Dave Gill's Blog From The Bog

Smart Cigarettes

2009-10-23T14:52:00.003-05:00

When my friend Martina arrived from Austria, she brought with her a pack or 2 of cigarettes, as she is one of those crazy characters who still enjoy a puff.
For those puffers of you out there, don´t waste your money buying cigarettes before you come to Colombia - they are incredibly cheap here. With the savings you make you could easily invest in a few other vices at much lower prices than you would be able to if at home.
Anyway, I found this pack of German cigarettes to be quite amusing.
Comment 1: Can you imagine a cigarette company in Australia being able to use this name?
Comment 2: Do the 3 key words go together?
Comment 3: Why the hell are the 3 key words in English on German cigarettes?
Comment 4: Is that a warning at the bottom, or is it a marketing spiel telling you how intelligent you will look and/or become if you smoke these cigarettes?
Comment 5: Maybe these cigarettes light themselves when they sense lips holding them?

Keeping "Busy"

2009-10-23T13:12:00.004-05:00

So, as I prepare to return to work on Monday it is time for me to reflect: What the hell have I been doing for the last 9 weeks?
Now, one would hope that I have used the time really constructively, improved my Spanish substantially, and found a religion that would guide me through my remaining years on the correct path.
I haven´t quite done any of those things, but I haven´t been completely useless. As always, there are plenty of excuses to throw around.

Excuses
After each surgery I didn´t feel like doing anything except take pain-killing drugs and watch tv or movies. The period of time lost after surgery 2 was a bit longer than surgery 1, as both legs were out of action. Regardless, I did lose a fair bit of time to discomfort.
When you have absolutely no reason to get out of bed, it is pretty hard to motivate oneself to get out of bed.
During this incapacity pretty much everything has taken much more time to do than usual, especially when I was on crutches. I´m sure I lost a couple of hours every day to low productivity rates!

What I´ve Done

Spanish: Started strongly in the first few weeks, and then faded to little or no effort at all. This is generally down to laziness and lack of confidence, but also partly because I don´t know if I will be living in a Spanish speaking country next July or not - and therefore I don´t know if I should work harder at it or not.

Mathematics: Worked on this pretty well throughout the downtime. As it is a seriously long time since I completed the last couple of years of maths at school, my knowledge of the curriculum in the final years is very limited for a maths teacher. This year I am teaching grade 9 (grade 10 in Australia), and some of the material is new to me. I have therefore been brushing up on all of the material required to teach to the end of school. I still have a few chapters to go but it is fair to say I have put in plenty of work on this to ensure I can teach to the higher levels in the future.

TV: I have been very good at avoiding the television set. Unfortunately I have not been so good at avoiding my computer screen, where I can source pretty much anything I want. During my painful days I watched 2 series of "24", 1 series of "The Wire", "Summer Heights High" and "We Can Be Heroes". I have also watched a fair bit of soccer on tv and cricket and Aussie Rules football, via the wonders of the internet.

Movies: I have watched quite a few movies, many of which I had fond memories of from my childhood, but were obviously terribly films. "Flash Gordon" is one that springs to mind. I remember watching it about 15 times with my brother in 2 days on our brand new VCR many moons ago. Also caught up on lots of John Hughes flicks and similar fare. That is not to say it has all been rubbish. I watched a couple of fabulous Aussie films called "The Black Balloon" and "Unfinished Sky", the wonderful flick based in Colombia "Maria Full of Grace" and a few other gooduns I can´t think of at the moment! "The Kite Runner" was also good.

Cinema: 2 trips to the cinema in 9 weeks. I don´t even remember the first, but Julie & Julia yesterday was absolutely fantastic. Great acting and great food on screen all the time, making me very hungry. It made me feel a bit pathetic writing my mundane little stories on my blog, compared with Julie´s wonder-blog of cooking, but it made me laugh a lot as well. Laughing loudly at the cinema is generally much more comfortable when there are only 4 other people in the cinema - just the way I like it.

Outings: I have been out to dinner and drinks plenty of times, but this was very rare in the first few weeks. The lack of an elevator in my building certainly restricted my adventures at that time. I have been to the end of my street where the skateboarders etc. make merry in the park. I have been to the supermarket once or twice! Not much in the way of big outings but it is much easier now, so I hope to get back to seeing a bit more of the world around me.

Construction: I have been watching the new apartment building across the street go from an empty block to a 5 storey concrete shell. This has been occasionally interesting but always incredibly noisy and annoying. If they had planned to build that apartment block to avoid my 9 weeks off I would have greatly appreciated it. Starts at 7am and is noisy all day, sometimes going late into the night. Sunday is rest day thankfully. I assume I have lost quite a bit of my hearing over these 2 months. The enormous crane got hit by lightning while I was watching a storm a few days ago. It didn´t even stop moving. I don´t think the operator even blinked!

Photos: I have been designing photo books! This is a very time consuming activity, taking 10 or 12 hours to design 1 book well. I have designed 4 but only printed 2 at the moment. Since the digital revolution I have not printed one photo, so this is rather exciting for me. I now am starting a collection of photo books so there is a hard copy for posterity. The photos are literally printed into the books so there is no fiddling about with loose photos. For the tiny (I think) price of 65,000 pesos ($35 Australian) you get a 48 page book with hard cover. Fantastic. Hope to get more done over the coming months.

Reading: Haven´t done as much as I would have liked, but did finish "Anna Karenina", "The General in His Labyrinth" and "The Yiddish Policemen´s Union". Currently on"A Thousand Splendid Suns".

