Ratna writes

After my reading and irksome re-packing this morning, I drank in my last Bogotá walk to work -- for now. At the office, I finished my draft of the Situation Analysis section of the business plan I started yesterday, elaborating on institutional opportunities and challenges regarding the Magdalena River project. Go team Magdalena! For my "last supper" (lunch in a food court), we made our way to Andino, arousing intense nostalgia of my first lunch here (*sniff*), although with my volume much louder and Diana's back muscles much tenser. A truly emotional moment came when I consumed my last almendras ice cream at Crepes & Waffles after lunch. ¡Tan triste! Back at the office, I continued to massacre Diana's notes with neon colors as I began the Outcomes section of the plan, which tied my brain in knots as I wrestled with the best way to structure it. Mauricio rescued me from this challenge by taking me out for a most wonderful coffee at Myriam Camhi, ...

Today, I learned that when people say "you should always have an umbrella in Bogotá," they mean it. I walked to work in the drizzle and Diana and I zeroed in on the part of the business plan we’d be focusing on today, Situation Analysis. Mauricio treated me to a farewell lunch at Mini Mál, a really cool fusion restaurant with lamps made out of colanders. We enjoyed their fabulous cuisine as Mauricio told me part of his life story, and got me a cuaderno made from a recycled record as a memento of “favorite colleague.” So cool! After lunch, I went back to yesterday’s salon to ask Angela to touch up a few of my nails, which I had chipped during the scramble to Spanish class yesterday. I suppose this “revisit” to KisMi made me worthy of my nickname princesita . In the afternoon, Diana and I continued to map out the business plan as it started to pour outside. I walked home and arrived with my galoshes (i.e. ballet flats) soaking wet, and immediately went in for ...

I was very juiciosa last night and did as much packing as I could, while excluding from my suitcase four pre-planned outfits for the remainder of my time here. My fingers are crossed that I'll be able to travel with just one bag! I awoke this morning singing, " ayyy, mi Cuba ," and made my way to the office. Diana and I continued to collect our thoughts for the business plan today, and Kate pointed out that I possess no middle ground between shouting and whispering. Perhaps my volume was induced by the brigadeiro-flavored treats that Diana brought us. Or perhaps I'm just loud. For lunch, we all enjoyed our respective favorite cuisines in the food court at Andino. Mauricio ate his chicken with gloves as Rosario inspected her luxurious plantains. After almorzando , Kate and I went to KisMi, a salon near the office, for five-dollar manicures and six-dollar pedicures. My beautician, Angela, gave me the fastest mani-pedi she's ever delivered in her life, a...

This morning, that same extreme exhaustion steamrolled me that in high school I would have powered through, but this year I have learned to heed. My grandfather says I "live a life of averages," extremely energetic most of the time, and then completely wiped out at others. I woke at 7:30, had breakfast, and fell promptly back asleep at 8. I arose next at 11 in time for lunch and a quick chat with colleagues, to fall back asleep at 1. Up again at 5, I decided to change out of my pajamas (barely) and find some dinner for myself before I could fall asleep again, and before it got dark. Would it be incriminating to say I went to my favorite French bakery Bagatelle again? Well, I did. I ate my meal with my sister over Skype, and then commenced my Spanish lesson. Kate dropped in for a while as Mario rushed to teach me the preterito indefinido, pluscuamperfecto , and subjunctivo . I just finished my homework and I think it would be prudent of me to begin...

Like most mornings here, today's was majestic. After my daily routine , I made my way to the office, where Diana and I soon realized we were wearing a common dress code of solid colored t-shirt with black sweater, pants, and shoes. We spent the day formulating responses to comments on our proposal to the International Climate Initiative , from the ICI itself. This mostly entailed elaborating on answers Diana had already written, but also involved a bit of research on Fundación Alma and the Fondo Adaptación . For lunch, we went to Oma, a bakery and cafe with a wonderfully illustrated menu. There was a dessert there called "fiesta infantíl" (infant fest), which Diana and Kate both agreed I should order based on my high-pitched voice, cartoonish Spanish interjections, and overall antics. However, I kept it classy and had an enormous pasión de caramel ice cream dish for dessert. We spent lunch discussing the fate of the beautiful Magdalena River, whence comes...

Many of my colleagues ridicule me for being very late to work on a regular basis (daily). They are absolutely right in doing so, but let me tell you, my mornings are majestic. My alarm rings at 8:00 and I immediately put it off, taking a cursory glance at the day's emails on my phone while doing so. I then pick up The Power of Now and read a section before commencing yoga. I do a few sun salutations at a relaxed pace while my coffee brews. Today's was hazelnut. I pop an arepa in the oven as I step into the shower, and it's ready to be drowned in butter when I emerge. I chomp on this contentedly and down a variety of vitamins while chatting briefly with my sister. Book read, yoga done, shower taken, breakfast eaten, I'm ready for the ten-block walk to work.

Last night, Diana and Fredy took me out salsa dancing, and I fell in love with Latin American culture all over again. I was exhausted before we left, and even during the walk over, but I was bowled over by what we saw when we entered Disco Jaguar. Everyone here has rhythm. If I was expecting something akin to my perception of inane nightclubs in the States, I was gravely mistaken. I was perfectly happy to sit in a corner of the room and just gape at the casual perfection with which the Latin Americans around me were moving their hips and feet at a speed mathematically unimaginable. But I was grateful for my dance lessons from Diana, and for the sequence of Colombian boys who deigned to dance with me and went on to lie to me about my ability levels of both salsa and Spanish. I love to dance but tend to be inhibited when it comes to dancing in public places, but Latin rhythms are irresistible. What a night. And what a perfect way to start off the 21st birthday of Kenneson Ch...