Café tinto

One of the benefits I was looking forward to here was to try the coffee. I don't mind a cup of coffee every now and then. What makes the coffee that little bit different is that Cecy's sister visits every Friday nad she brings freshly ground coffee from her coffee ranch, now you can't get fresher than that! Speaking of which, I have just been brought a cup with my breakfast (arepas) so I'm going to settle down with that for now. Chaoooooo

El Tirador

I'm going to be watching 'Sniper' tonight starring Mark Wahlberg, in Spanish hence the 'El Tirador'. It'll be right up my street today because I have been watching videos on the Royal Marines official youtube site today. You can't beat a little bit of shoot 'em up from time to time. I have just had a shower and am catching up on a bit of web stuff sitting in the garden under the mango trees. Hard life but someone has to do it.

Valuable lesson

One for me today. I have to admit that in many ways it is still early days for my new wife and myself and we are still finding things out about each other. I hope it will remain that way for the rest of our lives together, I would rather that than live a life of monotony. Anyway, today I saw her use a brilliant argumentative device. She was confronted by the fact that she had barefaced lied about something. The interesting thing was that when confronted by the facts and several witnesses agreeing their version she simply denied that she had lied. She didn't deny any of the evidence or that she had said what she had said, she just ignored all of that. She just innocently denied having lied and stuck to that simple statement. No need to argue the facts, just ignore them and question everyone why the are launching a vendetta to besmirch her character. Absolutely brilliant! I actually really admired it. The thing is I think she actually believes in her innocence. Is that a form of sociopathy? I hope not, that could be a little worrying. I did have a little chuckle to myself though imagining the accused in court, no matter what CSI had up their sleeves just keep sticking to plain denial.

I've spent the whole day in the house today because it's raining! I don't mind though. I have a fair bit of studying to get through today. It was also a great chance to relax with Cecy. Her sister and brother in law stayed in their house in another part of Valledupar so we are in the house with the kids and Cecy's parents. I helped Vanesa with a bit of her homework and then watched 'Goodfellers' with Cecy. The bedroom has been rearranged again too, Cecy likes to move things around but just after getting used to the last change she has moved everything back exactly as it was before, and she changed that because she couldn't bear the room with this arrangement. Ummmmmmmm, what? Never mind, I don't need to get used to this because I know it'l all move again soon.
She asked me today if I miss anything from England. Truth is I could murder a decent pint of real ale but there's no chance of that for a good while yet. Also, a good cup of coffee. What a statement living in Colombia but everyone here considers drinking coffee to be like taking drugs. "It's bad for your heart", "You're not going to be able to sleep". This is going to change when we live in our own house.

Getting there

Ok, so two weeks post marriage and finally the house was going to be a little less busy. Cecy's sister, niece and cousin were returning to Bogotá. Could this finally be the chance to enjoy "almost" privacy? Not on your life. Out went three and two more arrived, another of Cecy's sisters with her husband. Is this a joke? Not at all, I'm deadly serious.
Having said that things are starting to look up. It looks like my sons are going to come up with the cash I need to get to Bogotá for my visa. I'll hopefully be able to confirm that one at the end of the month. Once I have the visa in my hand I can get my cédula extranjero and will be able to live here and work for three years and after three years marriage I can apply for residency. So everything hangs on getting to Bogotá for the visa application at the moment.
Looking on the bright side then: apart from having no money, no job and no chance of spending any time alone with my wife everything is else is back to normal.......and normal with my missus means everything is fantastic. I need to get myself in gear as well to start writing these blogs more regularly.

Perfect day!

A brand new day and I'm feeling on top of the world. I'm indoors studying today as it's sunny and 30 degrees, pretty much as always. Do I have any problems in my life? Nothing insurmountable. The truth is that I have so much more to be grateful for. I am married to a wonderful woman. The family here are so supportive. I would like to be able to see my sons more but I am in contact. I would like to be working but that will come soon. Everything in it's own time.
I had a cup of tea yesterday made from a plant growing in front of the house here. They call it limonaria here. As far as I can make out it is citronella or lemongrass to English speakers. It makes a great aromatic tea, obviously with a distinct lemon flavour. In my case Cecy actually squeezed a little lemon juice into my cup to make it a little less sweet.
I'm studying a lot today to try to complete my course soon. I aim to complete everything in two weeks ready to go to Bogotá to request my conjugal visa. But I'm taking the little by little approach with breaks in between to relax with Cecy. I know I'll be gagging for a day off once I start working so I'm going to make the most of our time together in the meantime. OK, back to the studying. Chao for now!

Wedding Day

Best day of my life or the worst? I'm head over heels in love with Cecy and delighted that we have married, I'm sure we are going to have a wonderful life together. My regret, probably the greatest of my life is that I did not want to return to the house for the reception but conceded in the end provided that we leave for the hotel at a reasonable hour. We live in her parents' house with the children and for me this night was to be the last for who knows how long, that we would spend together alone. In the end I conceded to spend the night in the house and cancelled the hotel with the promise that our privacy would be respected for this one night in the house, without interruption. The wedding was fantastic and Padre Ivan (a former psycologist) is a great person with a lively sense of humour. I have shared enjoyable conversations with him, he is after all the only person I know in Colombia who is not part of the family. Also I know he won't repeat anything I tell him because it is protected by the sanctity of confession.

So, how did it go? Great wedding and the early part of the night at the house was fine but come 2 o'clock when I decided that was enough for the day in the company of guests that I didn't know, everyone (including my wife) told me that she would not be going to bed that night because it was the culture in the coastal cities of Colombia to pass the whole night with the guests until sunrise. It would seem that breaking a promise is no big deal for the Colombians because nobody was expecting me to not be delighted with this decision. In particular, my use of the word 'traicion' to express my feelings about my wife surprised a few. I don't care what other people do traditionally. I think it is a great expression that you cannot judge a man's character by what he says but rather by his actions. Trust is hard won and easily lost. At the moment my trust has been lost. This was OUR day. I expressed my wishes and the surprise for everybody is that I was sincere.....I actually meant what I said.