November 18, 2010
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Bogotá curiosities
Monday night we went to a wing place around the corner from the hotel. I ordered nachos and got this huge thing that was more like a taco salad. (That's the problem with traveling with gringos; you end up eating American food while you're overseas.)
Every major hotel has a bomb dog and a weapons screener at the door. We get sniffed and swiped with a wand every time we come in. Last night this poor Dalmatian was outside our hotel. I thought it was a second bomb dog, but a lady led it away.
Technicians are eccentric people. One of the instructors in this course wore this footgear today.
In the middle of the afternoon there was a massive rainstorm that overflowed the roof gutter system. Water cascaded into the stairway from the skylights, and people scurried around with brooms, sweeping it on down the stairs. Fortunately the building is all concrete, cinderblock, and tile, so little damage was done.
This kind of brick is used for construction here. It's a structural brick; they'll build the whole wall of it (not like the US where brick is a decorative siding). When we were kids, we used to visit the brick factory in the valley below our house. The mud was dumped in a huge hopper, mixed by machine, and extruded through a mold that shoved out a continuous line of hollow brick material (like a pasta maker). A man had a jig with two wires and would cut off two bricks, slide them over to the edge of the table, then cut two more. The bricks were loaded onto a cart and pushed away to a drying area. After they had dried for a certain amount of time, they were baked in the kiln.
Our hosts took us out drinking tonight. I sat in the middle of the table to interpret. I discovered that after about the sixth round of drinks, I was no longer needed. Much of what was said after that was stuff I wouldn't want to repeat anyway. (Don't worry, I didn't drink nearly that much.)
The place where we went to drink had the biggest manger scene I've seen in quite some time. I had forgotten what a big tradition they are here.
Comments (42)
Yeah ıt ıs always sad when someone goes travelıng and orders somethıng that ıs famılıar to them- or at least they thınk ıt wıll be famılıar ıt really never ıs. Love the guy,s footwear they are suppose to be great and were really a hot buy the last couple of years...and I bet they worked well ın the deluge. We have the same brıcks for buıldıng here ın Turkey though our house ıs two feet of natural larger stone- really good ın the quake zone. Keep sendıng the photos, enjoy the pre-Chrıstmas feelıng.
Yay more pics! This is all so interesting. Looks like quite a storm! I hope the sweet doggie was inside then. The food looks yummy! That is the largest manger scene I've ever seen. Interesting bricks and footwear. Are you havin' fun? How's the work going?
I sure am enjoying the pics. I'm the person who always asks to see people's travel and family photos. And I'll sit and look as long as they keep handing me pics.
Be good and have fun! Or just have fun!
wow. that is one big nacho plate. Can't even see the nachos. It reminded me of a painful fact that I hadn't had nachos for a long time. hoping to see more photos!
p.s: that was some huge storm.
I love Vibrams and taco salad and warm weather and beer and well... could go without being scrutinized for bombs... but looks like fun all around! Thanks for sharing the adventure
Nice to have a little escape. When I came home last night, my heat was busted. Looking at someone else's vacation is a good morale lifter lol
Sorry but gringos stand out like a sore thumb. LOL
IM MORE JEALOUS !!!! I WANT COLOMBIAN FOOD NOWWW !
How did I miss this~ I had to find you on the front page~ I never saw it on my subs page. ???
LOVE the manger scene~ I could study it for hours. Every little detail.
Now that big taco salad looked good. Looks like you all had a good tim eout having a dozen-err I mean a few-drinks. That's a lot of rain water. Great photos.
@grannyinboxers -
@bumblefish -
@WildWomanOfTheWest -
@XoPinkHeart -
@oceanstarr -
@adamswomanlost -
@adamswomanlost -
We are most of the way through the course now. Today was a fun day but cooler, especially in the afternoon. I didn't mention how much louder my gringo coworkers' voices were at the club last night. American (English?) voices really project, especially when they've had a few. WWW, you may not have seen this because I posted it after midnight. Starr, I'm sorry about your heat. It's a pain to have that happen. Down here very little a/c is used because the altitude and latitude mean it never gets very hot or very cold. Here in Bogota they use the bricks from the pictures between poured concrete columns. They have to have a rebar and concrete frame to protect against earthquake damage. In Medellin I've seen houses built of nothing but brick walls and concrete slabs, no columns at all. The course organizer says he will request me next time he teaches down here! I would love it if it became a regular occurrence. He says he comes every 18 months or so.
@dawn_1o9 -
Sorry, I missed your name in my long comment here. Please read the comment above this one. I'm glad you enjoy the pictures.
when I was in India my friends took out to an American Diner! It was their favorite place but OMG I didnt want american diner food, lol.
Seize the moment!
The first picture made me terribly hungry.
@BingleBot -
It wasn't bad, but the chips got very soggy as I went along. It cost the same as a modest order of wings, and was much more filling and balanced.
@Aloysius_son -
I am doing that! It feels sooooo good to be back in Colombia!
