Ahh, what an entertaining week. (Note: I´m actually trying to be true to my intention to write a brief entry in this blog every week). Where do I start?
Well, Tuesday was fun for a couple of reasons. Let´s start with personal hygiene. So, remember how my university is private and rather uptight about appearances and all. So, Tuesday evening I`m about to leave the office and they call me over the office of a psychologist in the department who wanted to meet me. Ok, sure, we chat. She asks me about the states. Then she closes the door and says she needs to talk with me about a private matter. What? Um, ok. "So, Noah," she says, "some people in the office have noticed that you have a strong body odor. And, you know, that is a cultural thing that can make people uncomfortable . . ." Sound familiar anyone?? Haha. So, anyway, apparently my smell was stronger than I realized. So, not wanting to inconvenience anyone, I´ve starting using milk of magnesium and patchouli, which is keeping me smelling very sweet, not the slightest hint of actual human smell. Hopefully that will do the trick and the don´t make me conform to the Colombian male norm of bathing with cologne and drying off with axe spray.
Another entertaining tidbit. Later that night, I get a call from this guy claiming to be the boyfriend of a girl I´d gone out with and telling me I´d better not get any ideas. I told him, relax. Turns out, he was an ex-boyfriend who was drunk and had found her phone with messages from me and broke it. Sigh, so that was a rude awakening that making a lot of friends can also mean making enemies. It´s all good so far, though. He apparently lives in another town, so hopefully I wont find him waiting on my doorstep some night.
What else? Then, another note about being the only gringo in town and having over 500 students. It can be great, but sometimes inconvenient. No keeping a low profile, and no turning down when the guys on the corner invite you for drinks. Even if it´s 2 pm on a thursday and you have class soon. "Oh, come on Noah, have a beer. Just one . . . no come on, just three. oh, you don´t really have to go to class". Ay yi yi!
The weekend was a nice break, though. First I went to Bogotá for Salsa al Parque. Unfortunately, it was raining off and on, and so many people!! So not much room to dance and umbrellas blocking the view. But the music was great. Then on Saturday, I met up with my friend Kay, from Bogotá, who I met in Argentina. She has an amazing farm that she is converting into an eco-tourism retreat. Man, I had no idea how beautiful it would be!! Up on a mountain, overlooking a huge lake, surrounded by pines and native forest. A waterfall, a meadow. Siggh. So I spent the night there with a german friend, and then we helped the next day prepairing for a detoxification workshop Kay was holding there. Eating sweet avocados, roasted chicken, yuca bread. Ahhhh.
So I had the chance for some rejuvination to begin what promises to be a raging few weeks. The Festival Internacional de Cultura here in Tunja starts this weekend, with Willie Colon and Ruben Blades, among other performers. I´m practicing with the university band, readying for our first gig on Sept. 1st, and starting a modern dance class. Whew! Life is good. Or at least busy! Hasta la próxima, parcero!!
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