Makin' Converts

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On Wednesday, I found a bar with many large TVs and many channels, including 3 different Olympic channels, so when it came time for the Canada/Slovakia semi-final on Friday night, I knew where I was headed. I told a few people about it, and the event snowballed until a whole whack of us showed up for the game ("whack" being a scientific term meaning between 10-20 people, composed of 1-4 Canadians, 5-12 Americans, and 3-9 Colombians).

After finding a corner of the bar to settle ourselves, the waiter turned the channel to the women's gold medal curling match, which I had been watching while waiting for the others to arrive. This was instantly met with groans from the Americans, who requested a change to hockey. I didn't really want to argue with them, so I held my tongue, but eventually they realized there was no hockey on - the USA/Finland semi-final had been played in the afternoon, and Canada/Slovakia wasn't until 9:30. So eventually, when it became clear that nobody was paying attention to the TV, I sneakily got it changed back to curling.

At first, nobody except me was paying attention, but after a while one of the Colombianos got curious and started asking me questions. This led to the Americans tuning in a bit more, and making jokes about how weird/dumb curling is. Many of these jokes, while derisive, were actually in the form of genuine questions, and by being able to answer them, I was able to get the Americans truly interested in the game. By the end, they were fully invested and even sort of understood it, and since it was such an exciting game (by curling standards), I think I may have made some converts.

After the curling match ended, we had a short break before the hockey game started, but when it did, everyone was rapt, since that was what we had all come for. Once again, I was the focus of many questions about the game, though this time the questions came exclusively from the Colombians. And once again I was able to make a convert, my co-worker Mario, who was hooked by the physicality of the game. He didn't really follow the puck movement and didn't understand many of the strategies, but every time there was a bone-crunching body-check against the boards, Mario was on his feet cheering.

I'll be heading back in 2 hours for the final. GO CANADA GO!

The Canada Placemat

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On Wednesday, I went out for a couple beers, something I haven't done on a Wednesday night since... well, probably since I've been in Colombia. I went because there's a bar that I like that supposedly has live music on Wednesdays, and I was hoping in the back of my mind that it was an open-mic sort of situation and I could get up there and entertain the crowd by speaking self-deprecatingly terrible Spanish, regardless of whether they liked the songs or not.

The music didn't happen - apparently it's going to happen Friday, so this is just another example of "Colombia Time", when things start extremely late, sometimes days late - but the other reason I went out was because it was the quarter-finals in the Olympic hockey tournament, and I thought maybe the bar would get the right channel. Turns out they did! So my friend José and I sat down with a couple of Hoogardens (yeah, this is a very different bar from the usual places around here) and watched the 3rd period.

Our waiter, who was the guy who spent about 10 minutes trying to find the right channel, was great. Really friendly, constantly making jokes which I sometimes understood, and one of those people who physically can't stop smiling. After explaining how important the hockey tournament is to Canadians (comparing to Colombia playing in the World Cup really drove the point home), he disappeared into the back of the bar and returned with a placemat which was, yes, a Canadian flag. I was ecstatic, obviously. (He also pointed out the 2 "Canadian" dishes on the menu - this menu specifies the origins of each of its dishes - Canada is apparently home of the Turkey Sandwich (okay, I guess) and the "Picnic Sandwich" (what?). I told him that the picnic sandwich doesn't actually exist, which he thought was hilarious.)

Anyway, the game was 7-3 when we arrived, and 7-3 when the 3rd period ended. It's too bad we didn't see any goals, but Canada won, so I'm not complaining. Of course, nobody else in the bar was watching (except our waiter, whose interest had apparently been sparked by this Crazy Canuck, and every time I looked over he was fixed on the game, likely having no idea what was going on), but José and I had a good little celebration at the end.

The game put me in a great mood (that, or the beer), and on the walk home I decided that tomorrow in class I'm going to enlist my kids into making Maple Leafs to plaster all over the place. Semis on Friday, Finals (fingers crossed) on Sunday. And I now have a place to watch it. Can't wait.

Aside: José, whose English isn't very good, was telling me a story about some girl from Turkey who added him on Facebook. I don't remember his exact wording, but it was something like: "so a girl added me on my face".

Inca Trail Part 1: The Suspects

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Last time, I mentioned that I was late for my night-before mandatory meeting with the 16 other travelers and 2 guides I would be spending the next 4 days with on the Inca Trail, and I was worried they would judge me based on my lateness and the fact that I was carrying a tiny guitar. So, you're asking yourself, what happened, Dave? Were you completely ostracized from the group?

Well, no. But what followed was much more sinister than I feared or could even have imagined. Over the next few days I will take you through the mystifying events of my time on the Inca Trail, and it is my sincere hope that after all the facts are collected, we will get to the bottom of.... The Mystery of the Inca Trail!

(Also, I should note that it is almost definitely a coincidence that I read a Sherlock Holmes book during this journey.)

Anyway, the first step that must be taken by any detective worth his salt is to introduce the suspects, and this is what follows in today's entry.

Names: Oscar and Virgilio (Bill)

Age: early 30s

Relationship: co-workers

Nationality: Peruvian

Occupations: Inca Trail tour guides

Reason for travel: job

Names: Christy and Paul

Age: early 30s

Relationship: couple, unmarried

Nationality: Australian (Melbourne)

Occupations:

travel industry,

environmental scientist

Reason for travel: 12-month paid vacation due to economy

Names: Andrea and Mike

Age: late 20s

Relationship: couple, unmarried

Nationality: Canadian (Edmonton)

Occupations: event planner, Spanish teacher

Reason for travel: Christmas vacation

Names: Amelia and Lee

Age: Late 20s

Relationship: Couple, unmarried

Nationality: Australian (Sydney)

Occupations: Interior designer and plumber

Reason for travel: Extended vacation

Names: Jenny and Gino

Age: early 30s

Relationship: married

Nationality: American (New York)

Occupations: Financial stuff

Reason for travel: Christmas vacation

Names: Ronny and Bart

Age: early 30s

Relationship: buds

Nationality: Dutch

Occupations: Construction and re-selling

Reason for travel: Christmas vacation

Names: Jessica, Eli and Sequoia

Age: 40ish, 11, 14

Relationship: Mother, offspring

Nationality: American (Hawaii)

Occupations: Owner of natural food store, kid, kid

Reason for travel: Christmas vacation

Names: Richard, James, Geoffrey

Age: early 20s, late 20s, old

Relationship: Father, sons

Nationality: English

Occupations: English teacher, soldier, retired engineer

Reason for travel: Christmas vacation

Well, there you have it. 18 suspects, 16 travelers, 2 tour guides, and as of this writing, 0 motives. This is going to be a tough one to untangle - I can feel it in my bones. I think I'll have to sign off for the night - burning the midnight oil is never a good way to keep your head clear. Tomorrow we'll try to make some sense of all this.

Signing off,

Xerlock Xolmes