First of all, GRACIAS, Andrea, POR LA ENTRADA. I really appreciate your generosity in giving away your ticket when you found out I'd been dying to attend a TED talk!
So, this morning began with the fear that, by the end of the day, I might be hurt or killed due to aggressive, impassioned protestors who are quickly becoming more and more agitated. I was going into this situation alone and, as you know from the last blog, with very basic Spanish skills plus not much knowledge of Bogota's current political problems...a dangerous combination of course! Well, at least according to my vivid imagination. I'll let you be the judge.
However, my host mom, my driver and Andrea all independently evaluated the situation and decided I would be fine as long as they warned me of all the precautions I must take and tried to set me up with chaperones along the way. It didn't really work out the way they originally said it would - but nothing much seems to have gone as expected for me here, so that wasn't really a shock - but I couldn't be happier about never getting the contact info and, therefore, never getting in contact with my chaperone at TED. Had I been with her, I never would've been able to sprint up the street from the theater to get --- OOPS! I'm getting ahead of myself; LO SIENTO. Let me backup a bit.
Assuming you're as ignorant of Colombia's capital's politics as I was, please check out the backstory first:
Colombia's ousted Bogota mayor rallies thousands in protest
BOGOTA'S MAYOR WARNS OF CRISIS IF HE IS OUSTED
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — The mayor of Colombia's capital has told thousands of supporters the city will become ungovernable if he is forced from office.
Colombia's inspector-general has ordered Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro removed and banished from politics for 15 years, deeming unconstitutional his behavior in a showdown last year with private garbage collectors.
Petro refuses to accept the order and has called supporters into the streets two consecutive nights.
Speaking from a city hall balcony Tuesday night, the mayor said that if the ruling is applied "Bogota will enter a crisis of governability."
Petro, a former rebel, accuses Inspector-General Alejandro Ordonez of doing the bidding of Colombia's far right.
Ok, now you need to know about Plaza de Bolivar (Bolivar Square) - seriously, don't skip that link...the pictures are gorgeous and the description is super brief, but extremely informative and important to the story!Andrea took me to La Candelaria - a historic neighborhood in downtown Bogotá, Colombia; the equivalent to the Old City in other cities...the architecture of the old houses, churches and buildings has Spanish Colonial and Baroque styles; the neighborhood includes Plaza de Bolivar. During our visit is when I first really learned about the people's displeasure/the mayoral controversy, but it was really just the tip of the iceberg. We didn't see much in the way of trouble - with the exception of armed guards around the government building...but they were similar to the guards outside Buckingham Palace with tourists taking pictures alongside them and everything, so I didn't think much of them.
MIRA, here we are in the Plaza last Saturday, December 7, 2013:
Well, another attraction in this neighborhood happens to be TEATRO JORGE ELIECER GAITAN. Check out some holiday singers attracting a crowd of kids and adults alike in front of the theater this morning, Friday, December 13, 2013
OMG! Just realized it's Friday the 13th!! That would've been the last straw if I'd realized that this morning before I left to head into this area...I was already freaking out a little and just trying to be brave, but questioning if I should just cancel...that would've sealed the deal and I would've missed out on this scary, eye-opening, educational, fascinating, empowering, inspirational, long day.
Phewww! Thank goodness I rarely have reason to look at the calendar here JAJAJAJA :)
Alright, I got sidetracked. Back to the video of the morning activities at Teatro Jorge Eliecer Gaitan and the surrounding area:
So, I parked myself at the OMA cafe across the street from the theater and waited for the proper time to go into the theater. Well, first I went shopping through that "mall" of souvenirs next door and took a quick walk up the street and saw some other interesting things:
As I walked back, the line to get into the TED event was already super long, but that was nothing compared to how many lined up behind me. For a while I just stood waiting and trying to listen in on other people's conversations to see if I could understand them. Then I realized, I need to just dive in and attempt my own conversation. Just my luck! The guy standing in line behind me lived in New York City for 6 months a while back and tried to learn English at the Embassy while he was there. Unfortunately for him, but lucky for me, he didn't meet with great success. This meant nearly our entire conversation had to happen in Spanish and that he completely understood how frustrating and difficult it could be to find conversation partners who are willing to put up with such slow and stuttered speech. PLUS he was happy to interrupt with grammar and pronunciation corrections. He even repeated and spelled out a few new words for me so I could add them to the iPhone Notes I've been keeping in an effort to study what I learn in conversation. If I didn't keep those notes, much of what Spanish speakers teach me in passing would go in one ear and out the other.
Anyway, the line did not move for almost an hour. So, we just kept talking until finally I requested a picture of our conversation (right). This pulled in a new conversation partner, originally our photographer (in the suit) - and, in order to get the picture of the 3 of us (left), we pulled in the very sweet couple that was standing behind him laughing at me being a total TOURISTA!
Eventually, we got in and immediately got separated as new lines formed for bracelets, bag checks, etc. But now I had more motivation to attempt additional conversations - YAY! So, as soon as I scored an aisle seat close to the stage, I wasn't afraid to say - in Spanish, of course - "Hi. Please excuse me, because my Spanish is very basic, but can you take a picture of me with the...umm...the area (circling stage in the air with my hand) in the .... umm ... errr ... sorry <blush>"
"Fondo! You want to say background. The word is fondo." Oh thank God...someone else speaks English. I turned and thanked him for his help, got the picture and began the next conversation. Turns out, he didn't really speak English, just like I don't really speak Spanish so we had a great mini Spanglish convo with all the basics. Where are you from, how long are you here, why are you here...
And my responses to these questions led me to Guillermo. He worked with international families, helping them with their adoptions for many years. As we continued to talk, he called all kinds of contacts who could help me to answer questions about the new international adoption laws in Colombia, etc. [People here are just so nice...but that's another blog post for another time]
At that moment, I thought Miryam would be joining me around 2:00 pm and then driving me home after the event, so I had saved a seat for her. Guillermo was happy to hear I wouldn't be there alone because he didn't feel it was safe outside and asked more about Miryam (my host mom) and how I had found her...
Six degrees of separation - that is Colombia. Andrea is Guillermo's wife's cousin. And, he lives in Miryam's neighborhood. Talk about a small world! I would say what a coincidence, but I'm beyond that now...it just IS in Bogota. Everyone is connected through family, friendship, business or otherwise here. Not so different from Small Town, USA except this city has a population of roughly 8 million people. Wow!
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