En Suramérica: Bogotá, Colombia

Greetings compadres!

Here we are in Bogotá, getting along quite well I must say. On Sunday night Laura Bleier (Adi's good childhood friend) and I picked Adi up at the airport around 9 PM and headed back to the Bleier's after getting a bit lost in this enormous city. Bogotá is like the New York City of South America. Everywhere you go at all hours there are people walking, driving, etc. and it consists of 8 million inhabitants. The city is very cultured with many libraries and several universities, and so is also known as the "Athens of South America." It's incredible how well the people here dress and furthermore how well they carry themselves. No sweatpants in public, and there is just an aura of elegance everywhere.

After finally arriving at the Bleier's apartment we had a few glasses of wine with Laura and ended up chatting until 3 AM. Adi brought with her a list of relatives and family friends to call to catch up with, so she spent Monday morning making her phonecalls and re-connecting with everyone. We spent the first part of the afternoon walking around and trying to get to know the area after yet again getting a bit lost. Unfortunately upon our return a distant family friend of Adi's family, Alicia Caballero de Gomez, passed away, so in the evening we attended a funeral service- something I had never experienced, and Adi only once before. It was an interesting experience, and there were lots of people- it seems as though Alicia made a pretty big impact in a lot of lives.

The first part of the afternoon on Tuesday was spent getting to know the area again, and this time we walked down to "El Andino" which is a downtown area with all sorts of shops and restaurants. You can literally find anything from Nike to Cartier jewelry, as well as flea market goods and an Audi dealership. We were thirsty for a beer, because the weather was sunny and warm, and stopped at the Bogotá Beer Company to try an artesanal beer. Needless to say, best beer I've had in the past 4 months! The beer was accompanied by some Bogotan empanadas which are fried deliciousness stuffed with ground beef and potatoes and topped with lime juice and chile salsa... demasiado rico. Enough to make my mouth water as I sit here typing.

Later in the day on Tuesday the family reunions began. By the end of the day Monday we had already made a full schedule of events for the week. Birthday dinners here, luncheons there, and a few coffees or "onces" to reconnect with everyone. What a great family. Everyone has been extremely happy to see us, and has really taken me in as a member of the family. An "once" typically consists of a small meal or coffee or tea around mid-afternoon, between lunch and dinner (5 PM or so since dinner takes place around 8 or 9 PM). Yesterday's "once" was at a restaurant called "Crepes y Wafles" in downtown Bogotá in an area called "La T." They have incredible crepes, and quite the selection of ice cream. You can order them with chicken, beef, spinach, Nutella, arequipe, and the list goes on.

Today we went to "El Museo de Fernando Botero" downtown- Botero is a famous Colombian artist from Medellin who has a very unique perspective and style. For him it seems there's just something about drawing, painting, or sculpting oversized objects. See below. After the museo we struggled through the crazy Bogotan traffic only to arrive late to our lunch date with Gloria Elena and Jorge Enrique, Maria Lucia, and Juan Carlos (family friends of Adi's).

Bogotá has been really great. I'm very excited to get to know more of the city and the rest of Adi's awesome family. Hope everyone is doing well and starting to enjoy the nicer summer weather. More to come soon.

The view from where we're staying