That taco salad looks nummy!
@macphoto -
In the summer of 1979, when my buddy Scott and I traveled around Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, Scott and his brother always wanted to go to hamburger places. The meals I remember fondly are the ones we ate at local greasy spoons in the middle of nowhere. At the training venue this trip, we instructors get fed fancy food at a long table in the middle of the cafeteria, and I look longingly at the rice, chicken or steak, plantains, and other traditional food the other people are eating. I would gladly trade with them.
@Happily_Married_Guy -
It was pretty good. Got soggy as I went along.
@LoBornlytesThoughtPalace -
Nope, just a polite halfhearted swipe with a wand and a sniff from a tired-looking retriever.
@Roadkill_Spatula -
the part of visiting a new place is experiencing the food. Well, within reason...I dont eat meat.
Nice photos. =) I love the bricks. Decorative siding. *giggles*
Hmmm...Columbia looks so much like Jerusalem...ha...
It may be a taco salad but it looks good...mmm...
wonderful!
@HereLiesNelsontheGreat -
It was a pretty good taco salad. It feels really good to be back down here. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed being in Colombia.
@dharmalaughs -
Why giggles? Thanks.
@Harpos_Mark -
Thanks. I'm very, very glad to be here, and enjoying almost everything about the experience.
@ItsWhatEyeKnow -
Not on my site, please.
@Roadkill_Spatula - He and I are just playin'. Ask him.
@Roadkill_Spatula - I bet you are having the best time! (and I am a little jealous). Thanks for posting the pics. Vicarious travel is better than no travel...perhaps...
Love the photos and learning about someplace I'll probably never visit. I kind of like that picture of the rain. The manger scene is beautiful! Enjoy your time there!
@peacefulmeadow -
I'm glad you enjoyed the pics. The rain shot did come out interesting. The flash glitter on the drops makes depth perception off.
@Harpos_Mark -
I suppose that's how A&E and travel channels and PBS survive. But the real thing is far superior to virtual travel, except for the hassles. I'm having a great time. Right now I'm annoyed because a friend here in Bogotá was supposed to have me over this evening, but he's had his phone off.
And someone who called me during work had her phone off when I finally got free. But I had a great 50-minute walk on the treadmill, watching a Jurassic Park movie.
@Roadkill_Spatula - Well, you are in the enviable position of being sent on trips I couldn't possible afford to take. But I can assure you, that should I ever get to Bogota I will not spend 5 minutes on a treadmill.
@Harpos_Mark -
It gets very dark here at 6:00 pm, and I don't feel like walking to the mall or any such thing in this hotel district. Tomorrow evening I'm going sightseeing with my niece. I'm very grateful for my job. The director of this course said he'll request me for the next course he gives here. I hope he keeps his word! I'd love to come down every couple of years.
@Roadkill_Spatula - Are you whining? There's no whining in Bogota! ((laughing)) Really, it is a wonderful gig. Enjoy!
muah
Hope today went well. (Thursday)
Every time I hear the word Bogota an old Rush song starts playing in my head.
@Roadkill_Spatula -
Those bricks are awesome - great structural units. We're actually thinking about going solar thermal if the hvac system is toast. I'm not happy with the way natural gas is collected. The industry is very harmful to the environment and the sun is putting out a lot of heat if you just put some mind to collecting it. Fortunately, Tennessee isn't terribly cold anyway so no biggie. Even if it's an uncomfortable winter, it's not a long one
It would be awesome if you get to make this a recurring trip. I hope that works out for you. I love the pictures! I would LOVE to get to go down that way myself. Love the culture and the geography!
@adamswomanlost -
Yesterday was great, except that I got sunburned, and today was even better. The course is over. Now I want to do some sightseeing, once my niece gets over this way. But there's a thunderstorm out there...
@oceanstarr -
The natural gas industry is just plain spooky. I love using the gas, though. But an awful lot can be done with greenhouse solar collectors, passive absorption, and photocells. And firewood can be harvested sanely. The bricks are very efficient to produce, really. I don't think they have to add much to the clay. It was never clear to me what the kiln fuel was at our local factory; it looked like a different kind of mud. I wish I had asked. Down here there is little concern for insulation because the climate is so stable. Home air conditioning is quite rare in most places, although I suspect the warmer cities have more than they used to.
@transvestite_rabbit -
I was never much into head music. I had to use google to find the song you were talking about.
@Roadkill_Spatula -
Looks like we're going to run some pex under the floor and use the hot water heater as a stopgap measure right now while we get the solar thermal adventure up and running. Still on the nat gas there, but at least it's not buying a whole new unit. I am so lucky my boyfriend isn't a freaking idiot! It's moments like these that I am so grateful to have a smart human being living in my house omg... lol... Some people are so brainwashed they'd never even consider such an idea... and he's the kind of guy to come up with em. I should come up with some sort of nice thing to do for him... if only I didn't suck at being a good girlfriend... rofl
Fun to see and read of your travels.
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