Exercising: When I had the surgeries I was very concerned about putting on huge amounts of weight without being able to exercise. Normally I walk 1.5 hours each day, as well as time on my feet in the classroom, and 2-4 trips to the gym to swim, cycle or push weights each week. Without all this I was sure I would put on 10kg. However, I have eaten very sensibly, drunk less than normal and generally looked after myself. It is quite amazing what good exercise crutches can give you. When I stopped using them 2 weeks ago my upper body was probably in the best condition of my life, or maybe equal to when I was working in scaffolding. Since retiring the crutches my tone is dropping off again, but I must concentrate on my legs. I have been to the swimming pool for 1.5 or 2 hours every day for the last 2 weeks, and it really is good, safe exercise for me. I also have exercises to do hourly at home for the rest of the day and it feels like a full-time job. When I started walking 2 weeks ago my legs had pretty much turned into skin and bone, with all of my muscles disappearing. They are slowly coming back now but it will take some time to get back to normal. I am still walking with a bit of a limp, and still have pain in my right knee, but stairs are getting easier so school should be OK on Monday.

Ladies: An amazing thing happened after my surgeries. I lost my sex-drive. That is quite a surprising thing for a heterosexual foreign man in Colombia. I´m not sure if this was a result of my physical inability to chase women, or if it was more of a mental problem knowing that I wouldn´t be able to perform at 100%. Regardless, it seems to be back now that I am off crutches, so despite moving pretty slowly, I´ll slowly work myself back into the game!

General Wrap: I am actually really looking forward to getting back to work. 9 weeks at home is a long time. I didn´t achieve many of my objectives in that time, but I am very relaxed and I can´t wait to put some energy into my classes and feel like I´m doing something worthwhile. God, I´ve been typing lots of rubbish here so I am very sorry to bore you. However, remember that this is my personal "diary" as well as information for my friends and family, so I need to put everything down! Time for more exercises.
Chao for now

Arrivals from Abroad

2009-10-23T13:06:00.003-05:00

Over recent times it has been nice to welcome various things from abroad. A few of these things are:
1. My Welsh mate Geraint has returned to Bogota after a year in the UK finishing his studies. He absolutely loves Colombia and decided to come back here despite his lack of a job. That is what Colombia does to people. He has found work teaching English, has hooked back up with his girlfriend from a year ago, and all looks like it is going nicely.

2. A phone call from Australia!!!!! Thanks to Thommo for the phone call from Caza´s 60th birthday party on the Gold Coast. I could be wrong, but I believe that this was only the 2nd (actual real) phone call that I have received from Australia in over 2 years. I know everybody relies on skype, especially me, but that is ridiculous. It was nice to be woken up by familiar (admittedly drunken) voices from home!!!
3. The arrival of plenty of "Coopers" merchandise from my sister Fiona in Australia. Coopers is my beer of choice at home, and I do miss it. Fiona has been promising me a Coopers cap for years, and discovered a Coopers show-bag recently including a cap and other stuff for the same price as the cap. So now I am the proud owner of a Coopers cap, a Coopers beanie, a Coopers scarf, a Coopers wristband, a Coopers stubby holder, a Coopers sticker, a Coopers magnet and 5 Coopers coasters. I have built a small "shrine" to honour the great beers, but unfortunately it doesn´t include any of the actual product for which the name is famous. Once again, I will have to wait until Christmas.
4. My Austrian (not Australian) friend Martina who I met trekking in Colombia 15 months ago has moved to Bogota for a few months, volunteering in a NGO here. It is great to have her here, although the chocolates she brought me have disappeared already!
5. Another show-bag from another sister (-in-law)!!!! The Bertie Beetle show-bag at the Royal Adelaide Show is well known amongst us oldies as being the best value going around. Michelle sent me the entire bag of goodies (chocolates and other sweets) and it arrived a week or two ago. One "Redskin" was a bit melted and two "Berties" were a bit crushed, but it all tasted good. I am now challenging myself to keep the other bits for as long as possible before I cave in to the desire to consume them. This is reminding me of how mentally strong I used to be as a kid at Easter time, when I would hoard Easter eggs for months, then sell them off to my siblings at ridiculously inflated prices in order to boost my savings. Although I probably copped a few beatings as a result, I certainly learned valuable lessons about supply and demand.
6. Included from Michelle with the Bertie Beetle show-bag was a team photo of the mighty Adelaide Crows, signed by 2 of the players! I don´t have a pool-room, so it went straight to the fridge door. Thanks Michelle!

Footy & Feasts

2009-10-23T13:04:00.004-05:00

Well, the week following my birthday was much better than the week preceding it. Most of my pain had disappeared, making it much easier to get motivated to use my time at least a little constructively.
A few items of note during this time were:
- Watching the AFL Grand Final (Australian Rules Football NOT American Football League) on an illegal internet broadcast at 11.30pm on a Friday night. I had a few friends come over to watch, all of whom were very impressed with my ability to shout GGGOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!! for about 30 seconds without breathing. This talent could allow me to get a job commentating football (soccer) in Argentina, but I might have to improve my Spanish a little I think.

- Attending a feast of curries at the apartment of Marion, all of which were prepared by Marion and her friend Val. The first big positive of that day was that Marion´s apartment building had an elevator, something that crutch-users really begin to appreciate. The second big positive was that all of the curries were spectacular, despite my scepticism (I use a "c") before the event. The third big positive was that I got a second plate full of curry. Fourthly I got to see lots of friends. Finally I got motivated to do some cooking myself. The final photo is of a nice Thai curry I prepared a week or so later. I am looking forward to stocking up on curry pastes etc. while home in Australia at Christmas.
- Hosting my first couchsurfer in some time. Anita from Germany was booked in before my surgery so I hosted her despite my inability to show here around Bogota very well.

