[This message has been edited by Cali vet]
Just got back from visiting a friend who is in jail up in the small city of Tulua, an hour and a half north of Cali. What relevance you might ask? Well he's almost fifty and his girlfriend is sixteen. She and her mother are living in his house in a mountain village fourty five minutes from the city and she dutifully visits him most Sundays which is ladies' visiting day and conjugal visits are allowed. So maybe that's a new age difference record though he's European not gringo so I don't know if it counts here. He told me he'd like to marry her when he gets out. In Colombian village life this age difference is considered unimportant while his relative economic superiority is all important. Of course he won't be seeking any advise on visas and greencards. Today he showed me a sturdy brick house with steel shuttered windows built right into the jail for a big drug capo a few years ago. The guy had two private bodyguards armed with shotguns stationed in front of the house at all times right inside the jail. Also had a horse he rode around inside the compound. My friend shares one of the small rooms that housed one of the body guards. It's a good thing his cellmate is short because my friend is six foot and the two short Colombian style beds are wedged end to end.
I got on the wrong bus comming back because the bus attendant and the sign in the window lied and said "Cali Directo". Instead it made long stops in Buga and then Palmira following a route down the eastern side of the Rio Cauca. But the scenery was different and I got a close look at the Central Cordillera and it didn't end up taking that much longer than the true direct route.
Here's a couple of colombianismos I heard today. You see a girl with a flat rear walking down the street and someone says: "Debe ser profesora...porque lleve el tablero atras". And when my novia is really pissed: "Tiene cara de trentiocho largo" (long barreled thirtyeight).
