Free Restaurant Idea: Crepes & Waffles in the U.S.

Jumbo Shrimp in Yellow Curry and Spinach, Thai Chicken, Pepper Steak, French Connection, Mushroom Fondue, and over 40 other kinds of crepes. 

Crepes & Waffles was the most popular restaurant I found during my travels and a personal favorite. Opened in 1980 by two college students, Beatriz Fernández and Eduardo Macías, Crepes started Zona Rosa, the center of the ritzy restaurant and club scene of Bogota, Colombia. Now, it is an international chain with over 70 restaurants, most of them Colombia, in 7 Latin American countries and Spain.

Striking Back at Bogota Public Transportation

I don't know how it compares to other big cities because I know very few, but for some reason Bogota public transportation just sucks. 

Security in Developing Countries: Need a Culture Shock?

They take security much more seriously in Colombia and Ecuador than we do here. The only real culture shock I can remember was in Ecuador getting a sick feeling in my stomach when you going into a bank with a guard outside holding the biggest shotgun I've ever seen. Or walking past fully armed soldiers in a public square. Or driving by houses barricaded and wall tops of broken glasses. Like its a damn war zone. 

About Spain: 5 cool regions and other things

We talked much about the different regions of this cool country...  

Overall advice from J:      Do a road trip because the cities are so close, and be sure to visit Sevilla and Barcelona.

A Great Flight Home with J from Spain

I've been meaning to write this for a few days...


On my way from Charlotte to Pittsburgh, it turned out the guy I was sitting next to was from Spain. He was coming back from a trip to the Bahamas. The only reason he went was because he got a deal, $700 for 5 days on LivingSocial or one of those other awesome deal sites. I can't remember if he said that included air, but it probably did because Pittsburgh is a really busy airport.


This was probably going to be my last chance to practice Spanish for a while, and luckily he was cool so we were able to talk in Spanish and English. From that conversation, I reckon I was about 85-90% fluent. It was probably because he had a really easy accent. Regardless, I feel like I'm bilingual now!

Home Early

Unfortunately, I had to come home a little early. 


I was planning on being back in September (DENISE'S WEDDING!) and staying home for a while. There were some places I had wanted to see in the time between now and then, but once I get filthy rich, I figure that I can always return and see other places.


In the meantime I'm going to post some last thoughts I had about Colombia and the #1 city that people recommended that I go I to. 

Hungry but Low on Dough?: How to Find the Best Street (or Fast) Food Anywhere

I finally found where the best street food is located. 


Instead of walking around randomly searching like an idiot, I actually thought about going to the busier places during rush-hour (where people are mostly to be walking around on their way to buses or the Transmilenio) and found that some of the best empanandas are very close to where I work ( a big bank tower that holds a ton of people). 


Normally, you can find empanadas and arepas anywhere and anytime, but most are just sitting in a box all day and then reheated when you ask for them. These are kind of gross, not fresh at all, and don't taste good. 

Bored: Don't Stay in One Place Too Long

I've been here too long, almost six months I think, about 2 months too long. It's been too much time. I've been starting to do things I would normally do at home, like workout. Its awful. Haha.


Teaching is getting a little boring too. 
When you think about it, with a 1st language there's no learning anything new about the language, or anything interesting at least. When you teach other topics like science for example, there's always something new being researched or developed; or history in which there is different ways to look at things, for example why someone did this or how different events fit together in the narrative of an era. 


There's two problems I fell into here:

The Girls Getting Booted and How Not to Be an Idiot with Roommates

It's a bit sad because they were nice to look at, but not that sad because they weren't that interesting. Also, I got the feeling that they weren't adjusting well to being away from home and their families. I think they were either a little spoiled or just didn't know how some things in life work.


They got kicked out for among a few things, being "slobs"
The owner of the house, my landlord, and head of the family I live with, Cecilia (a woman who's probably in her late 50s)  is a neat freak and unfortunately these girls weren't used to cleaning up after themselves in a timely manner. 


I didn't witness most of what went down between her and the girls because I'm out of the house a lot or sleeping. I gathered most of this from what I was told from the brothers (the majority of which I didn't understand because they have difficult accents). I'm guessing after repeated complaints by Cecilia, it came to head when they got home drunk at 4am, she probably said something that they didn't like and the girls just exploded. When the girls were telling me the story, they said that they were surprised that I didn't get woken up by it. 


The only bit I did witness was when I was going to take a shower at night and they were moving out of the house. I was just about to turn the water on but stopped when the yelling began. 

Partyin, Partyin YEA, Fun Fun Fun Fun...

If the title appears stupid, it's because it is the chorus of the most recent worst song of all time, "Friday". If you want to waste some time, go check out the awfulness on youtube, everybody else already has. I think she was an ABC talk show as well, crazy...

The other weekend, I went to this huge market with Cecilia, the owner of the house (my landlord) who helped me shop while I carried stuff for her.


The place was a maze with so many vendors, and you had to be careful walking around giant raw slabs of meat and avoid tripping over boxes of fruits and veggies that looked like they had just been picked or pulled from the ground. 

When we got back, she went about cooking arroz campesino a huge cauldron of chicken, bacon, rice, hotdog, corn, carrots, and green beans.