COLOMBIA AUGUST 2014 - 4 - GOURMET FOOD IN TUCKED IN PLACES IN BOGOTA

8/5/2014

I spent the entire day at the conference yesterday listening to all the marvelous talks by experts from the USA and Colombia alike. It is so humbling to visit different countries professionally. I love discovering what great work is being done everywhere in the world to serve the best interests of children. Friday and Monday all day and today till noon, listening to child abuse for 2.5 days was more than enough. As soon as I am done with my second talk this morning, I am ready to leave to get to outdoors. I brought my tennis shoes along so that I could walk back to my hotel to change and start walking...

Prayer for the peace of the world

Walter and Teresa would like to join me, how lovely. We start toward the north side of Bogota to get to Parque Nacional. Walter leads us since he has been coming to Colombia since 1990s. We first find a neighborhood park adjacent to Bogota Planetarium past the university, where the conference is being held. Once done with that, and it is a quick task since the park is pretty small one, we walk west and come down to Carrera 7, which is one of the main throughways across town. Again the crowds of Bogota inject energy to all of us. We buy cut up watermelon from a vendor. First time I dare eating cut up fruit, which will recur quite a few more times. Past the National Museum, we finally arrive at Parque Nacional. It covers the east slopes, rising toward the mountains that Bogota has nestled up against, on its east.

My favorite piece from the National Museum

It is a beautiful space, certainly not like the national forests of Santa Marta area as far as I have read. But still, I am coming back to life from all the child abuse talks. Temperature is just right, birds are chirping, there is an occasional cool breeze, but the sun is smiling at us warming our already heated bodies to the extent, we all take off our jackets and vests and are happily climbing up toward the higher layers of the park. Walter takes us to the Colombia map installation area; an open area on which they created the Colombian map topographically. Walter gives us a mini crash course on the geography of Colombia, luckily what he shares is pretty familiar from the reading I did on the way to Colombia. This is indeed one interesting country, I can hear my daughter say "it is the best country ever, seriously". She had visited Colombia a few years ago and had stayed at an ecological hostel up in the Nevada Mountains in Minca, near Santa Marta.

Some colleges are very old in Bogota

She is still fantasizing a life like that for herself. We will see what kind of traveling I will have to do to reach my daughter and perhaps my grandchildren, too, in the future... It may become yet another chapter of our lives full of adventure. After a few hours of hiking, my friends leave to go back to the conference since Walter has another talk. I walk along Carrera 7 and discover that past the university toward the south, Carrera 7 is closed to motor vehicle traffic again, and we are in the middle of the week. So it is not only a weekend thing that this avenue is closed to traffic: People are enjoying themselves, strolling, shopping, chatting, biking, you name it. I do the same, I go in and out of all the churches scattered along the carrera as I make my way toward the Plaza Bolivar, one more time. I try different kinds of fruits again: dragon fruit is gradually becoming my favorite. I top my day having a late lunch at the Hotel de La Opera restaurant.

My vegan dish from Hotel de La Opera restaurant

My friends will be disappointed that the roof top restaurant unfortunately is closed at this time. We will have to find a different place to have our last dinner together in Bogota before I fly to Cartagena for my last three days in Colombia. And we do. From our first visit to Montserrat, I had wondered how it would be to have dinner at the Casa San Isidro, adjacent to the church down the slope some 50 yards. That night being a weekend evening with great visibility, the restaurant was full with no hope to get a table for 8 people.

Casa San Isidro, a very elegant French restaurant up on the mountains in Bogota

But now, my friends Robin and Jim are very interested in going to Casa San Isidro, so it will be only the three of us: Volla, my dream may come true, may, because we don't know if we will be able to get in without a reservation ahead of time. Robin and Jim are as adventurous as I am and we decide to take the risk of going up at the expense of the possibility of having to come down to find a different place to eat if we can't get in again. And at the last minute our colleague Ben joins us, and… we get in.

Montserrat Church at night

  After Tabula, this is the second restaurant that will prove to us all what an elegant fusion cuisine some Colombian restaurants are creating in Bogota using local ingredients that produce, wonderfully plated, "muy delicioso" a variety of dishes. I go for two appetizers since I had a late lunch around 3 pm. Both are served in three small triangular bowls plated on a larger triangular plate that generously fits the three smaller ones. In the triangle created in the middle by the other triangular plates is a small, elegantly piled mass of delicious mashed potatoes.