Mi Cumpleaños

2009-10-23T13:01:00.003-05:00

Well a few days after my last post I celebrated my 36th (shhhh.....) birthday. It was only 10 days after my last surgery, and those 10 days had been pretty miserable, so I was keen to have a drink and relax. Being particularly grumpy after a week of pain I didn´t really organise anything, but a few friends came over, bringing with them cakes and bottles of wine and rum, so the afternoon and evening turned out very nicely indeed.

I have included a few photos all of which were taken early on, and are therefore not overly incriminating. The first photo is of a bunch of friends from work, with special note to be taken of the lady sitting at my left shoulder - mi profesora de español, Olga Lucia Rayo. The second shows me with one of my cakes, and the third shows me with a couple of my very best friends - a glass of wine (life-long friend) and my crutches (short-term friendship, now terminated).
It was a great night.
Also a special mention to my twin sister Paula in Australia who, funnily enough, had a birthday as well. Now about a month on she is expecting to give birth to her 4th child in the next week or so. Good luck Sis!!!

Under More Knives

2009-09-18T11:07:00.005-05:00

Well, I had a bit more surgery last week. The doctor decided it was pretty important to do an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) reconstruction in my right knee, and I agreed. The waiting time was a bit longer than I had hoped, but pretty good really, only 2 weeks. I am still a bit confused as to what my health insurance company agreed to do for me, but it appears that I will save a couple of million pesos ($1,000) through their help. That still means I am broke but it is better than it might have been.
My normal wing-woman for surgery and other important medical appointments is Ana Carolina. Unfortunately she was ill on the day of the reconstruction, so I called on Lee to be my wing-man. We met at the clinic at the designated time, and within a couple of minutes I was shipped off to get into my robe, having hardly had a chance to even talk to Lee. When I woke up several hours later he had disappeared, but was ably replaced by a mutual friend Stephanie.
The surgery was not simple. To reconstruct the ACL in my right knee he (the doctor, not Lee) needed a bit of ligament to plug in there. 14 years ago they had used a bit of my patellar tendon (I think) from the right knee. They didn´t want to use any more of it. So I had 2 options, use some from my left knee, or use some from the knee of a corpse. The corpse option comes with a risk of infection, and the doctor was pretty keen to use a bit of my left knee, so he did.
So, he had to cut open my left knee vertically to take out some tendon and bone, then sew it back up, cut open my right knee and push the tendon and bone into the right spot there, before fixing it in with a couple of extremely expensive biodegradable screws. At the same time he took out one old metal screw, but left one in there because it was in a funny spot, and to ensure I can still have interesting X-Rays.
Along with the other holes for cameras or whatever else they stick in there, this left my knees looking less than attractive. Although it was good to get my first major scar on the left knee, my right knee is now getting quite crowded. The photo was a bit difficult to take, so it has left off the vertical scar from a few weeks ago. The right knee now has 2 vertical cuts, 1 horizontal cut, 1 horizontal gash, 8 or 9 "hole" scars, and 3 internal screws. I might have to become a hand-model.
Anyway, when I woke up from surgery Stephanie set about paying my bills and getting my clearance to leave the clinic. This took some time and the morphine started wearing off, causing a huge amount of pain in both legs, and quite a bit of dizziness. I was desperate to eat but the clinic didn´t have anything available. This made me feel worse. Eventually permission to leave (paz y salvo) was granted, and we headed to the taxi rink. The 5 or 6 minutes spent getting into the taxi were some of the worst of my life. I had to get from a wheelchair into the back seat of a taxi with 2 straight legs, without being able to put pressure on either, and it was quite the challenge. One could safely say I was a mess. Poor Stephanie didn´t know what to do as I screamed with pain and bawled my eyes out! Eventually I was in, and the taxi headed to my apartment block. That was the easy part done.
Then I had to get to my apartment on the 4th floor with no elevator. My mate Ben had arrived as a carrier, but another mate had pulled-out (wise man). We roped in the portero (security guard) to help, and the poor taxi driver somehow got involved as well. So, with Ben and the portero under my shoulders, my left leg with Stephanie and my right leg with the taxi driver, I was carried feet first up 8 flights of stairs, and then gleefully deposited upon my bed. As most of you know, I am not exactly a skinny bloke, and carrying a crippled 82kg man up that amount of stairs must not have been easy. A HUGE thank you to my 4 helpers.
Once on my bed things improved slowly. Ben and Stephanie organised some food and some pain-killing drugs. It took a while to get the food down safely, but the pills began to help immediately, and the pain started to disappear. Within a few hours I was semi-comfortable and my helpers were excused. Despite the discomfort I managed to sleep OK and things have been improving ever since.
I can get around on crutches still, but I must not put any pressure on the right foot, and only minimal pressure on the left. This means I use both feet for "landing" while walking, with more pressure on the left, and using the right one for balance. It is slow going, but I am surviving OK. Left the apartment yesterday to see the doctor again. Getting down stairs was pretty tricky, but coming up was a bit easier. The doctor removed my bandages, meaning I was able to have my first shower in a week!!!!!! Happy days! I will go back to see him next week to remove my stitches. It looks like I will have another 4-6 weeks away from work which will mean lots more time watching old movies and tv series, reading, learning Spanish and maths, and hanging about. I am surviving OK at the moment.

