Taking the lead

At last I am in front. I have found out who my real friends are, the people I can rely on in a crisis. It has been difficult not being able to earn money here and having to reply on people sending money to help me get by. I am really grateful to everyone who has helped but it has been a case of running to stand still. Every time I have received money I have always asked for just enough to apply for my visa then something has cropped up to drain a little away and not enough is not enough. At last I have taken my own steps in trying to sell my laptop and phone but couldn't raise enough so have hocked the wedding rings. I have enough now so will be going back to DAS on Tuesday (Monday is a festival day so nothing is open) to get my renewed tourist visa stamped in my passport then I can send everything to Bogotá for my conjugal visa. I am hoping I will get the visa back in around a week.....more to follow on that one although nothing seems to go as I anticipate here. I'm glad to have all the money I need at last but am absolutely gutted to have pawned the rings. I can't stop looking at my bare ring finger. For me it's symbolic of my promise as a husband, wearing the ring is a display of my commitment to honour my vows. Still, once I have my conjugal visa I should be allowed to find a job a pay to recover the rings.

It'll be so good to work again, to be able to earn my crust especially with Xmas just around the corner and with Cecy's birthday hot on the heels of the New Year. We've had to deal with a couple of flies in the ointment but have come out the other side as an even stronger couple. We're as good as we have ever been and life with her at the moment is superb. It could be even better though soon. Another benefit of finding work is that we'll be able to start looking for our own home. What bliss to be able to come home from work to my gorgeous wife, to my family in our home.

Coffee Ban


Cecy is of the opinion that I drink too much coffee. Perhaps she should have known me in England! Too much here is three small cups in the same day and I'm living in Colombia. I didn't expect this. True the coffee is a little stronger here. Her sister brings it from her ranch in the mountains every week freshly dried and ground. I don't know what she would have made of my coffee consumption in the old country. But then there are a few quaint traits here. I have seen electricians installing wiring with only their bare teeth and a dining knife. The top morning and Saturday night television shows are like kids shows in England. Guys dressed as women, adults dressed in kis clothes with exaggerated freckles drawn on their faces, clothes like clowns (trousers and ties too short, waists to high. You know what I mean, real pantomime stuff) and stupid voices. The things is the adults here lap it up. A fart noise can be used on a programme 100 times and everyone will still have tears of laughter in their eyes the 100th time. Humour here has NO sophistication. There is absolutely no need for comic timing or wit, in fact I think it would be lost on the Vallenatos (natives of Valledupar). In everyday things too. Tania Vanesa needed to make a lamp from a totumo (a type of fruit here) for a school project and as I explained the best way to do it (as a qualified electronics technician and former electrician) I was overruled on the.....

 "but the village elders have always done it this way"

....clause. Alright, a little but absolutely not much of an exaggeration. Time to teach everyone English methinks and to drag a little of my culture into their lives.

Wycombe Wanderers

Good to see the boys doing well and still on target for promotion this season! What has come over Kevin "goal a game" Betsy by the way? If one or two others join in and he keeps the run going then what a good season there is in store for the Blues. All the best there everyone!

Visas

It's been a difficult few days.....or is it weeks? Cecy's dad cannot work (and has not been able to do so for some weeks) because he has a problem with his cédula (identity card), they have changed the cards to a new format and he hasn't updated his card yet and now it is no longer valid. He has applied for the new style card but the wheels of administration here turn slowly. That leaves me with the responsibility to support all of the family and I can't work yet. Consequently I have had to dip into the money for my trip to Bogotá for my conjugal visa which leaves me a little short but I am trying to work that out. However due to the delay my tourist visa has expired, so yesterday I had to visit the office of DAS (Departamento Administrivo de Seguridad) yesterday to try to extend my tourist visa. I have to pay a fine of 300,000COP and also a fee for the visa extension! I tried explaining that I am only seeking to get to Bogotá to solicit my visa conjuge and that the fine deducts from my money for the visa. I am only trying to support my family here which they rewarded by confining me to the city limits here in Valledupar. I am not allowed to travel to Bogotá until they issue my renewed tourist visa. The clock is ticking. I have until December 3rd to get my visa or it's "Get the hell out of here!" time. I feel like I'm running to stand still.
It is the rainy season here and when it rains, it pours...............kind of appropriate in the circumstances!