This whole scenario caused my humiliating arrival to a dinner invitation three hours late covered with dust, a small tear to a shirt sleeve, an imprint of a cage on my back and sporting a rooster gauno stain on top of my left shoe…..
“Don’t worry Ricardo …most guests haven’t arrived yet”….. so informed my amused host and he went on to elaborate a concept in time new to me….
“It’s only important that you arrive for dinner on the correct day….not that we all eat together in an hour. If time was important we would have asked you to be here on “English time”. Come meet everyone and have something to eat…. and put your watch in your pocket”.
I left that evening just prior to midnight as other guests were still arriving. The day had been long and tiresome … and wonderful. It left me armed with fresh advice on time and punctuality to take with me on future travels even though I still prefer to be punctual…… and of course the importance of checking out a Chiva’s tires before boarding.
Colombia proved itself to be a never ending learning experience for me. The very next day for instance. That’s when my wife’s Tia Marta showed me how to remove a chicken shit stain from the top of a shoe . And who can’t use a skill like that?