Bogota donned with golden flickers at night from Montserrat

  For my first dish, the three small triangles display a ceviche, steamed calamari in a butter sauce, and fried baby shrimps in a spicy tomato sauce. I cannot believe how each small plate bursts with layers of flavors as one of my friends would say. With each bite, I close my eyes for a second to savor the sensations the flavors create in my mouth without any distractions. Had this been served at Iron Chef with me a taster, I definitely would have given 10/10 to each dish!

My camera didn't do justice to the beautiful crescentic moon

My second dish is a squid and shrimp cooked in squid black ink again served in similar plating. This is the first time I am giving in to black ink sauce, not bad at all. I am glad though, I saved some of my ceviche to "rinse" my mouth with the most flavorful bites of my dinner after all is said and done. This brings memories of my father with his eating habits. When I was growing up, the order of serving food followed a certain pattern: Soup first, then the main dish WITH salad and bread, the last dish before fruit as dessert would be rice or pasta.

The big firepit in the middle of Casa San Isidro

When we had lamb at our house, we also had rice as the last dish cooked in lamb stock with butter. My dad, who loved lamb to the extreme, always saved a bit of his lamb so that he could have lamb with his last bite of rice: He said "I want to leave the table with the taste of lamb not rice". It is unbelievable how much of our parents, good or bad, we carry in ourselves to, way into adulthood, even old age. The restaurant is a very elegantly decorated French restaurant with multiple fireplaces warming the place. I am very glad to see that since the climate in Bogota and their heating systems are very interesting: Although only four degrees north of Equator, because it is on a high plateau on top of the eastern range of the Andes crossing Colombia in three ranges, it is relatively cold up here. Throughout our stay, we needed a raincoat or a jacket over long sleeve shirts pretty much at all times except for the few hours of the day the sun might come up briefly.

If you take risks in life you may get to see exceptional places

What is interesting though, is that, the temperature doesn't change much throughout the year. Under these circumstances, at least hotels and other public/private buildings open to public do not have either heating or air conditioning! If you are lucky, a fireplace is all you get in select places like this restaurant and private homes. However, at my hotel room, I put on long pants, socks, two layers of t-shirts and a light sweat shirt that I designate only to bed to sleep comfortably since I had brought only a light set of shorts and a tank top for sleepwear.

Each reastaurant in Bogota has enormous wine selection

What is most attractive in this restaurant is that there is a grand piano, on which a very competent Colombian man is playing very nostalgic international music for us from “Over the Rainbow” to classic music from Beethoven. I can't help but humming to the music occasionally. My friends are also ecstatic with the ambience and the relaxed atmosphere in this tucked in place that one would find only via a recommendation from locals. The bonus of course is that if you get a table in the small enclosed deck by the window, you would enjoy the millions of flickering lights of Bogota that is alive all night long down below on the plateau. As we exit the restaurant in the end, we all stop for a moment on the walkway and take in all we can one more time, of the adorable Bogota lying down below before our eyes since at least Ben and I are leaving the next morning, who knows when and if we will be able to return to this lovely place...  

From Traditional Arts Museum in Bogota

COLOMBIA AUGUST 2014 - 3 - LA FIESTA DE BOGOTA

8/3/14

We have a full day off today. A group of us would like to visit the Museo Nacional followed with a lunch excursion to Tabula, a restaurant Anthony Bourdain has visited and made famous in the USA. My colleague Martin has serendipitously come across Bourdain show on Bogota and Tabula just before his trip here. And we are all willing to follow him. Vickie and Alvaro our local colleagues from Medellin will also join us for lunch. After lunch we will venture to an open air market place at the outskirts of Bogota under the guidance of our elegant friend Vickie.

