Year of the Dragon

[For more pictures, skip the rant and go to the end]

I’m sure entire books have been written exploring whether the massive investments that cities and countries make to host events like the Olympics or the World Cup make financial sense in the long run. So I’m not going to waste space by trying to make a reasoned argument on the subject, as I know very little about it. However, I visited Beijing’s Olympic Park today and it got me thinking about how the infrastructure changes involved can really change the feel of a city.

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One of the unexpected surprises of traveling so far away from home (homes?) for the first time, was the sudden boost in exoticism. Being Colombian in the States is old news. Everyone has a Colombian ex-boyfriend or a completely originally and hilarious joke about Pablo Escobar and snorting cocaine (NOT). But here, on those occasions that I don’t decide to let people think I’m American for convenience’s sake, I get a completely different kind of reaction. 

When I tell the curious taxi driver where I’m from, I get a blank stare. Lately, I’ve decided to add “that’s in South America,” just to help a little, and half the time I’m convinced they thought I meant from the southern United States. My gringo accent doesn’t help. 

But looking for “latin” things in Cape Town is one of my favorite things.  I particularly love Cubaña, self proclaimed “South Africa’s only authentic Latin social caffe.” It includes such Cuban classics as nachos, burritos, and my personal favorite, the “dirty Sanchez” cocktail- look it up on urban dictionary. The caffe’s symbol is the letter “ñ”. It’s everywhere. Please ignore that this authentic touch actually makes the name of the restaurant a non-existent word. 

I finally understand why my Chinese friends complain so much about the chinese food in the US.