the road, which was pretty thick with vegetation so it made for some pretty cool pictures- now you know what a cold weather Andean forest looks like!

It has been raining a lot here recently and there has been a lot of road flooding but on the way back this weekend we drove through a town, La Calera, that was completely flooded! The water was rushing down the hill side, literally like a river, straight into the homes that we built in the valley-terrible. There were also streams of water pouring off the cliffs that the road is cut out of (remember we are in the mountains) and it looked like waterfalls 3 feet from the road. The roads were ok though- only about 6 inches of water to drive through, which isn't "too bad" here so we made it home fine but WOW! The flooding was definitely a reminder that we are in the third world- its pretty crazy to see water rushing into little more than shacks and watch people try to save their homes with a broom.

Differences in Bogota

1. Traffic- there are no lanes on the highway, especially after dark people consider stop signs optional, motor cycles speed between the "lanes" of cars inches away from you
2. Roads- they probably have not been redone since they were paved, there are HUGE potholes and since it rains a lot here they get covered up easily; there is also no drainage, just last night we drove on a main road in at least a foot of water
3. There are street vendors everywhere, pedalling nearly everything we have seen bean bag chairs and sofas, communion hosts, car cell phone chargers, jamacain hats with the dreads coming from them, parking cones and fire extinguishers... if you want to find badly enough you could probably find just about everything sold on the street- keep in mind people are often carrying all this stuff in between cars as you roll by in traffic
4. The fruit!!! You can get any kind of fruit you could imagine pretty much- they literally come in every shape, size, and color. And you can bet if they sell it in the states they are probably way bigger here. Juice is also a major staple, we have freshly made juice every morning.
5. The country is focused on increasing security so there are military and police officers everywhere!! To enter a mall or a large building you have to open your trunk so a dog can check for bombs; all the buildings have guards and depending on who lives there they may be armed or not (luckily no one important lives in our building so no armed guards); army guards line the street and pull people over on the way into and out of Bogota to prevent guerillas from getting into the city. It takes a little bit to get used to the constant heavily armed presence but we are very glad they are here- the only issue is the way they casually hold automatic weapons, that is a little scary.
6. Colombia has mandatory military service after high school (mostly for people who dont have enough connections to get out of it) so some of the officers look (and are) very young- but I guess that's similar in the states, I just dont see it everyday
7. You can't buyt any more than a 12 pack of beer but in a bar you can buy a three foot high pitcher of beer- called a "giraffe"
8. Things are expensive (consumer goods but not really food) but people are cheap- everyone here has a few maids and if you have kids for sure a nanny. Middle class people can afford to have an army of servants around them- you can keep a full time staff for about $200 a month.
9. Obviously Colombia is a very Catholic country, and a practicing one at that but the religious paraphernalia is out of control- key chains, stickers on every bus and taxi, blinking Jesus and Mary statues and paintings, nativity scenes everywhere, each school religious or not has a shrine to Mary or a patron saint, there are so many religious holidays that people don't even know why they are off work- religion turns a HUGE profit here
10. Since there is no Thanksgiving to control it, Christmas starts at the beginnging of November and people rarely work between December and January 15th.
11. You live with your parents until you get married- most of our friends who went abroad for university and graduate school and have great jobs live with their parents and plan on doing so indefinitely
12. Even if you are a business woman you should buy your clothes, mostly pants, at least one size too small. Also a red pin-stripe suit is a must. Don't leave the house without stilleto boots either, even if you don't walk very well in heals.
13. If you are over the age of 60 you must dress in the old Bogota style, mostly black for women with a hint of color added by the scarf around the sholders and for men, preferably tweed, a cane, and a fedora hat. You also must exclusively talk about good family names, your finca (country farm), and what people of class eat, wear, and do.
14. Sundays are spent dining with deceased loved ones AT the grave site, which is adorned with fresh floral arrangements each week in the shape of a cross or a heart.
There are about a million more things that are different from the states so when we think of them, we'll add on.

Our Apartment!

Despite the difficulty of getting an apartment in Bogota, we managed to get an amazing one. We are in a great neighborhood and a great building for very little money. The road that we are on is very quite but we are only a few blocks from some of the major roads in all directions so we can pretty much find anything we need within walking distance- which is key! Taxis aren't expensive but the fairs would add up if we had to use them to get everywhere. Our apartment is on the side of the building that isn't on the road so we look out at the back of another apartment and over our apartments back yard. The "yard" has a bunch of kids play ground stuff, a nice terrace, and a huge grill so its a nice view. Unfortunately across the street from our apartment are 2 construction projects- so depending on the work of the day we often get to wake up around 5 with the construction workers :) Bogota is an upwardly expanding city so there are building projects pretty much everywhere. 40 years ago where we live was farm land and single family homes but the city has expanded like crazy since then so now its all high rise buildings.

