Lunch With Fido?

Animals stay out! Parchita waits for me on the sidewalk.

 Dogs accompany us at home, on walks, on vacation. So, why can't they join us at lunch?

Bogotá's prohibition against pets in restaurants is irregularly enforced, but does leave lots of dogs tied up in doorways in the sun or rain while their owners enjoy lunch or dinner.

No dogs allowed.

Now, Mayor Enrique Peñalosa, (although no favorite of the animalistas lobby because of the reappearance of bullfighting in Bogotá), wants to let the animals in.

In fact, what good reason is there to keep animals out? Dogs are dirty, but so are people. And many animals are better behaved than their owners. Besides, the person who pets his or her dog before entering a restaurant carries in lots of that animal's microbes, anyway. And at home pet owners share their kitchens and dining rooms with their animals to no apparent ill effects. (In fact, lots of research shows that early exposure to animals and their microbes helps kids develop healthy immune systems.)

This seems like the sort of thing which the market can decide: Restaurants which believe that their customers like animals could let them in, while more formal, straight-laced places can keep them out.


By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

A Climate Protest Against...Peñalosa

Rallying for the climate - kind of - in the Parque Nacional.

At a rally against climate change yesterday participants protested against...Mayor Peñalosa.

The gas masks say 'No TransMilenio.' Does this make sense
 if it means keeping the old 'rolling chimney' buses around?

Some of the issues seem reasonable, such as protesting the recent cutting of urban trees (the city says that some trees have become hazards). And defending the Van der Hamm protected area north of Bogotá, which the city wants to develop (the city says the protected area has already been damaged).

But the rally's primary emphasis seemed to be opposition to the expansion of the city's TransMilenio express bus system...the very same system which has won international awards for reducing climate change gases.

And, while it is a different, if related, issue, many TransMilenio buses are relatively clean burning, and the city promises that buses on the planned

'Bogotá free of fossil fuels.' We'll
expect that one tomorow.

Septima corridor will be electric or gas-powered zero emission vehicles. Meanwhile, many of the old buses running on the avenue are literal rolling chimneys. Is keeping those polluters on the road by opposing TransMilenio really pro-environment?

Even more absurd were the calls for a 'Bogotá free of fossil fuels.' If only! But such unrealistic fantasies only distract from achieving real changes.

And if these people were really against climate change, they'd oppose the private cars inundating the city by the tens of thousands every year, which generate much more greenhouse gas per-rider than buses do, as well as hogging space and clogging roads. But I didn't see a word against private cars.

Two old 'rolling chimneys' which passed the park where they were protesting against TransMilenio.

Protest these? New relatively clean TransMilenio buses on Carrera Septima.

Don't cut down trees!

Smoking away. No contradiction between protesting pollution and polluting.

Smoking away: These pollution protesters saw no reason not to pollute themselves.

Activist Greenman at the protest.

No TransMilenio on Carrera Septima - because we like those old rolling chimneys!

No TransMilenio on Ave. 68.

Protect the wetlands.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

One Gender Equity Word Too Far

The girls and women of Bogotá have lots of concerns: crime, sexual harassment, employment

The new official Bogotá uniform?

discrimination, and others. But I've never heard a Bogotana say she suffered from oppression by grammatical discrimination.

But this is what Bogotá's legal system, in all of its wisdom and blindness, is now charging ahead with.

A judge just ordered Mayor Peñalosa to modify his city slogan from 'Bogotá Mejor Para Todos' to 'Bogotá Mejor Para Todos y Todas.' In other words, he's to add the words 'y todas' so that nobody gets the idea that the city's goal is to make life better only for its male residents.

Aventureros hostal: Only male adventurers allowed here?

Sensibly, Peñalosa is appealing the decision, which would require the modification of innumerable city signs, uniforms, websites and literature, not to mention making the city's slogan sound wordy and awkward. The slogan was changed when Peñalosa became mayor a year ago, and will be changed again if the current recall effort against Peñalosa succeeds.

In protesting the ruling, Peñalosa pointed out that 'every high school teacher knows that in Spanish the masculine words include both male and female individuals'. That's why when schools refer to their 'alumnos' nobody thinks they mean boys but not girls. And when presidents refer to 'ciudadanos' they mean both male and female citizens. 'Abogados' includes lawyers of both genders. And so on.

Welcome to La Candelaria: But only for males,
unless your an Engish-speaker.

Specify the female gender in everything and you not only state the obvious and treat your audience ciudadanos y ciudadanas' and 'candidatos y candidatas' and 'senadoras y senadores.' I'll never forget a mind-numbing talk I suffered thru one evening in Bolivia as the speaker went on about 'campesinos y campesinas,' 'maestros y maestras' and 'profesoras y profesores.' Perhaps he also specified that the people owned both 'perros y perras.'
like idiots, but you generate documents like Venezuela's Constitution or Colombia's peace agreement with the FARC, which drone on repetitively about '

If not for the time and effort wasted by this habit isn't enough to ban it, the trees needlessly killed and the gigabytes of computer memory needlessly filled should do it.

'A better Bogotá for all' - but only if you're a male?

But if always specifying the female gender really is required, then Bogotá is in big trouble:

The Down Town converntion center says its closer to male Bogotanos.

The Procudaria warns males not to be corrupt.

Unquestionably, Spanish is sexist - as are most languages. But Bogotá won't change it, and will make a fool of itself. A more practical solution would be to convince the ultra-conservative Real Academia de la Lengua in Madrid to accept use of the @ symbol to include both genders, as in 'Hola chic@s'.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Painting La Candelaria

Polka-Doting Carrera 3.

Today, the city organized a painting festival of some of La Candelaria's older homes, made ugly by neglect and graffiti. Hundreds of volunteers turned out, in what was a sort of street party.

Now, how long will the clean new walls last?

Painting a house.

Sponsored by Citibank!

'Please don't paint this wall.' 

Before the painting, many walls looked like this.

Many houses were graffitied.

A street packed with painters

These kids painted more than the walls.

A graffitied wall in the La Concordia neighborhood.

Painting an historic home.

Mayor Enrique Peñalosa, who is fighting a recall effort, showed up.

Piano playing in the street.

Cleaning up.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours