Back to School

      It's getting close to the end of the first week here, but it feels a lot longer than that. In the past couple days I think I've been bonding more with my host family, and yesterday I was able to make a joke that they actually laughed at. Success! So far I haven't had any health problems, although I'm not quite adjusted to the sleep schedule yet. The food is still wonderful, today with lunch (a delicious green mystery soup and then rice and the best carne asada of my life) there was fresh pineapple juice that was maybe the best thing I've had here so far. There have been lots of fruit juices (mango, orange, strawberry, and something green and slightly sour), but the I think the pineapple juice is truly the one for me.

A plaza near Universidad de los Andes. It's hard to see,
but Monserrate is the white bump on top of the mountain

    In the past couple days as I struggle mightily against the bureaucracy of the Colombian Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores trying to get a student visa, I've been thinking a lot about Colombian and American university systems. I'm told that Colombia has a reputation for very good schools, probably better than the United States, and I believe it. Because the schools are so good, most people who grow up in Bogota go to one of the universities here and live with their family. It also seems like small schools are looked down upon. From what I can gather the best schools in Colombia are universities, which usually have between 25,000-35,000 students. Universidad de los Andes (Uniandes), where my host-sister Susana goes to school and where I'm trying to register for a Spanish class, is on the upper end of that scale. I was also surprised to hear that the public universities are the best in the nation, although there isn't a big difference in the quality between public and private universities (unlike public and private high schools). (Keep in mind that everything I say here should probably taken with a grain of salt, because it was all discussed in Spanish so there's a good chance that I have no idea what I'm talking about).

The Architecture Library,
Universidad de los Andes
(not my picture)

      With all the differences I wasn't expecting Uniandes to feel as familiar as it did. On Monday I sat in on two of Susana's classes (an Anthropology class on Aztecs, Incas and Mayas and an Art History course on Latin American art). There were probably over 50 students in each class, but they were both great and it felt a lot like being back at Grinnell. I really loved being on campus, it was relaxing to be in a familiar environment, and around people my own age, even if I can't communicate with them that well. Moreover, parts of the campus are gorgeous. First there's the view of the mountains and Monserrate (a famous old church), and then there's the buildings. Yesterday I spent some time in the architecture library in a portion of campus that looks like a converted colonial pueblo. I'm not sure if the library actually was an old church or was just built to look like one, but either way I loved it. I'm nervous that my visa won't get approved in time to register for classes, because besides getting formal Spanish instruction and meeting other people who might be in my same situation, I'd really like to be able to spend more time on campus. As a visitor, it's a big hassle getting into any of the buildings or certain portions of campus. We're going to try to work it all out tomorrow, so wish me luck!

Saludos de Bogotá!

The view from my window in Bogotá

     I've been in Bogotá since yesterday morning, and so far everything is wonderful! I have my own room, with a view of the Andes outside my window. There's also an adorable puppy named Cuzco, who I someday hope to remember to take a picture of. I slept all morning yesterday after getting back from the airport and woke up for lunch, which was a soup called ajiaco, made with chicken, potatoes and avocado. All the fruit here is fantastic, but the avocados are my favorite. I was surprised to find out that my host family has maids who cook and serve lunch and clean up, but I shouldn't have been because it's pretty common in South America. After lunch I ran some errands with my host-sister Susana, and got to see a little bit of the city. All I can tell so far is that it's huge and I would never be able to drive here, the roads are so confusing. After dinner, Susana showed me some pictures she had taken around Colombia, and I brought out a book on Oregon that I had brought, which was a big hit. Colombia is amazing, there are the Andes, the coast, the Amazon, the grasslands, and all kinds of plants and animals.

The church in Tabio and the blue blue sky

     This morning we drove out to my host family's farm, which is about a half an hour outside of Bogota. On the farm there's a beautiful old farmhouse, four dogs, a couple sheep, and some award-winning black Angus cattle that my host-brother is very proud of. We had breakfast outside on the lawn, and then Susana and my host-brother's wife and I went into Tabio, a little town nearby, and had our birthdays read in the Mayan calendar by a man who describes himself as a guerrero galáctico (galactic warrior), which my host-brothers thought was hilarious. My Mayan sign is something like the red planetary earth, but what I really learned is that I'm not great at understanding astrological readings in Spanish. Tabio itself was pretty and old-fashioned, with a big pink church facing the plaza and all the buildings painted bright colors.
     So far my Spanish has held up pretty well. I can understand what people are saying to me most of the time, and I haven't had a lot of trouble getting my ideas across, although it's definitely not pretty. My host family tells me I'm doing really well, but I'm completely lost when my host-brothers start speaking really fast. I'd love to be able to take a Spanish class for foreigners while I'm here, so we're going to look into it tomorrow.
    That's it for now. Hopefully soon I'll get a better look at the city and be able to write something more interesting than a list of things I saw or ate. Now that the weekend is over things should calm down a little bit when everyone goes back to school or work. I'll try to update soon!
  

Things You Might Not Know About Bogotá

1) It's in the Andes. The elevation is about 8600 feet, so I'm looking forward to seeing what that does to me. Apparently the options include vomiting, nosebleeds, and nightmares. On the bright side, there are no mosquitos at that altitude so I only have to worry about malaria if I leave the city.
2) It has a population of 7.5 million, which is about twice the population of Oregon. Comparatively, about 9,000 people live in Grinnell.
3) Dad fact: Bogotá is about 5˚ above the equator.
4) I will be living there for four months, starting in about a week. I'll be staying with a host family and teaching English to kids (no word yet on what ages), and probably going on some weekend trips with Operación Sonrisa, a group of doctors who operate on children with cleft palates. I won't officially be taking any classes, but I might sneak into the Universidad de los Andes with my host sister, who will be taking two anthropology courses: one on Aztecs, Incas and Mayas and one on indigenous and afrocolombian thought (exciting!!). There are some other things in the works, but we'll see about that once I get there.