Is the end of the Bog-standard tienda nigh?

About the only thing we can be certain of these days is that the uncertainty permeating through practically every sector of society is set to continue for the coming months if not years.

'So do you want that with razor blades or not?' 'Eh, you can leave them out.'

Much has been written about the "new normals" we'll have to live with because of the coronavirus pandemic. Some of them, such as the wearing of facemasks in public, we're seeing already.

Hy-giene, goodbye defences

We can expect hygiene standards across the board to crank up a few levels and what was once merely advice will most likely become obligatory.

There could, of course, be negative side-effects to all this. There is a school of thought that, especially in the more developed countries, we're already overly sanitised.

We don't expose our bodies and immune systems enough to all that the natural world can throw at us to the point that when we inevitably "let the guard down" we're in a much weaker position to tackle whatever may be attacking us.

Personally, I've generally had a more blasé approach to this, certainly in terms of eating street food, snacking on untreated fruit & veg and such like. I like to think it's stood me in good stead.

I'm also not overly concerned about the cleanliness or otherwise of the public places in which I eat and drink.

Considering some of the establishments I've frequented in these parts, that's a good thing.

'Some places have posters detailing how to wash your hands, minus the actual means to do it.'

The washroom facilities — if they merit such a name — of many of Colombia's ubiquitous tienda bars and a not-insignificant number of its panaderías are often found wanting.

For example, some tiendas provide no more than a urinal in a not-very-private corner of the building.

Very often there'll be a poster with a step-by-step guide on how to properly wash your hands with one, um, minor snag: No sink or washbasin to actually carry out the practice. 'Thanks for the theory, guys. Now, where can I go to do it for real?'

Should there be women customers — have they nothing better to be doing than frequenting a gentleman's tienda? — they are usually given access to the private bathroom. 

It can come across at times, however, that the proprietor feels he/she is almost doing them a favour by letting them use the residents' toilet.

In an even more health-conscious, nay hypochondriacal and paranoid society as a consequence of coronavirus, the future of such places is surely in doubt if they don't improve their bathroom facilities — whenever they're actually allowed to have seated customers on their premises again that is.

Razor-sharp enforcement

One would expect that Colombian health authorities will demand, at the very least, a fully equipped, easily accessible sink for patrons to wash their hands alongside a proper toilet.

Then again, my fleeting experience with Bogotá's health authority, Salud Capital, wouldn't fill one with much confidence that authorities here are actually capable of implementing any sort of standards.

The body's response to my complaint after finding a razor blade — yes, a razor blade — in a pastel I bought in a barrio bakery (panadería) left a lot to be desired, to say the least.

In summation, the authority's e-mailed reply was: 'We inspected the panadería in question and told them not to use razor blades when preparing their products.' Wonderful.

'Eh, Juan, just had a visit from Salud Capital. Apparently, we're not meant to mix razor blades in with the dough. Currants, no problem, razor blades are out, though.'

'Really?! Who would have thunk it? What will we do with those 200 bite-sized blades I just ordered? What else are they good for?'

So, as is often the case with many things in Colombia, should new, stricter hygiene measures become law, their application in practice will be a different matter.

At times it works to one's advantage, at other times, not so.

With so much uncertainty about, we can rest assured that this Colombian quirk won't change any time soon.

With an unwashed hand looking out from the tienda urinal — mind the splashback — let's raise a Poker to that.
___________________________________________________
Listen to Wrong Way's Colombia Cast here.

Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan — The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

The Colombia caste

"You can take the man out of the barrio, but you can't take the barrio out of the man." OK, that old saying doesn't really apply to me in its entirety.

For Bogotá's 'barrios populares', the working-class neighbourhoods are still where it's at for me, in a living and socialising sense. So, for better or for worse, I haven't removed myself from them.

At home in barrio tienda ...

Moving on up?

