Ciudad Zopenco

The title is Spanish for ``Bonehead City.``  I was having a chat with the young woman who runs this cybercafe yesterday and she laughed in agreement when I told her that Bogota esta llena de zopencos, or that Bogota is full of boneheads (excluding her of course. And she strikes me as someone with good and very rare common sense.)  I have complained enough about the local imbeciles in other posts so, Gentle Reader, you will forgive me for not boring you further with this theme.

It rained quite a bit yesterday.  Mostly in gentle Vancouver style until I stopped inside the Cafe Aljaba which is part of that church I visited accidentally last Sunday.  The young lady working there, whom I think couldn`t be more than twenty, spent a lot of time visiting and chatting with me in Spanish, and some of her friends also participated at times.  It was very enjoyable and we talked about art, creativity, love and forgiveness.  I mentioned to her that when she gets to be my age (in forty years or so!) she will really learn the value of forgiveness since she will have had a lot of time to go through stuff with people.  I am still thinking of attending a church service there this coming Sunday though I am treating this with a little bit of caution as well, given my track record with churches.  Their church, by the way, is called Su Presencia or His Presence.  During our visit the rain really let loose and it was hitting the roof so violently that we had to stop talking for a while because we weren`t able to hear each other.

I did a lot of walking afterward and since it was sunny for part of the afternoon it was fairly enjoyable.  I stopped again in the snooty French cafe for coffee and croissant and did some more art there, then I walked into el Chapinero, which is congested and intriguing as ever but I really don`t know why I go there since it isn`t exactly a peaceful area (kind of a combination of Gastown, Hastings and Main, Commercial Drive and Main Street).  I again escaped to the island tranquility of the local university campus.  There were hardly any students around and this time there were no riot police.  It is a lovely neighbourhood of big brick mansions over a hundred years old built in a combination of styles: English Victorian, traditional Colombian and Elizabethan Tudor, with gardens and flowers.

I have finished my old sketchbook and last night in my room I inaugurated the new sketchbook with its first drawing, still in progress.  Today I am getting the money I have saved so far on this trip changed to Canadian or American funds to carry home with me since it is better I think to leave Colombian currency in its own country.  I have been hand washing my clothes since I arrived here to cut back on laundry expenses.  It works out okay because I do a little every day in the shower.  I am still serious about cleaning my own room, which I do every day anyhow, and I only have to track down Myriam or Andres for use of the vacuum cleaner.  It isn`t just becaue I don`t trust the cleaning woman, but I really prefer doing certain things for myself and this way, if anything does go missing, I don`t have to suspect anyone but myself.