Friday, December 30, 2005 at 17:09
Post-holidays. The process of recovery has begun. Normality being regained. Calorie count returning to well-under the recommended 2000. Catching up on sleep. Room is looking less like a disaster. Half my backpack unpacked. It's a start. Cleansed, detoxed and ready for the new year.
Xmas was lovely. The coffee zone folks are always lovely. Spent xmas eve with a friend's family, very traditional, very fattening. Almost feel guilty about having hogged the attention, but it's not my fault that I was born in India and that everyone has
1000 questions about India.
Cali. Was. Fantastic. Was there for 2 nights of the 'Feria del Cali', one of Colombia's biggest ferias (=yet another excuse to go crazy). Feria de Cali = Parades, Concerts, Bullfighting, Crazy Contests, and lots of salsa and RUMBA. The salsa is still playing in my head
(Cali pachanguero, Cali luz de un nuevo cielo..), and I daresay I've added some new moves to the repertoire.
Some highlights of the 48 hour fling with Cali.
* Walking around the the centre - nice churches & museums & all - but the street food had me distracted.
Chontaduros with honey & salt. Mmm. And
Champus and tummy aches, but who cares about the t.a.
* The Parque Artensanial - for handicrafts and a view of the city - and of course, more street food : )
* The coolest
chiva party I've been on. Wasn't quite as mental as the infamous Bogotá-October-1 chiva, but the chiva itself was a lot neater, with barstools, funky lights, and what not. And of course driving around a lit-up warm Cali. Most of the photos came out crap, but that's the sign of a great chiva party.
* During the 6 day festival, there are huge concerts EVERYDAY (that begin at 7pm and go on until 5am). I went to one of these, called the
Super Concierto
featuring Carlos Vives (yup, twice in one month), Johny Pacheco, Sergio Vargas, Jose Feliciano, Jorge Celedon, Son de Cali... some of the best of salsa, merengue and vallenato. (check out
Grupo Niche or
Son De Cali to hear some good salsa from Cali)
* Paid homage to 'Changó' - one of Cali's oldest clubs in
Jaunchito, birthplace of Cali's salsa... just watching these caleños move is fantastic... I bow down to black people... where music & dance is concerned, they are Gods.
Friday, December 23, 2005 at 19:38
Off for a 4 day break.
Off to the beautiful coffee zone, to spend Christmas in Pereira and Armenia, with close friends & their families, in typical Colombian style. Then off to Cali, Colombia's 3rd largest city, and heart of Colombian salsa -
para la Feria de Cali.
The objective is to break all previous records of calorie intake. With healthy doses of madness in between.
Happy Holidays!
Thursday, December 22, 2005 at 12:25
Tis most definitely the season to be jolly! Just arrived from Pennsylvania, courtesy USPS: certified cool nomadlife t-shirt & dogbert (accomplish)mints.
Saki-san, you magic-spreading wonderful little thing you, muchisima gracias, you rock! (It sure is beginning to feel a lot like christmas);)
Wednesday, December 21, 2005 at 17:53
The Xmas mood is inescapable here in Colombia. I'm trying my hard to be productive and work through the holiday season, but all I get is 'Call us after January 10' o 'We'll get back to you after January 15th'. Right. Stupid me, what was I thinking. What the hey, fa la la la la, bring on the festivities. Been attending some 'novenas'. La Novena is a great Colombian tradition, celebrated each of the 9 days before Christmas, a sort of welcoming of Jesus to the world (hope I got that right?). Some community praying around the
pesebre (nativity), followed by some community singing, followed of course by some community eating! All good. I joined in the praying (ok, reading from a prayerbook), learnt carols in Spanish and now have songs praising the lord stuck in my head all day (
ven a nuestras almas Jesus...), and have been feasting on everything in sight.
Natilla and buñuelos. Yum.
Feliz Navidad,
Nancy del Carmen Pataquive
What's on in Bogotá this holiday season.
Monday, December 19, 2005 at 18:41
In response to Sid P's 'taunting' email about how he just saw Green Day and his next gig would be U2 live etc, I mentioned I was going to see
Carlos Vives. And of course, Sid P says 'Who is Carlos Vives? Was he in AIESEC?' No, Sid P, Carlos Vives is Colombia's biggest star, music wise ;) Ok, maybe Juanes and Shakira have overtaken him in terms of international fame. But Carlos Vives has been around longer, and still remains the most loved musician in Colombia. His music is really cool, it's a unique fusion of vallenato, rock, merrengue, cumbia and a range of other very caribbean sounds.(Newies can check out
Fruta Fresca, Carito, Dejeme Entrar, Papadio, Como Tu) Vallenato by the way, is typical Colombian music from the coast, a bit deceptive I think, - extremely happy sounding acordion melodies but almost always some heartbreak type sob story in the lyrics. This was easily the most fun concert I've been too. Never seen so much energy at a concert before. All the dancing and singing and the aguardiente peddlers and all. And of course, our carefully hatched plan to cheat and get into the more expensive section (being a foreigner in Colombia is fun ;) added to the fun.
So cool was Vives that
Miss Kittin, which was concert # 2 for the night, paled in comparison. No, well, Miss Kittin was cool, but I was just way too tired after all the jumping and dancing at Carlos Vives, and waiting for 1.5 hours till 1.30am just to get in to the Miss Kittin show killed the mood a bit. But she was cool, very funky on the decks, and her singing-cum-DJing style is pretty neat. And the show had the most wicked lights & video I've seen at any electronic music event!
All good. But
no más 12-hour double concert marathons.
