Oct
25
2009

Bullfights and ladyboys

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The crowd was in a frenzy.

After navigating some rough neighborhoods to find the arena, braving a roaring pop-up thunderstorm, and waiting 2 additional hours past the start time for the ring to dry, my very first proper bullfight was about to commence.

I sat on a wooden bench squeezed in between locals waiting for the carnage to start. The ring was solid mud so throwing a man into the center with a 400KG sharply horned and pissed off animal promised to be exciting, if not gruesome.

This would have to be one studly Matador to climb into that mud, and I looked forward to making him one of my new heroes.

When the show finally started restless kids shut up all at once, vendors stopped shouting, and all eyes turned toward the action.

What I saw will probably haunt me for years to come….

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Posted in Colombia |
Oct
23
2009

Heading South

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I pulled the brown curtain shut on my overnight bus from Bogota to Cali.

The AC had created a nice frost built up inside of the window and as we put distance between ourselves and the city lights, winding into the mountains, I couldn’t help but think that I was probably missing some incredible scenery out in that blackness.

I also couldn’t help but wonder if the FARC or other guys with AKs and a few kilos were out there somewhere.  They have been reported to stop night buses, but hopefully tonight would be a night off and I could get some sleep….or the closest thing  offered by a rattling bus anyway.

We rolled into the city of Cali in the early hours.  Cali is the second largest city in Colombia and is famed as the Salsa dancing vortex of the world. I couldn’t wait to see locals dressed in their sexiest moving to Cumbia, the Colombia version of salsa.

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Posted in Colombia |
Oct
20
2009

Bogota, Colombia

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I wasn´t sure if I was in China or South America.

So many similarities here in Bogota….in neither place could I communicate at all when I first arrived.  The weather is similar, with a damp cold constantly gnawing at your bones in the open air hostel.  There seems to be no place to go to get warm or dry at the same time!  Even the buildings are similar – utilitarian Cold War structures jutting up to the sky with dirty gray concrete, broken windows, and rusted air-con units.

At first appearance, Bogota isn´t much to look at, but I have a feeling that a lot more waits underneath.

When I stumbled off the plane after 2 days and nights of living in airports, I was so numb that very little could phase me. It didn´t take long for me to realize that even simple tasks like checking into the hostel and finding something to eat basically require some proficiency in Spanish.

Even once people realize that my Spanish consists only of ¨Donde es el bano?¨ and I look at them in bewilderment and drool, they still keep talking to me, sometimes even faster than before.  As soon as I can get centered and caught up on sleep, this is going to be a very enjoyable challenge indeed.

My two new missions of this trip?  Learn Spanish and at least attempt to Salsa dance without breaking any bones.

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Posted in Colombia |
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