Bringing the World into the Kitchen: 2013

Friday, March 1, 2013

I lied, and I have some good news!

Buenos Dias!! Good Morning!!

Okay I lied, this next post will not be about the new food I have tried. I have decided to write that post much later because I try new things every single day!

On that note I have some good news!! Today I have a wonderful opportunity to work at another restaurant! How did I land this opportunity one might ask? The other night I went out with my cousin for some drinks and I met a friend of Andrea (that used to work with her in another restaurant). He works at a restaurant called Sienna in the part of Bogota called Usaquen that is probably the most beautiful part of Bogota I've seen so far. Sienna is a restaurant/bar. Sienna contains food that fuses Italian and Oriental food. The inside is just gorgeous, they have a beautiful open kitchen that has one of the coolest pizza ovens I have ever seen!
Anyways that is all I have for now. Hopefully after my long day of working at both restaurants I might have time to blog a little about my day! ciao!

Monday, February 25, 2013

An Ordinary Day in Bogota

It´s not like everyday is ordinary but I wanted to give you guys an idea of what I do on a daily bases here in Bogota. So here I go,
Buenos Dias!
My days usually start with my cousin Andrea coming into my room and telling me to get my ass out of bed. After tossing and turning, I finally get the motivation to go to work. After taking a shower and getting dressed and all that jazz, my family, Sharon (my aunt), Edgar (my uncle), Andrea and I all meet in the kitchen to have breakfast and talk about what our days look like.

Arepitas

Breakfast usually consists of hot or cold chocolate milk, little arepitas with butter and a fried egg. But some days we do not have time to eat breakfast at home but working in a restaurant means you never go hungry so it doesn't phase me when we don't eat at home.

Mornings are usually rushed because we are are trying to fight traffic. Even though I have gotten used to traffic here, I still have not gotten used to how scary it is to ride in a car here. Unlike the United states where people can be ticketed for driving too close to one another, Colombian drivers are some of the scariest drivers I have ever encountered. There is no limit of how close a car can be next to another and to be honest I really don't think there is a speed limit. Now I am not saying that there are no signs saying how fast you can go but what I am really trying to say is there might not be any police officers that pull you over for speeding.

After getting through traffic and arriving to the Restaurant at around 9 am, we open the restaurant and start getting ready for the day. I do various things at the restaurant from cleaning, mise en placing, baking, measuring out meats, portioning, cooking and helping my cousin, Andrea. We are open Tuesday through Sunday from 10am to 10pm, our busy days are usually Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sometimes Sundays. Sundays we open super early for breakfast but close around 5pm. I work at the restaurant all day everyday, from open to close. And I love every minute of it! After long days we drag our feet and squeeze into my cousin's car, most nights we squeeze the staff of the restaurant into the car and drive everyone to their destination or bus stops.

If we haven't eaten dinner, we will eat dinner as a family and talk about our days. We get ready for bed and fall asleep to the TV.

Party Taxi

Since today was Monday, I had my day off. Today I dyed and cut my hair, walked around, and went to lunch and for drinks at an Italian restaurant with my cousin Andrea. By the way we rode in a taxi that had FOUR tvs playing music videos, subs, GPS, it was a real party taxi!
My time in Colombia has been amazing so far! I have felt so welcome here! To be honest everyday I fall in love with Colombia more and more.

*Next post will contain fruit, vegetables and dishes that I have tried here*