Whew! Another 2 weeks has flown by, and that means a new blog post. Certainly an enjoyable couple of weeks. Lots of work, giving classes, ton of students in office hours now that things are getting down to the line. Only 3 weeks more of class after this week- unbelievable!!
But let`s see, besides work, what`s good? Last weekend I finally went to hot springs in Paipa with Milena. Funny because it`s just like a standard public swimming pool, except the water is hot and mineral-ey. Uff, it was really nice. A break from the ever-chilly weather here. We went at night, which was really nice because you have stars and the moon overhead and steam rising all around you. Magical, except for the screaming children, haha. Hmm, so that was over a week ago. What else? THings are getting really heavy here with the reform of the Ley 30, which basically is a law that would open up public universities in Colombia to private investors (not a novelty in the US, of course, where Monsanto, Anheiser-Busch, Exxon, etc. have their way in higher ed), and allows creation of for-profit universities. It`s a big deal here where they have real public education accesible cheaply to anyone who qualifies in entrance exams, and where they rightly recognize it as a first step toward privatizing education. For a couple months now there`s been protests, marches, scuffles, police gassing students, and so forth at the UPTC, the big public u in Tunja. But now things are really stepped up. General strikes, and organizers even coming to UniBoyacá, and possibility of some forums and events here in private university-land. So that`s exciting, but also frustrating. For example, I haven`t been to Portuguese class in 3 weeks because of off and on strikes.
This weekend was really fun. It was a 3 day weekend and I went with Milena, her best friend, and the 3 English Assistants (and 1 French one) at the UPTC to Villavicencio. That is the principal city of the llano oriental (eastern plains) of Colombia. The climate is delicious: 90 degrees and a rain shower almost every afternoon. There you have distinct folk music with harp and a fast beat, mounds of free-range beef cooked over fires, and beautiful rivers and dense tropical vegetation. You also have in many sectors guerrillas, especially a few years ago. But much further east than Villavicencio. We spent 3 great days. A veeeery long trip from Bogota (6 hours instead of the normal 2) because of intense traffic because of the holliday and because the world finals of rodeos were going on. On Saturday we went to a zoo of sorts where we saw anacondas, tucans, and squirrel monkeys (simply the cutest animal ever invented), some in cages, and other wild males from the nearby jungle who come attracted by the females calls. That night we tried to go out dancing, but with so many people there for the rodeo, all the best clubs were absolutely packed. The next day we went swimming in a place where the river comes down from the hills and they made a sort of natural swimming pool, but surrounded by a restaurant and tables. The water was really nice and we followed the river up into the jungle which was gorgeous: the banks were covered with peace lilies, and a family of those squirrel monkeys were playing in the trees above. We ate delicious smoked fish and got sunburned. That night we went out early and got into an excellent salsa club, where we danced for hours until exhaustion. The picture is from there. Then it was early to rise the next morning to beat the traffic back to Bogotá and chilly weather.
SO that`s the latest. The next couple of weeks will also be action packed. I`m preparing to give a big concert of American traditional music at the university next week, plus a big Haloween party in my apartment next Friday, a dinner with my coworkers this Thursday (making pesto pasta!!), a wedding of Milena`s best friend in Bogotá this Saturday, and so on. Uff! But life is great, even if it flies by. Love you all! Hope your great as well. Thinking of fall in the US makes me homesick, but I have a Garrison Keilor book, and hopefully more good reading books soon when mom`s package arrives! Hasta la próxima!