Monday, July 31, 2006

Noise polluting dreams

Woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, eyes wide open. It took a minute for me to realize what had woken me up: it was silence, pure and sweet. For the last two nights, and for the total three nights I've spent in this apartment, it's been a raucous noisy ride. Macondo (taken from the Garcia Marquez oeuvre), the bar across the street, creates a sound tunnel carrying laughter, heels clicking across the dance floor, and the same 15 salsa songs played in nearly the same order, directly from its open doors to my wall of windows, ancient and cracked. I love this apartment for the light it lets in, and for the views, but at 2 AM it's not the ideal resting place.

But yesterday was Sunday, and thankfully the bar was closed. Still, we're on the corner with a very busy street with a nearly constant stream of traffic. Vehicles here in Colombia are much noisier than their counterparts in the states, for some mechanical reason I'm sure, and not just for the exuberant cultural differences (smile). People are beginning to realize that noise pollution is a problem in the city ("Hazardous Noise Increase in Bogota"). One of the first differences I noticed being back in Atlanta was just how quiet it all was. A sleepy hamlet, that's what Atlanta felt like after Bogota.

Then last night, a silence so compete it woke me. For a moment it lingered, let itself be savored, stretched, wiped the sleep from its eyes, then laid back down as a night delivery truck hammered down the lane. Back to normal, and I went back to sleep, fully acclimated by that momentary realization of the differences. They are meant to be enjoyed.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

places worth applauding

I've only ever been two places where people are so happy to be home that they clap: Puerto Rico and Colombia. Lots of clapping for Colombia: three rounds of spontaneous applause on this flight, in fact. I couldn't help but grin and clap along, even if the first few days back are sad and altitude sick for me.

The boy is not here, my family is not here, and the buses are silly with people -- my only gripes with Colombia that are particular to me. Pretty big ones but for five months or so perfectly withstandable. And today Eli gets home and has lots to talk about, and at this very moment Trish is showering in my semi-luxurious-for-Colombia bathroom (it has kind of hot water and it's all mine) and has lots to talk about, and I love my girlfriends and missed our talks terribly, so it all evens out I suppose.

Five minutes ago a long line of taxis decorated with balloons followed a taxi carrying an image of the Virgin down the street. Will post photos later, just in case you couldn't live without seeing that! In some ways, it is good to be back.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Wailing Willie

I've always been not-so-secretly fond of Willie Nelson, but Monday night's concert was just heaven, both for the music and other reasons I'll hold close to my heart.

Tomorrow a plane will cart a somewhat unwilling me back to Bogota, a place I love that's missing one vital thing, but which has all those things Atlanta is missing, namely, density, frequent and integrated public transportation, and park space. But it's that one thing that I know will call me back here, just as surely as I know I have to get on that plane tomorrow.

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Even if you don't believe in astrology, and I'm not sure it requires belief, the Free Will Horoscopes are worth reading. Think of the author as a wise old aunt with an exceptional feel for pop culture, and who can sometimes guess what you're thinking.

Here's mine for this week. I'll be trying to remember it today.

Taurus Horoscope for week of July 27, 2006

Verticle Oracle card Taurus (April 20-May 20)
"One morning I came upon a small demonstration on a street corner," wrote Sparrow in The Sun. "Several men were holding signs that said BRING BACK DUSK, and shouting, 'Dusk! Give us dusk!' 'But dusk will come again this evening,' I pointed out to one of them. 'We don’t care,' he replied, with a wild look. 'We want it now!'" If and when you become impatient in the coming week, Taurus, remember Sparrow's story. Progress will proceed at its own pace, not yours. The peaches will ripen when they are ready, not necessarily when you are.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

How to tell if you're a drug runner

Question: what lameass joke have I heard upteen times since getting home for my summer vacation from my life vacation in Colombia. Yup, that's right. So...are you a drug runner? So...did you have to go through any kind of special training to be a mule? So...blah blah blah...drugs. I'm pretty sick of it. Next time someone pulls one of these conversation killers out of their, um, hat, I'm going to respond like this. I don't care if I come off as humorless and defensive. Maybe I am, but I'm in good (well, good-looking anyway) company.

Setting: party at some hipster's house in Capitol View. It's Friday night, but not late enough yet to blame social blunders on the booze.

Them: (sidling up) So you're just back from Colombia, huh? So...making some extra money as a mule, I bet.

Me: (backing away) So...are you an addict or just an idiot? Because as pervasive as the drug production trade is in Colombia, drug use is way more pervasive here, in the good old US of A. It's just as likely that you are on drugs right now than that any given Colombian or traveler to Colombia is a drug smuggler.