Under the Knife

2009-08-22T15:38:00.005-05:00

I liked this when I came across it in San Andres. It is good to know that the Swiss Army is not just helping out handymen and campers across the globe with fancy gadgets, but that they are helping us smell good as well.
Anyway, I needed a photo for my "Under the Knife" title, and I´m bored with showing photos of all the scars on my knee, so this is what you get.
So, I got back to Bogota and hobbled around work for a few days before the students arrived. The students have been back for a week and a half now. Things were going great, apart from the hobbling, as my classes are really good and my timetable is much lighter than the last 2 years. I was really, really enjoying my job, and looking forward to a great year.
My knee doctor had examined me and told me I had a torn medial meniscus in my right knee. This sounded good, as he was confident that my reconstruction from 14 years ago was still intact. Surgery was required but it would probably just involve cutting away the damaged section of meniscus (cartilage), meaning only a couple of days rest afterward before returning to work.
So, I went into surgery yesterday with a very positive outlook. The surgery was even covered in full by my health insurance.
When I woke up after surgery the doctor reported he had changed plans. Instead of cutting away the meniscus he stitched it back together. This is a good long-term result as my knee still has all of the meniscus it should. However, it means I am supposed to use crutches for 6 weeks, without putting pressure on the knee at all.
I live on the 4th floor without an elevator, and I work on the 4th floor without an elevator, and the doctor thinks work would be too dangerous for me, particularly with 1,500 kids running around everywhere. So he is recommending 6 weeks off of work.
In addition, he discovered that although my anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is still in place, it is loose and useless, and I need another reconstruction. This is unlikely to be covered by my health insurance (pre-existing condition) and could put a big whack in the vacation funds. However, if I´m going to do it I should do it now while I am already laid up. I need to see the doctor again Tuesday, but it is likely that I will have the reconstruction in the next week or two, and then settle down to apartment life until mid-October.
Positives are that I should be able to use my time well at home, learning more Spanish, building my maths knowledge for work, and crossing some things off the list that have been there for years. I hope I do use the time well.
Visitors are very welcome during this time!!!!!

Providencia

2009-08-22T15:33:00.002-05:00

Providencia is a Colombian island in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. One must pass through the "neighbouring" island of San Andres on the way to Providencia, and transfer to an 18 seater plane for the last 30 minutes. It all feels like quite the adventure flying to a Caribbean island on a tiny little plane, and landing at an airport with a little hut as the terminal.
San Andres is a resort island, with plenty of all-inclusive hotels and cheap shopping. Providencia is a much more relaxed island, mainly because it is so small. The population is tiny and everybody seems to know everybody else. A perfect holiday destination.
I spent a couple of hours wandering door-to-door before settling on my accommodation at El Recreo. My cabin is pictured on the left. That is my back door and window. The front door leads onto a balcony that is (literally) 3 metres from the sand and palm trees. Not a bad location for a bit of a getaway from work. Until, 18 seconds after checking in, someone calls out your name from the neighbouring cabin and it happens to be someone from your work, with his family in tow! Small world. Anyway, that caused no concern at all.
What did I do in Providencia?
- I read a couple of books. Funnily enough I was reading "Anna
Karenina" and met an American girl who was reading the same book - there are probably only 20 books on the island and 2 of them were the same!
- I did a scuba dive for the first time in 5 years
- I ate a lot of seafood. The first picture of seafood is at a fancy restaurant. The dish of lobster, crab, cuttlefish, prawns, fish and accompaniments set me back an enormous $15. The second picture is at a down-market beach-side restaurant where one has to pay $10 for half a lobster, a whole fish, a dozen garlic prawns, a pile of crab and some cuttlefish, along with coconut rice and platanos. Wonderful value and wonderful food full-stop.
- I saw lots of crabs crossing the road. I arrived just after the bulk of the annual migration had taken place, but there were still hundreds around. It is a bit spooky walking along a dark road at night and hearing the crabs scuttling around in the dead leaves by the side of the road.
- I went to see the monthly horse race on the beach. Unfortunately, after a 20 minute build-up, 1 of the 2 competing horses withdrew, and the race was cancelled. The remaining competitor decided to put on an exhibition run and almost killed 20 spectators who had given up on anything happening and were no longer watching, but all ended well. He went too fast for a photo, so the photo above just shows the crowds retreating from the track (beach).
- I met some locals and went dancing with them on the beach. That was when my knee collapsed for the 2nd time in 2 or 3 weeks. This time it didn´t look like clicking back together - and it left me spending my last 2 days in Providencia in bed in my cabin. Bugger.

So, that was the end of holidays, as I hobbled back to Bogota on one leg!

Wedding in Cartagena

2009-08-22T15:20:00.002-05:00

Due to my slightly delayed return from Brasil, I only had 1 day in Bogota before flying out again to Cartagena on the coast. Friends from school were getting married, and I rarely pass up the chance to get to a wedding, so I went. Cartagena is a beautiful city, quite spectacular in fact, and it was good to get back there for a few days.
The wedding was of Neville (history teacher at my school) and Jenny (lawyer at my school). There were only a few people from school there, so I felt quite special. The first picture is of myself, the groom, and Fraser (who now works at a different school in Bogota) by the pool at the hotel pre-ceremony. The ceremony and reception were held at this boutique hotel and it was all lovely. Most of the men dressed in traditional "Costeña" wear, and the special couple provided us all with hats to complete the picture. We looked great! The ceremony was hot, the reception was hot, and I was hot - but it was an absolutely wonderful night. The best thing about the whole weekend was that we got to hang around the hotel anytime we wanted, swimming in the pool and relaxing. All the luxuries of a $200/night hotel while staying in a $10/night hotel 2 blocks away!
Thanks to Neville and Jenny for looking after me so well and sharing their special day with me. They have since moved to Sao Paulo to create a new life and I wish them all the best there - hopefully I will get to visit sometime and put another couple of kilos on my waistline!

