Curiouser

First, to my readers who do not speak English as a first language, Curiouser is not exactly the correct form.  Rather I am borrowing this from Alice in Wonderland when she says that things are getting curiouser and curiouser, or it`s getting pretty damn weird over here.  Yesterday I had a near repeat encounter similar to something that happened to me last year in Bogota.  I really should have been paying better attention but I`ve been here for so long now, or so it seems, that it feels like home which isn`t necessarily a good thing since this also means that I`m getting too comfortable and letting down my guard.

As I was getting started for the day yesterday and found myself walking south on Carrera 19 towards Calle 100 a rather well dressed young man stopped me to ask for directions to an art gallery.  Now I know there are a couple of art galleries further up along Calle 116 so I tried to direct him there, instead of doing what I should have done: shake my head politely and keep walking.  He said he was from Venezuela and seemed to want to chat a bit.  He was not speaking with a Venezuelan accent by the way and his Spanish, to me anyway, sounded pure Altoplano Colombian as is commonly spoken here in Bogota.  Then a middle aged gentleman in a suit with a face that looks like it`s been around a few blocks, approached us, asked me questions about how long I`m in Colombia, and where I am staying.  Then he mentioned that this area is under strict police surveillance, and pulled out his wallet to indicate that he had police ID and identified himself as a plainclothes cop.  He did not show his ID.  The Venezuelan fellow asked him about an art gallery and he motioned that he go a couple of blocks and turn right (I don`t believe there is an art gallery there, by the way), then as it dawned on me that history was repeating itself for me I too got away without further cerermony.

Now, Gentle Reader, let me tell you a bit about what happened to me last year.  I wasn`t that far away, at Carrera 15 and Calle 94 when an older gentleman who claimed to be Venezuelan approached me and asked me for directions to a Christian bookstore.  He also didn`t sound Venezuelan by the way, but Colombian.  As we were chatting a slightly younger shorter version of yesterday`s plainclothes cop approached us and started talking to us and said that he was sure we were both carrying drugs in our stomachs and that we had to go with him for questioning.  The Venezuelan made excuses and walked away, I tarried a bit and tried to convince the cop or whatever he was that it wasn`t me he was looking for and I wasn`t going anywhere with him.  He insisted and I walked the other way, convinced that he was an imposter.  Let`s just say that I spent the rest of the day really watching my back.

Now, this is where it gets a bit eerie.  I am both a Christian and an artist.  Last year in Bogota I was for a while attending the local Anglican cathedral.  This year as last year I ahve been spending a lot of time in local cafes drawing in my sketchbook.  To me this begs the question, am I being watched?  How did these guys know to ask me about Christian bookstores and art galleries? I did some research by the way on these kinds of encounters and apparently this sort of scam happens quite commonly here in Bogota: an inoccuous looking gentleman who claims to be Venezuelan stopping a North American or European visitor on the street to ask for directions or whatever, then an alleged plainclothes cop coming on the scene, taking the hapless visitor away for questioning and robbing him of everything he has.  I am sending this blog post to the Canadian Embassy here to see what they have to say.

Things are otherwise as chill as ever. Yesterday, Sunday,, there was a concert by one of the parks (Virrey).  It was an ensemble of six or more playing a fusion of cumbia, funk and jazz, reminding me rather of Ska Cubano (look them up on Youtube.  They are fabulous)  In almost three weeks here this is the first cumbia I`ve heard in Bogota, odd given it`s very traditional music in these parts.  Saturday in the supermall, Niza, there was a singer with a guitar performing all the classic rock that was ever recorded: the Eagles, Elton John, Led Zeppelin.  He was actually pretty good but really, in Colombia, North American Classic Rock??!!  How many ways can you say Cheese!

I did a lot of wandering yesterday as well.  I walked down as far as Chapinero then went back along the other side of Caracas through a rather seedy looking neighbourhood I had never been in before.  I was followed for several blocks by this guy.  When I crossed the street, he crossed, when I turned a corner, he turned it too.  This went on for quite a while.  I walked fast, and kept glancing back to let him know that I knew what was going on.  I eventually lost him.

It is the beginning of Holy Week, or la Semana Santa, and the streets are all quiet.  It`s very peaceful today and is going to be for the whole week.  I love it.

And, I saw my first hummingbird yesterday in a park near my pension.  He seemed so calm and beautiful while feeding from flowers on a bush and didn`t seem to mind that I was admiring him from just a couple of feet away.  It was the yappy barking of a small dog that finally scared him away.