Colombian Fruit

One of the depressing things about living in Canada is our fruit selection. We can only get the types of fruit that travel well, which usually means they have to be able to ripen after being picked (which destroys most of the flavour, and nutrition content) and they can't bruise easily. So one of the first things I wanted to do here was go to the grocery store and grab one of every fruit I didn't recognize. Turns out there are quite a few.

Pitaya (link) Also known as Dragon Fruit.
You can get these in Toronto, in Chinatown, but they are a different variety, bright pink with green tips. The yellow ones are better, they actually have flavour, and are very juicy with fewer, larger black seeds. They have a mild fruity sweet taste.

Tamarillo (link)
These are gross. The skin and area near the skin are bitter and inedible, which doesn't take long to figure out. The insides aren't as bad, kind of musky. I think this falls under ingredient fruit.

Passionfruit (link)
I always assumed passionfruit would be pink and delicious. It is neither! It's a fruit the same way a lemon is a fruit, you don't eat them. Very bitter and tart. Why the hell it's called passionfruit I have no idea. It should be called Mucas Lemon.

Curuba (or Banana Passionfruit) (link)
These taste exactly like passionfruit, but instead of having a hard round shiny shell, they are like a furry soft cucumber. Still gross.

Uchuva (link)
These are trendy in Montreal right now, you get one with it's brown leaf thing still attached when you order pastries. Here you can buy a pint of them for a few dollars, and they are very juicy and sweet. They call them snake berries.

Granadilla (link)
These are the best thing ever. When I started cutting it the shell just broke apart, it's very brittle, and the insides fell out ready to be eaten. It looks like frog spawn, the seeds are crunchy like pumpkin seeds and it's very sweet and fruity.

Guava (link)
I'm always annoyed when you get guava flavoured drinks, because they NEVER taste like guava. Guava juice should taste like you should be chewing it, which is a sensation you will only understand if you have had fresh guava juice. We had guava in Asia and it was dry and flavourless, it's much better here.

Lulo (link)
It tastes like a kiwi!

And thus concludes fruit round up one. There are still some I need to find and try, and also there are some crazy looking vegetables that I have never seen before.

Safe

If it wasn't for all the press and warnings you would have no idea that Bogota was once considered a most dangerous destination. There are the occasional army personal holding a machine gun standing around (on that note, is jungle camo really appropriate for an urban area? Not exactly blending into the skyscraper there.), but there were more of them in Paris and no one raised an eyebrow when I went there. Not to say it's as safe as Toronto, kidnappings still happen and there are still plenty of guerrillas in gum boots hiding where they can, but life goes on downtown.

When I was boarding the plane, right after having my ticket and passport checked, I turned the corner and there were 8 armed police officers checking identification and asking for reasons why one would be going to Colombia. They waved me past, I don't know if they were looking for anyone in particular, but the plane that was fully booked when I checked in was half full. I've never dealt with that kind of security before, it was kind of ominous.

On the way to Dad's apartment we drove past the building I was born in, maybe. Dad's not sure and like hell I'd remember. I left when i was 6 months old.

One thing that surprised me: they have the exact same voltage and outlets that we have in Canada. That certainly makes things easier, electronic wise.

BOGOTA

WOO
Leaving in 4 hours, totally not ready. Oh man, I gotta get going.

Excuses

So, Dad is something of a power tourist, and I've had a lot less downtime then during my four month aimless wanderings, which is mostly a good thing, but did mean whenever I had spare time it was used for napping. I'm heading home today, and then I leave on the 25th for Bogota, back in Toronto on May 26th. Considering Dad will be working during that month, and I can't wander too aimlessly by myself around the FARQ, events will be more commonly updated.

I'm fairly certain my readers currently consist of Mouki and Joel right now anyway (hi guys).

One things I've been really impressed at in South America is how NOT creepy the men are. I think India has scarred me for life, but seriously, people here are very kind and, well, not creepy. I've always kind of agreed that people could stand to be more modest in western culture, that no one needs string bikinis, but now I'm not so sure. In cultures where women cover up, the men deserve to be beaten. They aren't covering up out of modesty, it's honest fear of molestation. But in cultures where suntanning nude in the middle of a downtown park is normal, the scent of wannabe rapists is gone. We NEED skanks! It's a real light bulb moment for me.

Vina del Mar

We managed to pick up Nanny the next day, despite a preference for sleeping in. She got off a two week cruise somewhere in the city so it was another driving aimlessly around trying to find something without a map or an address, thankfully people were very helpful and knew where we needed to go. It's hard to miss a boat that big.

We took a drive up the coast, through little summer cabin neighborhoods and past beaches. The water is quite cold around here, so most people in the water were wearing wetsuits. We stopped at a little resorty town and had some amazing ceviche.

It is really a beautiful place.

Chile!

A couple things have surprised me about Chile. First, I am in the exact same time zone as I was in Toronto despite a 10 hour flight, which makes Chile my new favourite vacation destination because jet lag sucks. The other is how clean and modern it is. I was all prepared for a hint of developing nation and now I feel all racist. Toronto is dirtier then Santiago.

Dad met me at the airport which started off a panic because he didn't have his luggage. He'd arrived 6 hours before me, and due to circumstances I still do not fully understand, he had left without picking up his bag. It was eventually found in the airline's office. You could see it through the glass, behind its locked doors, which were to remain locked until Monday because everyone had taken off for Easter weekend.

(I'll save you any suspense, we managed to pick it up today.)

We drove out to Vina Del Mar without the aid of a map because we couldn't find one, and even managed to find the hotel I'd booked by driving aimlessly around. The luck of the Vernon's, which held out at the casino, when I managed to win enough money by hitting random buttons to buy Dad a cigar. Admittedly we were given coupons and I won less then the coupon was originally worth, but I still consider it a victory.

Again

Off again, sitting the airport waiting for my flight to Chile. They have free wifi at Pearson now! We've finally caught up to every international airport in Asia! But there are no plug-ins anywhere, because that would be too obvious.

I haven't been writing in here because I'm a horrible person, but also because I found this 3D program that exports flash files, and so who needs you anymore. I really do still intend to write a few things, especially about Mumbai when we visited the neighborhood I spent a year of my childhood in. Also, the pillow menu. And Korea was amazing.

Eventually.

I already miss the ability to drink the tap water and I haven't even left yet. I am so judging people who buy bottled water in TO now, the tap water here is amazing. It's almost sweet tasting. Also it's not brown and won't give you the runs, you can't improve on that people!