7th Avenue claimed by Bogotans on a Sunday

As we head toward the Museo Nacional on 7th avenue, our colleague Walter, a Cuban descendent, who is in almost full command of Colombian culture since he comes to Colombia several times a year, tells us that over the last decade or so, the municipality in Bogota has been closing all major roads to traffic on Sundays, so that families, children, bikers, strollers of all kinds from all walks of life can enjoy the urban outdoors and engage in physical activity. That is exactly what we observe, 7th avenue with its sidewalks have become a trail enjoyed by hundreds of bikers (albeit without helmets), families and children, dating young people enjoying a leisurely walk, roller bladders, and many more.... No wonder obesity is not as prevalent in Colombia as it is in Iowa, yet, when I declare that at the conference, my audience will chuckle that makes me wonder whether I haven’t seen all of Colombia and its problems, yet…

We find ourselves walking into the Bogota Festival

As we are enjoying this all too spontaneous, unexpected parade of Bogotan society, we realize that the northern end of the “parade” is much more colorful that turns into a true parade: La Fiesta de Bogota is unfolding before our eyes: the tropical vibrant colors on faces, arms, and attire, elegantly moving bodies in variety of dancing, meditative balancing of beautiful bodies over some 4-5 feet long sticks allowing dancers tower over all of us... All bring big smiles to the faces of everybody in my group. We all decide to take our time and walk along the parade in the opposite direction. We sometimes dance along with them on the sidewalk, sometimes try to listen to them in an attempt to understand the in-between-lines messages in the drama being displaced by some sections of the parade...

All kinds of extravaganza is allowed...

What is most interesting is that several processions have clear, thought provoking themes. Two of these are clearly very satirical about the Catholic Church: one brings the inquisition theme onto the stage with priests clad like klu klux klan members in black attire... The other clear out loud mocks priests! Many display human rights, women's rights, child rights and labor rights themes. In its colors, movements, and music this fiesta, may be very similar to those I saw in New York City or New Orleans, but in terms of content, there is much more thought, ideas, and camaraderie in this fiesta whispering out loud what Alvaro my Colombian colleague said in one of the dinners "Spanish took our gold and left their disease and religion with us" suggesting that the Colombian society needs to move on away from violence toward a sensible peace allowing all walks of society to flourish.

Why are their faces painted this way?

I embrace his thoughts with a fully open heart and mind especially when youth in the parade end up right up against our faces in their dance reaching out to us with an invitation to something humane, loving, and communal... Although I don't understand the words, body language is so very telling, I almost don’t need words. I like these people, the good people of Colombia coming from the schools, from the shops, from the many universities, and work places, expressing themselves openly and in peace...

Indigineous women claiming their rights?

We finally arrive at the Museo Nacional. My favorite part of the museum is the third floor Botero Hall. Although Botero Museum displays significant amount of Botero's signature style work with his large objects, men, and women, and children, and fruits, and animals, all in “hyper-alimented” form, this hall has a different feel. I approach one of the paintings. The boy in the painting looks like he is almost large, but not quite. I don't think it is Botero's. However, when I read the plaque, it sure is his. I look at the painting next to it. It is of expressionistic style, but figures are not large at all. I am again convinced it is not Botero's. It sure is, too. It downs on me that this must be a chronology issue and check the dates. Sure enough, Botero painted in a different style all together in 1950s and 60s.

Museo Nacional an old prison..

His large figures started appearing in late 1970s into 1980s. Now I look at all of them, they are not totally distinct from one another, really. The two styles actually blend in together over a continuum, I find clues to his emerging "large figures" style in the earlier ones, too. As many mentioned, one of the most important characteristics of this museum is that it was a jail one time. Fortunately, some visionaries decided to turn this architectural beauty into a museum rather than tearing it down to build a modern museum in its place just like Muse D'Orsay, which was once a train station and still carries the characteristics of such. I like such wise "two birds in one stone" approaches to history and art.

Is there a satirical message in this painting or not? 

After the museum, the highlight of the day will be our lunch at Tabula. We are all excited about it. It happens to be just behind the Museo Nacional. How convenient, we walk up a block into a lovely street on which a dozen or more old colorfully painted small homes are aligned on the left side. One of them is Tabula. We enter it, to the left is a space like a courtyard, which is the main restaurant hall. It is covered with a glass roof, hanging half way down to the wall, we saw from the street, which I thought was a separate building. Walter learns that the main restaurant was actually a parking lot at the end of the last century and was later on integrated into Tabula. We have a large square solid wooden table around which are very heavy, sturdy wooden chairs. I recall seeing Anthony Bourdain eating at local, very low key, humble eateries in his travels. This place doesn't look like one, I guess he tries high end places, too. What a pleasure, this way, we will try a high end restaurant in Bogota along with our Colombian friends, who have not tried this place before, either. 

