The Mick and The Addicts
SUMMARY: This post is a preview of upcoming content. A new feature to the blog will be stories from three new friends: Dennis The Mick and my two addict buddies, Winston and Alejandro. Dennis from ‘Dublin Docks’ moved to Colombia in the 80s intending to move cocaine. He did four years in prison, where he learned Spanish, and stayed in Colombia ever since. My two addict buddies were bazuceros in the 90s. They went sober about 8 years ago, so their fascinating tales from the trenches of Bogota’s drug scene survived.
The Mick
I was walking through Plaza Lourdes one day when some old man spoke to me in English. He asked about my St. Patrick’s Day t-shirt. Assuming he was a panhandler, I played tough and tried to brush him off, but he managed to slow me down and introduce himself. Dennis from Dublin, Ireland, has lived in Bogota for over 20 years and hadn’t met a gringo in a while. He invited me to coffee. I agreed.
We sat down in a cafe and Dennis ordered two teas. I got his story.
He came to Colombia in the 80s; his original intent was to bring large quantities of cocaine back to Ireland. … Read more
Taxis in Colombia vs. Peru
SUMMARY: I discuss the risks and rules of taking taxis in Colombia and Peru. Sections include Peruvian Rules, Peruvian Horror Stories, Colombian Rules, Colombian Stories (no horror), and Conclusion.
American taxis are generally safe. The worst thing to happen is getting “taken for a ride.” Taxis in Latin America can be dangerous. The worst thing that happened while I was in Peru was a tourist getting robbed, raped, and murdered.
There are rules to taking taxis down here. I’m going to explain them, then contrast the Colombian rules with the Peruvian rules. Then I’ll explain why, ironically, I prefer the Peruvian rules. … Read more
Ryan and Rosa in Bogota
SUMMARY: I had some unpublished pictures from when my brother and a Peruvian ex-girlfriend visited. Not much story to tell, except for a quick dittie on me taking my brother to a brothel for the first time. And previously unpublished pics.
My brother helped me move here. We met Damien and went to a club the first night. Not much story to tell.
Damien also knew an American guy in Bogota. We met him and his friends the next night at one of the hottest clubs in Bogota – Penthouse. Damien’s buddy and all his buddies were Fulbright Scholars teaching at Universidad Los Andes. We got drunk off beer and aguardiente on the roof.
My brother and I’d been drinking for almost two weeks by that Sunday and Ryan was scheduled to fly out early Tuesday morning. So we took it easy Sunday and then get drunk all night Monday until his flight. He planned to get so drunk that’d he be able to sleep on the planes all the way back to STL. … Read more
Memories of My Amsterdam Whores
SUMMARY: It recently occurred to me that I’d never written up my tales from the Red Light District in Amsterdam. I had sex with six prostitutes on two different trips to Amsterdam. Nationalities include: Czech Republic, Phillipines, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Ghana, and Hungary.
I took my first trip outside America in August 2006. We spent 8 days in London and 2 in Amsterdam. I had recently gotten dumped by a girlfriend of 3 years, 1½ of which we lived together. So I was in a depressing love hangover. … Read more
Alcohol and Sensitivity in Latin America
A Facebook friend currently in Buenos Aires recently updated with:
Movie “Hangover” is titled / advertised in Argentina: “Que Paso Ayer?” which literally means, “What happened yesterday?” Subtle difference.
I commented on his update:
The word for ‘hangover’ is different in almost every Spanish-speaking country.
Mexico: estar crudo
Peru: tener resaca / estar resaquiado
Colombia: tener guayabo / estar enguayabado
And those are just the regional variations that I’ve learned. Spanish is like that for a lot of words. Pain in the ass if you ask me.
And then some dude commented this:
Or it simply could be that they found the word “hangover” offensive as a title and changed it so that it still reflected the theme of the movie.
I’m not going to argue with some dude I don’t know on a friend’s Facebook update. But that comment indicated that there are some completely uninformed people about Latin culture out there. I thought of all the things I would say to him in explaining exactly how wrong he is. And I realized that these might be interesting stories for the blog. I hope so. … Read more
La Candelaria in Pictures
SUMMARY: Brief profile and pictures of the famed neighborhood, La Candelaria. Crazy murals included.