Friday, December 16, 2005 at 11:35
I often have people telling me how lucky I am to be able to live the life I lead. Damn right I'm lucky. Not only have I got the chance to experience a country as fantastic as Colombia, but I also have a job that's genuinely exciting, fun and incredibly relevant. Now the purpose of this post is not to brag, or break my principle of not blogging about my 9 to 5. Nope, the idea is to share the good life ; )
Starting February 2006, I need someone to take my place in Colombia. So if you're Indian, young, of entrepreneurial spirit, interested in trade/international business and oriented to sales then you fit the bill. You should speak some Spanish, or at least be highly motivated to learn. It's a decently well-paid job with expenses of airfare, visa and insurance covered. You will be required to start in February and attend a 3-week orientation in Norway.
Also open, the following positions
- Indian to go to Norway
- Colombian to go to India/Norway/Kenya
Write me at naaz.kazi(at)gmail.com if you're interested and we can chat more. The good life is on offer ; )
Wednesday, December 14, 2005 at 18:40
I swear the chalkboard menu outside the quaint little restaurant says 'Arroz Cocacola' (Cocacola rice). I look again. I must be confused. Typo, maybe. I ask my Colombian mates. It is 'Arroz Cocacola'. It's not a mistake. Next question. 'So is that just some sort of cute name'. Or do they really mean rice with cocacola??? No, they really mean rice with cocacola. Which as it turns out is fairly typical in Colombia, a strange mixture of rice with cocacola (???) and raisins and what not. I have to admit, it's pretty damn delicious. Finally I've found Cocacola in some acceptable form.
Have I confessed I'm a compulsive food photographer? (also in view is yummy pollo con salsa de perjil [chicken in parsley sauce] and vaguely healthy salad)
Monday, December 12, 2005 at 20:05
Another amusing Bogotá feature. The dogsitter. I come across at least a couple everyday. Sometimes you see one puntzy dogsitter dude with 10 gigantic dogs (no kidding), having a bit of a walk in the park. Don't know about you, but this dogsitting business is new to me. Not a bad job though. Long as you don't go lose one of them doggies and have your neck chopped off by some neurotic dog owner.
Sunday, December 11, 2005 at 16:03
This is what my desktop background looks like these days. (courtesy,
UnknownSpiral)
No I'm not crazy, just dig useless trivia and brainteasers sometimes. This image supposedly has the names of 74 musical artists hidden in it (click on image to enlarge). I've only figured out about 30. It's a passable boredom killer. Or as in my case, something to stare at while my PC slowly revs up every morning.
I've only got about 30. Have a go at it, and post what you come up with. Help me cheat and hit 70.
Thursday, December 08, 2005 at 14:35
After 8 months in Colombia, I've gotten used to seeing this. Armed men in army fatigues everywhere. All over Bogotá (wouldn't be uncommon to come across some on my walk to work). On the beach in Cartagena. In insignificant little tourist towns. On the highways.
This photograph was taken in a quaint Colombian village in the mountains (courtesy, Martin) called 'Villa de Levya'. Nothing of much consequence happens in Villa de Levya, except for the odd Bogotá tourists that drop by on weekends to take in its laid-back colonial flavour, enjoy the arty-farty feel of the place and shop for crafts. And bang in the middle of the town square, while you bite on an empanada and take in the serenity, you see these (seriously) armed men walking around.
It's interesting to note how people respond to this sight. To most foreigners, the first thought that comes to mind is 'danger', an instinctive sense of discomfort or even paranoia. While interestingly, the average Colombian local, for one, is used to this, and may not even notice. Secondly, Colombians instinctively feel more secure in the presence of this security.
I remember my first weekend trip out of Bogotá. We were driving from Manizales to Armenia, a picturesque drive set in the Quindio mountains, home to the world's best coffee. I remember sitting in the backseat, just a wee bit paranoid. What's with all the military dudes. What the **** is a tank doing on the side of the road???. I don't think I'd ever seen armed military people hanging around on roads ever in my life. I'm frantically searching the expressions on Javier's face, on his mother's face up front. They look calm, and continue chatting in carefree Colombian style. I calm down a bit. I'm learning this is normal. I calm down a lot more.
There was a survey recently conducted on ways to promote tourism in Colombia. In interesting contrast, almost all Colombians surveryed wanted greater military & police presence in tourist areas, while almost all foreigners instinctively said 'get the military out of there, and then we'll feel a lot safer!'
Well, doesn't bother me anymore. In fact I think I've crossed over the Colombian side. I think I feel safer now around uniformed people with guns.Monday, December 05, 2005 at 18:12
Last night I got a bit more than I bargained for. Looking for a relaxing way to spend Saturday evening, we opt for a wine, cheese and DVD night. I insist on picking latin movies, since I've hardly seen all the good ones. So we do a back-to-back, 'Maria Llena Eres de Gracia' (2003/Colombia) and 'El Crimen de Padre Amaro' (2002/Mexico). I would recommend both highly, these movies are nothing short of fantastic. Unless you're looking to unwind, in that case, go with 'Ice Age', ok? I haven't seen a LOT of Colombian movies, but after the few I've seen I'm already a bit tired of the same old drugs/violence themes. Maria Full of Grace is not very different theme-wise, it's yet another take on drug trafficking, but as Robert Hurton put it, it 'humanizes a problem that is too easily relegated to a headline'. If 'powerful' describes Maria Full of Grace well, then I don't know what to call 'El Crimen de Padre Amaro'. Especially the last 20 minutes of the movie, and the way it closes is unbelievably piercing. I went home well mindf**ked, not in the same way that David Lynch mindf**ks you. These two movies leave you a tad dazed, because they're so powerful, and more importantly, so scarily
real.
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