Long time, no write... I can't say it's because I've got nothing to report, actually I've had a great few weeks, and it's not that I've been soooo busy that I can't write... the fact is I've been lazy, yep, just plain lazy. But lucky (or unlucky!) for you I am in the mood for writing tonight.
So, first thing is a correction from my previous blog. I feel like such a fool, but I have learnt that it was not a beaver that I saw... a bit embarrassing given it even featured in the title! Beavers live in water, not on land, and have a big wide paddle like tail... gee, I'm as sharp as a bowling ball. Then I thought it might be a badger, but I wiki'd it and it's not a badger either. If anyone can help me in identifying what type of animal it is, please let me know - there might be a prize in it for you!
I know you're all waiting in anticipation to know what I've been up to, or maybe not and you're just reading this to take a break from work, either way, here goes... So let's start three weeks ago, in Colombia. So, when I knew I was moving here into a Regional role, one of my first thoughts was that I am worried about and want to avoid travelling to Colombia. So, upon arriving in my new job I learnt that Colombia is one of the larger markets in the Region, so resigned myself to the fact that I would need to go, and I knew I wouldn't be sent somewhere that I'd be in danger. So around came the opportunity to roll out some training and to spend time with Juliana (from my team), so off I set to Medellin - a city in the north west and in the middle of a valley. Think 360 surrounded by mountains, but I guess that's stating the obvious... "Captain Obvious" aren't I?
I come in for landing, the plane rocking side to side and see lush, beautiful mountains. Though bumpy, it was a safe landing and after getting through customs I was welcomed by a crew of two with my name sign. I was quickly escorted to my vehicle - a bullet proof Toyota Prada. How exciting, my first bullet proof car, along with my own personal body guard for the week. Okay, so with all this security it seems a little bit scarier than what it actually was. I am told by the locals that 10-15 years ago, the town was very dangerous, popular with the mafia, but the government did a huge amount to clean it up, which has seemingly worked. In saying that, it's a brave soul that would make the decision to reduce the level of security that is provided to employees. One thing that Medellin is famous for is fake boobs. This stems from the mafia days where the men would buy their mistresses fake boobs. Now, it's embedded in society and is something that is commonly given for 15 or 16th birthday presents. Medellin is also known for having amazing weather - consistently around 28 degrees every day, all year, 1/2 the year wet, the other half dry. It's now dry season in Medellin, but as luck would have it, there was torrential rain the entire week. Here's a couple of pics from the top of the factory, the best view in the city (better when it's not so cloudy)!
After four days in Medellin, I then took the 45 minute flight to Bogota. Bogota is the capital of Colombia and is considered a savannah, or a high plateau in the Andes mountains. It's strange because it is really flat (captain obvious again), but it is at a decent altitude - 2625m (to put in perspective Mt. Kosciuszko is 2228 metres). I got a mild case of altitude sickness whilst I was there - I was all woozy and my body was all tingly... I guess no climbing everest for me! I was only there one night, but had arrived late the night before, but my flight out on the Friday night was not until 11pm. I was told I have to go to this restaurant that "is Bogota" that for the life of me I can't remember the name of. This place was awesome! Luckily I went early because of my flight, because when I left, there was a queue of over 100 waiting to get in. This restaurant basically had like 5 floors, and a menu with 55 pages!
Here is my delicious meal - prawns with rice and veg, which came out sizzling
... and me with a bib.
Leaving Colombia, I caught the real red eye flight - it level at 11pm Colombia time (midnight NY time) and it arrived at 5.30am NY time - nasty nasty nasty. I managed to fall asleep on the runway, but woke up during take off, then fell back asleep about 25 minutes before preparing to land. I managed to fit in a couple of movies in between - The Vow being one of them... what a tear jerker. I have a theory that when you are flying that your emotions are heightened, I either seem to find movies extraordinarily sad and end up bawling my eyes out (The Notebook, Soul Surfer etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.), or excrutiatingly funny and end up laughing inappropriately loud, and let out a frequent snort (Death at a Funeral, The Hangover etc. etc. etc. etc.). When I see them again at normal altitude, although I thoroughly enjoy them again, I certainly don't have the same emotional reaction.
The following week I went to Rock of Ages (the stage show) and oh my god, it was so awesome. I must say it would be up there as one of the best shows I've seen, maybe even the best (though being on stage on Priscilla would have to be my fave moment). It had the best soundtrack for a bogan like me, and I discovered at that show there are many bogans in the city. That same week, I also caught up twice with Pina, who I work with (and who coincidentally knows my aunty Collette and her husband Dennis, and the family they were travelling with know them as well - very small world). We went out for dinner, which was really lovely.
Last Sunday I went and saw my friend Lindsay's new show - Triassic Park, which is a parody of Jurassic Park, and really inappropriate and funny. After the show she was having a get together for the crew working on the show, so I joined them. It's funny, the acting scene is very different to my own world and it's really intriguing to me, but then on the other hand I am as equally intriguing to them (I don't know how). One of her other friends Cameron came over with her boyfriend, who coincidentally enough was Stacy Jaxx from Rock of Ages that I had just seen that week. It was a fun evening and my first exposure to American Ribs and Macaroni and Cheese - delish!
Other than that, the week has been nicely uneventful - I didn't really get up to much (beside work of course) and that suited me just fine. The weather has been really hot - record breaking temperatures. Yesterday was 36 degrees and super humid - there was a really loud thunderstorm early yesterday morning; and then today was 35. There's some major fires burning across the country which is not good.
Today, I had nothing planned so went to the movies, and for the first time ever, saw two in a row! I saw Snow White and Huntsman, excellent, and then Rock of Ages. I hadn't wanted to see the movie until after the show, but I must say I was a little disappointed as they changed the story quite a bit, and quite frankly the actors in the stage show were better singers than the ones in the movies.
Anyway, I'm now coming home again in August (as long as it gets approved at work), so if you are wanting to order things in the US, nows the time and I can bring them back with me. Clearly the amount of things I can bring is limited, so it's first in best dressed. Just drop me an email and I can give you the delivery details.
Signing off for this week (or 3!),
Michele
