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In 2012, I moved to Bogota, Colombia to work as an English teacher. What I didn't realize was that this career path would lead me to meet my future wife, to become a writer for an English language newspaper and an International Film Star in Colombia.
My writing career started when I emailed the editor of the local English newspaper. After emailing the editor of the newspaper, The City Paper, the editor asked me to come to an interview at his house in Bogota. As he opened his front door, I was immediately awarded the job as a his newest journalist.
“You are in luck, I want to send you out tonight for an interview that will be in next month’s paper. You want to write, yes? Do you have time?” asked the Richard, the editor of the City Paper.
“Yes, I do really want to write and I have time,” I responded, So much for an interview.
“Tell me about your experience writing,” stated Richard.
“The three publications where I have worked have either been student newspapers for no pay at all or entertainment magazines that paid me in beer coupons,” I recounted.
“Did you study journalism in university?”
“Actually, I graduated from university in Business Administration, went to Spain to do a post-graduate degree in Hotel Management and then took a few journalism classes at University of Oregon.
“I didn’t study journalism either. Anyway, this magazine isn’t financially able to pay you yet but we can compensate you in other ways.”
“For example?”
“We can give you advertising space in the newspaper to promote your book or your business. We also have contacts with different airlines and hotels and we can give you free trips and free stays in hotels.”
“Sold,” I said. By that time we were already in the taxi on the way to my first interview, so I guessed he probably already knew my answer. We quickly zoomed through the financial district of Bogota and Richard pointed out Colombia’s important financial buildings.
“Look, there is a Dunkin’ Donuts!” I observed, making a feeble attempt to contribute to the conversation.
A few minutes later we pulled up to the house of the person we were to interview. “His name is Michael, he is an American writer living in Colombia who has just released a book about the lifestyles of a rich and important gringo in Colombia.
After hearing that he was an American guy living in Colombia, Richard and I naturally assumed he must be an undercover CIA agent. When we met Michael, we were pleased to see he was wearing a colorful scarf, with hip, thick-rimmed glasses. After seeing his fashion choices, we ruled out any probability of him being an undercover CIA agent.
The three of us walked to a local café and each ordered a Café con Leche. Richard told us a little about his double citizenship (British-Canadian) and what first brought him to Colombia. “I first came to Colombia in 1990 to cover the elections. I was working as a press photographer for a British Newspaper called The Sunday Telegraph. That wasn’t my first time in Colombia. I had originally come by land with my mom who is Colombian when I was a child. After those three weeks covering the elections, I decided I wanted to come back to Colombia get in touch with my roots. When I came back to Colombia to live, I worked as a graphic editor for El Tiempo daily newspaper, and at present I am the director and editor of The City Paper, a free-circulation paper written in English that speaks well about Colombia and is directed to foreign tourists and English-speaking residents. Well, let us start the interview with Michael. Brian, would you like to take some notes?”
I quickly grabbed my notebook and two pens. One was a Sharpie and the other was a ballpoint pen. As soon as I started writing Michael’s name in the notebook, the ink ran out on the ballpoint pen. So, I quickly transferred to the Sharpie. I wrote down his name as ‘Michael Donnel.’ After I finished writing, Michael looked over at the notebook and corrected the spelling.
“No, it should end with ‘LY.’”
I then rewrote his name, ‘Michael Donnly.’
“No, it’s D-O-N-N-E-L-L-Y.”
I scratched out his name a third time and rewrote it as explained to me. I decided to test my ballpoint pen out again. It worked. I dropped the Sharpie and quickly amassed two pages of notes.
During the interview Michael talked about his Siamese cat named Mr. Gingersnaps. It was at that point, we breathed a sigh of the relief, realizing collectively that this American author was the furthest thing possible from an undercover CIA agent.
My writing career started when I emailed the editor of the local English newspaper. After emailing the editor of the newspaper, The City Paper, the editor asked me to come to an interview at his house in Bogota. As he opened his front door, I was immediately awarded the job as a his newest journalist.
“You are in luck, I want to send you out tonight for an interview that will be in next month’s paper. You want to write, yes? Do you have time?” asked the Richard, the editor of the City Paper.
“Yes, I do really want to write and I have time,” I responded, So much for an interview.
“Tell me about your experience writing,” stated Richard.
“The three publications where I have worked have either been student newspapers for no pay at all or entertainment magazines that paid me in beer coupons,” I recounted.
“Did you study journalism in university?”
“Actually, I graduated from university in Business Administration, went to Spain to do a post-graduate degree in Hotel Management and then took a few journalism classes at University of Oregon.
“I didn’t study journalism either. Anyway, this magazine isn’t financially able to pay you yet but we can compensate you in other ways.”
“For example?”
“We can give you advertising space in the newspaper to promote your book or your business. We also have contacts with different airlines and hotels and we can give you free trips and free stays in hotels.”
“Sold,” I said. By that time we were already in the taxi on the way to my first interview, so I guessed he probably already knew my answer. We quickly zoomed through the financial district of Bogota and Richard pointed out Colombia’s important financial buildings.
“Look, there is a Dunkin’ Donuts!” I observed, making a feeble attempt to contribute to the conversation.
A few minutes later we pulled up to the house of the person we were to interview. “His name is Michael, he is an American writer living in Colombia who has just released a book about the lifestyles of a rich and important gringo in Colombia.
After hearing that he was an American guy living in Colombia, Richard and I naturally assumed he must be an undercover CIA agent. When we met Michael, we were pleased to see he was wearing a colorful scarf, with hip, thick-rimmed glasses. After seeing his fashion choices, we ruled out any probability of him being an undercover CIA agent.
The three of us walked to a local café and each ordered a Café con Leche. Richard told us a little about his double citizenship (British-Canadian) and what first brought him to Colombia. “I first came to Colombia in 1990 to cover the elections. I was working as a press photographer for a British Newspaper called The Sunday Telegraph. That wasn’t my first time in Colombia. I had originally come by land with my mom who is Colombian when I was a child. After those three weeks covering the elections, I decided I wanted to come back to Colombia get in touch with my roots. When I came back to Colombia to live, I worked as a graphic editor for El Tiempo daily newspaper, and at present I am the director and editor of The City Paper, a free-circulation paper written in English that speaks well about Colombia and is directed to foreign tourists and English-speaking residents. Well, let us start the interview with Michael. Brian, would you like to take some notes?”
I quickly grabbed my notebook and two pens. One was a Sharpie and the other was a ballpoint pen. As soon as I started writing Michael’s name in the notebook, the ink ran out on the ballpoint pen. So, I quickly transferred to the Sharpie. I wrote down his name as ‘Michael Donnel.’ After I finished writing, Michael looked over at the notebook and corrected the spelling.
“No, it should end with ‘LY.’”
I then rewrote his name, ‘Michael Donnly.’
“No, it’s D-O-N-N-E-L-L-Y.”
I scratched out his name a third time and rewrote it as explained to me. I decided to test my ballpoint pen out again. It worked. I dropped the Sharpie and quickly amassed two pages of notes.
During the interview Michael talked about his Siamese cat named Mr. Gingersnaps. It was at that point, we breathed a sigh of the relief, realizing collectively that this American author was the furthest thing possible from an undercover CIA agent.