Some random things I've learned

It has to be said that a fresh piece of even very mediocre pizza can taste pretty damn good. Anyone who knows me well knows how I feel about chicken on pizza. (It has no place there!!) But I went with the chicken & mushroom (a popular combo here) because it was the only one that didn't involve pineapple or corn.

So I've learned some great tidbits from Dennis, the Irish teacher who lives in my building. First of all, I had wondered why a couple of the entrances into my neighborhood have guard houses and one of those long arm thingies that has to be raised to let cars through. Apparently, a lot of narco-traffickers and other shady but influential rich people used to live around here. I guess it's not so surprising, since at one end of my street is the Bogotá Country Club (known here just as "el Country"), where apparently President Uribe entertains foreign dignitaries. According to Dennis, when the president is there, there are soldiers all up and down our street. I promise to post a picture of that if it happens while I'm here.

The other crazy thing he told me was about how it works when we get paid at Christmastime if you want to get cash in euros or dollars. (We get a big lump-sum chunk of our salary at once for some reason). Apparently, the money exchange bureaus give better rates than the banks, so you have to take out your money from the bank in cash and then take it to the exchange place. Because of [mom & dad don't freak out] the, uh, sometimes precarious security situation here, the bank provides you with an armed police escort -- a couple of motorcycle cops with sirens and the whole bit. The cops stay with you in the money exchange place and then take you home. Maybe I can just do a wire transfer.