Continuing

Events are outpacing my ability to keep up, but I'll try. As I'm "just back from the Amazon" (never thought I'd say that), I'm going to try to be brief so that I can write about the Amazon experience tomorrow.

Anyway, after seeing some of the northern part of Bogota, we proceeded to my novia's grandparent's apartment for an afternoon lunch. It was to be the first of many events in which I really understood little, but tried as much as possible to stay involved in conversation. Fortunately, both of my future brother's in law speak English, otherwise I definitely would have passed out from sheer exhaustion.

Lunch was composed of Ajiaco, a very traditional and lovely Colombian soup that also happens to be my novia's favorite. It's a chicken and potato soup with corn. Delicious if you add a bit of salt.

After lunch, we walked around the neighborhood a little bit and had a coffee. It was a gorgeous day. I had been talking about mountains all day, so several of us (me, novia, her brothers, and her father) drove up into the mountain. As you go up, there are restaurant/bars put right on the side of the mountain that people party at. It was empty (holiday weekend, nobody was in Bogota) and cold and rainy, but we sat around, had a few beers and enjoyed getting to know each other a little bit. Finally, we headed home as I was exhausted.

We had a wedding shower on Monday. It was at a tia's (aunt's) house. We had a good time, although I didn't really understand much of what was going on. One thing I found really odd and kind of uncomfortable was the maid they had there who served us. I'm pretty middle class, so the closest I've ever had to a maid before was a 2 times a month service the year before I moved to London and that expense was more to placate an upwardly mobile roomate than because I wanted a maid service (although I did enjoy it). But everything is cheap down here and a little money goes far. Still, I found it a bit uncomfortable.

Of course, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that we have a maid that comes to our flat 5 days a week and cooks and cleans for us. (Grin) Of course, we justify it to ourselves by believing that it's for the best since we are subletting from a friend and want to keep the place in top condition while he is in the US. Still, it's nice not to have to do laundry or clean or worry about meals during the week.

The rest of last week is a blur. We investigated and then enrolled me in Spanish course. It's a 20 hour a week course that is entirely in Spanish. It's tough. I've only gone to 2 classes, but it seems to be effective. Hopefully it will be worth the investment.

Tomorrow I'll write about the trip to the Amazon.