Brasil Wrap

2009-08-22T15:14:00.002-05:00

Here are a few things I noticed in Brasil:
1. Table salt comes as a saline spray
2. Nearly every toilet-seat in the country is padded
3. When greeting someone you give 1, 2 or 3 kisses on the cheek depending what part of the country you are in
4. Brasilians use knives in their left hands and forks in their right hands
5. A glass of tap-beer is called a Chopp
6. "Oi" is not rude at all, it means "hi"
7. The toilets have some of the most vigorous flushes I´ve ever seen. Don´t drop your earrings in a Brasilian toilet and expect to recover them!
8. Frescobol is beach-tennis in Brasil, where the 2-4 "competitors" just hit the ball back and forth, not trying to beat an opponent, not trying to get a big total of consecutive hits, just hitting the ball
9. Table sugar comes as a liquid - sometimes drops, sometimes a spray
10. "Borracheria" in Brasil is a tyre-repair shop, while in Colombia it would mean a place to get sozzled drunk
11. Every restaurant table has a bottle of olive oil ready for you to smother your meal with before tasting it

Brasil was a wonderful place to visit. If you speak some Spanish then it will help you get around, as the written languages are quite similar. However, the pronunciation of Portugese is that different to Spanish that I rarely understood anything that was said at full pace. The people are extremely friendly and helpful if they have been introduced to you somehow, but can be a little stand-offish if you are a complete stranger. Use your contacts (or couchsurfing) to meet some people before you go. Plenty of things are cheap, but inter-city transport is not, and Rio is not, particularly if you want to do Sugarloaf or Christ the Redeemer. Public transport in the big cities is easy and cheap - much cheaper than taxis. Oh, and the girls - there are plenty of beauties, particularly at the beaches, and one could easily pass a day or two simply watching the beautiful people pass by. However, overall Colombians are definitely more attractive, and I am not being biased!

Another short note: I spell Brasil with an "s" not a "z". That is how Brasilians spell it, and it runs with my Australian distaste for American "z"s in everything.

So, my Brasilian adventure finished up with my flight to Lima leaving an hour late, and arriving more than an hour late, just as my connecting flight to Bogota was taking off. That made for a bit of a bummer. I was one of 6 people who missed that flight. The airline sat us down while they tried to get us on another flight, but that ended up being 12 hours later. I bumped into a mate in the airport which kept me amused for 20 minutes, but then I started to get a bit bored. I managed to convince the airline to let me into the VIP lounge (the power of being white not Colombian), and that was a great relief. Free food, free drinks, free internet, free drinks........ After several glasses of red wine I was relaxed enough to enjoy a few glasses of Bailey´s while catching up on a month of internet. Time passed much faster than if I was out with the real people! So, eventually I got on my flight and arrived back in Bogota and the comfort of my own bed. Bye, bye Brasil!!!

Pretty Photos from Brasil

2009-08-22T15:10:00.002-05:00

Of course I do have a slightly more mature side to me, so I have included some pretty photos as well.
The first was in Sao Paulo in Parque do Ibirapuera. It was particularly pretty as it was about 5 metres from a 20-lane superhighway.
The second I am very proud of. These 2 sisters look very different from face-on, and they were quite shocked when I took this photo to show them their side-on similarity.
Full moon on Copacabana beach with the waves crashing in - how romantic!!!! I was of course left in the role of photographer.
Boats in Buzios. Nothing too exciting with this one but I liked the fact I could get 3 red ones in a shot without any other colours interfering.

Funny Photos from Brasil

2009-08-22T15:05:00.002-05:00

Just a few images that I liked while in Brasil. Yes, more than a little childish I will admit. However I am a teacher, and I need to stay in touch with my inner child to aid communicating with my students!
I hope the first image needs no explanation.
The second was particularly funny due to circumstances and recent conversation about breast implants. Despite not possessing any formal qualifications in the area, I am pretty confident these are not real.
Where else in the world would you find street signs warning of football players??? I loved it.
And finally, my favourite chocolate biscuits for long bus trips. Choker. Probably not going to find a market in the English speaking world!

Brasilian Food - Part 2

2009-08-22T15:02:00.003-05:00

Sao Paulo is the culinary capital of Brasil as far as I could tell. Although the quantity of seafood available is a little less than on the coast, for obvious reasons, they make up for that with variety. The suburb of Liberdade is the centre of the Asian community, which is predominantly Japanese but with plenty of other ethnicities as well. I ate here several times and particularly enjoyed the dumplings pictured. Yummyyyyy!!!!!!
The other 2 photos were taken at the central market in Sao Paulo. The first is me trying an avocado milkshake (vitamina). Now this was one of those things I was told I had to try, and being quite cooperative, I did. I won´t need to again. Give me some nice guacamole any day!
The final photo is of a mortadella sandwich, a result of a heavy Italian influence in Sao Paulo. I didn´t quite trust the photos on the menus, as it seemed impossible they would put that much meat in a sandwich but it is true!!! And lovely it is. Kramer would be proud of how thinly sliced and flavoursome it is! The market itself is well worth a visit just to see the Italian influence with all of the imported products available. I haven´t found something similar in Bogota as yet - luckily or I might weigh a fair bit more than I do!
Brasilian food rates four and a half stars for Dave Gill. It would have been 5 without that avocado milkshake!

