BOGOTA BHOY: Hands, touching hands ,reaching out......

Neil Diamond

I have been in the same hostel for two weeks now and I like it.I need to find an apartment but I need to find out where I am going to be working before I commit to anything.The hostel has been very quiet, November is low season.It always gets busy in December as everyone is on holiday but up until now Ive had my own room most days.I hit it off with the owner as soon as I arrived and he is a good guy.He owns the hostel with his brother,who is not here.He calls me Docman.You have to do it in an American accent."Hey Docman whats up".I was never sure about yanks before I left.I had never met many to be honest.I have been hanging out with a few since I got here and I like them.They got some weird sayings but so have we.The yank knows some of his countrymen are stupid but it seems like the yanks who travel a bit are OK.I know we have enough idiots in the UK that give us all a bad name.There is always something going on and I am making lots of contacts ,but also meeting Colombians who I can call friends now.The girls who work here speak good English and I always have good banter with them.Its only when you can take the piss out of each other can you say you are friends.The young Colombian guy who also works on reception plays guitar really well.He is also a big Pink Floyd fan, so me and him always have a few beers and he plays some Floyd.The cleaner is helping me with my Spanish.She doesn't speak a word of English so theres no cheating with English when we have our little chats.She brought me in a Spanish/English phrase book the other day, which was really nice of her.There is Salsa lessons every Tuesday at 6pm til 8pm.I have been going every week now and there has been progress but its slow.The two teachers are nice girls and I have been out drinking with them a few times.Although everything they teach me goes out the window once Ive had a few.The hostel has a bar and the biggest night on the hostel calender is the Karaoke night every 2nd Thursday.When I arrived, it was the Friday just after the karaoke night.I was told by the yank that it was always a packed night and great fun.This was backed up by a few other people,so I was looking forward to this.I told the yank I was partial to a bit of karaoke and he could count on me to do a number.I wasn't disappointed.The place was busy and full of locals and some gringos.There are no shortage of people wanting to sing so the yank tells me to get my name down early.What do I sing is the problem.The girl who works reception in the morning is a bit of a singer and she always kicks off the night.She starts off with some Pink and she is good.How can they sing in another language.I am struggling to speak Spanish never mind sing it.I am surprised at the choices of the Colombians.I thought it would be all local music but they love Oasis,Queen and Chili Peppers.I cant decide what to sing.Are they ready for my Maggie May??.Have they even heard of Rod Stewart??.I am up shortly and the Yank wants to know what I am singing.The bar is busy now and the drinks are flowing.The Salsa teachers are here with there friends.I told them my singing was better than my dancing.I could do Hello by Lionel Richie.The yank says no.Its to early for that.I need something more upbeat.I need another beer.This place is busy now and the crowd are up for it.I opt for Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond.Good choice says the yank.Do these people even know Neil Diamond.The yank assures me they know this song.The yank introduces me and I get a round of applause.I know the words so I don't need to have my back to the crowd so much.Once I got going, the crowd were with me and they were joining in the chorus.Singing Neil Diamond to a load of Colombians is not something I ever thought I would do when I left home,but I never really knew what I was going to do.I enjoyed it and the night was good.The Colombians were loving it and they were singing everything from Alanis Morissette to Coldplay, even if some of it was in some dodgy accents.I managed to get up once more and do my Lionel Richie, Hello.I am starting to like the Colombian people more as the weeks go by.They are friendly and theres no angle with them.They don't hassle you when you walk down the street, trying to sell you stuff or telling you which bar to go into.The complete opposite of Thailand where you get hassled by beggars and people selling stuff every two yards.I have been out to many bars and clubs and theres never any trouble.No fights between locals or no one giving me a hard time because I am a gringo.These people just seem to want to drink and dance.I like watching the football on Saturday mornings over here.Every Saturday at 10am you have a choice of two premiership games, the 3pm kick offs back home.You get all the champions league games which kick off at 3pm local time.The biggest supported team in Colombia from Europe is Barcelona.They love them.They like the premiership but no team is as popular as Barca.The food has been the biggest let down since I got here.Its really boring.There are loads of fast food joints and there are nice restaurants.I like to try the local cuisine when I go away but there stuff is boring.Its thin cut meat with rice beans fried banana and egg, not great.They give you a fried banana with everything,I just dont get it.I have spoken to the Colombians about this and they agree it can be boring but they are not used to anything else.I don't know why,Mexico has lots of spices, pepper's and onions but the Colombians don't bother.I have been spoiled when I travel to Thailand,where the food is the best in the world in my opinion.I have my all bran cereal in the mornings with banana and the milk is good.There are lots of fruits and they are really cheap.I love mango's and they cost about 25p here.I have found a nice Italian restaurant.Nothing fancy just where the locals go but they do a great lasagna and the pizzas are as good as any Ive tried.Three of us went there the other night.We all had a main meal and one drink and it came to 46,000 pesos (£14) between the three of us.I got up one Saturday morning to watch the football and I didn't feel to well, by the early evening I was back in bed and I had a fever.I was in bed for two days and I was sweating up.The girls from the hostel were checking up on me but there was nothing they could do.I had to ride it out.I was back on my feet by Monday but it was days before I could get back to eating and feeling normal.It set me back a week being ill.I don't know what it was but I guess you have to expect these things sometimes if you travel so far away.I need to start looking for work next week and I could do with getting my Spanish lessons started aswell.I am settled in now and I know I want to stay here.I am having fun but I know I will get bored if I keep doing the same stuff.I need to see whats out there on the work front.