Although we at first thought we would have a lovely unfurnished apartment, we have managed to get everything we need. Juana gave us 2 matresses and her brother had a restuarant and they gave us a kitchen table and 4 chairs, which is amazing!! We were able to find a reasonably priced couch, which also folds out into a bed- its actually more comfortable as a bed but we are breaking it in. We went for about a week without a refridgerator but we managed to find one for a reasonable price by again heading south to the appliance district :) We wanted to just get a dorm size fridge but apparently they aren't very popular here because they cost almost the same as a fridge twice their size, so we have one that's about shoulder height- which is more than enough room here because we don't keep much of our food in the fridge. We keep most of the fruits and veggies out and no one refridgerates eggs here because its not hot enough so mainly we just needed it for meat and cheese. We were able to find kitchen sets for reasonable prices so we have dishes and pots and pans, etc. In the past week we also printed out a lot of pictures from home and decorated so its really starting to feel like home. The only thing we dont have is a TV but we are still debating as to whether that's a necessary expense since they're pretty expensive here and then we'd have to add cable to our list of monthly expenses. It is a great way to learn the language though so we're holding out on the decision. Now that we have everything in order we have taken pictures...

First is our entrance way, then the view from our hall. From the door our kitchen is to the right and then entrance to the bathroom and bedroom is on the left- ok when I actually uploaded the pictures they didn't upload in the order that I wanted but you can figure it out. The shower is amazing- its huge and the water is very hot assuming you remember to turn on the water heater otherwise you get frigid, frigid water. The first day we were here we didn't have time to let the water heat up and there was literally steam rising from our bodies because the water was soooo cold! Hopefully we wont have to repeat that too often. Our bedroom has an awesome walk in closet complete with shelving and drawers so we have lots of space. It is also such a treat to have everything organized because when we were living at Juana and Manolo's for the first 3 weeks we were living out of our suitcases which was very messy. In the living room we have our table and couch and our amazing tent. It's Linnea's tent for hiking so we needed to practice setting it up but mostly we just wanted something in our apartment for the first few days when we had no furniture. Then we got attached to it and now we watch movies in it :) We also have a lovely fireplace which currently has a Christmas tree, complete with lights, in it. Its not really very cold here so we might not ever have occasion to use it but it still looks very nice.

Getting an Apartment in Colombia 101

1. Plan to make a million calls
2. Don't expect when someone says they'll call you back they actually will
3. Don't expect real estate agents to arrive on time, in some cases, they will even forget they had an appointment with you
4. When you find a place you like, take it, otherwise it will be taken out from under you
5. You can't afford furnished apartments but you can't really afford furniture either
6. When you do sign for a place they will do a "credit check" with your bank statement
7. Then you will have to pay for a notary to notarize your already signed paperwork- but you dont have to sign it in their presence
8. It is very difficult to get a lease for less than a year
9. The contract is a standard form but even if the agreements of your contract are different than that you have to ask that the contract be corrected... contract errors are normal
10. When you do sign the corrected contract be sure to block out the entire afternoon- it will take that long
11. Also, when you are getting furniture delivered- expect it to be hours and hours late eg. if it was supposed to come on Tuesday afternoon it might come at 10:30pm on Thursday
12. There are no Targets, you cannot get nice consumer goods like furniture at a reasonable price- you can expect to pay $70 for a plastic chair that is likely to break soon after the purchase
13. If you want good prices you have to go south to the furniture district and play shop owners off each other- it is totally acceptable to negotiate the price of a sofa

So basically doing anything here takes time and patience but have managed to get through it and get an incredible apartment for only about $450 a month, not including utilities and internet.

The Salt Cathedral

The following weekend we went to the Salt Cathedral which is just outside of Bogota- it is literally a cathedral made inside a salt mine, hundreds of meters below the ground! The mines around the cathedral are still productive and inside the cathedral there are some salt deposites that people scrape salt off of as a souvenir. The mine itself is hundreds of years old, dating back to the Muisca period (700 AD) but the first cathedral was opening in 1954. That one is closed now though for safety reasons. The new cathedral, which is the one we were in was "built" in 1995. It is hard to appreciate how huge it is only looking at pictures but you can see on the first picture a pillar compared to us which might start to give you an idea. The cathedral itself can accomodate 8,400 people!! They hold mass in the cathedral a few times each day and the stations of the cross are built into it so its mostly a site for religious tourism.