Visits, leather, and cooking

Leather class has been a lot of fun. So far, I've made the simple little wallet (turned out GREAT), and I'm currently working on a leather kindle case. So far it looks really good; I should have it finished by mid-next week, and I'll put up photos of all are early artistic endeavors. Yesterday we went down to tanneries to check out the leather making process and buy leathers/supplies. Percy, one of Cesar's friends/students, is here for a month from Mexico to visit his girlfriend, and wanted to stock up so that he could continue his commercial leather projects over in DF. His specialty is leather backpacks, and he has a really cool rucksack that I'm going to try to copy... Robin bought some purple leather to make her mom a big, and we bought some goat skin suede to use for bag linings (about 8 bucks for a piece of suede maybe 1.5 m x .7 m). I'm going to go back next week with Cesar to buy some dark brown leather for a briefcase/attaché I want to make. Maybe I'll see if I can get some shell cordovan to use too... that could be fun, depending on prices.

The tanneries were the foulest-smelling things I have ever visited in my life. Think chopped liver left on the counter for years and years and years. Didn't make me become a vegan, though. I'm just glad that I don't have to work down there.

Speaking of food, Robin and I have decided to resurrect an idea that we were kicking around a few months ago: an underground/pop-up restaurant run out of our apartment along the lines of this place, though instead of Indian food, it's just going to be "random recipes/cuisines that Jerry decides to try." I'm thinking of trying some soul food for the first installment. Any recipes you want to kick my way?

Lastly, my brother's visiting us next Friday! Hopefully we'll have some good pictures to post from that trip.

Stuff I want to make

Robin and I recently started some leather classes at a little leather shop nearby. Our old roommate Lee took the classes, and when she left, Robin offered Cesar (the owner) a deal: she'd give him English classes, and in exchange, she'd get the course for free. During her second class, Cesar mentioned that he wants someone to practice French with. So, now Cesar and I have an arrangement exactly like the one with Robin: we do the leather classes in French, and in exchange, I don't pay a dime.

I've been scouring the Internet for things I want to make, so I'll copy-paste some of my favorites. If you have any suggestions/ideas, feel free to email them to me.

Moccasins

Tefillin - Technically, this is Robin's project, but it was my idea. This is the project that is least likely to be completed. Making tefillin is pretty complicated...

Wallet - This is what I'm working on right now. I'm actually heading over in 45 minutes to finish it up. A simple, very basic card holder/wallet. We'll see how it turns out.

Machete and Sheath - These are my Dad's, from his time in Colombia. I have memories of sneaking into my Dad's closet when I was a kid and playing with his machetes and Colombia kitsch. This doesn't look too hard to make, so I'm going to give it a shot. I think it would be a badass wedding gift, maybe with some colorful Guajira fabrics tied on, but Robin disagrees. She thinks that we should buy gifts off the registries.

Briefcase/ Messenger Bag - Cesar already has a couple of bags similar to this one, so I'll probably just copy his designs ather than try to recreate this one off the Internet.

Bike bag - This one looks pretty doable and practical. Biking in Bogotá can be done, but with the never-ending monsoons and psycho drivers, it's a little dangerous. I share a bike with our roommate, but I only take it out on Sunday mornings, during the Ciclovía.

Axe head cover - If someone wants to buy me an axe, I'll make the case. Deal?

I

New Roommate

So, the third bedroom in our apartment has been something of a merry-go-round. We've had one Gringa, Lee, who sadly left us after about 3 months to return to her job in D.C. After Lee, we had Lizette, a Colombian expat who returned to Bogotá after 10 years in Europe to do some research for her thesis. Then my Mom came and lived in the room for 5 days.

We were out of options. Two brits had responded to our posts, but their interest was lukewarm, and they backed out. Thankfully, finally, we found someone. She's Colombian, from Baranquilla, and the BEST part is that she works for SAB Miller, the multinational beer conglomerate. She gets free beer. Seriously. This morning she asked if we wanted to go with her to the office (2 blocks away) to pick up a couple cases. AMAZING - Best. Roommate. Ever.

