1 Week in Bogota: Day 6 Club El Rancho

The penultimate day in Colombia was spent at a country club. I had heard a lot about the club culture from L. She said it's changed a lot since its heyday but she thought it was worth experiencing. So, we piggybacked off of N's boyfriend's family's membership and spent an afternoon pretending we were bougie.

In the end, L ended up being pretty pissed with the whole experience because they made us pay for every single little thing. We were expected to pay a fee if we wanted to swim, if we wanted to use the gym, and we even ended up paying for a steam in the locker room, which we'd assumed would be free. The only fun thing we did that was worth the cost was bowling.

In the morning, I got to try a different type of arepa. From my limited Spanish, I learned from L's mom that this one uses a masa that has cooked fresh corn versus dried corn.

It was jam-packed with cheese and I was super excited.

Lilia asked me if I wanted fruit so I asked what kind and she offered me papaya and pineapple so I of course said yes. The pineapple was insanely ripe and sweet.

I thoroughly enjoyed my deliciously cheesy arepa with hot chocolate.

After breakfast, I followed L into town because she had a little something to take care of at her business. While she was there, I wandered off on my own to replenish my phone data and minutes, which I managed to do completely fine. I know L's family wasn't certain about my abilities and independence and were surprised when they found out, but then L reminded them that I survived Santiago by myself for several days and that I've traveled across the globe and haven't yet been kidnapped or murdered, knock on wood.

I also stopped by Cuchipanda to get an oblea kit as a souvenir. It came with a stack of obleas and arequipe. I talked to one of the shop employees about if they thought I could take it on the airplane (no, it would likely count as a liquid) and how long they thought it would keep. I was told that it would keep for up to two weeks in the fridge.

And then, I just wandered around town. I actually ended up going inside the local church just to see what it looked like. Since it was the Saturday sandwiched by Good Friday and Easter Sunday, I was worried it would be super busy, but it was quiet.

I also stopped by the local supermarket to stock up on even more souvenirs, including ahi (spicy chile paste) and a dozen Cocosette. Oh, and I picked up a bag of plantain chips for the airplane ride.

After I was done with my errands, I headed back to L's work and she was already waiting for me in the car, ready to go. We went back home, grabbed our gym things, and then hopped on a bus towards Bogota. The bus ride was only $3.700 COP ($1 USD) which I am still baffled by. I guess cost of living is just lower down there.

CLUB EL RANCHO

So, you can only get in if you know a member and there's a fee for guests and that's why I'm like, should I even bother sharing? Plus, we spent half our time bowling and the other half steaming our bodies into oblivion so I don't have many photos from this day. I probably could've combined this into yesterday's post, to be honest. But, I suppose I'm sharing because if the opportunity arises and you have the time and you're even mildly interested, it's kind of a fun day.

The club was pretty empty because everyone was off on holiday for Semana Santa and that was actually nicer because we basically had the place to ourselves.

We started off by having lunch at one of the outdoor restaurants. I started off with a strawberry juice and then got the langoustines thermidor. It was such a heavy dish though that I needed something fresh to offset it so I ended up ordering a salad afterwards. The langoustines were delicious and so was the salad. The salad totally hit the spot.

After lunch, we bowled. We paid $18.000 each ($5.50) for an hour, which meant we got about 3 games in. It was fun. I hadn't bowled since college. (Cornell has a bowling alley because it's the best school.)

The guy put my name is "Reichel" so L and I were dying. I won the first game, L won the second, and then I won the third. We both managed to get a couple of strikes and spares but overall, we sucked.

After the game, we hopped back on the bus and went home. We had contemplated going out for a night on the town (into Bogota) but while we were heading back to Tabio from the club, we saw some insane, nasty traffic on the other side. I wasn't in much of a party mood and I'd sated any cravings for alcohol during our time in Medellin anyway so I was fine to just call it a night and hit the hay.

Oh, but before we went to bed, we snacked on these delicious jam-filled ring cookies that L's cousin had gifted us (from our trip to the store the previous evening). It was so good.

xoxo.