Cracking the (Colombian) Spanish code

'When all is said and done, a lot more is said than done.' It's very difficult to argue against that one. As a species, we're good at talking a good talk, but we don't always follow it up with the appropriate action if and when required.

You could just leave it at EU, lads ... (Image from elgranporque.com)

Alongside 'said' in the opening saying, we can add 'written' (yes, this coming from a blogger and all). The legal world is quite adept at that. The old adage of 'less is more' seems anathema to it. It likes to make things that should be pretty straightforward to comprehend – and act upon – come across as if they were written by somebody not of this world.

Yet, some languages – specifically Spanish (Colombian Spanish, anyway) in this case – are more culpable than others in this regard, and it's not exclusive to the legal sphere.

A common observation among those who translate Spanish to English here in Colombia is that the former is overly and unnecessarily wordy. 

Indeed, it can be quite the head-scratcher to figure out what's being said. This tends to be worse if someone has made a literal translation of his/her Spanish into English and asks you to proofread.

Of course, it's not always best practice to directly translate from one language to another, each one has its peculiarities, but what we're getting at here is what seems to be the same thing said a number of times, just in different ways. Plus, a lot of the time it's written in ridiculously long sentences devoid of punctuation.

In reference to the revised peace agreement between the Colombian government and Farc guerrillas, Britain's Guardian newspaper, inadvertently perhaps, touched on this: "Although the text of the new agreement was not immediately published, the president, Juan Manuel Santos, laid out certain changes in a televised speech. Some are little more than clarifications of the often-vague language of the text. Other modifications are more substantial."

For those who have had to work with Spanish texts before, that 'often-vague language' is something that will resonate. 

In legal and political contexts, as happens with other languages, it might be deliberate: leave things open to as many interpretations as possible. A reason, perhaps, why the Colombian constitution is quite lengthy. However, Spanish seems to bring this verbose approach to every sphere.

On a more trivial note, take abbreviations, where there is a doubling up on letters in some cases. For example, the United States (US), ' Estados Unidos' in Spanish, is written 'EEUU' in the abbreviated form. 'Fuerzas Militares' (literally 'Military Forces') abbreviates as 'FFMM'. (It's to do with plural terms, although it's not done in all cases.) Think about ink costs when printing these things out, guys!

Going slightly off-topic, football commentators in these parts are masters at making an uneventful football match seem as if it's the most exciting thing ever, spluttering out a thousand words a minute. The Simpsons did a good take on this years ago (back when The Simpsons was enjoyable).

There are a lot of things to like about the (Colombian) Spanish language and culture. It just seems that at times it could do with a bit of streamlining. 

There might be more than one way to write the same thing, but you don't need to put them all down at the same time.
______________________________________
Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan - The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

A criminal's perfect drug?

Picture the scenario. You meet a stranger on the street, have a brief, perhaps cordial exchange, and moments later you're handing over practically everything you have in your possession. If you've got your bank cards on you, you might even go the nearest ATM, withdraw your limit and give it to your recently met acquaintance.

Scopolamine: Taking people in Bogotá on a 'trip' they don't want to go on?

Nice, if you're on the receiving end of such generosity that is. If only, eh? 

Yet, in Bogotá, these kinds of things do happen. No, it's not a case of there being more giving types here compared to other places — it's more likely the opposite on that score.

It's all to do with what you could describe as a type of hypnotising drug, sourced from plants found in these parts. 

For those unaware of scopolamine/hyoscine, or Devil's Breath as it's also called, how it allegedly affects individuals under its influence reads like some sort of horror/science fiction movie.

Basically, if you're unlucky enough to be exposed to it, so it goes, you'll become completely subservient to whoever happens to be around you. You'll pretty much do whatever they ask you to do. 

You can still function, superficially and physically in any case, more or less as normal. The problem is that you lose your willpower. Whatever is asked of you, you'll do, no questions asked.

Now, some pharmacological experts are unwilling to give scopolamine, or whatever similar version of it is used, such lofty 'credit' as a drug that takes away your self-control with just the slightest sniff of it. 

They dispute the commonly held belief that inhaling a small dose in powder form – one of the ways Devil's Breath dispensers drug their victims is by blowing it in their faces – would instantly send somebody into a puppet-like stupor.

Nonetheless, you'll find plenty of people who were robbed or taken advantage of in Bogotá who swear that they were maliciously administered something that dramatically altered their behaviour, something other than the usual alcohol and whatever else they might be having.

The Brugmansia plant, source of scopolamine. (Photo from web.) 

So for those who have had nights where they've found themselves acting completely out of character in the company of strangers – and normally robbed, to boot – they're convinced that if it's not exactly scopolamine that's to blame, some sort of nasty concoction is.