The most significant change in the last few months, outside of the new trial podcast, has been the addition of a full-time, relatively well-paid job, the first time I've had a proper 8-6 gig in Colombia (Dolly Parton would have to change the lyrics of her 9-5 hit to suit these parts).

"Most aren't from very rich backgrounds."

With that new employment have come, unsurprisingly enough, new colleagues.

Now, I think it's safe to assume that none of these, or at least very few of them, is from uber-rich Colombian backgrounds. No, the majority would appear to be associated with that growing — so the government here likes to tell us it's growing anyway, being as it is a sign of a country on the up and all that — middle class.

So, in this regard, I'm paddling the same canoe as my new workmates. Earning more than the majority but still a good bit off the strata five and six living.

The thing is, when it comes to socialising, while I'm happier to do that in these aforementioned barrios populares, a lot of my colleagues prefer the swankier and — as far as I'm concerned anyway — unjustifiably expensive parts of town.

Penny-pinching?

Yes, I've been banging on this drum for some time now. The situation isn't going to change in the near future, if ever.

Nonetheless, to restate the point, some people see my reluctance, nay refusal, to socialise in said swankier parts of Bogotá as being tight, 'tacaño' as they say here.

"It's like paying over 20 euros for a pint in Europe."

I have no problem paying more for something that I feel is worth it. However, when it comes to socialising or more specifically nights out, what is anathema to me is paying multiples, perhaps over five times more compared to what I'd pay in my barrio, for practically the same thing, "la misma miér...coles" as the locals might say. In all honesty, it makes me uncomfortable. And a little bit angry.

Barrio is best

To put that difference in 'First World'/European terms, when you compare the price in a barrio bar/tienda to Bogotá's 'plush' places, it's like paying over 20 euros for a pint of beer in the latter. How many of you would be willing to do that?

This isn't a case of 'knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing' in relation to the fancier establishments, especially so when it's pretty much the same bloody product, often delivered with poorer service. Fair enough, the price of this service, i.e., the extra staff, has to be taken into account.

What's more, there are generally higher utility charges and the like (this is where government action is needed to provide a reasonable middle ground).

That being said, handing over what I deem to be excessive amounts of cash is not my idea of a good time.

This is why I'll be largely sticking to socialising in 'my' barrios for the time being.
___________________________________
Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan - The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

Leaving behind the Bogotá standard

After almost seven years of having Bogotá as the base, the greatest, um, achievement — let's not get caught up in the semantics here — has been my assimilation into the working-class Bogotá barrio life.

While many locals with aspirations to improve their lot try to get away from it, I found myself actively seeking it out.

Sure where else would you want to be than in the local tienda?!

Indeed, in the last couple of years, with the departure of some good foreign friends who would regularly force me to change scene, I have become even more entrenched in this environment.

Mixing it with the masses

Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with this. I'm a rural, working-class man at heart, so it could be said that I was just finding my level in terms of mixing it with Colombia's normal masses rather than a minority elite, or those wishing they were part of it at least.

"Ireland's working class isn't quite the same as Colombia's."

Yet, at the risk of sounding arrogant, most of Ireland's landed working class (it exists) aren't quite in the same sphere as the majority of Bogotá's working class. Having much easier, more affordable access to quality second- and third-level education plays a big part in that.

Now, while it wasn't by design, from a personal perspective this gap has closed in recent years, monetary speaking that is if nothing else. Alas, this has had more to do with my decreasing earning power rather than the locals getting richer (and, dare I add, better educated).

A passport to riches?

So if you're a peso-pinching, non-dancing Westerner who's not a big fan of dating, any appeal that this previously imagined rich foreigner had with the local women quickly wanes. "Best to stick with our own kind if this 'gringo' isn't a passport to riches" appears to be the general thinking.

"I might yet regret this conservative approach."

Whether that's fully true or not, I've come to accept it anyway, and in a rather indifferent manner in the barrios I frequent. An old conservative head on relatively young shoulders, you might say, happy out in what are practically gentlemen-only drinking dens.