Bad-ass barbers

So, I finally found someone to cut my hair who does a better job than my Mom. There's a little hole-in-the-wall barbershop a few blocks from our apartment, run by a set of twins who're probably in their late 40s (they also both have my brand of male pattern baldness). While I was getting my hair cut by one twin, his brother was reading an article from El Tiempo about this man. Apparently he's famous even in Colombia. The article was ridiculing him for being full of shit, and I happily agreed. Discussing the Republican presidential primary while getting your hair cut for $3 in Bogotá. Amazing.

Tolochko-san

Naming conventions in Colombia are slightly different from what we're used to. Here, people have two first names and two last names. People also use their first two names interchangably - it's still unclear to me if there are any kinds of general trends. Whether pepole tend to use their first name with their family and close friends, their second first name at work/later in life, etc.

Either way, whenever Robin or I are waiting to be called into someone's office, we are almost always called by our middle names. My guess is that it's because, for a Colombian, Carol and Jack are easier to pronounce than Robin and Jerome.

Today though, something truly wonderful and Colombian happened to me. I showed up to the doctor's office, and after waiting for 30 minutes to be called into the office after my schedule 10:10 appointment time, asked the other people waiting around what was up. One woman looekd at my appointment slip and said that my name had already been called, but the doctor, unable to pronounce my name and convinced that my last name must be Japanese, just yelled out, "Chino! Chino? Chino!" Hence the confusion.

Insight into Colombian Healthcare

Through the help of a family friend, Jerry and I were able to sign up as independents within the Colombian healthcare system. We pay roughly $35/month for both of us, and our co-pays are only $1. I must admit, we are somewhat cheating the system - we applied as people who make minimum wage, keeping our costs down. But hey, that's what happens when you have connections.

It has been interesting getting to know a system that is completely different from the US. Appointments are hand-written in a book. Jerry reminds me it wasn't that long ago when it was like that in the US. When I called to try to schedule an appointment a month ahead of time, they wouldn't let me - "our calendar doesn't go that far into the future." So different from needing to schedule appointments in the US up to several months in advance. On the other hand, it means that there is usually no problem scheduling a same-day or next-day appointment.

One wonderful thing about our health insurance (I can't speak for the whole system, only for my experience) is that birth control is free. $0. I have to go once a month to the nurse to check in and make sure everything is going OK and pick up my birth control pills. For me, a monthly check-up isn't exactly necessary considering I've been with the same stable partner for years, and at first I was annoyed to need to schedule appointments every month. But for those women and girls who have no one to talk to honestly about their sexual activity and birth control, it's actually pretty brilliant. Not to mention, if all it takes is 10 minutes a month for free birth control, I'll take it.

The other day I went for my monthly appointment and ended up asking the nurse tons of questions about women's health in Colombia. She told me that abortion is illegal here, except in the cases of rape (she specifically mentioned rape of minors) and if the baby/mother is seen to have major problems within the first trimester. She quickly added that, of course, there are casas (houses) that perform abortions, many of them in that same neighborhood. Pregnancy amongst young teenagers (13, 14, and 15 years old, and as young as 11 or 12) is not uncommon. According to this nurse, amongst some poor populations where the teen pregnancy rate is very high, many young women choose to have kids at a young age because they don't want their children to view them as old. I had never heard such a point of view before and my jaw dropped. She talked extensively about how the strong influence of the Catholic Church in Colombia (and elsewhere) prevent the promotion of real sex education and the legalization of abortion.

On top of all of this, a scandal within the Colombian healthcare system has recently unfolded with our insurance company, SaludCoop, as a central player. In order to explain it to you, first you need to know a little bit about how the healthcare system works (according to Mauricio, one of my English students who gave me the run-down today). There are 4 main actors: 1) The patients, 2) The service providers, 3) The insurance companies, and 4) A government fund established in 1993 that subsidizes healthcare throughout Colombia. Patient goes to service provider to receive treatment. Service provider bills the insurance company. Insurance company gets reimbursed from the government fund.