Brasilian Food - Part 1

2009-08-22T15:00:00.001-05:00

Brasil was very, very good to my mouth and stomach. The unfortunate side-effect of that was that I put on about 4kg in less than 4 weeks. But God it was good!
"Black Dog" is a chain hot-dog store. You wouldn´t expect a chain store to provide a culinary highlight but it did. A lovely squashed hot-dog with salami and all sorts of good stuff on it. Well worth checking out if in Sao Paulo.
Açaí is an Amazonian fruit that gets made into a sort of ice-cream or gelati, and it is available most places in Brasil. It is absolutely delicious. Served with cereal to mix in, and sometimes some fruit, it is extremely refreshing and cheap as well. Only available in Brasil so try it when you can!
Seafood. I like it. My surname is Gill, and it is quite possible that this is derived from "Ghillie" - a Scottish fisherman. I believe this by itself is firm justification for me to consume as much seafood as humanly possible whenever I am given the opportunity. So I do. I am pictured here with some prawns that have been deep fried with a casing of cream cheese - surprisingly delicious - and probably responsible for 1 of those 4kgs.
The last picture is of the Thai restaurant mentioned in my previous post. I was so excited to find real Thai food that I went a bit crazy here. Tom Kha Gai followed by some coconut rice and Goong Choo Chee. All extremely spicy and damaging. 2 litres of water required to accompany it. Happy days! I can´t wait to get to the Thai Orchid in Henley Beach at Christmas time to repeat the dose.

Cabo Frio, Buzios & Paraty

2009-08-22T14:55:00.001-05:00

Did I mention my friend Fabio? What a wonderful human being he is. Fabio and his parents own an apartment at the beach town of Cabo Frio. It is usually empty but sometimes they use it themselves or rent it out for a bit of extra cash. They let me stay there for free for a week!!!! The first photo above is the view from the balcony. Cross a road and you are in the sand. There was a beach volleyball competition just down the beach for a few days. Excellent body-surfing. Cheapish restaurants. A Subway restaurant (my first sub for some time). It really made for a great, relaxing holiday, something I don´t normally do. The only negative about my stay in Cabo Frio was a knee collapse while bodysurfing. I managed to drag myself back to shore, then back to my apartment. About 12 hours later it popped back in and all was well again, but it was a worrying time. The second photo above is of one of the hundreds or thousands of bikini shops in the Cabo Frio/Buzios area of Brasil. There is no lack of choice here! I just did a day trip to Buzios, and it was lovely. A very romantic town for honeymooners, so I didn´t stick around long, but very beautiful with great tourist facilities and restaurants.
My other seaside stop was a town called Paraty, on the coast sort-of between Sao Paulo and Rio. The last 2 photos are of Paraty from land and from the sea. This is also a bit of a town for couples, but I managed to enjoy myself regardless. Cobblestone streets, colourful old buildings, beautiful boat trips, lovely artwork etc. etc. One of the main highlights was the fact Paraty has a Thai restaurant. Not a Thai/Malaysian/Asian restaurant or a Modern Asian restaurant but a real Thai restaurant serving just Thai food. I ordered the hottest things possible and hurt myself badly - and loved every moment! More on that in the upcoming food post.

Rio de Janeiro

2009-08-22T14:51:00.003-05:00

What can one say about Rio de Janeiro????? Probably not much that hasn´t already been said. It has to be one of the most spectacular cities in the world - beaches, bays and mountains everywhere, and islands off the coast. Standing on Sugarloaf mountain and watching aeroplanes still turning in the air below you to land at the airport is an unusual experience. I had a few days in Rio, and did the usual touristy things such as a day at Ipanema beach, a cocktail on Copacabana beach, Sugarloaf mountain and Christ the Redeemer statue, but also got to the centre of town and went to a phototgraphy exhibition and animated film festival. Fabio came down from Brasilia when I was in Rio a 2nd time and took me to a party in a Brasilian home as well, which was great fun. Although it is expensive, it is worth every penny. One day at Ipanema beach I was told that the average Ipanema girl would own 30 or 40 different bikinis!!! Might have to do some research on that in the future!

Brasilia & Chapada dos Veadeiros

2009-08-22T14:44:00.001-05:00

Most visitors to Brasil don´t go near the capital city of Brasilia. It is in the middle of nowhere, and is basically a city of civil servants, much like Canberra in Australia. For some reason Rio seems a bit more popular! However, I had a very good reason to go to Brasilia. My friend Fabio, who I had met travelling in Colombia a year earlier had invited me to stay with him, and to take me camping for a few days in a nearby national park. Fabio, a friend Camila, Fabio´s wife Vivian and myself are pictured above at a restaurant. Fabio has a remarkable talent with languages, a talent that I definitely missed out on! He speaks Portugese, English, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, French and German, as well as bits and pieces of other languages. Anyway, Fabio took me away camping in Chapada dos Veadeiros for a few days with a couple of his friends. It was a great little trip. The landscapes reminded me very much of The Flinders Ranges in South Australia, except there was a lot more water here. I also have never had my photo taken with 3 beautiful Brasilian sisters in bikinis in The Flinders Ranges. We did a couple of day hikes, and enjoyed the evenings with a couple of beers and a good feed. Really nice. Back to Brasilia for a day to see all of the wonderful architecture the city has to offer. Despite the city lacking any real vibe, the architecture is spectacular, and there are plenty of great museums etc. to keep one busy. Certainly worth a visit to Brasilia, particularly if you have access to wheels to get yourself to the national park. Thanks Fabio!

