COLOMBIA

Note: The colors yellow, blue, and red have been used to title sections of my Colombian adventures because they are the three colors of Colombia's flag. As it was explained to me, the yellow symbolizes gold/wealth, the blue is for the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, and the red is for the blood shed for the nation.

Arrival
From the moment I arrived in Colombia until the moment I left, I was surrounded by hospitality from some of the friendliest and most welcoming people I've ever met. I am not just talking about Diana's mother, who was a more than amazing hostess! When I arrived at the Bogota El Dorado International Airport, Diana was nowhere to be found. I tried to stay awake, given that an hour on a table in the food court at the Mexico City airport was all the sleep I'd gotten the previous night. I had considered checking into the airport Hilton. Then I remembered I'm a poor teacher in Mexico.
Anyway, I did my best to put on the, "I know what I'm doing, I'm not lost" face.
"Are you lost? Are you waiting for someone?" The face is clearly flawed.
I turned my head and saw a girl about my age or a little older who looked concerned. I explained to her that I was waiting for a friend to pick me up, and she ended up letting me use her phone and offered to take me to her apartment, an offer which I declined even though she was probably harmless, and she asked me to call her once Diana came to get me so that she wouldn't worry! All this, from a stranger. I knew Diana was nice, but I hadn't yet realized she's pretty representative of Colombian people.

POLLO!
When Diana finally found me (she had been in another part of the airport), we had to look for her cunado (brother-in-law), and he was nowhere to be found. While waiting, I ran into what to my sleep-deprived mind was the COOLEST item ever: Chicken flavored Lays potato chips! Lays potato chips are called Sabritas in Mexico and come in lime and chile flavors, among other things, but not CHICKEN! Lays chips are also called Margaritas in Colombia, by the way. At the end of the trip I bought a package of 12 bags of chicken flavored chips, and I still have a good 6-8 of those if anyone wants to test them!

Lexical Differences
"Chido." "What?" "Cool." "We don't say that here." This was one of many times when my Mexican Spanish became a topic of conversation as Diana and I compared Mexican and Colombian vocabulary and slang. Below are a few differences. On the left, Mexican words; in the middle, their Colombian counterparts; on the right, rough English translations.
chido/padre -- chevere/bacano -- cool
wey -- marica -- dude
cuate -- socio -- friend/buddy
popote -- petillo -- straw
Que onda? -- Que hubo/Que mas? -- What's up/How's it going?
extranar -- hacer falta -- to miss something/someone
pilo/a --listo/a -- smart/clever/quick
Also, a backpack is a mochilla in Mexico but a maleta in Colombia, and a bolsa in Mexico (like a purse/handbag) is a mochilla in Colombia. I was a little confused.

Taking it to the street
Both Diana and her sister called me "pila", which means quick or smart, and they were referring to my streetsmarts, navigation skills, and common sense. I have to include that because my mom worries a whole lot about my safety abroad, partially because I have my fair share of blonde moments. So, Mom, I now know two people who think I manage pretty well out there in the big, bad world! :)
I tried telling Diana's sister that I wasn't so street saavy before living abroad, and that before I couldn't find my way out of a wet paper bag. The expression didn't translate so well.

Magic Passports
"Cuanto vale el pasaporte magico?" (How much does the magic passport cost?)
What?

On Tuesday, Diana took me to Salitre Magico, which roughly means Magic Forest, an amusement park in Bogota. The tickets to enter the park are called "magic passports," and I'm a cheeseball so I found that amusing. In short, we got rained on and then found out we hadn't bought rain insurance, AND that admission is more than half off on Wednesdays, the next day. But we still had fun, except when they wouldn't let us on the kiddie swings because we were over 1m45 tall. Looking at the seats, I don't know if it would have held my budonkudonk anyhow.
The photo: I thought it was an egg; it was a coffee bean.

Karaoke
One of my goals in life (and I'm not shy about it) is to do Karaoke on all six naturally inhabited continents. I've been told to do it on Antarctica too... I'll think about that after the first six are accomplished.
So when Diana asked me what I wanted to do when I came to Colombia, I told her, "Anything you plan is fine with me! But, I really want to do Karaoke!"
I can now say I have sung the Backstreet Boys on three continents.
Unfortunately, the song I practiced, Shakira's "Estoy Aqui", was not on the menu. Que lastima.