Happy group of conference goers at Tabula

We have a fantastic lunch, with black beer, red beer, light beer, a wonderful Chilean red wine to start with followed with local bread and humus (this is the first sign, this place actually may be playing with fusion cuisine (reinforced with the name, that also sounds like middle-eastern). We are served multiple appetizers, side dishes and couple of main dishes, which we all savor. By the way, the tradition at this restaurant is that no one person orders their own food. Whatever we order is to be passed around and to be shared.

And on the street in front of Tabula after devouring their exceptional food

I love it, that is what we do when we go out at home, it creates such a community sense! After a period of elegance of allowing others to make the decision, some voices are heard more decidedly like Ben declaring "give me chorizo, I will be happy". So, one of our side dishes is that. Somebody mentions the variety of potatoes (I bet it is Teresa) in this country, we order a potato dish. Without yuca, a Colombian meal cannot be complete, we order that. Couple of salads, a lamb stew and a beef knee joint grilled in the oven completes our menu. We all agree, it was a phenomenal lunch, with just the right ingredients, and amount. And guess what, with all the food we ate until we all felt stuffed followed with coffee, per person cost was less than $30...

Gold is not only in the Gold Museum, Museo Nacional has some, too.

We finalize our trip in the open air market: The little village had become an open market place all its streets lined up with vendors and shops. Most of the vendors are either Mestizos (descendants of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry) or Mulattos (descendants of mixed European and black ancestry). There are some indigenous and some Zambos (descendants of mixed indigenous and black African ancestry) among European descent Colombians. We all get into shopping mood and I buy a shawl for a friend and a wooden serving tray, the artist of which is the wife of the seller, who lost her arms to an accident. All the wooden trays were made by her using her toes! Ed, who is a pediatrician working on disabled children and I jumped on the trays, he bought two and I one. Bonny bought a silver ear ring for her daughter in addition to Teresa, a coffee connoisseur, buying three balls made up of coffee beans glued together to don her desk at work. We are all happy one more time at the end of the day having discovered new intricacies of this pleasant town of Bogota.

Colombia is doing her best to use art as the antidote against violence

COLOMBIA AUGUST 2014 -2- WHAT CAN BE BETTER THAN EXPERIENCING A COUNTRY FROM WITHIN A LOVING AND WELCOMING KITCHEN?

8/2/14

It was a dreamlike day: my colleague Miguel from Bogota University and I had jokingly decided when he had visited Iowa City last spring that we would cook together during my visit to Colombia in the summer. I didn't know if this was going to become true or not, however, yesterday I heard from Isa that in fact it was going to happen. When Isa announced this, we were at a dinner at a lovely restaurant near our hotel, a group of 15 people, all instructors that she had invited for the conference that will start in couple of days.

One of the many universities downtown Bogota

In the group of instructors are Vicki and Alvaro from Medellin, Columbia, Angeles from Cali, Colombia, Martin and his wife Bonnie from New Jersey, USA, Walter from Florida, USA, and Ed and his lovely wife Teresa from Colorado, USA. Bonnie is sitting right across from me at the dinner table when Isa announces our dinner plan for today. She looks at me almost in horror and when I smile to Isa expressing my pleasure, Bonnie whispers from across the table "are you sure you want to do this?", and when I smile to her and tell her "yeah, we had decided on this last spring when we were together in Iowa City" and explain to her how it all came about, she is still in disbelief that I would do something like this instead of enjoying the intricacies of Bogotá. Miguel, Isa, Angeles, and Erica (from Cartagena, whom I will meet later next week) had all come to Iowa city to attend a conference that I had organized last spring.

Bogotans excited about an event on Avenida 7

During the week of the conference, I had had a reception for all stakeholders and instructors and international visitors at my house and had served them some on my Turkish cuisine items. Miguel, apparently a fantastic cook, spontaneously had invited me to his house to cook together during my planned visit the Columbia to lecture at the conference that Isa and her colleagues were already organizing. What a fantastic idea I had thought. That is the kind of travel that I love to do: visiting distant lands through connecting with exceptional people both at professional and personal levels to learn about their lives and their cultures through insiders and become part of their lives. That I call "anti-touristic tourism" and that is why so far, I haven't had any experience with tours to visit other countries.

