A la Orden
Monday, September 5th, 20053 September 2005 (Saturday) – Cartagena to Medellin, Colombia
The day was pretty much spent like yesterday, wandering down the various alleys of Cartagena, admiring the architecture and the plazas and taking many photos.
Today, there was also a communion for 8-year-olds. So, everywhere in the streets, I would see 8-year-old boys and girls dressed up in all white, like they were getting married. Very sweet.
An interesting place is the Portal de los Dulces, opposite the Clock Tower, an area where there were many small street stalls selling traditional sweets. Different sweets were stored in clear glass jars, like how it was done in the old days.
In Colombia, one can generally find very cheap meals. They are called Comida Corrientes or Menu Ejecutivo, much like Plate of the Day. Here, for around 3000 to 4500 pesos, you get soup, a plate with rice, beans, salad, meat and fried banana and a drink. Much, much, much cheaper than food in Venezuela. But they are normally not such great food. Still, they filled my tummies. Learn more of Colombian cuisine from here.
I also noticed that people here use a lot of ice in their drinks. I am sure many travellers have read about warnings on taking ice or water of unknown sources in their drinks. Since I left Argentina, I had been drinking juices all the way through Brazil and Venezuela. I actually had forgotten to ever inquire if water was mixed in the juices. I know of people who even brush their teeth using bottled mineral water. I still recalled my 5-day-6-night trip on the boat along the brown Amazon River. The water used for bathing and that which came out of the tap was very brown. Gee… I wonder where that brown water came from? I saw the tourists on the boat using the drinking water for brushing their teeth, and even then, after adding chlorine tablets in that too!
But to fuss about water and ice, is like to forget about ever having a drink here. As the weather is so hot, many drink sellers sell lovely iced lemonade along the streets. Vendors even climb on board the local buses with plastic cups and a jug of cool orange-juice. Others set up blenders on their street-stalls with some fruits and you order your choice of jugo natural (natural juice) mixed with crushed ice right there.
A common phrase used here is ‘A la orden’, which means ‘At your service’. Everytime I walked into a store, or thanked someone as I departed the store or restaurant, they would smile and say “A la orden.” I was very impressed with all the smiley services I had encountered so far in Colombia.
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