Bad parts

So I think I've had an attitude for the past few weeks & have felt it in my writing. One could argue that I always have attitude, ok, but I guess I mean a bad attitude. Looking back, it seems as though I'd hardened to traveling or grown aggravated, bored...I'm not sure what exactly. Yesterday I realized it, while walking the streets of Bogotá. The past few weeks have felt like I wasn't viewing new experiences with the freshness I hope to have. As though I had become some sort of zombie. So it changes today. Back to fresh.

A few things about Colombia. Everyone drives a moto. Motorcycle, vespa, scooter, you name it, the roads are peppered with them. They cause quite a number of accidents. Road rules aren't exactly abided. Last night transit cops tailed someone--not sure what the infraction--but the pursuit weaved in and out of traffc. It's one thing on a bike hopping up onto the sidewalk but cutting through cars, taxis, buses, no thanks! And entire families travel in the motos. A girl in the front, her baby sister next, then the dad driving, then the mom. And only the dad has on a helmet. Kinda scary. It's a different world. Buses and taxis have enlarged license plates painted on the sides for better identification. Smart.

Oh, and arepas! Mmm, mmm, mmm! They are discs of cornbread essentially but they eat them here with cheese. Good stuff! And my eating habits are out of the ordinary as well. People look at me a little funny when I'm finished with my plate because there are parts left. My friend Lori is infamous for picking out the ¨bad parts¨ (mushrooms, for example) and, while I may have giggled at her in NYC, I can identify now. Normally here, you eat everything off the bone and it's considered delicious. And the hearts, necks, feet. Say, I'm enjoying my sancocho (hearty soup) and up floats a foot, I get squeemish. I'll admit it. I think people think I'm a snob but it's just not my custom! I'm trying, I'm trying. Sometimes I feel like the chic in Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom, monkeybrains, eels, beetles. It's not quite that wild but sometimes close!

Oh and aji! Colombians aren't known for eating particularly spicy foods, but every restaurant has their own aji on the table. When it's homemade and fresh, it rocks! It's salsa and varies depending on region, but usually with onions and chiles. I love me some spicy foods and aji has become my new best friend. A chicken's foot for lunch, no problem, as long as there's a homemade aji to go along with it!!