Yesterday I went back to Usaquen where I sat in a rather uppity cafe with a bottle of sparkling mineral water and chocolate mousse cake. Usaquen, I may have previously mentioned, Is a colonial village in north-eastern Bogota not too far from where I am staying. As I was working on a drawing at my table I was approached by a very elegant couple. They were intrigued by my art and we proceeded to talk for about half an hour or so in Spanish. He, Jorge, is a journalist. His companion, Doris, is an art agent. They seem to really love my artwork and have expressed interest in meeting with me further and perhaps to look at networking with me in the future. Of course all this is completely speculative and really I dont care if this happens or not but it would still be nice to have them both as friends. They seemed concerned and interested as I told them about my interest in Bogota and my desire to further explore the idea of collective ptsd and how this relates to this city and the people who live here. I also told them of my work in mental health rehab in Vancouver as a peer support worker and my own experience of recovery from ptsd. On one hand this might have been too much information but it felt right at the time and I really dont care if this blows any further opprortunities with them or not regarding my art.
Later Jorge, my friend Albas dad, and I went to an English conversation group he helps coordinate in a cafe in a far away mall. It wasnt really that far away, about three and a half miles but even though Im a seasoned walker, walking one mile at eighty-five hundred feet above sea level feels like walking three miles at sea level in Vancouver. I had really a lovely time with this group and between mouthfuls of pasta we talked together mostly in English then in Spanish for a good two hours. They all seem like decent and very interesting people and Im looking forward to seeing them next Saturday.
Today I visited the Anglican Cathedral, San Pablo, in the Chapinero district. The people there are very welcoming, informal and real. The bishop, Francisco Duque-Gomez, has taken a special interest in me and we are going to have coffee together tomorrow. I walked there this morning from my pension in the Pasadena district. Many of the streets are blocked off from traffic for cyclists and pedestrians which is a lovely change from the traffic choked carreras that I see here the rest of the week. From my conversations with people here I get the impression that many Bogotanos want to live in a more progressive, greener and more equal city but it is very hard in some ways to mobilize this. The lack of political will, and the corruption in high places seems to have paralysed a lot of people into a kind of restless apathy.
Following the service in the cathedral and after chatting with some people over coffee downstairs I went for coffee in a local cafe to put the finishing touches on my current drawing. One of the baristas there took a special interest in my artwork and took a picture of my drawing. He is a student from a small town nearby. His name is Sergio and he is studying nursing.
There certainly seems to be something very sympatico going on for you there, with all these encounters and also the sincere interest in your art and your story.
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