Apartment

So this morning I lost power at my apartment, which served as a clear sign that it was time to head to 'work' (and by work, I mean that place I go almost everyday where I observe, help with fabrication of O&P devices, and practice my Spanish - not where I get paid).

When I arrived at Gilete, no one was in the shop, so I went downstairs. It was crazy! There were five patients being fitted with prosthetic legs and two more who had follow-ups for their prosthetic arms. The room is big, but not that big. After lunch, there were three more patients being fitted with prosthetic legs. I also helped AnaCe take molds for AFOs (ankle-foot orthoses).


It's hard to believe that I've been here for two weeks already. I'm pretty settled into the apartment. Two nights ago, I discovered that I have a little friend who likes to fly into the wall when I'm trying to fall asleep. I think he's some sort of beetle or something. I was too tired the first night he was around, and last night I heard him but couldn't see him, so he lives to see another day. In a similar vein, on the very first day I was in the apartment, I killed two spiders (all by myself!). Beetles I can usually handle, but I'm really not a fan of the spiders. I think I would rather have mice.

Anyways, here are some photos of my apartment. It's not always this clean, but I try.

On the left is my door. It uses two separate keys: one for the top handle and one for the bottom dead bolt. I have two more keys to get into the double doors of my part of the building. So I went from a key card at the hotel to four keys for the apartment. Quite the upgrade, eh?

In the middle-ish you can see my tiny bathroom. Functional, but tiny.











Update: I believe I found the culprit from the past two nights. I tried shooing him out the door, but he just wouldn't have him. So instead of 'guiding' him with one of the pillows, I ended up smashing him. I won't be using that pillow anymore, but I also shouldn't be kept up by him flitting around again.


Anyways, back to the tour. On the very far right is the itsy-bitsy hall/entryway from the door/bathroom to the rest of the apartment. Then there's my 'closet' and the kitchen area. Notice that there is no oven. Apparently, that's pretty common here. Katie, AnaCe, and Guadalupe's place doesn't have an oven, either, and it's much nicer (and more permanent) than mine.





Next is my bed. You can see that the 'kitchen' and 'bedroom' are separated by that line on the floor between carpet and brick. I do have a nice, if not random, piece of artwork, though.










Here's one of two tables. I guess one could be the table and one the desk, but they are exactly the same. I have four chairs, but I can't imaging having that many people over here at one time.










Here's the rest of the apartment. I have two lamps, but the small orange one doesn't work, so it has just become another piece of art. I have a tv and internet access, but my internet connection isn't great. And for anyone who was wondering, yes, that is Matt on my computer screen. We were on Skype when I took these photos.






My window. I have a flower box, which is nice, but not much of a view. Unfortunately, my window faces west, and the mountains are in the east. There's a pretty busy street about half a block down, so I am often 'lulled' to sleep by passing cars. I thought Chicago drivers used their horns a lot, but apparently Bogotá-ians (I have no idea...) have their own language with their horns!







A close-up of the flowers in the window box right after a storm. The sun came out for a little, and the flowers just looked so beautiful with the light glinting off the water droplets.











Another flower shot, but this one was in the shade. I was feeling a bit artsy that day. Deal with it.








Another update: Speaking of water...apparently there is an 'interruption' in my water. Good thing I don't want to drink anything, use the bathroom, do my dishes, brush my teeth, or take a shower.... :(


The food down here is a little different, and I don't just mean the flavors. The package in front is milk. It doesn't come in a carton (usually, unless you go to a big supermarket and specifically seek it out), it comes in a bag. Katie said people just cut the corner and put the bag in a bowl or pitcher.

Behind the milk, you see a carton of eggs. I think all the eggs down here are brown. They come in these big, flat cartons, five eggs deep by six wide. I was really confused when I saw this in the store, and asked Katie if I just buy eggs individually. She said that you can, but usually people just buy a carton and the store employees wrap it in plastic wrap. They also aren't refrigerated.

Next to the eggs, there are bananas! No, there isn't some weird perspective thing going on, those bananas are just that small. Each it a little longer than an egg. They're so cute! The flavor is about the same, but they also sell the larger bananas here too.

Mmm, as you can see, this is an oatmeal drink. "Avena" means oats, and "Canela" means cinnamon. It's really good, and I discovered that you can buy larger containers instead of just single servings. It also comes in other flavors and a light variety.














You wouldn't want to eat this: it's dish soap. It's consistency is sort of like cold, hard frosting. I apparently don't have hot water in the kitchen, so to do my dishes I usually mix soap and water in a pot and then heat it on the stove. Whatever works, right?














And to finish off this post: coffee and chocolate! I don't have a coffee pot, so I bought freeze-dried instant coffee. Not great, but better than nothing. "Salsa" is used to describe most liquids or pastes that comes from a more solid food. For example, ketchup is called "salsa de tomates" (I was surprised to find out how much people actually use ketchup down here, too).






Until next time, devoted fans, remember these two bits of advice: your water or power could go out at any time, so have a backup plan; and don't squish bugs with pillows, it's messy.