No blond Colombian children were harmed in the taking of this picture

I “gave” fish for all the workers’ families. They are so appreciative. Let’s see if they feel that way after eating the fish that have been surviving only on old range balls.

The name of the fish is CACHAMA. Kinda tasty but more bones you would ever want for a main course. Takes about 45 minutes to eat one.

So, if you read yesterday’s post, you’ll know that a friend of ours helped fix the car in a most unusual way. Well, it stalled again. So, being the observant guy that I am, I rememberd what hose Alvaro sucked on to remedy the situation. There I was, car parked down at the golf course, bent over the engine, sucking on a small hose to the carburator. If my friends could see me now, I thought. I motioned to Jorge to start the car. I was going to feel so proud…….Nuthin’. Suck on the other end, I figured……. Nothin’. Jorge was doubled over laughing but figured he’d give it a try next. My turn to giggle…….. Nothin’. Along came Ernesto. “McGyver” was sure to get the car started in his own inimitable way. But his own inimitable way turned out to be sucking on the same hose. Nobody is too afraid of dirt or germs down here…….Nuthin’. So, I was stuck again with no way to retrieve the two girls that I needed to pick up at school. This is officially my only income in Colombia. Along with my step-daughter Catalina, I drive 2 other girls to and from school every day. Their parents pay me $50 each every month. Pays for gas and carburator sucking classes. Fortunately, Sandra called one of the fathers who was willing to make the trip and pick up the girls.

Back to the “sucking” problem. Ernesto called a mechanic. 20 minutes later the mechanic arrived on his moto with a small tool chest for a passenger. What happened next was a melange of rural Spanish and mechanical skills, neither of which I excel at. All I know is the mechanic is coming tomorrow for a free lesson and charged us $10. There are so many things that are more expensive in Colombia than in the USA. But on this day, we ate for free and had a mechanic visit for $10. Try that at home!

Most of them stopped to help push-start the car, but to no avail. So, I was stuck on the side of the road near the small elementary school about 1/2 mile from the course and 1/4 mile from where the kids live. Now, in Colombia, most people don’t have unlimited cell phone minutes and neither do I. At this moment I was out of minutes. Luckily I had time for an emergency call and Sandra, my wife, picked up. Otherwise, I would have had to walk 10 minutes to Tehaditos, the little neighborhood where the kids live. You know that feeling when you need to be somewhere and can’t get there and have no phone. Sandra had run some errands so she too was at Catalina’s school waiting for me to pick them up.

Sandra called Ernesto, who for lack of a better description, is our greenskepper. He also a jack of all trades and we call him McGyver. Although down here it is pronounced MC-GEEVER. Ernesto drove up the road in his car to help me get the car started. At the same time, Sandra was flagging down a taxi in the rain to retreive Catalina and the other two girls that I drive every day (another story.)

McKEEVER did his noraml stuff, picking and tweaking and laying in the dirt looking under the car. From what I understood (my understanding of rural Colombian farmers is still not perfect) Ernesto thought it might be the gas pump. So we scratched our heads as the kids were still lingering wanting to push the car again.. OTRA VEZ, DON TONY, OTRA VEZ (Again.. Again).

Now Alvaro, our friend and construction guy was coming up from the course and he stopped to see if he could help. He’s a pretty big guy and he wasted no time sticking his huge fore arms and head in and around the engine. He and Ernesto argued over whether it was the gas pump or the gas filter. (I am starting to get a kick out of understanding everybody down here.)

The next thing I knew, Alvaro had taken a small gas hose from the carburetor and began sucking on it to apparently take the air out of the line.  Talk about things they don’t teach you in Harvard Business School!

30 seconds later, the car started and we now have McKEEVER 2 (McKEEVER DOS).

Lastly, yesterday I was grateful not to have to buy the CHICKEN FOOT that Catalina, my stepdaughter, needed for a science project. They are easy to come by down here, as opposed to, say, suburbia Pittsburgh, but nonetheless, my bargaining skills in the market still have a lot to be desired. Luckily her father bought it for her.

Tomorrow, I think we will pull some fish out of our lake and fry them for lunch. In two days I go to Paris. I wonder whether chicken feet are as readily available there?

It is definitely ground cover. Grows very low to the ground with a cushion-like spring to it. It has nodes and the leaves are alternate. The leaves are less than 1/2 inch and are mostly oval/spearlike.

I own a very small public golf course in Colombia South America. www.agameforall.com

This ground cover may be the perfect solution for large areas (driving range, etc) that we won’t have to mow or weed whack.

I basically need to know if this is a good weed, a bad weed, attracts ants (seems to harbor more ants than the bermuda on the course). How to maintain it. How to kill it if necessary. That kind of information I mkight be able to find out down here, but first I need to know WHAT IT IS?

I have looked now for 2 days to try and find it on the web and I can’t. The closest I can find is KNOTWEED and PENNYWART.

Donate online or checks can be sent to:
Tony Ciabattoni
326 Cherrydell Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15220

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Our foundation is so grateful for the support from Pacific Rubiales during the Nationwide Tour’s Bogata Open. This is the first Nationwide event in South America. Click to watch the RCN News interview.

RCN was also nice enough to let me do a few updates and interviews from the Bogota Open.

• Bogota Open Leader Board Update for Saturday Night
• PGA Nationwide Tour Player James Hahn talks about golfing in Colombia

Thanks to CNN for their coverage of A Game For All inside their story on Camilo Villegas and golf in Colombia. Full story.

Our wish list for this year…