The Transmilenio

We've already mentioned Bogotá's bus system. You know, the private buses that will swerve across four lanes of traffic to get their $1300 peso fare (~$0.75). Well, then there is the Transmilenio. This is the "rapid" bus system that has designated bus lanes and stations, much like an above-ground subway. I use quotation marks because it is often the slowest form of transportation in this city aside from walking. It's usually really crowded and stuffy, thus its nickname, Transmilleno (a pun for you hispanohablantes out there).

I have never more appreciated American culture than when boarding the Transmilenio. In DC people actually follow the rule of "let people get off before you get on the bus." But nooooo here in Bogotá, everyone literally pushes to get on the Transmilenio. And then bitch about how everyone pushes to get on the Transmilenio. God bless the old ladies and people in wheelchairs.

But I have never more appreciated Colombian culture than what I learned today. I have often noticed that when a seat opens up on the Transmilenio (a rare and cherished event), people will stand in front of the seat as if they are going to sit down, wait 10-15 seconds, and then sit down. I'm talking about people of all ages, races, social classes, etc. and could never quite figure out why the hell they did that. Old people who can barely stand! Pregnant ladies! Young men! What was the common thread here?

So I finally asked Paula (no, not my sister) and Andrés, my go-to sources for all things Colombian culture. And you know what their response was?

P & A: "You know, the seat is really hot after someone stands up. You have to let it cool off."

Me: "SERIOUSLY????"

Andrés: "Yeah, I always wait a little bit to sit down. It's really uncomfortable to sit down on a seat when it's really warm."

I couldn't stop laughing for at least five minutes. I mean, I had all sorts of theories conjured up, the one I thought most probable being that (in this Catholic/Christian country) people were praying before they sat down. But in this cold city, people don't want to sit down because the seat is warm?

An Etsy Wedding

First off, I'd like to offer up a disclaimer: this post will have very little to do with Colombia.

Many of you know that I LOVE to buy stuff online. Ebay and Amazon, after gmail, are probably my most-visited websites. Etsy, though... Etsy is a GOLDMINE for wedding-related paraphernalia. Before our wedding, we had a very hard time finding a ketubah that we liked. We pored through website after website of generic judaica-y-looking ketubahs that were devoid of personality and special meaning to us. The text was standardized, the picitures were standardized; the process was about as personal as buying a book off Amazon. On Etsy, however, we found the ketubah of our dreams. Papercut, colorful, customizable, and, as an added bonus, much cheaper than the other ketubahs on offer. The artist's name is Jerise, and if you liked what you saw at our wedding and are getting married soon, I highly recommend that you send her an email.

While we were on this pre-wedding Etsy binge, Robin decided that she wanted to buy me a wedding gift. I was a bit confused, then excited to receive a gift, and after a little while we stumbled across some handmade map cufflinks. What could be more appropriate to Robin and I than maps? Each cufflink has a different map, Athens in one and Washington, D.C. in the other. Of course, I wore them to the wedding, and they're still the only pair of cufflinks I own.

I loved my wedding ring. 18k yellow gold comfort fit milgraine 6mm wide 2mm thick size 8.5. It was awesome. It was a little big, and Robin always nagged me to send it off to get resized, but due to a combination of laziness and an unwillingness to be separated from my ring, I never did it. Now my wonderful band rests somewhere in the sewer system of Popayán, Colombia, a victim of having fallen down a sink. Jobless and quickly burning through our savings, the idea of paying the premium for a recycled metal didn't exactly excite us. I turned to my trusty Ebay and found the exact same ring (except 1.3 mm thick instead of 2 mm) available for a fraction of the price (though still not a negligible amount).

That's when we turned to Etsy and found the ULTIMATE (no, not frisbee) green, recycled metal wedding ring.