Aviary, Playa Blanca, and park trampolines

 

I mostly just wanted to share more about the aviary, so I don't have as much stuff as usual.  But some of you may thank me for that :)

Life as we know it:

-We've moved from Moth Month to Dragonfly Days (alliteration courtesy of James). But seriously, we rarely have moths now and we have 1 or 2 dragonflies a day, which I think is a lot. And Ant Año continues to plague us with no end in sight.

-We have been on a quest for good pizza because, for some reason, that seems to be the food we miss most. The pizza in Cartagena is actually alright...but not anywhere near the level of pizza in the states. But our salvation has come...Dominos opened up around the corner! Ok, really, it's like a mile away, but to us that's around the corner. We've already been twice. James thinks it's amazing, I think it still has a Colombianness about it, but I'm grateful nonetheless.

-We found a park with a freaking trampoline in it. Why doesn't every park in the states have a tramp?! Oh, liability? Right...but these are the reasons we love Colombia.

This is a terrible picture, but trust me, that's a tramp.

-We baptized the oldest gringa girl last Sunday. They were filling up the font when we came to church at 9:00, and by the time church was over at 12:00, the font had like 6 inches of water in it. They decided to start the program and see if it filled up anymore. By the time they baptized her, it had maybe a foot of water. So that was fun. But this little girl had the coolest baptism ever: 1) it was on her actual birthday, 2) it was in COLOMBIA, 3) she was baptized and confirmed in Spanish 4) both of her grandmas had recorded video talks which they played on the church TV 5) she got to be baptized in her white dress instead of one of those jumpsuits 6) she was baptized in a foot of water. Coolest baptism ever.

-We went to the aviary, which is one of the coolest things we've done in Colombia (pictures on Facebook). It was exactly how I wanted it to be...no people, cageless animals, and no supervision. Actually, it was even better, because it was surprisingly clean, well maintained and HUGE. And I could never have imagined that many different types of interesting birds if I tried. It was so cool! We went with the other gringos from our ward who have 3 girls under the age of 8. Things are always more hilarious with kids. We were the first ones in the park, and saw maybe 2 or 3 other families in the 2 1/2 hours that we were there. Right when we walked in there were 2 peacocks just chilling 5 feet away from us. Then we walked a few feet to an artificial tree full of colorful parrots. And then before we even started on the path, we saw two more peacocks, one of which had his tail spread out. These freaking birds were just right out there for us to get as close as we wanted! I loved it. I mean, we didn't really get that close, because birds are kind of gross...but still pretty exciting. Some of the birds were cute and others were super evil looking.

Also, there were giant iguanas everywhere! And, in 2 or 3 areas, they had a hammock. You know, just in case you come to the aviary to relax in the shadow of bird trees. Towards the end, we came to an ampitheatre where we assume they usually have bird shows? The stands were empty except for 3 middle-aged Colombian women and the trainers were just feeding birds on the stage. The trainers let the girls get on the stage with the birds and let everyone feed them. The birds climbed on the James' shoulder and then the girls' heads and no one was alarmed. Those trainers for sure would have let us walk around the park with those birds if we'd asked, I'm pretty sure. Things are just so chill in Colombia. 