Salsa
If you've seen me dance -- okay, stop laughing now, -- if you've seen me dance, you can imagine how well it went when we went out dancing. Diana's sisters mistakenly thought I was bored when I didn't want to dance and tried very hard to convince me that I needed to dance. I wasn't bored; I was quite content watching. It was sort of like being in Germany where everyone speaks fluent German and all you can muster is Guten tag (Hello) or Wie schmecken die bonen? (How do the beans taste?) I've worked up to the point where my mind and my hips know the rhythm, but my *#$%* feet are still lost in translation. So I was content just observing until Andrés came along.
"Bailemos?" (Shall we dance?)
"No puedo bailar." (I can't dance.)
"Si, puedes." (Yes you can.)
"No, no sé bailar." (No, I don't know how to dance.)
"Te enseno." ("I'll teach you.")
I gave up and took the floor. Andrés was patient, but also a smooth talker and I may have found this charming in my younger years (not that I'm ancient, but you get the idea). Now, though, I had to stiffle laughter when he said, "My friend wants to go to another bar. But he's not dancing with a beautiful blonde girl." Right, Andres. Strap on your boots, the mierda's getting deep.
We danced a couple of songs, I assaulted Andres' feet, I went back to my friends, and he came and got me to dance again a little while later. Masochist.
Just before we were going to leave, a visibly drunk man came and sat at our table. I understood the words he was saying, but I had NO IDEA what in the world he was talking about. I started doubting my Spanish, till Diana told me she couldn't understand a thing he was saying, either.

Lovin' It
On Wednesday, Diana and I started calling the airport daily to try to change my flight. I was loving Colombia and didn't care if I ever left; but staying an extra few days would have to be enough. They didn't have availability until we called Saturday morning, hours before my departure, and found out that something opened up for Wednesday and that I could get four more days of Bogota.

Sights
In addition to the historical/downtown area, the bohemian Candelaria/Chorro area, many malls, and the artisan markets (see photo) of Bogota itself, we left the city Friday to go to the Catedral de Sal (Salt Cathedral) in Zipaquira. More info on it here: http://www.catedraldesal.gov.co/
On the way, we went to Panaca, a "Safari" that had rare animals such as cows, goats, and dogs. It was funny because I didn't grow up far from farms, and almost none of the animals there were new to me, but my Bogota-dwelling friends were impressed. There were two highlights: milking a cow (and then tasting the milk, blech) and holding a baby goat that had been born that morning! Oh, and the free snack that went with the milk. I love snacks.



Bebé!
If you know me, you know that I don't pass up the opportunity to hold a baby when it arises. So I really took to Diana's niece, Mariana, and she apparently took to me, falling asleep on my shoulder. I dozed myself for a bit, and Diana wanted a picture but I woke up.


Bittersweet Ending
I was really bummed to have to leave Colombia and Diana, who is a wonderful person and a great friend. I also knew that leaving Colombia meant my vacation was almost over. So because of that, coupled with Diana's mother's bear hug at the airport, I was teary-eyed as I left and headed for security. I rarely cry anymore, so I was really surprised that I got choked up leaving Colombia and Diana.
I had managed to supress the waterworks, kept it in, and then got my Colombian beer confiscated by security because it was over 100mL. Now THAT'S something worth crying over. I refrained, though.
As I mentioned, I felt incredibly welcomed by everyone I met in Colombia, right up to the travelers I met in the airport gate as I was leaving. They were a woman, her sister, and her husband, and they ended up giving me their address for when I come back to Colombia! Talk about hospitality.
I know I'll return to "Locombia", and hopefully soon. Di and I have plans to visit the Zona Cafetera (where they grow coffee), Las Amazonas (that should be self-explanatory), the coast, etc. etc. I liked it so much I could even see teaching there for a little while. Who knows.

I almost forgot...
There were two comical (after the fact) run-ins or would-be run-ins with the Colombian police. First, Diana's brother-in-law got locked in the ATM. We tried to flag cops down, and they weren't stopping. Finally Edwin got out, and we got back in the car and drove away. Diana's sister, Edwin's wife, said something about the cops not following us or not being able to know it was him trapped in the ATM, and I thought, it's not his fault he got stuck in the ATM. I found out later that he knew something about wiring and CUT two wires to make the alarm stop so he could get out. And that is why we dashed out of the area so fast.
The second interesting police incident happened during one of my last nights in Bogota. Diana's friend and her friend's brother were driving us home, and we randomly got pulled over by the cops. Apparently this isn't uncommon. They asked the brother (I can't remember his name) to get out, they patted him down, and then asked for all of our IDs and if we were all citizens. I only had my teacher ID and a wet copy of my passport on me. They told the cop that one of us was American and my stomach did a flip-flop. I was certain that my citizenship was going to cause a problem, but au contraire, once they heard this there were no further questions and we were sent on our way. Still can't explain it.

I believe you can see the rest of my Colombia pictures here...
http://bu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2132561&l=5812f&id=904160