The crowd from CNC, our work partners here in Bogota, showed up right on time – not a common thing in Bogota, where “Colombia time” is a recognized if unregulated time zone. I think the reason they were on time was to bring in the band:

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My friends at CNC… lemme tell you, they are magnificent. Cris, vice president of government, who I admire so much. Carlos, brilliant and irascible and funny. Sorry, Fran, I didn’t get a good pic of you! And my dear Dr. Lemoine, of whom Mark was known to say, “there’s a reason you never see Dr. Lemoine and Yoda in the same place.” True dat.

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Friends like Omar, Julian, and the lovely Cata – shame her eyes are a bit closed here, because she’s just so beautiful. Of course, we were all getting snockered…

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Actually my problem was drinking too little, not too much. I kept setting down drinks when someone new walked in or a dance started on the dance floor or whatever. Same happened with the food. I ended up eating at home at 2 in the morning! Just too much good stuff going on at the party, I ignored the food. When I did have one appetizer wrapped in grape leaves, the next twenty pictures show I had the leaf stuck right in between my two front teeth. So classy!

 

Here are some more of my parces: David and Max from the home office: Jenn and Julian, after we learned Julian has just gotten a position as a botany professor at U Nacional – AWESOME news.

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The whole office was there, except our dear Esperanza, who’s recuperating well, thanks. Leyla and her husband, who seems like a match for her in terms of being a real fireball. I’m glad for her: he would need to have a mega personality to be a match for our Leyla! Ani, my darling friend who along with Roger and the CNC folks set up this shindig, with her boyfriend Camilo. Then Norma, Elena, Freddy and Nelly hamming it up in the kitchen.

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And the sweetest accountant in the world, Leo, and his wife, Kelly, who’s at least as sweet. I wish I’d taken more pictures, and I thank Jenn for taking at least half of these! Leaving Colombia gets harder the closer I get to the departure date…

With love to the whole noisy group!