More debate

I saw about as much of last night's debate as the average american.

Zero.

We don't get MSNBC down here so I got nothing. Just a few clips on CNN and BBC World later in the night. From what I gather, most people consider Obama the winner, Clinton to be shrill and desperate, and Russert to be a total loser.

I'm sitting in my new office at the moment. It's located in the Candelaria in an old, historic, freezing ass house. I'm wearing my jacket, as is everyone else, and I'm still feeling icicles form on my nether regions. Maybe if we get the grant money we're after we could afford to buy a space heater.

At any rate, the Candelaria is the historic center of Bogotá. I liken it to the "old" Bogotá in that the streets are always packed with vendors and beggars, it's filthy dirty, and you always have to be aware of pickpocketers. I think this is what Bogotá must have been like 30 years ago (or less). But living in the north, you kind of feel a bit isolated from the poverty, the crime, and the trash. In short, historical sites aside, the Candelaria is rather disgusting. I've already stepped in unpleasant and unidentifiable things and I make it a point to spend as little time here as possible.

It also takes much longer for me to get to work, say an average of 1 hour each direction. I find that unpleasant. In fact, I'd say that long commutes are one of the great unpleasantries of daily life and I hope that I can avoid them in the future. I'm committed here at Escuela Galán until Dec 08 but after that, I really hope to have a commute of 15 minutes like I'm accustomed to. Or at least access to a public transport system that is usable (I'm seriously tired of cramming into overstuffed buses with their various foul odors and drivers who think they're piloting a Chevy Geo and are completely oblivious to the fact that sudden braking seriously endangers the 75% that are standing). I can dream.

Other bits...hmmm. Well, the other NGO doesn't seem to be doing anything. They're "waiting" on the UNICEF contract which is great since I don't want to work in 2 different places (especially since "part-time" is a euphamism for "full time but we can't pay you full time so we'll say part time and expect full time effort for half pay"). Hopefully we can get initial funding here at Escuela Galán quickly and I can transition to real full time here. The third job option is still frozen but I won't be accepting it anyway (unless they were to blow me out of the water, which I highly doubt they could) since they want a 2 year commitment and there is virtually no way I will live in Colombia for another 2 years (my lungs can't handle the exhaust, for one).

We're going to take a scuba diving course in April. We've signed up and everything. Should be great. We'll be doing our qualification dives in Cartagena in the first week of May. And we're off to Peru in March for a week. That's getting firmed up as well. Life is good.