Days 2, 3 ,4 and 5 - ¡A la orden!

As expected, I haven´t been able to keep up properly with all the days...so here´s a recap of the past few days. We´ve done a bit of walking around the city, in places like La Macarena, La Candelaria (by day this time), in the Parque Nacional and other parts of the city which I can´t remember the names of (my guide is asleep as I write this, so I can´t ask him). I´ve eaten huuuuge tamales accompanied by aguapanela, a sugarcane drink that is drunk either hot or cold, gone to the Museo Botero, a little handicrafts market, been told I look like a cat and received strange remarks on my nose, escaped to the bathroom and had a chat with the cleaner when lunch in a very posh restaurant got a bit too surreal, attended a birthday party, had drinks in Usaken (a part of town that reminds me a bit of Gracia in Barcelona), met lots of lovely people, including most of JP´s closest relatives from his mum´s side...the list goes on.

I don´t know if I´ve had culture shock as such, but I think the other day I reached a point where the information overload and the number of new people felt a bit overwhelming. Everyone here has been so good to me - that in itself is something that I find a bit perplexing at times. There is also a strong tradition of what I´ll call servanthood for lack of a better word. As the Bogotá I´ve experienced so far has been predominantly upper-middle class, the class differences are something that jumped out at me straight away. I knew to expect extreme social stratification but it still makes me somewhat uncomfortable. I find it strange and embarrassing when C, the lady who helps JP´s mum with general housekeeping, addresses me "su merced" - something along the lines of "your majesty" or "your honour". And at the handicrafts market we went to, all the vendors were calling out "a la orden", meaning something like at your service, waiting for your orders. Again, having lived in Pakistan and Mexico and knowing what colonial legacy produces, it didn´t really surprise me as such, but I think it´s surreal and absurd and even sad.

I also feel a bit uncomfortable with all the "security". The best way to illustrate this is probably with the example of the building I´m staying in. JP´s mum´s flat is a lovely ground floor apartment in a nice part of the city. The building is a big apartment building made of - you guessed it - red brick. :) It´s like living in a hotel. There is a man in uniform who stands outside the building, acting as something of a guard, and noting down the license plate of the taxi you get into. Then there is a man or two men who open the front door of the building for you when you buzz - or actually, before you buzz, as they can see you through the security cameras. I suppose it is kind of comforting to know there is someone looking after the building you´re in, but it is also a little discomforting to know that, to an extent, the same someone is watching you. I don´t mean to be paranoid here, but it is quite obvious that the person who opens the front door for you has a lot of information about you: they know your timetable, who your friends are, who you enter and leave the apartment with...

Anyway, onto happier things. Yesterday JP´s mum´s side of the family got together to celebrate JP´s grandmother A´s 80th birthday. It was a very special occasion because it was the first time in many years that pretty much all of the closest family and relatives got together. So you can imagine the amount of photographs that were taken, and the amount of delicious food and coffee and rum that was consumed. I felt extremely privileged to be able to be part of the celebration and everyone made me feel so, so welcome. Although I am obviously eager to see as much of Colombia as possible, it´s moments spent with JP´s family and friends that I think are the most important part of this trip for me.

Speaking of which, in true Colombian style, our itinerary keeps changing. Tomorrow we´re off to Barichara with the siblings, and then on to Mesa de los Santos in the department of Santander. After that I think we´ll go to Cartagena but after that it´s a mystery...