Despite all the anecdotes of such freaky episodes, in a lot of cases there's a lack of hard evidence available to say whether it was actually Devil's Breath at play or not – that is to say, no toxicology tests were taken.

For this reason, it remains in limbo: an urban myth or a dangerous criminal reality? 

Whatever the case, for some victims of crime in Bogotá, something sinister has been, and continues to be, lurking in the air. More reasons to always have the guard up around here.
_____________________________________
Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan - The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

Not-so-price-smart Bogotá

For the last 20 months Bogotá's only regular quiz (trivia) night, IQuiz, has been on the go. It's still quite a niche event, a nature of the beast that it is, perhaps. 

Nonetheless, as a labour of love, it's been relatively successful and, going by the reaction of those who participate, an enjoyable, fun and lively event, which is what we want it to be.

Nice place, but overpriced for what you get ...

From an organisational and venue-sourcing point of view, it's been quite an experience. 

You see, for us, IQuiz is not meant to be exclusive, set aside for just a certain sector of Bogotá's inhabitants. Yet, in such a disparate, economically unequal city, balancing the needs of IQuiz with the desire to make it accessible to as many as possible has been tricky.

Generally speaking, the spacious, bar-style venues IQuiz requires are only to be found in the more affluent parts of the city, and that means paying multiples of what you'd pay in a more bog-standard setting (Colombia's strata system, where certain parts of the city pay much more for services, plays a part in this). 

Or if they're not in exclusive areas, such places usually sell their refreshments far pricier than the establishments around them. A case of 'give it a Western tinge, increase the price'.

More than just giving a place a Western flair (in music and style), the more Westerners or foreigners with money who frequent it, the greater justification for price hiking. Fair enough, if the clientele is happy to pay, repeatedly, your prices and with business going well, why would you consider lowering them?

Indeed, in many of the pubs we're referring to, the customers are people earning salaries that would be considered decent in more developed countries, with some being paid in dollars or euros. 

Also, there's the strategy, so it goes, that maintaining higher-than-average prices helps to keep undesirables away. Yet, for the likes of Bogotá's Zona T and Parque 93, it's unlikely that the ñero types will flock there to socialise, whatever the price. They might come, as some already do, for less innocent reasons. (In any case, gomelos — Bogotá's posh — can be just as unbearable as their ñero opposites.)

Obviously, it's a numbers game on two fronts: if people are still coming and you're in the black financially wise, then great.

However, from what we've witnessed, it appears that some of these 'finer' watering holes aren't exactly fulfilling their potential. It's actually difficult to see how they are making money at all. It's either a case of the owners having deep pockets or the business is being used for more sinister reasons.

Not only are the places that fall into this underperforming category overpriced and generally underwhelming, they have a service charge to boot. 

Now, tipping for a job well done is one thing, but almost forcing people to pay extra for being served when, more often than not, the ones doing the serving behave as if they'd prefer to be doing anything but, that's just a deal-breaker. We'll take the personal touch of the local tienda over such coldness any day.

It would be interesting to see some of these stale Western-style pubs adopt a sort of Ryanair approach: cut back the prices substantially to get customer numbers up. 

The arrival over the last couple of years of the Bogotá Beer Company (BBC) bodega franchise in the city was a half-turn in that direction. However, considering these bodegas only sell the 'fancy' BBC beers, they're still somewhat exclusive.

A lack of start-up capital is why the Wrong Way Pub hasn't opened its doors yet. Of course, were that to happen, we might just find that running a bar à la Ryanair wouldn't be viable. 

Be that as it may, for the moment, we'll try to keep bringing IQuiz and its associated discounts to a venue near you!
____________________________________
Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan - The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

The Aroca case: An early test for post-conflict Colombia?

Stop the presses! 'Colombian politician in corruption scandal!' 

In a country that does corruption as regularly and spectacularly as the best of them, it's not a very exciting announcement, is it? It's even less so when the story comes from the country's backwater department of Putumayo. 'Move on, nothing to see here.'

Governor Aroca: Her political career is on the line. (Photo from Facebook.)

Yet, digging a bit deeper into this distant affair, it appears there's something a little sinister going on. 

The politician accused of the wrongdoing may actually be the victim. Dark forces with the state's legal apparatus behind them conspiring to remove a governor from office as she doesn't quite suit their agenda. That's the thinking in some quarters anyway.

Here's the low-down: Putumayo's first female governor, Sorrel Aroca Rodríguez of the Allianza Verde (Green Alliance), was found to have committed irregularities in the signing of life insurance contracts for eleven deputies during her time as president of the department's assembly in 2014. 

