Monday, May 29, 2006

Personal Space and Sidewalk Etiquette

Having been car-less for the past 6 years and living in a city where so many people rely on public transportation and walking, I have to finally comment on personal space and sidewalk etiquette in general. And this can be applied to most cities, I think. Let's say you are walking back from the grocery store with 25 pounds of grocery bags tugging at your rotator cuffs and the sidewalk has a fair amount of people on it. How would you react if you saw me bearing down on you, walking in the opposite direction? The typical, logic thinker would move out of the way realizing that a man of my stature carrying a small refrigerator's worth of food has the right-of-way. Not here. Certainly not here.

Now being one of these logical thinkers, I can justify a certain percentage of these head-on encounters by someone not paying attention for whatever reason; maybe they're talking to a friend who is with them or they may be talking on the phone, whatever. But no, most of these encounters (I've realized recently) are people minding their own business walking in the opposite direction and just completely ignoring my presence. Leaving me to negotiate their presence by shifting my weight and whatever weight I happened to be carrying so they can pass by unscathed.

Which brings me to my other complaint about sidewalk etiquette and that is this dependency that people have where they have to walk next to one another in a group of three or more people. I'm sure many have you seen these moving human walls holding hands or connected arms coming at you in the opposite direction leaving you with the responsibility of getting out of their way. Yes, God forbid that anyone in the group should have to fall behind another and walk single file for six paces. I've never been so aware of my personal space in society until I came here and began walking the streets. It has come to the point where that is exactly what I do: walk in the street rather than on the sidewalk. It just seems to be easier that way.

One more little sidenote about personal space. The library in the school I currently work at (which is rare for a school to have a library in these parts) had recently been constructed to a two story section because the roof is vaulted. The finished product has left the ceiling for the lower level to be (exactly) my height, 6 feet 5 inches tall, and the upper level even shorter in some parts. Do you want to know how many times I've hit my head on the ceiling in this library? Zero. Why? Because I'm completely aware of my personal space and where and how I move my body.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Who Knew

This past Friday I was married to Andrea Aguirre in Notary Public #5, Bogota, Colombia. Having never been married, much less married in a Notary, I didn't know what to expect but Andrea advised me that it would be very informal. Andrea and I were accompanied by some good friends from my previous school and Andrea's father. We had to wait about 45 minutes for reasons unknown, then were ushered into an office where we sat at a very old desk. Then a very obese, middle-aged gentleman who had an advanced case of emphysema and was rank with cigarette smoke, sat down heavily, read our names, and asked if I understood Spanish. He then proceeded on a 10-minute monologue about the importance of marriage, how to treat each other, respect one other, and any future offspring we may have. We signed a couple of documents and that was that.

Mom and dad arrived later that evening by plane to meet their new inlaws, celebrate with us and, most importantly for my dad to meet Andrea for the first time. Many translations ensued, Colombian arts and crafts were purchased, dinner was eaten, and in general, good times were had by all. In the near future, we'll be making an appointment with the U.S. embassy for Andrea to acquire her spousal visa and whatever other documents she needs in order to work in the U.S. At this point, Andrea and I plan to stay one more year here and then move to the United States for an indefinite amount of time. She would find work as a Body Systems instructor and I would continue my career as an educator. We'll be sending out the S.O.S. to friends and family at about this time next year for any possible assistance in job placement.

On a personal note, if you told me 10 years ago that this was how I was to be married for the first time I would have told you to have another drink. I guess that's how life is. But in all honesty, I'm super happy and looking forward to the next year here in Bogota with my new job and the next few dozen or so years with Andrea.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

You Tube

After seeing Dave Kha's video he made for his mom for mother's day, I decided to upload my own video I made a few months back. It was my first attempt at making a video with the IMovie program I've got on my computer and I think it's a good first attempt. Enjoy.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Strike two

Today is the second day of the private bus industry strike. The streets of Bogota are normally filled with private buses which carry millions of people to and fro. These buses are not to be confused with Transmilenio, which is the government-owned bus system (the BART or NY or London subway system equivalent) that is also a highly effective way to get around. According to Andrea this strike happens every year, but normally lasts only one day. Apparently, the private companies and their drivers are striking because they want to be able to follow the same routes as Transmilenio.

So I got a call from my 'boss' saying that the strike has been extended another day as they negotiate. So they canceled school today. I don't really see how one has to do with the other since the school has its own buses but whatever. My 'boss' also asked me for the telephone numbers of several other members of the English department to inform them of the cancelation because she didn't have them.