A Day in My Life

Being non-traditionally employed, I work from home (or rather, my grandma’s home) on my own schedule. For those of you with 9-5 jobs, this means I have a lot of time on my hands.

If you’re interested in knowing how a non-traditionally employed expat in Colombia spends her day, please read the following:

Upon waking up, my grandmother asks me about 20 times what I’m eating for breakfast. As I’ve mentioned before, food is a major preoccupation in Colombia, and breakfast is approached with intensified interest. I usually have an arepa with melted cheese. This is a pretty typical Colombian breakfast.

Next it’s time for my morning walk. I generally walk to Usaquen, where I head to the bakery for a diet coke and pastry. It’s very important to counter sweets with diet coke, as artificially sweetened carbonated beverages cancel out the effects of unhealthy foods. For whatever reason, every time I come to Colombia I lose about 15-20 pounds in the first month doing absolutely no exercise and eating whatever I want. I have a theory that this weight loss has something to do with Bogota’s altitude, but whatever the reason, it’s wonderful. In three weeks in the U.S this past September, I gained 7 pounds riding my bike everyday and watching what I ate. People here say that the water in the U.S makes you fat; maybe they’re right. But back to my daily routine…

While enjoying my pastry and diet coke (if non-traditional employment revenues allows this luxury), I usually read. Without exaggerating, my uncle has about 1,000 books in my grandmother’s apartment. Most of them are at least 20 years old. Old books make me uneasy and sad and I’d much rather read something contemporary and recently bound – not very romantic but true. Anyway, a good 75 percent of my uncle’s books are written by American or British authors and translated into Spanish. I’m currently reading Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and somehow, reading about New York and New Yorkers in Spanish doesn’t feel quite right. You can’t capture a New York accent or attitude in Spanish. It makes me think of all the translated books I’ve read and how much I’ve missed out on. But oh well, back to the daily routine…

Around 1 or so, I go back to my grandma’s house for lunch and spend the afternoon writing, editing, researching and looking for traditional 9-5 jobs. There’s not much to say about this part of my day.

One of my favorite parts of the day is onces, or snack time. Onces are usually spent at my great aunt Lorenza’s apartment, which is right next door to my grandmothers. Onces at Lorenza’s consists of five or six people (nearly always elderly women and me) seated around the dining room table, enjoying bread, crackers, and hot chocolate with melted cheese. Some of you out there may be skeptical about the idea of hot chocolate with melted mozzarella or queso campesino, but it’s actually very good. During onces, politics, building and celebrity gossip, music, store-openings and the ever deteriorating state of the world is discussed.

In the evenings, I work a bit more, watch telenovelas and the news with my grandmother, read, and Skype. My social life hasn’t quite taken off yet, but I’m hopeful for the future. As you can see, life for an expat in Colombia is not particularly stressful. Though a bit troubling that all the pictures I've included are of food...thank goodness for Bogota weight loss miracle....