This morning I let Naomi have a quiet visit with some of her family on WhatsApp while I went out to the little cafe around the corner from our apartment. I was really looking forward to a nice cappuccino and maybe a pastry. On my way there I encountered a fisherman selling his morning catch. A resident from our building was negotiating a sale with the man, who had a little cart with a nice assortment of fish and a cooler with camarones (shrimp). I also stopped to have a look, and the fisherman proudly showed me his atun (tuna) that he was happy to cut into smaller portions.
Well, I wasn’t going to buy a fish, and it was already a bit too warm outside for me to stand there much longer — so off I went to the cafe. Breakfast was a treat. The croissant was filled with almond slices and some almond paste and the pastry was warm and flaky. I’ve been making my own coffee from time to time, but lately I’ve preferred the cappuccinos — which are very nice and very cheap ($2.00).
When I got back to the apartment Naomi was just off the phone and cutting up some fruit for her own breakfast.
After breakfast we went down to the pool so that Naomi could swim a few laps and I could splash around a bit. The pool is large and often not very busy. It’s super clean and has great loungers where I can stretch out and do a sudoku.
Naomi here. Rudy has passed the blog off to me to finish as he is deep into a hockey game. Winnipeg Jets are up 4-0 against Philadelphia.
During our time in Colombia I have had the opportunity to read quite a few books. The one I finished today is a Louise Erdrich book called, The Painted Drum. I have read quite a number of books by her over the years. One of the pulls for me is the fact that she is a member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Nation and their traditional lands border the Manitoba Turtle Mountains just south of Boissevain where I grew up. The American colonial Indigenous relationship shares many similarities to the Canadians Indigenous and colonial one. And for that reason I am always interested to learn more from various perspectives. On a more general level I like novels that explore the themes of identity, both personal and cultural.
We also watched a movie today that Rudy had downloaded. It was one of the Oscar nominees called, The Nickel Boys (based on a novel). It was hard to follow because of the camera angles that followed the perspective of the various story tellers. It also juxtaposed historical footage from the time period (1960s) and often it forced the viewer to take a big leap to make connections. The film explores the Nickel Reform School and the atrocities that happened there, mostly to young black boys. I definitely recommend the film.
Well, I guess that is about all. I’ll go and do a bit of drawing before I head to bed.