End-of-the-month Rantfest

The past week has been action-less for me. Last Saturday, I spent the morning with Andres and Juan Diego, had lunch at their house, and just played a game of running-around-the-house-with-a-toy-truck with Juan Diego the whole afternoon until I realized I was sick. So before dinner, I headed home and decided to rest. The kind boyfriend prepared pasta for dinner, and since I was out of pasta sauce, he used cream of chicken instead. He also made mashed potatoes but when it got to me, it was already cold as ice. But it was good anyway, so no problemo.

Sunday I woke up feeling worse. And starving. So I braved the kitchen and made myself some fried rice, tuna and fried eggs. It was amazing, since it was also the first time I successfully cooked rice. Thing was, though, it took me like an hour to finish such a simple meal cause I kept on sitting down to rest. Oh, it was terrible.

So... Monday I ended up missing work because my throat continued to throb so badly which in turn gave me a massive headache. Later in the day the pain started to subside, so just so I could say it was a productive weekend, I headed out in search for a new apartment. Now guys this is another story.

The owners of the house have been planning to sell the property since months ago, but they told me it was something uncertain. Sunday night they suddenly confirmed it, out of nowhere, and told me to start looking for a new place before the 10th of December. Talk about being spontaneous. Now I'm still looking, and I hope I find a good one soon. *fingers crossed*

Now back to my event-less weekend. I was supposed to teach a class last Monday. This would have forced me to wake up at 5:30 in the morning DAILY. Good thing it was cancelled! But yesterday, my boss abruptly approached me and asked me to accompany her to a meeting. She brought me to this conference room, and inside were English professors and coordinators. I was so scared cause I thought they would reprimand me regarding my constant absences! LOL. Apparently, they just wanted to orient me with my new work schedule: Mondays Tuesdays and Thursday I need to teach a class from 7-12 (hello 5:30 alarm). Wednesdays and Fridays will be from 10:30-12 (not bad). Ten minutes after that meeting, they sent me off to start teaching a class withouth even getting to prepare. But it went well, thank God. I just really abhored the girl at the back of the classroom applying lip gloss while we were having a reading exercise. If I were in the Philippines (where I know I would have the right to do this), I would have thrown my huge boot with fur to her face.

Today I was asked to take over a level 2 class. At first it didn't sound good to me cause since the level isn't so good, I thought I would be forced to speak in Spanish and explain everything in Spanish. But no! They understood me even if it meant repeating the same sentence five times. And they're all very funny students, I love them :3

Currently I'm waiting for AIESEC to give me the fruits of my labor (aka salary). I hope I get it today or tomorrow so I can spend the weekend well as I deserve to!

Last Weekend

Most of you might have noticed the constant status message changes I've made recently--status changes on how I would do anything for something authentically Asian or Jollibee-like. Good news is, my prayers have been answered! Last weekend I had two meals at the Plazoleta de Comida in Centro Comercial Santafe, and fortunately the food did not disappoint.


Saturday After hours and hours (okay maybe I'm exaggerating but) of searching for the most Asian-looking stall, I finally settled for Mister Lee, the second place that serves Asian food at the Plazoleta.

I had arroz chino con pollo, which is basically yang chow rice with (sort of) sweet and sour chicken. Best part: they had Lee Kum Kee when I asked for soy sauce! It actually helped a lot in making the food taste authentic. SCORE!



Okay a little side story, I also spent Saturday night (aka post-Asian food glory) partying around Bogota on a chiva! A chiva is a party bus that goes around the city, carrying around 30-50 persons inside. Amazing, huh? In the olden times, it was used as a means to transport goods, crops and people from city to city here in Colombia. Its exterior is colorful, but the interiors look pretty old school because the floor is made of wood and scrap metal. Nevertheless, the cheery lights inside make up for the darkness within.

The night ended at an AIESECer's flat. It was pretty fun, but since I didn't really get to drink a lot because of the medications I'm on, I wasn't able to go "all out". LOL

Sunday Obviously I woke up pretty late since I went out the night before. This also means I was starving the moment I opened my eyes! So to satisfy the intense level of starvation I had, Andres and I headed to the Plazoleta (again!) for brunch. We ate at Pizza Pizza, a pizza place (duh) that was originally established to specialize in buy 1 take 1 pizza promotions. In all fairness, it was really good and the price wasn't bad at all! I had two huge slices of napolitana pizza and a glass of Pepsi--all for 6,450 pesos (3 USD more or less). And since the level of starvation was just too much to handle, I decided to check out Frisby, a restaurant that serves chicken as its specialty. Andres tried to discourage me by saying that his experience with the place isn't so reputable, but meh I still went on. I got Frisnacks. It's kinda difficult to describe what it is, but this is how it looks like:

chicken tenders, fries and pesto sauce, and a cup of Pepsi at the bottom

...and it was damn tasty. Andres, you just got pwned by Frisby!

