I'm Back, Was It Empty Without Me? Maybe a Little?

Quoting a white rapper, hmm. The only saving grace is that he's actually quite good.

Been flying along for a little while shuffling between my four lives of the last month, leaving South Africa, a whirlwind tour of Madrid over 5 days, a game of Pin-Morgan and Alissa for 10 days in Massachusetts, and finally the last 5 days zipping around Bogota trying to establish ourselves.

Let me give you a brief account of our status in Bogota so far. So far it's been a lot like my first week at college or at law school. Each day I learn a bit more about the city and each day I buy a few more things to help build a functional life. The funniest thing to me has been the small things that never came to mind in all the shopping trips until I was at home and missed them, a blender, a strainer (or collander, depending on your usage), a vegetable peeler. It's a pain in the ass to have to go out and buy all these little things that I'll maybe use 5 times and then have to leave here. It's also a pain in the ass to not have them when I'd like them. Ah, the dilemmas of a temporary transplant.

For those that haven't been, Bogota has a NYC feel to it. Lots of neighborhoods separated by only a block or two, some really nice, some bohemian, and some a bit dodgy, some far from the center that you'd only go to with a cab and a specific address. It's clean enough, though with that caked on dirt edge to it. The public transportation in fantastic, if crowded. It's quite safe during the day and mostly so at night. Plus there are some really beautiful bits to the city as well including a nice mountain chain running along the east of the city. The weather is always the same here, 60-70 during the day with clouds and sun and sometimes rain.

The countryside around here, which I've only visited once, has that Latin American rural quality. Strung together, kind of messy towns with a colonial square at the center, some decent cheap food and wires everywhere. Cows and chickens running about, fresh air, that smell of mountain and cloud forest.

The people have been lovely so far. Generally nice but a little wary of the 2.1 meter stranger. That said, the people Alissa will be working with have been incredible - generous well beyond your typical welcoming overtones. They drove us to the mall to outfit our apartment (a little studio with an awesome view, when I can I'll get some picutres up. We're on the 11th floor, overlooking the mountains and the city center), drove us to the country to show us something of their homeland and have already taken us out to lunch a couple of times. They are also kind and full of laughter. To top it off, they are very patient with our Spanish, especially mine. And they have already arranged to set up an "exchange" for me, whereby a Colombian student working on his English will meet with me and help with my Spanish and I with his English.

As we settle and then begin to venture around the country more I hope to have much more.