Paradoxically, I might come to regret this old-school attitude, this 'missing out on the action' when I am older. You know, as the saying goes, 'You can't put an old head on young shoulders.'

Nonetheless, the likes of Santandercito and La Perseverancia have remained the focal points. Good friends have been made, some of those friends for life I'd like to think.

My Bogotá experience would have been much different without them. Some people might believe it would have been different for the better, but that can't be said with any certainty (if I ever get this book sorted, there are plenty more tales to tell on this front!).

Barrio blues

Back in 2008, when I took my first solo steps in South America, one of my biggest worries was leaving behind Gaelic football in Ireland. I saw it as a fundamental part of my life. It didn't, however, take long for me not to miss it. I found other attractions along the way.

Ten years on, I'm now wondering how life will be without the barrios, and by extension the regular mini-escapes to Colombia's small country towns that I also enjoy exploring so much.

They will be missed if I do have to leave them behind indefinitely. Yet, there'll be other things to embrace, wherever the road may take me.

New barrios await to be broken, so to put it. Though, to borrow from the film Casablanca, "We'll always have Bogotá." For better or for worse.
____________________________________
Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan - The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

The Disposable Republic of Colombia

It tends to be the case that going green is one of the last things countries concern themselves with on the route to development.

Environmental issues are usually an afterthought as states strive to boost their economies. This can be particularly damaging for countries rich in natural resources such as Colombia. 

In this regard, it's generally not the locals doing harm (largely down to the fact that indigenous industries don't have the capacity to exploit these resources to their maximum potential). It's usually powerful multinationals, with the connivance of officials and politicians on the ground, albeit.

Um, beautiful Buenaventura: Spot the disposables. 

However, in terms of day-to-day waste management and a desire to 'reduce, reuse, recycle', the practices of many Colombians leave a lot to be desired. This can't really be blamed on "evil" foreign companies. No, the problem lies with the locals on this one.

You see, across the board, there is a big love affair with using not-very-environmentally-friendly disposable plastic products for a whole range of things.

Take our beloved panaderías. While most of these establishments, even the most basic ones, have porcelain cups available for public use, the preference for a large number of sit-in customers seems to be a throwaway plastic one, accompanied with a little plastic straw for stirring.

One reason for this, so it goes anyway, is related to hygiene. The thought of using a cup that some stranger drank out of beforehand is repugnant to many. It doesn't matter if it's been washed. (When you consider the fear-of-the-hot-seat syndrome, this kind of thinking isn't all that surprising.)

In a similar fashion, you'll be hard-pressed to get an actual glass with your beer in a standard tienda. A plastic one is what you'll be given if you don't want to drink directly out of the bottle. In mitigation on this one, most people do seem to drink directly from the bottle, thankfully.

Of course, the big problem with most of these disposables, especially the favoured plastic ones here, is that recycling is not an option. Yet, having them neatly collected and stored at waste facilities would at least, in theory anyway, prevent them from clogging up drains and being a general eyesore.

However, a not-always-reliable waste-collection service coupled with a penchant for individuals to recklessly litter plays against this.

Things aren't much better when it comes to plastic bag use, nay the ridiculous overuse of them. In many stores, it's still the case to put almost every item you purchase into its own plastic bag.

Now, it must be said that with the coming of new discount supermarkets such as Ara, D1 and Justo & Bueno and their policy to charge for using plastic bags, this is slowly changing in some quarters. Many others could do with following suit.

This plastic-bag charge in the stores mentioned and the subsequent behavioural change from shoppers bringing their own reusable bags shows, as it does in almost every other sphere, that money talks.

So how about panaderías and the like charging people more for wanting their drinks or whatever in disposables? (In a similar fashion to our idea to charge people more if they want sugar with their drink.) 

It's likely there'd be a quick change. People would either use the in-shop china or bring their own reusable cups (if they're that pernickety about hygiene).