Catedral Primada de Colombia

Miguel picks me up at noon at my hotel, as planned after my visit to the markets on Avenida 19 with Ed and Theresa. We walk for some 25 blocks to get to the commercial center where there are markets. We visit one of the larger markets that sells meat, fish, chicken, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Colombia has celery just the way we eat in Turkey, with small roots and lots of greens. The tropical fruits of all kinds are very intriguing. I am happy to see that they also have beets, one item that I am planning to use as the main ingredient of one of the salads but I'm going to fix tonight. Having identified what is available in the market, we return to the hotel in time to get ready, for me to meet with Miguel and for them to meet the rest of the group to visit the Museo Botero.

Majestic mountains Bogota and its environ are embedded in near La Calera, a suburban authentic mountain town near Bogota from Miguel's kitchen 

It is a lovely encounter with Miguel. He is as warm as he was in Iowa City. We head directly to his town La Calera, outside of Bogotá, up on the mountains. I will find out soon it is like a resort area in the middle of the Alps in Europe. On the way to, we stop at couple of markets to get the items that I will need to make the three salads that I plan to make. He gives some hints to what he's going to make, but the impression that I get of the amount of food that he will make is nowhere near what he actually will make at the end of the evening.

Miguel's front yard, where his wife Catalina runs a daycare... 

When we arrive at his house, he points out to the kindergarten that they built on the premises for his wife Catalina to run for this little town, which houses mostly professionals who live upon the mountains but work in Bogotá. Catalina meets us at the door, who's a vibrant, beautiful, and very friendly Colombian woman. I learn that she's a psychologist and has exceptional command of English. Their home is beautiful, very spacious, with a very large kitchen, clear indication that there is cooking going on in this kitchen all the time. I ask them whether they both cook. Catalina is very enthusiastic and her response is a big yes! They both crack up to my comment of "the best lovemaking is a couple cooking together".

Our lovely hosts Miguel and Catalina getting ready to cook for 15 guests... The love in their home is so spacious, it could embrace as many as the universe sends their way...

And starts the cooking spree of some five hours. The cooks are Miguel, myself, Catalina, and their lovely helper Ines. Ines doesn't speak any English, and my Spanish is very poor. When I tell her "Hablo Espanol un poco", she responds to me "no hablo Englais" and we both laugh. After I prepare my beet salad, Turkish potato salad, and roasted red pepper salad, I am ready to help Miguel with the cutting and chopping that he instructs all of us ladies to do to help him. Before that though, Catalina makes a very phenomenal dish, which I am definitely going to try in Iowa city for my friends and family. She took a big piece of pork to roast. Covered it with half a centimeter thick layer of rock salt and wrapped it in an old shirt which was cage wired onto the meat very tightly. She then wetted the shirt with water to such an extent it would prevent the shirt from burning.

Catalina is unwiring (literally) the pork cooked in a wrapping (Miguel's old but most favorite shirt!)... 

The fire in the fireplace that was burning when I arrived, is already dying down leaving huge amount of Ambers. She places the meat on top of the coals and cooks the meat on both sides for 20 minutes. She says for beef 15 minutes would be enough, and I estimate in my mind for lamb it maybe 10 minutes. I am a bit skeptical about what's going to happen to the shirt. However it turns out to be a totally safe experience, at the end of the cooking process, the shirt is understandably scorched and is to be discarded, however no fire risk was taken. I ask them whether they cook this way often. Catalina utters and enthusiastic "we do". I chuckle "you must be discarding a lot of old shirts" which meets another enthusiastic we do.

As the afternoon gives way to the evening, it gets cool and we build a lovely warm fire, around which most of the guests will flock soon...

Once the meat is done Catalina makes an interesting rice dish. Rice is cooked in one half red wine and one half water mixture. After the cooking is done a little bit of cream and Parmesan cheese is mixed into the rice dish, which is unexpectedly extremely tasty. The kids, and they have three lovely boys from age 8 to late adolescent, come out and half the pork is now gone.