Needless to say, last weekend was pretty amazing. Not only because I was able to find good places to eat that serve food that taste familiar to me and that are a few meters away from my house, but also because I was able to try something different and to have a one of a kind party experience. Indeed, it just keeps getting better and better.

I Will Survive!

I got my urine test results yesterday, and after consulting the doctor, I just confirmed that something is indeed wrong with me. Let's say it's some sort of urinary infection, and I gotta take antibiotics for that. This also involves massive lower abdominal and back pains: for that I have to load up on Ibuprofen. Now I'm feeling all drugged (irritable, grumpy and depressed). And the latest HIMYM episode isn't helping at all. Gah why does life have to be like this? I had to miss work today in the fear that the body pain I experienced yesterday might recur. I've been missing work a lot and I feel really really bad cause I just don't like being absent and people to have a bad impression of me. I'm scared I might get fired for this but...

Oh and by the way, if you're wondering how Sunday night went, IT WAS DAMN AMAZING. We hit one of the biggest gay bars in South America! LOOOOL. Gay couples making out like it's so normal. Very normal. Nice place, I must say. I don't wanna delve into tiny details, but long story short, it was an amazing night ;) 

So, my friends. I shall now start being productive and do something to make me feel less guilty about being absent. And my students are taking their exams today!!! Wow I feel bad :/ But as Kevin says, doing bad things doesn't make you a bad person. Thanks Kevin!

PS: Because of all these medications, I will definitely not survive this month. Just sayin'.

Sunday Night Out

Okay so as I'm writing this post, Andres and I are waiting for his friend to give him a call and tell us exactly where we're supposed to be headed out for tonight. Also one reason why this blog post is existent is because my very dear friend MARTINA JAVELLANA forced me to do it. And she's actually honest about that. Anyway back to the point. So I'm kinda excited to actually have a "destination" this weekend. Yesterday I was just at home in my pajamas, doing nothing. Nothing. On a Saturday. But! Good thing is: I DON'T HAVE TO WORK TOMORROW (thanks to Colombia and its 1638623923633 days of festivos a year).

The vague plan is to take the Transmilenio to Heroes and perhaps walk a few blocks to this mall where tons of bars are located. But but but. Really...I'm too scared to do that. Because. I'm scared of getting robbed again. I hope Andres and I don't end up taking that route, or else I will be forced to leave my bag and just take a few bucks with me.


Moving on, I think majority of the night will take place at a *drum rolls please* gay bar. Yeap, a gay bar. I'm pretty thrilled btw, cause this would be the first time I'd be doing something like that. And then maybe...if somebody hits on Andres, I'll just pretend as if I don't know him and slip away very very slowly. Like a ninja. I just want him to experience the caress of a gay man. Very generous, ain't I?


In other news, Andres just said he wants to create a blog too! Aww I hope he pushes through, cause I want to know how he writes. Crazy boy hasn't even given me a letter yet. Tsk tsk tsk. He should know how I like getting letters. Oh well.


So it's 17 past 8! I shall now start to get ready. Pictures coming up soon! Hasta luego!

October 2011

The publication of this blog post marks my first month here (not in Colombia) but in La Sabana. October was, as the cliché goes, one hell of a roller coaster ride. 

• I arrived at the destination country alive.
• I did not encounter any transit/visa/document problems, considering I had to travel to two other countries before finally getting here.
• I did not have to pay for excess baggage fees or any other unwanted transactions. 
• I work for one of the best universities in the country.
• I have the best jefe in the world!
• I spent Halloween with little children all dressed up in their tiny little costumes. Special thanks to Andres for dragging me out of bed and convincing me to wear pajamas and a gorro as my costume. No regrets!
• I live in a fantastic little community where there are small shops, parks and cute dogs around: not to mention Centro Comercial Santafe (one of the biggest malls in the city) being located just a calle away.

 

• I was impoverished beyond imaginable level in the last two weeks of the month.
• I had been really sick for some unexplainable reason.
• I was robbed. With a knife. During my first weekend. WELCOME TO COLOMBIA
• I had to wear really uncomfortable shoes for a month that kept my feet cold and sad.
• I had to be cellphone-less for a month. Longest I've gone without this handy dandy gadget.

But now that November has begun, things have been going on pretty well and smoothly. Thanks to Alejo (an alcoholic AIESECer), I now temporarily own a cellphone that allows me to go around the city without worrying about losing myself to creepy Latino men. Also, I am not that deprived anymore of material things that I could purchase with dinero! I hate sounding so superficial here but seriously. Whoever said that money cannot buy happiness probably lived in a cave.