Small Steps

I have been restricting my activities here since that near disastrous encounter last Sunday with the fake cop and the likely fake Venzuelan.  I no longer feel safe in this area even though it is reputed to be a secure zone in Bogota, but I am not taking any chances and I still haven't heard back from the Canadian Embassy about this.  

Its just as well.  I'm not really here this time to see things but to take it easy, take long walks and do lots of art and so far this is happening.  I think this will be my last visit to Bogota, at least for a few years.  This is a city that you either love or you hate.  For me it is a combination of both, which kind of makes this city and me frenemies.

Yesterday I saw a blue morpho butterfly, rare in these parts and I was so mesmerized by its beauty

that I bumped into a woman rushing by who snorted indignantly.  No one says excuse me in this city, except today in the local supermarket two individuals I bumped into were gracious and good humoured about it.  I must be pretty clumsy, eh? I actually enjoy this supermarket and as some of the staff become familiar with me they also become very pleasant.

I have a daily routine that works well, keeps my life structured and focussed and keeps me self-disciplined. I'm usually up at around seven and having breakfast at around eight then I go out to go online in the local cyber caqfe (closed today because it's a holiday, I'm in another establishment, very noisy and maddening with a loud soccer game on tv and several cops present.) and then I either do grocery shopping or sit in a cafe and work in my sketchbook.  Then I walk into one of the safe areas, spend more time in a cafe with my art, walk back to my pension, check my budget and have dinner.  In the evenings I am in my room watching tv mostly in Spanish, sometimes CNN in English though I have a limited appetite for news about Donald Trump and the recent tragedy in Brussels can be very upsetting after seeing and hearing the same videos over and over again.  I also clean my room every morning, not just because I don't trust the cleaning staff but also to keep me well-disciplined and to help me feel at home in this cozy little room.

Today the weather is fabulously sunny and I didn't bring my umbrella with me.  I spent two and a half hours in the Oma cafe in the Niza supermall working on drawing (the staff there are really nice), now I am barely going crazy in this noisy cyber cafe.  Why do Colombians love noise so much/

This morning I had an unfortunate encounter with two small aggressive offleash dogs and their absolutely ignorant and stupid owner.  I roundly chewed him out in Spanish calling him a few choice names, since he did absolutely nothing about his repugnant little beasts, much less apologize.  What is wrong with these people, anyway?  And now I really hate dogs.