OK, most of you guys have been following my saga so there probably won’t be much new here for you. But for those still fence sitting, maybe this report will give a little insight into Bogotá and the process AFTER the engagement. I’m breaking it down into pieces to try to make things more readable; however I apologize if it’s still a little long for some.
I spent a wonderful weekend in Bogotá over the Labor Day holiday. My purpose for going at this time was twofold. First and foremost to spend some time with Maria, but also to meet her family. She’d been living in Cartagena since we’d met and had only recently moved back to Bogotá where her immediate family was located. As such, I hadn’t had the opportunity to meet them. We both felt this was important to do as soon as possible and since her mom would be leaving soon for a protracted stay in America, we decided that now would be a good time. So I busted back down for the weekend on a direct from Atlanta and landed in Bogotá at about 8:00 PM on Friday. Most of the flights from America arrive around the same time and there were a ton of people at the airport waiting to get through immigration. Fortunately, that was the longest wait I had, though. After getting my passport stamped, I headed off to grab my bag. By the time I got over to baggage claim my suitcase was coming through the belt and off I went through customs. No problems at all, smooth sailing this time. I will say that it seems that if you have nothing to declare and no connecting flight, they don’t search or require x-ray of your luggage like they do in Cartagena. My luggage was always searched before exiting the airport in Cartagena but this trip to Bogotá was different. I might have been because it was such a zoo on this particular night that they were taking shortcuts, I can’t really say.
There were boatloads of people outside the airport and I didn’t see Maria anywhere. She was supposed to meet me there with her brother-in-law. The weather in Bogotá at night is very pleasant and this night was no different. After making it clear to all the cabbies that was waiting for a friend, I found a place out near the curb and away from the crowd and parked myself. I waited for around 10-15 minutes and decided to take a swing through the crowd to see if maybe Maria and I had simply missed each other. As I was walking through a man approached me and asked if I was looking for Maria. This was her brother-in-law and sure enough, they’d been there all the time only we’d missed each other because of the crowd. After long, loving embrace (with her!) and a short conversation between the three of us, he went to get his car and in short order we were off to her mother’s house where I’d meet Maria’s mom and younger brother. On the way, we had a few English lessons with her brother-in-law. He works for one of the large telecom firms in Colombia and is currently taking English classes for his work. He was thrilled to have a chance to speak with a native English speaker. Turns out he is a very funny and light-hearted guy and before the weekend was over we’d hit it off pretty well.
Anyway, we arrived at her mom’s up in the north of the city near la Fontana where I’d be staying. It’s a nice neighborhood and her mother is an absolutely charming woman. She’s a retired accountant, from Medillin and still very attractive for a woman her age (I will only say that she is in her fifties!). She met me with open arms and gave me an incredibly warm welcome to her home. I have no idea what strata the family is in but judging from the night watchman (vigilante in Spanish), the maid and the cook, my guess is it would be higher than your average Bogotá family. We had several toasts of whiskey, exchanged small gifts and of course took a lot of photographs and videos. The language barrier isn’t much of an issue for me. Maria and her brother are both good English speakers and I can speak enough Spanish to get by. Her mom is learning English but exhausted her vocabulary after a short time. But she made the effort and that really impressed me. Anyway, I was made to feel very welcome in the home and the family. After about an hour and a half, we called a taxi and Maria and I took off for la Fontana. For those who don’t know, la Fontana is a very nice hotel in the north of the city across the street from one of the large malls, Unicentro. I love the place, it’s beautiful and you can’t beat the atmosphere and service. There are also apartment/condos in the same complex called la Plenitud and that is where I stay when in Bogotá. William at Odee books it for me and I get a little better rate on the room. Includes breakfast M-F. I highly recommend it when in Bogotá. It’s classy, affordable, safe and close to a lot of the nicer restaurants and shopping areas.
Next: Saturday. la Casa de Moneda, la Candelaria, y la fiesta grande para mi!
JR
