Second Thoughts

Since I’m still in Colombia and have quite a bit of free time—not as much as you would think though, since Isabel’s been sick and clingy, and before that I had to follow her every move to keep her out of Leo’s aunt’s things—I decided I better write and give some second impressions of Colombia.
Some crazy translations.

First off, a lot of things have cleared up about my husband that I didn’t quite get before. Number One of these was how he always lifted up both the lid AND the seat of the toilet when using the bathroom. I always found this rather weird. Now having been in Colombia several weeks, I understand. MOST toilets here don’t have a lid or a seat, so that would explain why he’s used to that. Second, he insists you need only two squares of toilet paper. Again, I thought this a bit stingy. Why only two? Again, most places in Colombia don’t provide toilet paper or you have to buy it, if not paying to use the toilet all together. Hence, the rationing makes since if you’re only using the sole tissues in your pocket. For the record, I did read an article once that compared the amount of toilet paper Americans use vs. Europeans, and we use quite a bit more on average, (I think it was 5-6 squares vs. 3). I think the study was something to do with conserving resources, if you were wondering.

Also, I’ve noticed in Colombia that the diets here are all carbs and meats. Literally, dinner will be rice, potatoes, meat and arepas (a corn meal thick tortilla). Not a vegetable in sight. However, they do eat a lot of fruits. Leo and I were both craving vegetables by the second week. Yes, even Leo found it a difficult adjustment. They also eat tons of soups, even if it’s extremely hot outside (that would be when we were in Cartagena). Really, if it’s 95 to 100 degrees with extremely high humidity, I don’t want to be eating hot soup. Nor do I want a huge, heavy meal—which is all they make with all the carbs and meat. I don’t want to sound so complaining, and really the food DOES taste good, it’s just a salad seems unheard of here.

Another thing I’ve discovered is that my kids and I are the center of attention wherever we go. The blonde hair more than gives us away as gringas. J And tourists aren’t so common here that people are used to it. At least not in some of the places we’ve been. Leo mocked me every time a car honked when we out walking (which was frequent). Ruff. I’m six months pregnant—it’s ridiculous. And my girls are oohed and ahhed over by everyone. Although I have to admit, I think they’re pretty cute too. It’s also interesting to see the military presence. When leaving Leo’s grandmother’s house one night, the car Cesar (Leo’s brother) was in with some friends was stopped by a couple guys from the military and they were all asked to show their IDs and military IDs. (In Colombia, every male is required to serve in the military for 1 year when 18 yrs old and carry a military ID afterwards stating what branch they served in and other info. You can buy your way out of it, or if you have good connections, be put in a cushier area, otherwise it’s by lottery where you serve, and a certain number get sent to basically be guerilla fodder. Leo’s parents bribed his way out, but he has an ID.) If you don’t have the proper IDs they put you on a truck (it was sitting right in front of their car) and enlist you. Cesar didn’t have anything, plus he never served in the military here, having lived in the States since he was a teen, but luckily they believed him when he said he was living in Arizona and they let him go. Leo’s mother was hyperventilating by that time though.

Some weird looking birds.

Another time, driving back from Santa Marta to Cartagena on a tour bus, our bus was randomly stopped for security checks. They had every male leave the bus and they were all patted down. I thought it a bit silly, because it’s not like they watched them as they left the bus so any one of them would have had time to stash something, and they didn’t search the bus or the women, so again, anything could have been hidden easily. It was kind of funny though because Elena had vomited all over Leo just as the bus was pulling over. He was the last one to leave the bus because we were trying to clean him and Elena up. Anyway, when the guard went to pat him down, he quickly changed his mind and just let him go. I think Leo would have preferred being patted down to the vomit however.

And then during our last day in Cartagena, the president was coming, so there were soldiers everywhere! It’s rather strange to be playing at the beach with soldiers with AK47s strolling by. But then, Presidente Uribe has had the most assassination attempts on his life than any other current president anywhere in the world. Just FYI.

Oh, which reminds me, it is also weird to see a huge billboard of Hugo Chavez as a monkey when driving down the road. Can’t really say I disagree much with that one though.

Tomorrow, I’ll have to post tales of my Grand Search for Family History. Unless someone can tell me where I can read another book online—yes, yesterday I read Midnight Sun online. I swore I’d never touch the Twilight series, but I was desperate for reading material, and my older sister had forced me to watch Twilight with her a couple weeks ago, so it was on my mind. Ruff. I have to say honestly, I have less of a desire to read the rest of the books now and I really don’t care if she finishes Midnight Sun. But I still read it mostly in one sitting, at least as much as possible with Isabel being so sick. She just laid next to me most of the day. Enjoy all those Thanksgiving leftovers for me.