Sao Paulo

2009-08-22T14:37:00.002-05:00

I arrived in Sao Paulo on an overnight flight from Bogota via Lima. My friend from Bogota, Judi, was returning to South Africa with a different airline but was at the airport the same morning, so I got to have one last farewell breakfast with her which was nice. I then stepped out into the scary Portugese speaking land of Brasil and caught a bus toward the city. The first thing I noticed was that I understood quite a bit of Portugese writing on signs, buildings etc. This gave me some hope of survival. However, I understood very little of anything that was spoken to me. From the bus I took the metro to my couchsurfing host´s suburb. My host Dani took me straight to the pub to watch Brasil playing the USA in the Confederations Cup football final. After trailing 2-0 the Brasilians fought back to win 3-2 which made for a very good atmosphere in the bar, and a great introduction to Brasilian passion for me. I spent the next few days wandering around Sao Paulo without much of an agenda. Sao Paulo is one big city - the photo of the 20-lane road above gives some indication. It is spread out into many different "centres" each with their particular characteristic. The metro makes it easy to get around most places and it is a great city to visit. It certainly does not have the incredible beauty of Rio but it is definitely worth a visit. Great food and great people as well. Recommended.

Recent Developments in My Life

2009-06-21T11:09:00.003-05:00

So, it has been an exciting couple of weeks for the sleepy suburb of Cedritos.
Yesterday the Tour de Colombia cycling race flew past me, only 2 blocks from my apartment. It was all very exciting for the 2 minutes it took for all of the cyclists to pass. I don´t think I would be a very good full-time cycling spectator. Track cycling at the Olympics keeps my attention a bit more.
About 2 weeks ago, a new bar called "The English Pub" opened underneath my "Hard Body" gymnasium, one block from my apartment. I can now have a decent tap beer without having to catch a taxi. It is a little dangerous having such temptations nearby - and everyday from now it will be a challenge to actually walk in that gymnasium door, but surely it is for the greater good.
As I have mentioned, I have many friends leaving the country. Despite the obvious sadness, this provides an absolute bonanza of free or cheap stuff to improve your apartment. This transition is still taking place, but at a total cost of about $30 I will be receiving 2 sofas, 1 chair, an outdoor furniture setting, 15 large pot-plants, a coffee plunger, a quilt (duvet) and quilt-cover, a couple of cannisters and a few miscellaneous decorative bits. I am very happy!
My apartment already looks a million dollars nicer, and I´m still waiting on half the stuff. A particular thanks to Hester for the sofa. Although it is old and ripped, with a cover over it it looks just fine, and importantly it is comfortable! My previous "sofa" made you feel like you were sitting in a job interview when watching a bit of TV. The only downer on my apartment at the moment is that my living room roof keeps leaking water. 3rd time now in 6 months. They seem to have fixed it again, but it is a bit unsightly with paint hanging from the ceiling. Should be sorted soon.
So, the school year is about to finish. 4 more days of hanging about, then meet-the-parents day on Saturday. Saturday afternoon is the final farewell party, and then I fly to Brazil (or Brasil) for holidays that night. I have 24 or 25 days in Brazil, then I return to Bogota for a day or two before heading to Cartagena for the wedding of Neville and Jenny. I have another week or so of holidays after that but my plans will depend on how much money is left in the bank account! Anyway, plenty of fun to be had and I´m really looking forward to it! BRAZIL!!!!!

June Farewells

2009-06-21T10:51:00.005-05:00

Here are a few of my friends who are leaving. Judi- drama queen, off to South Africa with Thandi the dog. Neville and Jenny, getting married in July then off to Brazil. Amy back to the UK, then maybe New Zealand. Hester, back to Holland briefly before 2 years in Afghanistan. Not pictured are Colleen, off to Cali in Colombia, and Emma, headed back to Australia in a couple of months.
At times it can be a difficult life being an expatriate. Every year you make great friends, then lose a bunch of them a year later. When you leave, you leave behind many more great friends, expats and locals. It has been great for me to be here for 2 years, as it has given me a chance to really get to know my friends well. The group of expats that I have worked and/or socialised with over the last couple of years are truly wonderful people, and I will miss them all greatly.
Good luck my friends - see you somewhere down the track I hope.

Villeta - May 2009

2009-06-21T10:18:00.005-05:00

One of the great things about living and working in Colombia is the enormous amounts of long weekends (puentes). The end of the school year is the best time - we have 2 puentes in May and 3 consecutive puentes in June! It isn´t always that nice, but we have to enjoy it when we can!
So, for the second May puente I organised a trip away to a "finca" (literally a farm, but generally a country getaway house). This was the first of many farewell parties as we approach the end of school year. We had about a dozen of us go along, and one dog. Of these, 5 people and a dog will not be here in July which is rather sad. Thandi the dog is pictured. She flew to South Africa yesterday. She will be missed, though her barking at the pool-side will not!
The finca was spectacular. Huge pool, jacuzzi, football pitch, volleyball court, tejo cancha, 13 bedrooms, 3 living rooms, barbeque, 2 assistants for cooking and cleaning, big-screen tv, huge kitchen etc. etc. At one point I did a bit of a count of the different seats available around the finca and I think it came to something like 260! Not bad for 12 people.
We had a lovely weekend of swimming, eating, reading, drinking and of course plenty of talking. It was a wonderful time around wonderful friends. I even did some cooking of crepes with real maple syrup direct from Canada!
The downside of the trip was a trip to the hospital. We were playing volleyball when my friend Ben (pictured) collapsed in what looked just like a heart attack or stroke. It was extremely frightening for us all, but obviously more so for him. It turned out that he was severely dehydrated, and his body reacted by having a seizure in which his face turned blue and he stopped breathing briefly. It was awful, but after a few hours in hospital rehydrating he was able to return to the finca in good health, thankfully.
On a particularly unamusing note, this was my 2nd trip to Villeta or nearby. It was also the 2nd time I had ended up at the local hospital. In addition, it was the 2nd time I had ended up at the local hospital wearing nothing at all but my swimming shorts. This is probably wearing a bit thin with the hospital staff by now, as it is with me. The first time was when I cut my knee open and arrived at the hospital in a ute with my leg hanging out the window to keep it straight. This time I was the designated carrier for Ben, and due to the rush to get him to hospital I could not get a shirt on, let alone a pair of shoes.
So, 2 trips to Villeta. 2 trips to the hospital. Do I risk a 3rd visit????????