The scandal (at least as far as my understanding goes - hell it'd be hard enough to understand a scandal like this in the US in my native language and in my own culture) is as a result of the insurance companies telling the government fund that they paid a lot more than they did, and thus getting reimbursed for way more than necessary. AKA money going directly to someone's pocket. According to Mauricio, some guy within the insurance company and some government official had been doing dirty deals together - which is bad enough - but on top of that, they then started a business together to counsel insurance companies on how to ask the government fund for reimbursement. Some people are going to jail, but who knows if things will change.

Mauricio explained that people like him (with money) pay more and subsidize people who can't contribute much or anything to the system. He agrees with that practice, in theory, but with all the corruption that exists, it's not actually effective at providing people with the best treatment.

He then asked me to explain to him how the healthcare system in the US works, and I realized that I know next to nothing about the new healthcare law, except for that some of my friends could now be on their parents' insurance again. And you can't deny someone coverage due to pre-existing conditions. I think now I need a student in the US to sit me down and explain the system to me in layman's terms.

Guest blog post: Cindy Tracy

Jerry's mom, Cindy, came to visit us for five days last week. I was impressed by her Spanish and loved seeing how excited she was to be in Bogotá with us. This lady worked non-stop for 3 days and only on Shabbat did she rest! Without further ado, here's Cindy with reflections on her trip:

I was fortunate enough to be invited by ProExport Colombia (a government agency that helps Colombian companies export) to the Feria Internacional de Libros – a huge book fair. They paid for my plane ticket and helped me arrange appointments for the first 3 days of the book fair.

We arrived at their apartment in time to drop my bags and walk to the little mercado about 1 minute from their apartment before it closed for the day. Though small, it has a great variety of fruits and vegetables, some familiar, but many new fruits (I have absolutely been amazed and delighted by the new fruits I have tasted here). That night, we hung out, admiring the great view of the city from their apartment.

6:45 Wednesday morning, my taxista was thrilled that it was my first trip to Bogotá and that I spoke Spanish. He explained that the corrupt mayor had begun all these construction projects and then the bribes, corruption, etc. came to light. There is construction EVERYWHERE. I learned immediately NOT to watch how the taxistas drive!

At the book fair, I had table # 116 and from 8:30 to 6:00 pm, had 40 minute appointments arranged. There was one 20 minute break in the morning, an hour and a half for lunch and one 20 minute break in the afternoon. Only 2 appointments did not show up, which gave 2 TV stations and ProExport a chance to interview me. It seems I was the only American there that could speak fluent Spanish. Of course, before the cameras rolled they each asked me questions to make sure my answers would be favorable!

At the end of the day, I exited the front of the book fair to catch a cab back. After watching cabs whizz by, I approached this group of young policemen and in Spanish, said “Excuse me, I am an American, is this not the right place to get a taxi? None are stopping.” One of them said, No, this is the place to hail a cab and one of the others said, “He does not know anything because he is from Cali”. They were hilarious and helped me get a cab.

The cabs work in an interesting fashion. The meter displays a number, like 102 and every cab has a laminated sheet that tells you how much the fare is for that number. Jerry told me to ask for the sheet, so they would not overcharge me. I was so happy that the cab drivers were so nice and eager to talk, I never did – so I never paid the same fare twice! They never overcharged me much – the most I paid was 9000 pesos (about 1800 pesos to the dollar).

I had been worried about the effect of the altitude, but am happy to say it never slowed me down! I was also worried about “Montezuma’s revenge” but even drinking the tap water I didn’t have any problems. I think Jerry was surprised that I could keep up with them!

The book fair is HUGE – 6 enormous buildings with dozens of booths in each building. I was very tired by the end of the day, but had great appointments with interesting publishers, and most had never tried to export to the U.S. before.

