A moment in history

I'm sitting in Mony's apartment with her family, and we have all been glued to the television for the better part of the afternoon/evening. The breaking news is that 15 people were rescued from the FARC very early this morning, who had been in captivity from six to ten years. This included 11 army and police officers, three American contract workers, and Ingrid Betancourt, a former Colombian presidential candidate. There is a sense of gravity to the situation, while at the same time there is an extreme lightness, with all of us cheering and Mony placing the Colombian flag outside on the balcony. I'm not sure that this can be called a turning point yet, but it certainly is a moment to let soak in, especially the implications that the cooperation between the exuctive and military branches of the government, as well as with the US and France, has.

Now on to me! :) I am finally getting photos up online here. This past week has been a bit of a blur, but in a good way. The wedding on Saturday was a ridiculously fun time: a backdrop to envy, live music at every turn, amazing (vegetarian!) food, and dancing for 6+ hours. I thought for a moment around 1:15am that the Estadounidenses had outlasted the Colombianos, dancing to music from a DJ... but no, around 1:30 the band came back on and the Colombians wiped the floor with us. Note to US men: learn how to dance! You will sweep any woman off her feet.

Sunday we all went to a finca (literal translation: farm; in this case, more like weekend country home with attached farmland) for a barbeque hosted by friends of the family, Fernando y Gloria. They have 18 hectares (about 45 acres), which we got explore a bit of (directly uphill, but well worth it for the view). Since I like to talk about food, I will regale you with the menu (picked at as it came off the grill, not a formal affair): arepas con aji (corn meal cakes served with a spicey cilantro and onion sauce); papas con ogao (boiled yellow potatos with a tomato and onion salsa); grilled chicken, beef, and pork (no more details than that); fried yucca; potato and plantain chips with chicharrones (fried pork skin); platano maduro (fried, squished, and refried ripe plantains); fresh avocado and tomato dishes; and veggie kebabs. Oh, and to top it all off, Colombian wafers with arequipe (their version of dulce de leche, sort of like caramel, only better), mora (blackberry spread), and a cottage cheese-like dessert doused in melted brown sugar. We had to hike just to work it all off... and have a limbo contest (congrats Chansonette).

Monday we all went to Villa de Leyva, a small Colonial-style town that has both attracted and become reliant upon tourism. It seemed that most tourists were actually Colombians or other Latin Americans, but there were a few other gringo faces to be seen. The main plaza is mostly cut off to cars, so the original cobbles are intact, and it was our backdrop over lunch. I got a bit cynical about the whole thing for two reasons: after going in and out of countless shops selling the same things more or less, you feel like you're getting only a superficial, materialistic view of a place; and we spent over nine hours on the bus there and back, to only have about six hours to eat and explore. It was a long holiday weekend (some saints or others), so traffic back to Bogota on the one-lane road took almost 6 hours, versus the three it took to arrive. Drivers had no qualms, however, about driving in the oncoming lane. I looked out the bus window several times to be greeted by oncoming headlights that were a little close for comfort. But the swerving and racing is nothing new, as the roads here rival those of Pittsburgh for their pothole-edness. Although here this is compounded by the fact that there are often no pavement markings, even on multi-lane highways. Virtually any driver here would be arrested on suspicion of drunk driving if anyone cared enough to pull them over.

We saw more of Bogota on Tuesday, including going up the Swiss-made cable car (teleferico) to Monserrate. The rain stopped just in time for us to get some sweeping views of the city from one of the highest points around, above 10,000 feet. There was a large group of school children, who swarmed me as I climbed some stairs in a rush of color and noise. Inside the church at the top was a typically Latin American depiction of the wounded, post-crucifixion: tortured, bloody, in agony, and appealing with his eyes to the churchgoers. There was even a head of what I assume was human hair. This leads me to some more general comments about Colombia and Latin America.

Colombia is a rapidly growing city that is enveloping the surrounding land and towns at a fast clip. There are signs everywhere that read "Esta propiedad no esta de venta" (this property is not for sale), indicating to developers not to bother. The city has yet to develop its tourism industry, and for this reason it's relatively hard to get around, especially if you don't speak the language. This is changing slowly, and I would be interested to visit again in a few years to see what has developed. On our way out of town on Sunday, we noticed that one half of the main streets (most are boulevards) was closed to cars to be used as a ciclovia (bikeway), as well as outdoor group aerobics being conducted. This is all part of a government initiative to promote healthy living (although I personally wouldn't want to ride my bike or jog 20 feet away from pollution-ridden vehicles in the remaining lanes. I have black boogers here as it is). Cycling is actually a very popular sport here, and we have passed many bikers in and around town, some casually getting from point A to point B, others racing downhill around curves in full jerseys and aerodynamic wheels. I haven't seen this in any other Latin American country to date, let alone with this level of popularity.

This is getting a bit long winded and it's late. More soon from Guatemala, hopefully with photos to boot!