A bit of a carrot-and-stick approach to get people to clean up their act.
_____________________________________________
Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan - The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

Rediscovering the joie de vivre

Back in late 2007, during my first full-time radio job, the general manager of the station in question, a recently-appointed Portuguese man, took to me one side and said, "Brendan, you've lost your joie de vivre."

While he mightn't have been totally correct that at 22 years of age I wasn't happy with life in general, I was certainly dissatisfied with some, largely work-related aspects, and this obviously showed in my behaviour. Like many, I wear my heart on my sleeve.

Contemplating the future. The answers lie within ...

In many ways, that period marked the beginning of a new departure. In a few months I had left that radio station to take up an ill-fated editor position at another one. Before 2008 was out, I'd my backpack in tow, embarking on a 10-month adventure that took me around South America, New Zealand, Australia and parts of South-East Asia.

A return to broadcasting and Ireland followed, before, once again, wanderlust took over. South America was calling. After an initial three-month stint in Santiago de Chile, it was Colombia that became the base in late 2011. That's pretty much how it has been since.

Of course, starting off in a new country from scratch, that is to say moving without a job already secured or any clear plan, makes things a little more difficult. It takes time to get established. 

What's more, in many developing countries such as Colombia, working freelance in an unstable sector and earning the local currency means it's not easy to get into a comfortable situation financially speaking.

Personally, the first two to three years here had enough adventure and excitement, as well as a trickle of cash flowing in, to keep me relatively content. Heck, there was even (and still is, minus the same excitement) the odd TV 'super extra' gigs. The joie de vivre was there.

However, in the last couple of years, this has been on the wane. Again, the root cause seems more job related than anything else. The accidental teacher has become tired with his lot. 

The mediocrity has gone on a few years too many truth be told. On that score, the ante has been upped of late to find something more fulfilling, whatever that may be and wherever that may take me.

It must be pointed out that it's not exactly the location that I've grown tired of; Colombia and even Bogotá itself still excite. However, once you become mired in one important element, even if it is not exactly place specific, it can be difficult to focus on the many other positives. The grey cloud darkens all.

That notwithstanding, another, not-insignificant aspect that isn't exactly a roaring success is in the dating game (yes, here we go yet again).

The Colombia, nay Bogotá, I feel compatible with, at home in, is the tienda, what you might call more campesino/country style of life. Now, this isn't just from a price perspective, as has been explained before.

Unfortunately, in terms of most of the Colombianas I've been attracted to and tried to have something with, going out in such places is anathema to them. The ridiculously overpriced, fancier but fake locations are anathema to me. Plus, as someone who likes to try to be honest from the get-go, it tends to work against you here.

Yes, I've wasted time and money with too many interesadas, but it's generally the nature of the fauna in these parts.

Unlike the work situation, the above is more a problem of place, an incompatibility of sorts (but not in all cases, it's just 'compatibility' has been harder to find of late; you could say I've become more stubborn, not less!).

Looking at it all together, it's not that things aren't working or the joie de vivre is gone, it's just that it's not going exactly how I'd like. Of course, many people live their whole lives that way, a reluctant acceptance of their lot.

As long as you're still breathing, though, there's always time to change and explore other options. For a singleton without children to care for, this is even more so the case.
________________________________
Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan - The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

In defence of hoping (and fighting) for, at least, a 'Freer Bogotá'

We came in for a bit of criticism in the wake of our Fighting for 'Free Bogotá' piece a few weeks back. 

Now, this didn't come from Colombians but from fellow expatriates. The main grievance was that we were painting a stereotypical negative, dangerous picture of Bogotá and Colombia in general. The fact that we were writing about particular incidents in one notorious barrio of the country's capital seemed to go over our critics' heads.

The darker side -- entering La Perseverancia.

We did, of course, point them in the direction of previous posts we've written, detailing how we find the external perception of Colombia and how dangerous it is a little frustrating and very often inaccurate, to say the least.* 

Also, the amount of solo travelling we've done around this physically stunning country, most of it detailed on this blog, is, we hope, sending out a positive message that this country is very much open for tourism (and, for some, business) and generally safe.