Villa de Leyva - May 2009

2009-06-21T10:02:00.004-05:00

As I said in my last post, I like Villa de Leyva. When I went back for the 2nd time in a couple of months I got motivated to do a couple of activities, as well as the usual drinking and taking photos. So, first we did a hike up a small mountain nearby to get a view of the town - exhausting stuff at a reasonable altitude. Second was a spin at the local go-karts. Although the track is tiny, and you only get about 5 minutes on the track, it was an absolute blast for only a couple of dollars. Even before we started there was excitement when we got given condom-like head protectors to put on. Evidently these are to put under your helmet to make sure you don´t catch nasties from the hair of your predecessor. When my enormous head wouldn´t fit in the first helmet I tried they said we didn´t need to wear helmets if we didn´t want to, so we drove around protected only by our condoms! It is amazing how much fun you can have in 5 minutes of condom-protected racing. Spins, crashes into mates, crashes through tyre barriers into small lagoons and more spins. It was the most fun I´d had in 5 minutes for a long, long time! Highly recommended if you get to Villa de Leyva anytime soon.

Villa de Leyva - March 2009

2009-06-21T09:48:00.003-05:00

Villa de Leyva is one of my favourite places in Colombia. This town has a huge cobble-stoned central plaza, with a church on the top-side of the square, and mountains as a back-drop. It is a wonderfully relaxed place, and has a reasonable balance of tourism, local hippies and more regular locals! It is a great pleasure to sit on the steps at the top of the plaza drinking a cold beer that cost you 50 cents, and chatting with people from anywhere and everywhere. There are also huge amounts of activities to do nearby but generally I end up chilling out with a few beers and taking photos occasionally. Here are a few of my favourite photos from this long weekend away with friends.

Toilet Seats

2009-06-20T19:23:00.004-05:00

Many of you will think this is silly. Possibly even sillier than my usual posts. However, this is important.
Toilets are usually designed to have a toilet seat, and then a lid on top of the toilet seat. This seems to be standard practice in most developed societies.
The idea is that when you lift the lid, you can sit down and do what needs to be done. If you are a man and don´t feel the need to sit down, you can lift the seat and do what needs to be done. Pretty simple.
So, in my apartment I have two toilets. When I arrived each had a seat and a lid. For each of the two toilets, when one lifted the lid, it would fall back down immediately, as the shelf behind the toilet was too far forward. This meant that every time I sat down on the toilet I would have a lid leaning against my back. Not ideal. I removed the lids.
Of the two lid-less toilets, the toilet seat stays up for one. On the other, the seat rests upwards at almost exactly 90 degrees, and can stay there for anywhere between a few seconds and a few hours. However, the balancing act is easily disturbed, and this generally happens if a stream of urine passes within a foot or two of the toilet seat, causing it to fall through the stream of urine and cause a bit of an unnecessary mess. I have been forced to use velcro strips on the seat and the cistern to hold the seat in position.
I have encountered many other toilets in Colombia with similar problems, although I do not know of any others harnessing the powers of velcro for the greater good. How did we get to this point? Is it a lack of communication between plumbers and cabinet makers? Have radical feminists infiltrated the Colombian Plumbing Trade Unions? Are we all being filmed on "Candid Camera" each time we use one of these toilets? Regardless of the causes, Colombians (and expats alike) must fight back and reclaim the sacred zone of the toilet to ensure we can all relax suitably when required. Fight the cistern!!!! (sorry)

Small Dogs

2009-06-20T18:51:00.005-05:00

Have a good look at this picture. Of the two creatures featuring in the photo, one is beautiful and has most parts in good proportion to the other parts, while the second is quite ridiculously proportioned and looks like a genetically engineered accident.
So, the first is my friend Diana who I work with at my school. She is a typical Colombian beauty and I hope she won´t mind her photo being used here. Most Colombian girls don´t mind their photos being plastered anywhere. Vanity is not a rarity in my vicinity.
The second is a fully grown dog that we met while at a finca in Villeta. This dog was, as it would appear, quite harmless. We were at times concerned that Judi´s black labrador might swallow it whole, and at other times that one of the heavier humans (including myself obviously) might tread on the poor little fellow and extinguish it with immediate effect.
I have never really understood the reason for small dogs existing. Are they just modern accessories for women to stuff into a handbag? Are they simply objects of amusement and incentives for exercise for larger canines? Do they exist just to make domestic cats feel like even more powerful members of society? Are they meant to be served as a tapas dish in dog-eating societies?
I don´t really know why I´m carrying on about this, but I think it could be due to the fact a small, curly white-haired canine has moved in on the ground floor of my apartment building. Why do these tiny, ugly critters think that they need to yap at anything and everything that passes by their window. This animal must have seen me about 200 or 300 times by now and still does not get the idea that I am not a threat. Having said that, I have heard that 2 pretty girls live with their mother in that apartment but I am yet to see them - maybe I am a threat after all. Regardless, we all know that if the dog escapes and challenges me it will never have the fortitude to actually bite me. All yap and no more.
To conclude, I would firmly back any politician who has a policy of setting a minimum size for dogs to be kept as pets in urban environments, whether by weight, height or length.