¡Carne, Carne, Y Mas Carne!

Lunch

I am a meat eater. I love cow, lobster, fish, pork, crab, shrimp, turkey, and chicken...in that order. I have tried and enjoyed goat, duck, deer, alligator, eel, goat, etc. and continue to eat lamb despite the fact it makes me sick every. single. time. There is no such thing as a meat I don't thoroughly enjoy. I also eat tofu as long as it takes like meat; there's nothing wrong with a good impersonator. As such, I have met very few people in my life that have the same kind of crazy devotion to meat. That is, until I came to Bogota. The residents of this city are meat crazy. I must say, this city is not a good place for vegetarians, let alone people with zero self-control around a meat dish (me). I literally feel like I am going to fall asleep after each meal and I can't move. It gets weird. Yesterday, I had a traditional Colombia dish for lunch (see picture to the left) that consisted of ground meat (still not sure if it was cow or pork, but I don't care), chorizo (spicy pork), red beans, white rice, and spices, topped off with a fried plantain*. I sat and stared for twenty minutes afterwards because I couldn't form sentences or move. I told myself I would have a light dinner and ended up having fried chicken delivered to my apartment. Why? I guess the answer to that question is: why NOT? I thought a home delivery of three fried drumsticks, rice, beans, and frozen lemonade only existed in my dreams. Maybe I am dreaming....

View from the office kitchen!

Besides the meat heaven that is my life, this city also is filled with the kindest people in the world. Albeit I am prone to hyperbole, in this instance, I am not exaggerating. For example, Ana Cristina, my new buddy at work, helped me purchase minutes for my Colombian cell phone during lunch, waited with me after work to be sure my ride arrived, told the driver that it was pertinent that I found a store that sold peanut butter (great success!), and invited me to accompany her, along with some friends, for a weekend at her family's vacation home in a pueblo called 'Carmen de Apicala', which is about 2 hours from Bogota. That is just one example. I can't even begin to describe how kind everyone is but I am certain it will be an overwhelming theme of this blog. Some additional observations of life here in Bogota:

• In the office, coffee is delivered to your desk in the morning and after lunch (what?!)
• Rollerblade races are an actual sport that is broadcasted on Sunday afternoons on ESPN. I don't even know what to say about that....
• "Chevere" means "cool" 
• "Listo(a)" is used, or abused, in everyone's vocabulary and means "okay"
• There is no escaping Lady Gaga
• People talk to each other in the elevator. Imagine that!
• Everyone greets eachother with kisses (besos) and "good morning" ("buenas dias") upon entering the office floor
• When people are sick, they wear face masks in the office to avoid spreading germs...I told ya people are kind!

View from my desk

I have only been in the office for two days but I am starting to get the hang of things. I just learned of my first project and will be sure to update this blog with details.

*The ladies of my office got quite the laugh when I asked why bananas were so big here. I have had plantains before, but only after they are cut up and prepared. They looked nothing like these.