Today’s actual post will be dedicated to Colombia and its successful advancement to the next round of the World Cup.
Other than the fact that the University of Tolima is much, much smaller than any other university I’ve visited, it’s no different than any other university that I’ve been to. Students sit around the campus at all hours, playing music, talking, and otherwise engaging in scholarly activity. The graffiti is awesome and very often revolutionary-inspired. It’s surrounded by carts selling hot arepas con queso and candies and other goods; bakeries; internet cafes and copy shops; countless restaurants; and even more bars.
We met this morning at 10:00 (the game started at 11:00) at one of the said bars. Javier was super nice and offered to drive me, before racing back home to watch the game with his friends.
This is all of us gathered, pre-game but post-a gazillion beers and shots of aguardiente (not for me, don’t worry 😉 )
Mind you, every bar in Colombia was exactly like this one. This is four of the AIESEC Tolima leaders on the Tolima side of things:
No one got a goal in the first half, though it was a nail-biting experience. During halftime, we all needed to move our legs, but there was no standing room. Thus standing on the chairs. (The ceiling’s a bit short).
but when Colombia gets a goal, this is what happens:
There were two of those against one of Cote D’voire. In Spanish, it’s Coast de Marfil, and I had a time explaining to my host that in English we use the French, but that the French translates in English to “The Ivory Coast,” but that we don’t use the English in English.
That was difficult.
Anyway, afterwards, we just took photos, because what else do you do after your country has advanced into the next round of the biggest sport’s competition?
Obviously the day was surrounded by flags and other means of celebration. I also did, per my prediction a week ago, get sprayed with flour.
These next two are the reasons for the title.
Turned down for what?! *drops beat*
Apparently aguardiente will do this to you (literally that and beer is all they drink here).
Anyway, after all of these shenanigans, I went to work with Jana and Paola. Sadly, one of the residents (not one I had met) had suffered a heart attack last night, and the residents were at the church service. So for the first hour and a half of our shift, we sat talking to Herman (a man that works there) while covered with blankets to keep away the mosquitoes. When they arrived, we played Bingo.
You might think that’s insensitive, because I certainly did, but they wanted to play. According to one resident, “People die here all the time. It’s normal.” They fed us some hot fried pastry and some drink con leche that I hadn’t had before, but it was the first thing here I haven’t liked. I don’t know what it was, but the aftertaste was terrible… so I politely gulped all of the drink despite my pending asphyxiation, and I ate half of the pastry and told them I was saving the other half for later, so as not to offend them.
I then came home, watched more futbol, and ate a dinner of empanada con juevo, beef patty (seasoned much differently than here), avocado, pickled red cabbage and beets, sweet cornbread, and lulo juice.
Until tomorrow night (it might be Saturday morning, I’m not entirely sure).
-Kris
Traveler at the Edge 