I mean, I thought Maria Full of Grace was well-acted too, but come on! Let's not forget it was a movie, a movie about what the film industry thinks people are willing to believe and watch. Not that it was inaccurate, just that it's not the whole truth. I know way more drug dealers and users in the states than in Colombia.

So please, the next time you're short on small talk at a party, lay off the rash over-generalizations about the weakness of other countries in the world. If other nationalities were as bad about this as Americans seem to be, no one living abroad would ever go to a cocktail party.

It would be just too painful, with our government intent on feeding the fire.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Why I don't drink Coke

Colombia, country of contrasts. It's ranked second in the world for efficiency in converting its many natural resources into happiness (the Happy Planet Index).

Yet for those who are not willing to simply co-exist with the gross inequalities that mark the Colombian economy, it's tough to be happy about the current state of affairs.

In a recent editorial titled, "A dangerous job in Colombia," the New York Times noted that Colombia is the world's worst offender against the lives and human rights of labor organizers. To stand up for labor rights in Colombia is to sign your own death certificate for 50% of labor leaders.

Meanwhile, Uribe's administration is trying to limit the independence of the UN Human Rights Commissioner in Colombia (Colombia seeks to curb role of UN Rights watchdog).
The Uribe government, against E.U. wishes, wants to renew the mandate but strip the 90-person office of independent oversight authority so it would mostly provide technical assistance, say foreign diplomats and human rights activists. They say the government's rejection of the U.N.'s first choice for the job, a candidate with broader human rights experience, reflects a deterioration in its support for the U.N. rights-monitoring operation.

So why do many of us living in Colombia choose not to drink Coke? There is good evidence (see list of articles, campaign: KillerCoke.org) that Coca-Cola's bottling plants in Colombia have used and continue to use paramilitary forces to kidnap, torture and kill union leaders. Putting aside for a moment the question of whether boycotts work, do you really want to contribute even in a the smallest way to a company willing to allow atrocities to be committed in the production of a soft drink?

A recent report paints a startling picture:
Bob Perillo of the U.S./ Labor Education in the Americas Project and the study's lead author, noted that seven out of 10 trade unionists in the world are murdered in Colombia.

In the past 20 years, 4,000 Colombian union members have been killed. While the number of killings has recently decreased, cases of anti-union violence and intimidation have risen in Colombia, the report said. Last year alone, 70 union members were assassinated.

It may sound melodramatic as you sit in a beach chair listening to the ocean or just wilting in your office, but ask yourself as you pop open that next bottle - who died for your Coke?

Take action: Labor Rights Colombia.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

recent news from Colombia

Report finds worsening press freedom in Colombia 06/07/2006

There have been more than 100 murders of journalists in Colombia since 1980 – and the press freedom situation there is getting worse, according to a new report.
Petrobras To Spend $150 Million In Colombia To Seek Oil
BOGOTA -(Dow Jones)- Brazilian State-owned oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR) will invest $150 million in Colombia this year, four times as much as in 2005, the company's top official in Colombia said on Thursday.
Venezuela, Colombia to Start Building Natural-Gas Pipeline

July 8 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela and neighboring Colombia will start work later today on a $336 million natural gas pipeline that will alleviate a shortage of the fuel in western Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe, will inaugurate construction of the 226-kilometer (136-mile) pipeline during ceremonies this afternoon on the border.

Orbitel, Siemens roll out WiMax in Colombia
Hot on the heels of last week's WiBro rollout in South Korea, Colombian long-distance operator Orbitel has teamed up with hardware manufacturer Siemens to deploy Latin America's first WiMax network in the city of Cali.




Colombia: UN agency voices renewed concern over mass displacements from conflict

Convoy taking displaced back to their homes (May 2006)
7 July 2006 – Fighting between irregular armed groups in southern Colombia, threats and targeted killings of civilians are continuing to sow tension in a region where more than 9,000 people have been forced to flee their homes this year, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.



Colombia monitors ex-rebels, measures success

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Colombian police on Friday launched a program to monitor rebels and paramilitaries demobilized since 2003 in an effort to allay criticism of the government's disarmament campaign.

The police program aims to check on at least 41,000 paramilitary and guerrilla fighters who have laid down arms as part of President Alvaro Uribe's efforts to coax illegal groups to end a four-decade conflict that has killed and displaced tens of thousands.

The program is part of Uribe's strategy to show results from peace talks with the paramilitaries after criticism by human rights groups who say he is too lenient with militia leaders accused of horrific abuses. Some question whether the government can stop former militia members from turning into powerful criminal gangs.