I now work for the Colombian National Police. My new best friend is the cop in the picture below, Juan Carlos. So what am I doing in the Police Station in Bogota?? Continue reading to find out..
Day 13. Meeting with Liza at 8:30 AM.
Brilliant photography by Georg!
Gerda and Tracey in the police outpost. I think the police was a little confused to see us eating an ice cream and wanting to report a crime :).
Finally, we were called into a room by detective Juan Carlos. Just like the others, officer Juan Carlos was extremely friendly and funny. After typing every detail of the incident into the report .... and educating us about the people from Medellin...and the Colombians from the coastal region.. and some other things which we really were not in a mood to listen to... he gave us a printed copy of the complaint. He then posed to take pictures with us. He even asked me to wear his cap and take a photo. Then Tracey and Gerda took turns.
By the time this whole ordeal was over, it was 5:30 PM. We then took the cab back to PSF, picked up Michal and drove back to the hotel.
Later in the evening, we went to the Centro Commercial Andino Mall. We were stalked by some street vendors trying to sell us Rolex and Rado watches. One of the Rolex watches I inquired about was priced at 180 USD. The vendor dropped about 20 USD for every step we took away from him. By the end of the negotiation (and 8 steps away from where we started), he was willing to sell the fake Rolex for 20 USD :) . Of course, I did not buy it.
Day 13. Meeting with Liza at 8:30 AM.
Brilliant photography by Georg!
Obviously, Liza brought us some delicious <I dont remember the name of this food>. It was great!!
Liza and Tracey.
We traveled to the PSF office after the meeting with Liza and worked for another 3 hours. We went for lunch around 1:30 PM to the Mexican restaurant that we went the first week. Outstanding food yet again.
Dama Blanca and the lost iPhone
After lunch we decided to stop by for an icecream at Crepes and Waffles. There was a short line at the cashier and another short line for the icecream. There was a security guard toward the back of the store looking at the main entrance. When we entered, there was a gentleman, who looked homeless, staring at us. I ordered "Dama Blanca" or 'White Lady' in English - basically chocolate and vanilla ice cream.
After placing the order, we waited for our ice cream when Gerda noted that there was a guy staring at her. However, we tried to find him but couldn't. Meanwhile, I joked that he was probably thinking in his mind "Damaaa Blancaaa". While we were laughing about it, Gerda checked her jacket and realized that she couldn't find her iPhone. We quickly, ran outside but couldn't find the man. We then checked with the security guard who said he had seen nothing. I used my "Find my iPhone" app to track the device but it was unfortunately offline. Somebody had stolen Gerda's iPhone. Since it was a corporate phone, I had to use the Lost mode and Erase functionality to wipe out the data on the phone. We then went to the nearby police outpost to report the issue. The police told us that we could only file a complain in the police station which was 5 blocks away.
So Gerda, Tracey and I walked to police station while Sindy and Michal headed back to the office.
In retrospect, I think, after all, "Damaaa Blancaaa!" was exactly what the homeless guy might have thought after stealing Gerda's iPhone.
We reached the police station after a 20 min walk and were greeted by extremely friendly, warm and personable policemen. One of them was so excited to know that I was from India that he shared many stories about how he had captured certain Indians in the past; and how big and burly and dangerous they were. I have a slight suspicion he does not realize that I am from India which is the Indian Subcontinent in South Asia. Big and Burly?! OK.
We sat on a sofa, which was basically a mat with some cushion attached to it, for about 1 hour. There was another cop who stopped by to check what happened to us and why we were in the police station. He looked so happy and couldn't stop smiling while Gerda explained the incident. ?!?
By the time this whole ordeal was over, it was 5:30 PM. We then took the cab back to PSF, picked up Michal and drove back to the hotel.
Later in the evening, we went to the Centro Commercial Andino Mall. We were stalked by some street vendors trying to sell us Rolex and Rado watches. One of the Rolex watches I inquired about was priced at 180 USD. The vendor dropped about 20 USD for every step we took away from him. By the end of the negotiation (and 8 steps away from where we started), he was willing to sell the fake Rolex for 20 USD :) . Of course, I did not buy it.
Other than the subway sandwich I had in the food court, I couldn't afford anything else in this mall. Either SAP is paying me too little or Colombians earn a lot!
What a day!
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