Miguel  preparing coconut for his rice dish

The guests arrive around 5:30. Catalina has laid out very elegantly a cream cheese dip she prepared with chopped red peppers slightly cooked in vinegar with bread and crackers as well as the shrimp cocktail that she made which tastes almost like a variation of ceviche. Miguel and Ines are still working in the kitchen for the final touches of the three exceptional meat dishes that he has been preparing throughout the afternoon. What is interesting is the electricity has been out for the better part of the afternoon, and as we are moving into the night up on the mountains, we still do not have electricity. Catalina brings another lovely touch to the environment and donns the entire living room/dining room area with a variety of candles scattered on top of all surfaces. In the meantime the guests are scattered throughout this spacious place, most appropriate to entertain friends and family, sipping on their wine or mojito, a drink that all central and South Americans apparently enjoy.

Some of our guests around the fireplace....

I know that Vickie, one of our colleagues has a beautiful voice and sings and dances exceptionally from the rumors I have been hearing for the last three days. I try to see if she may be triggered to sing for us. She starts singing a beautiful Colombian song, which verifies what a beautiful and strong voice she indeed has. The first one is followed with a song from Puerto Rico, a protest song that apparently is sung by the separatist Puerto Ricans. From all the political discussions we have been having with this group during the last three days regarding the difficulties of Colombia, I am aware that these people are progressive, liberal individuals that want the best for all the people not only a minority in their country and in other countries.

Colombia is the country in South America where there is the most variety of fruits: I bought fruits from every stand to try their full spectrum...

This brings memories from my past when we also were demanding the government to provide for the poor and create a more a military and society rather than serving the interests of the rich and a very small minority. Unexpectedly, I start singing a song from my past activist days to this group of wonderful people and explain to them the historical significance of this particular song. I can see what a different level of connection we have arrived at with just two songs. It is the voices, the listening, the tunes, but most importantly the content, which brings a totally different level of communication among people who were bonded only at a professional level up to this moment.

Let the singing begin...

But now, at this moment, we are connected and we have arrived and understanding all one another and a much higher level. The discussions, sharing of memories, singing, exploring some of our past and present over the Internet on cell phones, iPads, bring multiple layers of color and understanding to this communication that has already started. I can sense the younger colleagues are slightly stunned with this aspect of their more senior colleagues that they might be seeing for the first time. It is lovely to see that they are as pleased with what unfolds before their eyes just as we are.

Miguel continues cooking and here is how you crack up a coconut...

Finally, Miguel brings out his exceptional dishes, one made with beef, the other with pork, and the last with chicken all unique stew with a variety of ingredients that I had never tried before. The rice that Catalina had made along with the rice that Miguel made with coco milk as the base, the steamed yucca, and wonderfully prepared sweet plantain are additional dishes that jazz up our dinner table. We all flock around the dinner table and serve ourselves to go back to around the fireplace to savor all the layers of flavor that were brought to this table from Columbia, India, turkey, and America. This global power of friendship and humane connection is going to be, I hope, what will save the world and stop the wars and violence.

Final touches to the menu require intense conversation around the stove...

COLOMBIA AUGUST 2014 -1- GOLD WAS EVERYTHING ONCE UPON A TIME...

8/1/2014

Finally I am in Bogota. The respectful indigenous looking middle aged man, carrying my name on a piece of paper he is holding up guides me toward the door. I am very disappointed that other than introducing myself, asking him his name and declaring “Encatada”, I can’t either understand, thus, or converse with him in any meaningful way. Luckily, English speaking sweet Natalia comes to our help. Both he and I are relieved! Soon enough, zipping through modern highways, we are downtown at the hotel reserved for the instructors. It has a European urban feel to it, clean, comfortable, the staff amazingly friendly, although with little English. Unless, you plan to stay at one of the historic hotels in the La Candaleria region in Bogota, Bicentenarrio is a very good place to stay, which I will explain why later….

Traditionally dressed youth in front of Museo del Oro

I am excited to discover Bogota all day by myself until meeting my hostess Dr. Cuadros, who is organizing a course at her hospital on child maltreatment and its prevention followed with an international conference in town next week. My first destination is El Museo del Oro, the Gold Museum, which apparently is the jewel of Colombian culture. First, I need to withdraw cash from my bank account. It turns out to be quite a task. The ATM at a Colombian bank doesn't even accept my card. Locals tell me to try the Citibank. Even there, ATMs are monolingual: Only the "English speaking" ATM accepts my card! In my pursuit of cash, I discovered where the Gold Museum is located and I now am proud owner of COP $300,000 (this $ sign before each charge I commit to paying in my future credit card use will make me feel very uncomfortable, since on credit card receipts it does not state COP. I just trust people and hope that I won't have to pay these horrendous numbers in USD!