After we went to the aviary, we decided to go find the road to the fabled Playa Blanca. This is the main tourist attraction of Cartagena, even though it's an hour plus from Cartagena. But this is the thing that all of the gringos and most of the Colombian tourists do while staying in Cartagena.  It's a white sand beach and it's usually a day trip by boat, but as we found out, you can drive there as well. James and I have contemplated going to Playa Blanca for many an occassion but it has never really worked out. I'm glad we went and scoped things out, because it is very different than I thought it would be. Playa Blanca is known for its beach vendors. We had heard that they were bad, but we think the vendors in the beaches in Cartagena are bad, so we thought it probably wouldn't be that different. Before we even turned off the main road, we had 8 guys surround the car, trying to sell us a parking spot. We didn't even stop the car to listen to them, and so 3 of them hopped on the car. Seriously. It's was so funny. The family we were with has an SUV, so the 3 Colombians just hopped on and held on, all the while shouting things at us. Now if I had been a 4, 6, or 8 year old in the backseat while this happened, I would have freaked. But I think because all of us were laughing and joking about it, the girls had a momentary scare and then were fine. Kudos to them. So we drive with 3 Colombians on our car for about 1/2 mile, and then he stopped the car and yelled at them to get off. We decided to park for a few minutes and just walk down and check it out, since we weren't in beach clothes and the poor kids had just walked around a hot aviary for 2 1/2 hours. My first impression: Man does the sun radiate off of that white sand! At this point, we still can't see the water, even though it's 50 feet from us, because there are HUNDREDS of huts looming in front of us with everything from food to hammocks for rent to beach gear, etc. It was crazy. We get down to where we can see the water and it's beautiful. But even the water was hot! And there were crazy amounts of people. And the beach vendors did seem to be extra crazy. So our overall impression was...hmmm, maybe it's worth the money to go pay for a resort with a private beach and healthy cooking conditions. I'm glad we went, because I think if we had stuck with our original plan, I would have been ultra hot, annoyed, and disappointed. Now we know!

-Our neighbor gets up every morning at 6:00 AM and blows his nose for like 15 minutes. It's hilarious. Our building is actually pretty quiet...we never hear our neighbors except for through the open windows. But the power behind this guys' incessant nose blowing echos through our house a few times a day. Anyone want to send us some Benadryll so we can change this poor guy's life?

The lady at the immigration office was named Yuranis.  Get it?

Differences between Colombia and the states:

-In Latin America, people from the United States are not considered "Americans"...we're either from the states or North American. People get offended if you tell them you're American. They say "I'm American too" because they live in South America. Luckily, James warned me of this before we got here, so I haven't made that faux pas. But I hear tourists say that all the time. I just think it's confusing though...my boss told one of the kids' dads that I was a North American and he asked if I was from Mexico. Yeah, because there are 3 countries in North America. But, I get it. Technically we are all Americans. But the rest of the world refers to people from the United States as Americans, so they're kind of the weird ones.

-When a building is abandoned, they block the doorway and windows with bricks and cement to prevent squatters. Not a bad idea, except I would think the property damage isn't worth it. But they also tear down the building 90% of the time, so I guess it's worth it.

-They have a "walk of Miss Colombias" (as I like to refer to it). Every beauty queen for like the last century. These Colombian teenage girls were discussing the merits of each. Why aren't American girls this excited about beauty queens anymore?

Until next time...

 

Colombian daughter, learning Spanish, and American tourists

Every night guys.  Every night.

I don't even know anymore...6 months in as of yesterday, I think? We're just here living the dream in Colombia!

Fun experiences:

-Last weekend, we took a bus to the movies. It was a Saturday, so the bus was crammed. Luckily, James and I found seats, but they were not next to each other. James sat across the aisle from a 11ish year old little girl wearing a New England Patriots hat. Compared to Mexico, Colombians don't wear very much American/English stuff, so I was surprised that she had 1) a beanie in 100 degree weather and 2) a hat for an American football team. As soon as James sat down, she immediately turned towards him and started chatting. She was really excited to talk to a gringo and talk about American stuff. Clearly by the reaction of her family, and James' insta-smile, she was quite the character. She asked if I was his sister (just what every wife wants to hear).  She was delighted to hear that I was actually his wife, and started introducing us to all of her family members on the bus. James told her that I didn't know very much Spanish and the girl should try to teach me. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear her very well from my seat, but what I did catch was "Do you want me to be your daughter?" (but in Spanish, obviously). She's the best person we've met in Colombia.

-James is becoming THE gringo at his work...for the 4th of July, they had him go to the main campus and have a staged "discussion" with another teacher about America in front of students. So that was fun. And then yesterday, they asked him to be in their promotional video as the token gringo, so he was filmed having another fake conversation. I would love to elaborate on these seemingly interesting happenings, but this was all I got from him.

