Adventures in the Zoo & Elections in the "First" World

A few days ago a Colombian friend of mine who now lives in Holland, wrote a very "controversial" blog post regarding some of the differences of living in Colombia and living in Holland, and how she ended up divorcing herself from reading our country's news in the internet.  I say controversial due to the number and tone of the comments she got in her facebook. There were the surprised comments, the sentimental comments, the sad comments, the - OMG why are you writing that - comments... and everything in between.

I personally was kind of sad because I agree with her and the pointed critic to our developing country.  Don't get me wrong,  we love our country... and we see the potential... but living abroad also makes us recognize that we have some serious issues; and those we can't ignore.

All that to introduce this week's blog; and don't worry... going by the blog title I am not implying that Colombia is a zoo... our adventures in the zoo and the past Calgary elections which happened yesterday,  are supposed to be two different subjects... however, for those of us that are allowed to vote in Colombia and have actually exercised that right...  the parallel between Colombian elections and a zoo is not too far out.

So time for a warning.  If you, dear reader, are a born and raised - developed country - citizen; you might  not find my description of the Calgary elections very interesting.  That's what you know.  That's what you have experienced all of your life. However, you might find some of my side notes of what happens in Colombia amusing... or even incredible.  Now,  if you are Colombian... you'll probably find the Calgary elections pretty impressive. That's the beauty of  different perspectives.

Anyway... to the subject matter.  So, Tavo and I became Canadian Citizens about a year ago. Just before we passed our citizenship exam we were asked if we were interested in being automatically "subscribed" to the potential voters list.  We said yes.  No need to do anything else.  Just click on the yes box.  So about 3 weeks ago we got this little booklet in the mail.

The booklet clearly describes, depending on where you live, where you should vote. It also says who are the candidates (this time for major, alderman -  which is kinda of  a "concejal " for your neighborhood and school trustee).  No need to read the newspaper trying to figure out where your "mesa de votacion" is.  Or worrying if you subscribed or not, and where you are subscribed.  God forbid you moved and then you have to re-subscribe to your new area. 
A quick disclaimer: It's been over 6 years since we moved to Canada so I'll describe the process in Colombia as I remember it -  hoping that since then,  it has changed.  : )


So yesterday (yes, elections happen on a Monday,  not on a Sunday as there is no need for extra security in case someone tries to steal the ballot boxes with the votes - o "urnas") Tavo and I decided to vote for the first time.  We went,  after work.  Of course, I was expecting to be there from 6 to 8; I even had a couple of granola bars in my purse just in case dinner was eternally delayed.  Well... it took amazing 10 minutes. 


We each had to go to a table (depending on the first letter of your last name) to show our ID and get a card.  The card included our names and address. I am telling you people;  I was fully expecting not to receive a card on that table because we have moved from one house to another since we said "yes" to be subscribed as voters.  I was expecting something like: "sorry madam, you're not in this area.  You have to drive to where you used to live... maybe your name will be there, that's assuming we remembered you said yes to the subscription a year ago, and only then you might be able to vote".  Colombia style...  you are supposed to be subscribed in one table but your name might or might not really be there, and then you end up going somewhere else hoping you find your table... anyway, my friends NO!! My card was there! in the right table and with my new address!


Then I signed the card, the election official gave me the ballots and off I went to write an X by my favorite candidate's name. By the way, the writing mechanism provided to write your X with... is a pencil. Not a pen... a pencil.  You Colombians might wonder... (just as Tavo did) what if they erase the X and change the vote? And you my Canadian friends might be thinking... WHAT?? 

So the voting was done.  There.  With a pencil.  End. Finito. No need for granola bars. 10 minutes. 


Another detail... Tavo thought the whole voting process lacked a little "life" (read irony)... the candidates were not offering free lunches,  or T-Shirts with their names, or "un aguardientico" (translation: a Colombian alcoholic drink) to get some votes from the poorest and uneducated.  None of that.  There were no bands, papayeras or any kind of music. No military or police. No need. There was no count of how many muertos along how many votes were that day.   


And then we went home talking about how different the election system works.  And of course, there are far deeper observations to make about our Colombian "democracy",  but I'll avoid that for now.  I'll leave that to my friend in Holland.  :) 

All I'm going to say is that we came home after being "brushed" by the developed world ones again,  to find the "black bin" for our garbage conveniently delivered by the city in front of our door.  All the bins were delivered that day and there were all  neatly placed in front of each house.  So your recyclable garbage goes into the blue bin and the rest in the black one.  Nobody steals each other's bin to create a black bin market -even though they are pretty sleek looking. They are the city's property and so they will remain.  They have instructions.... yes instructions.   And by the way, if  by mistake something happens to the bin and it gets damaged, there is an "emergency" number so the city can come to your property and replace it. ASAP.


People from Colombia.  I rest my case. 


Here's Tavo with our bin.

 
Anyway... I just want to end by talking a bit about the Zoo.  - I know, total change of subject. 
It's just that we had a company function at the Calgary Zoo this past week.  It was very nice because all the people came with their kids and significant others.  There were so many kids that it made me think that going to the Zoo and not taking any kids with you feels almost like you didn't meet the minimum requirement to be there.  :)  Oh well... our time will come. 


Here are some pics to share. 

And of course... the halloween theme

Finally, some friends that we enjoyed part of the evening with: Aubrey and his wife Kelli. And of course their two little ones. 

Side note: Kelli wasn't able to eat at the same time as all of us because she was taking care of their little boy.  So they had to take turns with Aubrey to eat.  I am sure by the time she eat her dinner it was already cold. 


Which brought a thought to my mind:  We really need to enjoy eating together more, cause after the baby comes it'll get harder and harder.  So my list of things to enjoy grows to two:


1. Sleep in on the weekends.
2. Eat together and when food is still warm. 


Any other things I need to enjoy before our Colombianito(a) gets home?


But at least we'll have company for the zoo!


Until next post,


LuzM.