Most heavily clad a gentleman with gold!
I am finally in the Gold Museum. It is indeed impressive. It shows mostly the history of the rich and the rulers of the communities that lived over a stretch of land covering modern day Colombia, and parts of Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, and Brazil. The huge amounts of silver, copper, but most specifically gold they invested into the accessories the rich wore to show their power over those that they ruled is unimaginable without seeing it with your very own eyes. Each chieftain wore a golden forehead piece, under which a nose piece connected to a facial mask that extended with two large ear rings. In fact the ear rings specifically were made to be very heavy they were eventually able to fit in circular gold plates in the holes created with the weight of the ear rings themselves. Further, they had wide wrist and ankle bracelets as well as a wide belt below a chest plate, mostly circular, in the shape of the sun or a duplicate of the facial mask depending on the tribe and culture.

Gold, gold, gold....
What is more, they were buried with their golden ornaments, in many cases their facial masks put over the face of the dead, mask over mask. There were spears, clay containers of various sizes, other smaller pieces of jewelry made of gold or other metals, blankets, and other items that might have been used by the common people, too, but after all, most items were all about the rulers and the rich, which led their communities and took the surplus the people produced under their own possession to exert power over the same: Any difference between what was happening thousands of years ago and now? Still, who makes the history, who sets the agenda for societal, political discourse, are the rich and those that have, are they not? In return, they claim the surplus of the societal production and create the monstrosity of living spaces for themselves, lock themselves into gated communities of recreation, invest their surplus into jets, and boats and blood diamonds although they keep telling us people that they are investing into our economies to make us rich as well, which rarely happens... Despite all this debate in my mind, I still must say, it is true that the Gold Museum is a very unique, one of a kind place one needs to see upon landing in Bogota. There is no doubt about that.

Shoe-shiners in one of the plazas in Candeleria
After leaving the Gold Museum, I started strolling through La Candeleria with no goal other than moving toward the east to reach the La Cathedral Primera. I started observing what people meant by stating there were many universities in La Candeleria. They were so right. I came across the first one around the Plaza de Rosario. The plaza was lined with cafes and packed with young people, either the students or visitors or both. A French woman guides me toward The Cathedral. That's when I see that interessting restaurant window: It displays an iron tippie cage against which pieces of meat have been loaded. The flames from the fire within the pyramid is cooking meat slowly but clearly, deliciously. I hop in: Wonderfully juicy, delicious meat platter with patacon (fried green plantain, overrated), fried bananas, delicous.

Colombian style meat grilling: delicious

Once I find my way to the 7th Avenue, I come across something that turns out to be a very interesting Colombian way of processing the past: Two indigenous intellectuals had started an initiative, inviting people to bring in newspaper clips related to the violent episodes in Columbian history and write a paragraph related to that clip. They have extended clotheslines from one tree to the other along a full block alongside the 7th Avenue. I will discover later on that 7^th Avenue is a place for the people to do as they please; it is almost a claimed-by-the-people place. 

Street vendor cooking sausage: Didn't dare trying...

These newspaper clips are clipped to the line for passersby to read and remember the violence of the past to prevent it from happening again. I am excited and feel very close to the two gentlemen sitting on a bench responding to the questions of some readers like myself. They tell me the purpose of this initiative is to keep the memory of the past alive. I am also impressed with the number of people stopping by and reading the clips of all ages and walks of life. Again, I wish I had had better command of Spanish to get to all the details of this action. 

Cathedral Primada in the heart of Candeleria on Plaza de Bolivar

After shaking hands and giving each other our best wishes in Spanish, English, and Spanglish as they call it here, I move on toward the Cathedral Primada, which was built in early 1500s. There are two sections to the cathedral, one section is a more prominent building architecturally and the other has a more humble facade. The interior of the latter is also much more humble than the churches I saw in Europe, however, there is such a calming air in it. I must say, I find a kind of peace in every church I walk into and have to remind myself not to forget about what kind of atrocities were conducted through especially the old old church of Christianity, which is really not unique to any one religion, every organized religion has incidents and at times prolonged periods of atrocities, such as inquisition, such as crusades, such as what fundamentalist islam is doing all over the world now, such as Israel's expansive aggressivity in the "holy lands", on and on and on...