However, as pointed out in Fighting for 'Free Bogotá', it would be remiss of us to write that there is nothing dangerous at all about this country. A message some of our detractors seemingly wish we would portray. 

There are, though, plenty of other English language websites and blogs about Colombia that set out from the onset not to include one negative word about the place, even if that means bending reality at times.

In any case, what we wrote wasn't inherently negative about Bogotá. In every big (and small) city in the world there are dangerous neighbourhoods where, as a taxi driver once told us about a particular part of Dublin, 'even the dogs hang around in packs and watch each others' backs.' 

Also, we tend to, especially owing to the types of places we like to drink in, take more risks than most other visitors/foreign residents who come to this city.**

We are where we are, we do what we do, and we have our beliefs, likes and dislikes. Right now, for convenience, price but above all, the friendliness of the locals (part of that being the free beers we often get) we find ourselves socialising regularly in La Perseverancia. As stated in previous posts this area is, at this moment in time, as the locals put it, 'muy caliente' (literally 'very hot' i.e. dangerous).

In the last number of weeks, this view has only been further reinforced in our minds. For if we're being honest, we put the minor early morning incident mentioned in Fighting for 'Free Bogotá' down to stupidity on our part. 

Plus, very often when Colombians tell us certain areas are dangerous our first reaction is to shrug it off, believing that they're still thinking of rougher times in the not-to-distant (but distant all the same) past.

However, the kind of things we've encountered over the last few weeks give an idea of this 'darker side'. 

There was the pretty lame attempt – but an attempt all the same – by two young thugs to rob us in broad daylight in the area; the friendly locals insisting they escort us home for our own safety at night; police officers standing guard outside a tienda we were drinking in, in the afternoon, because we were foreigners and 'at risk' (we find this a little hard to believe, but it's what we were told); plus, being witnesses to two local women getting mugged, again in the middle of the day. 

All of the above have firmly illustrated the real dangers that exist in this part of the city, day and night.

Officer 'Wrong Way'.

That last incident was particularly annoying, angering even. We figured had we been a little closer and quick-thinking that we may have been able to intervene in some way. Then again, perhaps it was better we didn't? 

There were people closer to it than us who seemed content enough to let the damn delinquents get their booty; a 'thank god it's them instead of us' kind of thinking and certainly not unique to Colombia.

Yet, this could be one area to, literally speaking, start a fightback. If enough people, particularly the locals, those who might be seen as community leaders (it's debatable if such figures exist in certain lower-class barrios, or if they do, to what extent they encourage a law-abiding lifestyle), confronted such scum rather than turn a blind eye, it might evoke some sort of change of behaviour, for the better.

From what we've witnessed and anecdotally, few assailants, especially in these daytime raids, are carrying firearms. Usually, if anything, they just have knives. And, usually, you don't have to look too far on Bogotá's streets to find some sort of a stick that could be used to confront anyone carrying a blade; something to put more than an arm's length between you and the would-be attacker.

More police on the beat is another deterrent and at times they can be hard to come by in La Perseverancia, but it's not a panacea.

Of course, there are a range of social issues that must be tackled as to why some people get involved in criminality and, for one, with such a huge disparity in incomes in this city and questionable priorities by the ruling classes, Bogotá and Colombia in general have a long way to go in addressing those.**

We're not looking for an unattainable utopia (although it's not a bad goal to aspire to), we just want things to improve; and there's certainly scope for that.

Those who would like us to believe that Bogotá/Colombia is a peaceful paradise are plain delusional. Nowhere is. They're also helping nobody by peddling such a notion.

______________________
*For a start see Dangerous Colombia Part III.

**On both fronts i.e. an idea of the places we like to socialise in and the inequality issues, check out No somos Colombianos, pero... (We're not Colombian, but...).

For some other issues that need addressing in Bogotá read Bogotá's 'broken windows'.