The investigating authority, La Procuraduría (Inspector General), has ordered that she be dismissed as governor and banned from serving public office for eleven years.

The amount of money in question here is 20 million Colombian pesos, about €6,000, so not exactly astronomical. Plus, it appears that there was no personal financial gain for Aroca out of this episode.

What she has been blamed of is running up additional, unnecessary costs, as well as not being transparent in her actions. Whatever the case, it certainly seems the punishment far outweighs whatever crime she may have been guilty of. Of all the corrupt things that happen here, this seems pretty mediocre.

For Aroca's supporters, there's more than a whiff of something underhand at work here. Her young, female face doesn't fit the bill for the traditionalists, thus they want her out.

Questions have been raised over the way the case seemed to be fast-tracked through the Procuraduría's office, in what is seen as a final hit from the old Alejandro Ordóñez regime. (Ordóñez has previous form in trying to take out those not of his own creed.)

As somebody who describes herself as a governor for a post-conflict Colombia, if it is a case of conservative forces moving against the 39-year-old, it highlights the kind of problems the country faces in trying to put a bloody past behind it.

Aroca is appealing the decision and for the Putumayans who want her to stay on as governor, the hope is that her case will be viewed in a more favourable light under the new Fernando Carrillo-led Procuraduría.

However, should the Procuraduría's original finding hold and Aroca is removed from office, it won't cause too much of a stir in Bogotá's corridors of power. 

Therein might lie one of the bigger problems for this new Colombia being constructed, continuing to ignore the fringes. We'll watch this space with interest.
______________________________
Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan - The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

Who needs Ebenezer Scrooge when there's Adidas ...

The world, it's true to say, has never been as interconnected, and not just in a virtual way. We can move around the globe like no other time in our history, finding ourselves immersed in cultures quite distinct from our own, yet at the same time be close to home comforts — in some shape or form, anyway — should we feel the need to seek them.

In many ways and for many people, this interconnectedness is a good thing. It can help, especially when it happens in a physical, real way, to break down boundaries among peoples, to make us question any prejudices we may have, to remove the 'fear of the others' mentality.

Adidas: Bigger than Christmas ...

However, in the same way that no two individuals are the same, cultural differences exist across the world. While it can be argued that an 'Americanisation' has swept superficially over the Western world and countries closely linked to it, differences remain at a deeper level. The former foreign minister of the USSR, Vyacheslav Molotov, was only partially right in his prediction in this regard back in 1946.

All aboard the Adidas world

Thus, it tends not to be best practice to lump everybody together in whatever you happen to be at. Yet this is exactly what sportswear giant Adidas seems to be doing with regard to its marketing strategy; a kind of 'one size fits all' approach if you will.

It all comes down to, we have it on good authority, a strategic change made a few years back, where it moved from a commercial focus to a brand one. Basically, this appears to mean that Adidas must be marketed pretty much the same across the world, whether that's in Beijing or Bogotá. Cultural differences aren't considered — or at least they are deemed not important enough to warrant a country or regional alteration in approach.

How that has played out at this time of year is a lack of direct and obvious recognition of the Christmas season. This is to say that in Adidas stores you won't find a festive flavour to them; a good thing for some people that, but Colombia 'does Christmas' with as much gusto as the best of them. The 'bland' Adidas stores will stand out, and the risk is this won't be viewed in a good light.

Adidas Colombia did suggest a marketing campaign that had a bit of a seasonal swing to it, but not ostentatiously so. Personally, I thought it was much better than the nondescript global one (which, incidentally, originally focused on basketball, a sport that doesn't register much of a beat in these parts). However, the company's chiefs said 'nay' to the Colombian creation; but who are we to question global Adidas? It is a German company after all.

In one sense, it might be a thinking, and perhaps with reason, that Adidas is a sort of culture in itself and thus doesn't need to be concerned with others or with seasons. It's bigger than Christmas and all such malarkey. Plus, as noted above, the main focus for the company has shifted to its brand over the commercial side of things. (Obviously, there's a delicate balance there; the principal focus would soon switch back if sales declined. You don't get to Adidas' position, though, without having your homework well done.)

So while the Adidas approach may frustrate its employees on the ground in Colombia, it might just be reflecting a world that is more homogeneous than ever before. We may have our cultural differences but for some things, they matter little.
____________________________________
Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan - The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

A brief history of reading

One measure of the positive development of a country is its literacy rate. The more people who are competent in reading, writing and arithmetic, the greater chance of a better quality of life — that's the general belief.

In the not-too-distant past, such abilities were the preserve of a select, influential elite. The invention of the printing press gradually began to change this as the written word became available to a greater number of people. 