Differences between Colombia and the states...and miscellaneous observations:

-Masterchef Mexico Junior is quickly becoming my favorite show. I try to watch at least one show in actual Spanish (not a show filmed in English, then dubbed in Spanish), and this is the one that I often catch. It's my favorite because 1) I love listening to kids speak Spanish and 2) I don't understand the competition. I'm sure it's just like all the other Masterchef shows...it has a balcony where 1-4 people get awarded and don't have to cook? That seems weird on a cooking show. And there's a nun...I have absolutely no idea why. It seems like she's mostly there as comedic relief and to comfort the kids when the judges make them cry...which is often. It's funny and sad all at the same time. Oh yeah, and I learn Spanish.

-A lot of people in our area will walk around barefoot on the dog poop-, human urine-, and trash-covered sidewalks. To be fair, we live on a beach, and lots of people walk around Laguna Beach, etc. barefoot too. But Colombians are CRAZY about getting sand off of their feet after being on the beach. They usually pour water out of a water bottle all over everyone's feet. Uh, hello! You'll pour water that you PAID FOR over your feet to get sand off, but you'll walk around barefoot on the dirty sidewalk any other time of the day? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Carnival amongst the trash

-Because it's 100 degrees ALL THE TIME, most of the women/children wear sandals. One thing we've seen a lot is that they will walk around with one of their toes sticking out of the straps. It just hurts me to look at. Maybe it's a trend here...

I know what you're thinking...this definitely deserves a picture.



-Gringos visit our ward a lot. Like I would say we get on average 1 couple a week. So it's fun to get to speak English and learn about people's trips. When we ask the gringos what their favorite part of the trip has been, they say they LOVE the fruit juices here. Our reaction is always "really?" (said in the same tone as "her?" when referring to Egg on Arrested Development), because we just haven't been impressed. So we've asked multiple gringos and plenty of Colombians which fruit juices we should try, and then we try them, and our opinion is still...meh. At our favorite restaurant, she makes a good maracuya (passion fruit) smoothie, but that's really the only thing we've liked a lot. The other problem is that juice is more expensive than pop. Everything is more expensive than pop. So why not just get pop?

-Have I mentioned that they don't have lemons here?  Limon in Spanish is either lime OR lemon, which is super weird. But it's not super confusing here, because lemons just don't really exist. Even though I know this, I always get excited when I see "limonada" because I think I'm going to get lemonade. I don't. I get limeade. Which can be tasty...but never as tasty as lemonade.

-I love my name. I didn't always, because as you can imagine, I get teased a lot. I hated that when I was a kid, but now I like that it's unique. It's less unique in Latin America however...because a lot of guys are named Ariel. D'oh! When I tell people my name here, I always say "Ariel...como La Serenita" ("like the Little Mermaid") because otherwise they are confused. They think 1) that they heard wrong because Ariel is a boy's name or 2) that I said "Adiel" or "Adrian", etc. because my Spanish accent is so bad. So it's just easy to bring up La Serenita so there's no confusion. However, now a few Colombians affectionately call me "La Serenita". It's just like being at home!

-While talking with our sister the other day, we made a realization...we go to the beach here less than we did in California! I'm as shocked as you are. I think we just take it for granted because it's ALWAYS there now. The first thing I look at when I wake up is the beach, and the last thing I look at before I go to bed is the beach. And there's plenty of viewing/walking near between that. It's just so nice to sit in bed and stare at the beauty from afar, instead of actually going down and sitting in the sweltering heat amongst piles of trash. So, sorry, not sorry.

-One thing I've learned in my quest for learning Spanish is that a lot of learning a new language is just finding easier way to say things. Really, I just need 5-10 verbs and I can say almost anything. Maybe not with the eloquence that I can have while speaking English, but it gets the job done. But I think the Colombians probably think I'm not very intelligent because I say everything the same way.

