Sociedad conformista

It was 1:00am at a rest stop on the way back to Bogotá from Ibagué. I had gone to an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in tierra caliente (Bogotanos' term for places in Colombia with lower elevations, thus the climate is warmer than Bogotá), and of course on the way back to Bogotá our bus breaks down. This being the same bus that broke down on the way to Ibagué and apparently still had the same problem. Anyway, that is all irrelevant.

The point is, I'm sitting here at this bus stop talking with a few of my teammates about my frustrations in cultural differences. And they're the ones to point out that Colombia is a conformist society. I had never put my finger on that label, but it makes so much sense. Let me elaborate with some examples.

Ejemplo #1: I was talking with Joaquín, our now landlord, about how f***ing stupid the woman at the real estate company was/is, and how they have been awful to deal with. Joaquín responds by saying that all of the real estate companies are like that, they're terribly stupid and conchudo (shameless in taking advantage of people). Yet he still works with one, because that's simply how things are done in Colombia. He would never think to do things differently because that's simply how it's done.

Ejemplo #2: We finally open the bank account in Colombia that's used as collateral on the apartment so Jerry and I can't just flee the country without paying our rent. We bring all of the paperwork from the bank to the insurance company that is insuring our apartment. We have just paid this insurance company to perform this service for us. Then the woman refuses to make photocopies for us of the paperwork, as they need the originals. She says, "No my boss says I can't copy FOUR SHEETS OF PAPER." Are you effing kidding me? Please, think for yourself.

Ejemplo #3: We're doing the inventory of the apartment with a representative from the real estate company the day we move in. She says, I have to write everything down that's in the apartment. So she writes down that there's a roll of packaging tape. And a sponge. When I say, that's ridiculous, obviously the landlord left this stuff here without expecting to get it back, she replies that she's just following directions and that she was told to write everything down. I finally convince her it's ridiculous.

Granted, all of these examples come from our experience with moving into the apartment, but that's just because it's what's recent and on my mind. Of course, it's not good to make sweeping generalizations of a society or a country, but this is definitely an attribute that I have noticed over time. It's also an aspect of the society that I love to challenge, being a person who constantly questions what society sees as "proper" or "correct" (see: moving to Colombia, living in group living situations while married, etc.).

Then again, this is why I came to Colombia, to live in a different culture, to study my own cultural and personal norms, to challenge myself.

The Penthouse

Almost two months after visiting this apartment for the first time, we finally moved in last Tuesday. After our first visit, we assumed there was no way we would be able to rent this place: after all, to sign a lease in Colombia, you usually need a Colombian co-signer who owns real estate in Colombia. We awkwardly reached out to a few people who might be able to help us, to no avail. Thus began the extended back-and-forth with TuTecho, the real estate company and legal representative of Joaquín, our now landlord. They informed us that we could legally rent the apartment as foreigners if we opened up a special bank account in Colombia called a CDT and deposited eight months rent in it (we negotiated them down to six). This serves as insurance on the apartment so that we can't just up and leave the country without paying our rent. I'm sure Jerry will be telling the story for quite some time about what it was like to withdraw six months rent from an ATM in order to deposit it all, in cash, at the bank (turns out that was the way to get the best exchange rate, rather than transferring the money electronically). Oh, and don't worry, we'll get all the money back at the end, plus 3.9% interest.

Anyway, after many frustrations with the

real estate company, cultural differences, and incompetent people, we finally opened the insurance bank account, signed an agreeable contract, and got the keys to our new place. It was totally worth the wait. Here's my view right now:

Also, check out our huge kitchen:

Here's the kitchen counter, dining room table, and living room.

Perfect for dinner parties. Oh, did I mention that this place is completely furnished, including a fully-stocked kitchen with a full-size fridge (a rare commodity in Colombia), beds with sheets, leather couches, and much more? Check out the natural light, the open spaces, and the balcony off the living room. There's a skylight over our shower, and a full terrace off of our bedroom. We're sharing the place with two great roommates. What's that you say? You want to come see for yourself?

Back in Bogotá!

Well, after a wonderful week-and-a-half in the United States, we're finally back in sunny Bogotá. It was wonderful to meet our new nephew and see many of our friends and loved ones, but it's exciting to finally start the new year.

Right now, we're staying in our friend Diego's apartment. He was kind enough to let us crash in his guest bedroom while we're waiting to sign the contract for the new apartment and move in. Things are looking up - we spoke with the landlord via email today, and if we understood him correctly, he's going to make our lives easier and not force us to open a CDT (complicated and expensive). Hopefully we can start cooking up delicious food this week!

Still waiting to hear back from the English institute to learn how soon we can start teaching/making some money. Again, hopefully that will also start this week...

Lastly, we're working to get our GIS business off the ground, and once everyone goes back to work on Tuesday after a long weekend, we'll start hustling again.

Go Falcons.