Lama in Plaza de Bolivar
But, I would like to put all that aside for some time and meditate when I have found such peace in a big urban setting. I walk to the very front and sit on one of the benches, close my eyes and focus on my breath and observe all the thoughts, emotions, plans, ideas pass by making mental notes of them and letting them go. I practice bringing a visual smile into my mind, which I learned recently from listening to the audiobook titled “Radical Acceptance” by Tara Brach.

One of the delicacies of Colombia: Granadilla fruit

Try it, when you feel tense, just think of a smile in your mind and notice the tension you are in. Once you settle into the warmth and relaxation of that smile, notice what it does to your eyes, especially the outer angles, feel your muscles around your eyes relax, than bring the smile to your mouth and sense the relaxation of your facial muscles, then feel it in your throat, in your chest, in your belly, in your arms, in your legs... I did that all, and when I reached my toes, my tired body, walking for hours now was so relaxed and was so much at peace, I almost wanted to lie down right there and take a nap.

Colors of Colombia are very similar to Guatemala's...

Of course I wouldn't do that out of respect to those around me at least. Instead, I stood up heading outside to go to Museo Botero. On the way out, I saw an invitation to all believers (perhaps church members) to campaign for the evangelization of Colombia. Something turned inside of me, I noticed it, made a mental note of it, but did not allow what I just saw ruin my meditation: I walked out. Oh, fresh air felt good....

Boteros: Satirical of the church, it looks like doesn't it... But all of his figures are like this...

Botero museum is part of a complex that is funded by one of major Colombian banks and it is free to visit! What a treat... Botero is one of the most famous Colombian painters and sculptors. But not only those, he is also a philosopher and a political activist. He made Abu Gharib famous by painting the pictures regarding the tortures that took place there and created a media sensation all over the world with that series. Not only that, he documented with his art all the violence that took place in Colombia, witnessing and testifying to all the pain his countrymen suffered from for centuries and recent decades. Botero calls himself most Colombian of all Colombians despite living in Colombia for only one month a year. I find it interesting but curious as well.

It was lovely to see young Colombians learning about their "uncle" Botero...

Yes, he raises his voice very loud for all that matters to become the voice of his coutnrymen. He has donated a huge amount of his art that creates the basis of living art in many places in Bogota including the Botero museum. But is that enough I wonder. I am not asking the question critically. I am asking because I am a Turkish American living in America and feel as dedicated to my country of origin if not as an originally-Turkish woman, but as a world citizen as Botero perhaps feels he is to Colombia. But I do not live in Turkey, I do not suffer from the pains that those who live there do on a daily basis. They are the ones, who fight against the daily oppression of the fundamentalists ruling the country for the last decade or longer, they are the ones who will have to fight the major fights to be fought when it comes to it. That is why, I wonder if one can leave a land and still feel more of that land than those who stay… I, perhaps need to read more about Botero and learn more about him...

Self portrait: Botero

The museum is stunning: Some of the most striking work of this now-80 year-old master (so they call him in Colombia) is on display. His style is now known as "Boterismo": He depicts people and live or inanimate figures in large, exaggerated volumes (he himself calls his people “fat”). His fame started building a year before I was born in 1958. Although, later on I will discover, his early style was quite different than his most recent signature style. When I bring this observation up my friend Dr. Cuadros will make a firm statement: He was a master even then! If you would like to enjoy his art and the very strong voice that he emits through his art, take a look at a few of his work at: https://www.google.com/search?q=fernando+botero+paintings&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=JIDqU9rZMZGBygSlsIGIDQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=853&bih=645

In the evening, my hostess introduces me to a number of colleagues, who have arrived in town from Spain, USA, and other parts of Colombia. We head toward Monserrat sanctuary, the hill top right behind Bogota. A church for pilgrims of 1600s was built modeling after a counterpart in Barcelona, Spain. The hilltop is now known as Monserrat. Bogota was shimmering down below as we visited teh premises of the church with no opportunity to get into the French restaurant adjacent, that had to wait until the next visit.

Bogota shimmering down below from Monserrat