Thursday for lunch, this publisher took me to a restaurant known for typical food from Medellin – Restaurante Poblado. He explained that we should not get an appetizer because the portions are quite large. I had the daily special – Perchugo – chicken, turkey, sausage, corn, potatoes, etc. – SO MUCH FOOD – I left half of it.

Thursday night, Jerry and Robin made an amazing carrot and ginger soup and a quinoa salad and of course, more delicious fruit. Besides uchuvas, I love pitaya and feijoa and guanabana!

Friday was the last day for me at the book fair. Jerry got me 700,000 pesos to spend on the books I needed to buy. I could not resist these adorable “libros en tela” – cloth books in Spanish I plan to sell.

But no more business talk, Friday night when I got home we went out to a restaurant they had been wanting to try. It was good, but the main course was as big as the tapas, and twice the cost – so we decided it was okay, but not great. They also tried to give me bottled water instead of “agua de la llave” (tap water) – which Robin caught!

Saturday morning they took me to the flower market which was amazing. These that we bought were really unique. The yellow ones are called “manitos de oso” (little bear claws).

Then we went inside the regular market. You could get lost so easily, it is SO big!! How many markets in the U.S. have a guy go by with an entire pig on his back and then the next stall has dozens of live chickens – ready to chop off their heads!

Then I had an experience most visitors to Bogota do not have. I went to the dentist. When Pat was in Colombia for the Peace Corps 40 years ago, he became friends with Hernando Acosta, who is now a dentist in Bogotá. I was nervous about going to a dentist I had never met before, and Jerry saying “His office is in a nice part of town, so he should have modern equipment” did not comfort me much. However, he did a great job, and because of his relationship with Patrick, refused to charge me anything.

After the dentist, we walked up through a lovely park

and Jerry showed me the Orthodox synagogue. Then he took me on a bus, explaining that he would let me get on first to find a seat since the driver does not wait until you are seated to start moving. After a couple of blocks, a young boy gets on the bus with plastic flowers and begins to sing. He does that for several blocks before getting off and several people give him a few coins.

At 3 pm, we were expecting Luis’s family to come over, but they came over early - so un-Colombian! When Pat was in the Peace Corps, Luis, as a boy of 10 or 12 years old, was his helper. Pat stayed in touch with him all these years, sending him money now and then to help him. When Pat was here in March, he had an emotional reunion with Luis and his family. Luis came with his wife, Hermina, their daughter Sandrita and her son, Sebastian, and their daughter Marcela and her adorable 2 year old son, Samuel. We had a wonderful time eating and talking.

Then we walked the 5 minutes to the movie theater to see Water for Elephants. Jerry packed up some fruit so we could have a free snack during the movie. The theaters here offer assigned seats. It is an EXCELLENT film and of course, I cried throughout the whole thing – typical for me. We walked back, switching to Spanish just so people would not think us tourists, but it was early and there were a lot of people walking around.

They live in a GREAT neighborhood, La Macarena, with restaurants, shops, movie theater, etc. all within walking distance.

Sunday morning was my last morning. I set my alarm so I could spend some time with Robin before she went to Ultimate Frisbee practice. She enjoyed the last of the Cheerios I had brought her (take note if you are planning to visit Jerry and Robin – bring her a box of plain Cheerios). Jerry took me to the Sunday Flea Market only 5 minutes away. In the U.S., you want to get to the flea market early, before the good stuff is gone. We got there about 8:30 and people were still setting up. Jerry bought me a cup of jugo de guanabana which is one of the most delicious fruit juices!

There was everything at this market from clothes, to typewriters and old sewing machines, jewelry, etc. I found an awesome hand painted shirt for Mitchell and a hat for Pat – he usually wears a cap or hat when he walks the dogs.

All too soon it was time to catch a cab for the airport.

One final Colombian culture thing for my blog entry before I leave. When I checked in, they informed me that I had been “chosen” to have my bag searched. Fortunately, he did not seem to mind the big bag of cinnamon sticks and did not find the jar of homemade blackberry jam I am bringing back with me.

Now, back to the U.S. Hope you have enjoyed my guest post!