This more rapid diffusion of texts coupled with an increase in the audience for such works saw this medium rise to a position of prominence, arguably greater than that of the spoken word and images.

You still have to be able to read a bit to play Mario. (Image from web.)

Over the last century and a half or so, a host of interlinked technological developments together with greater access to education have seen a dramatic upturn in global literacy levels, further enhancing the importance of the written word.

A brighter Dark Age

Yet, what we have seen of late is not a 'triumph of text' but rather a return to what could be viewed as more ancient times where the image is king for the masses, in a very different format albeit.

For some, this is portrayed as a dumbing down of society. Examples given to support this viewpoint are YouTube videos of very little, if any, educational or social value that go viral, 'silly' TV soap operas and even computer games. In this sphere, it's very much a case of following the money trail.

Nonetheless, however dismissive we may be of the above, it can't be said that they represent a return to some sort of Dark Ages. They are part of an age where people have access to a vast array of information at the touch of a button — empowering or otherwise as this may be.

Indeed, thanks to the internet, self-education capabilities have increased exponentially, be that with videos and commentary via YouTube or simply having access to an enormous amount of written sources in seconds. 

Of course, there's no guarantee that such learning will be completely balanced and impartial, especially considering that we tend to find material that compliments our own biases. Then again, the same can be said for more traditional educational outlets.

What's more, given the changed landscape as regards where and how people source information, even if people are reading fewer books (a US study this year suggests a slight fall in the last number of years), this doesn't mean they're becoming 'less enlightened/intelligent'. 

For one, in the majority of the world literacy rates have never been higher.

So, while not all of us are reading voluminous tomes, our understanding of issues is — or at least should be — better than in previous times. 

In this regard, at least the foundations for a questioning, more forward-thinking human race are there, however individuals and distinct societies might actually turn out given whatever other conditions are at play at the time.

That last point still carries much weight. We'd like to think that with high literacy rates alongside the ability to self-educate and question long-held yet flawed beliefs, the acceptance to wage war along religious and ethnic lines would be on the wane significantly. Alas, despite the world being as interconnected as it ever has been, this isn't quite the case.

Perhaps that simply comes down to an innate human trait: we'll always find a reason to go to war, no matter how educated, enlightened or well-read we may be. And there'll always be people ready to fight those wars.

So while the power of the book is perhaps waning, the return with a vengeance of images/pictures as master of the masses is not necessarily a backward step. 

They are being presented to a more knowledgeable population in what are obviously much-changed times. What haven't changed that much are our debilitating animal instincts.
_________________________________________
Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan - The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".

We are what we tweet

In these social media times we live in, it seems that virtual reality has become reality. 

Or at least our smartphone updates have allowed those who read/view them to believe they know us and make judgements about us, even if they've only briefly met us or, indeed, have never met us at all.

'I tweet, therefore I am.'

Living in a social media world

Of course, social media profiling is not just a lonely layperson's pastime. Companies often check out the Facebook pages, tweets, Instagram photos and what have you of prospective employees to 'get a feel' for the person in question before saying yea or nay. 

In some cases, that may be pre-interview selection, thus a decision is taken on your personality or suitability before they've actually met you. At times that might be a good thing; on other occasions not so.

It does, nonetheless, beg the question: Does how we portray ourselves on social media accurately reflect how our real lives actually are?

We may post fairly honestly, but for the majority of us, these are just snapshots in time, brief moments detailing some particular aspect of our life that we feel is worthy of sharing. (Whether we should bother to share these things at all is a valid consideration; maybe those of us who do it will get over this phase as we come to terms with the continuously evolving social media landscape.)

The more mundane, everyday aspects of our lives usually aren't publicised — at least that's how it is for most people. It's a highlights package of sorts, and often a very skewed one.

Moreover, what is put out there is open to falsities and manipulation. Just as someone can lie to you about themselves in person, it can be done, but with greater ease, virtually.

In terms of on-line discussions — Facebook debates for example — there's the issue of tone and sentiment perhaps not coming across as intended by the writer. 

Linked to that, some people can write in a rather aggressive, argumentative manner when in reality they're big softies, so to put it. 'Virtual warriors, real-life sheep', one could say.

As has been posted on this blog before, all these social media outlets are just tools and, like any tool, they can be used in a productive way or improperly. 

A lot of the time user restraint is advised. Completely switching off from them may be almost impossible for some people in certain lines of work, but letting them dominate your life doesn't seem the best idea.

There is a real world out there, distinct from the social media one. It's not always the case that 'we are what we tweet', despite what some people may think.
______________________________________
Facebook: Wrong Way Corrigan - The Blog & IQuiz "The Bogotá Pub Quiz".