-One of our big disappointments about Colombia is that some people seem to really dislike gringos. Before we came here, all we heard is that the Colombian people are so nice. Unfortunately, that has not been our overall experience. I hate to say that, because we have met some of the nicest people ever here, and I'm sure the ratio of nice/not nice people is the same as anywhere else in the world. Nevertheless, I am disappointed. People in the service industry are often grumpy or, at best, just indifferent to us. It frustrates me, because, for instance, I go to the local store 1 to 2 times a week, and see the same rotating 8 employees there. At this point, they recognize me and know I am not just another tourist here for a week. And yet, they are still grumpy and/or indifferent to me, no matter how smiley or friendly I try to be. The reason for this (as I see it) is that Cartagenans (?) are just tired of gringos. And really, they have good reason to be. As we watch other gringos try to vacation in Colombia, we are horrified. Everything the other countries of the world say about American tourists is true. We don't dive into other cultures, we try to turn it into America. At best, we make a show of marveling at their culture, but that's still not super flattering. If you're telling someone how amazing it is that they can live with 3 other families in one house, it's not REALLY a compliment, just you trying to show your superiority over them. A couple of disclaimers: 1) we are guilty of many of these things too (aka eating mainly at Subway and McDonalds when we go out, 90% of the content of this blog, and hello, I still don't speak Spanish) and 2) this is not every American tourist, nor do I think that anyone is doing this with bad intentions. It's just so frustrating to me to see people order ice cream or Subway in English. Seriously?! You can't learn the name of the 6 types of food you put on your sandwich? You can't learn how to simply say "I would like..." and then substitute whatever it is from the menu that you would like to order?! It amazes me. We just expect people to know English, which maybe 1% of Colombians do, and I've got to tell ya, it's almost never people working in the food industry. I honestly hate being lumped in with people like this, even though I can be one of them occasionally. But I try really hard to conform to Colombia, instead of making Colombia conform to me. We would expect a Colombian to conform to America wouldn't we? So why can't we respect the culture and not be THOSE tourists? Sorry for the rant, but maybe it will make everyone conscious of their actions when they leave the country. And then maybe the people of Colombia won't be grumpy to James and me :)

-Colombians HATE their drug rep. People, all the drug stuff went down in the 80s and 90s. It's 2016. It's long gone, at least in this area. I've been watching a lot of videos of people speaking Colombian Spanish so I can get a better ear for it. And you know what they always say? "Colombia is not what people think it is. I love my country and hate that the world only thinks of Colombia in relation to drugs." They are outraged about it! We've had conversations with people about it at church, and James' school, etc. They feel like they need to bring up the fact that Colombia is not what everyone thinks it is. And when we've brought up Sofia Vergara (stupid American tourists!), they talk about how she makes Colombia look stupid. Now that Netflix has the new episodes of Modern Family (!), I've tried to pay attention to the things Gloria says. Not because I really think we should be taking a silly television character seriously, but I like to compare her fake Colombia to our real one. But on the last episode we watched, she said to Manny, "I exaggerate about a lot of things. Colombia is actually pretty normal." And I just felt the whole country of Colombia sing Hallelujah! I like that the Colombian pride we experience here finally had the writers and/or Sofia Vergara give pause and think about what they are doing for Colombia's reputation.

-One thing that is NOT different about Colombia and the states is your accessibility to the Bullingers. We can facetime/skype/facebook messenger video call anytime you would like. See, we did it for our nephew's 2nd birthday. So feel free to video call us any time you want to see our tan, sweaty faces.

Yep, this is me shamelessly showing off our nephew.

Sorry if this got a little heavy...in content and in lists...maybe you can tell I don't speak to very many people every day? :) Every English conversation that I have gets a little long-winded because I'm home alone for a large part of the day. But fear not! I am not lonely and I am very happy with my life. Just don't be surprised if you get to hear about my every thought. But I think I have finally written everything out. So chao for now!