Barriga Benefits

In Colombia one's belly is called your "barriga" (bah-REE-gah).  Some days I get asked how the baby is doing (a question I rarely know how to answer), but other days I just get comments on how my barriga is growing.  There still isn't a lot to look at.  I continue to wait for the day in which it will "pop" because most folks do not believe that I am five and a half months pregnant right now.  I keep assuring them that the sonogram has clearly shown two arms, two legs, a head - generally all the right parts - but they still look at me a little sideways and wonder whether I really know how to count.

However, I definitely do have a slightly more noticeable belly than before (though one that many in the States would still fear to take note of on the off-chance I am not actually pregnant), and having that belly clearly has its benefits.  Here, with no trouble at all, I can skip metal detectors (at the airport for instance) with one word "embarazada" (em-bar-ah-SAH-dah - or pregnant).  Two days ago in Bogotá I needed to use the restroom in a bookstore that has staff-only bathrooms.  However after asking a clerk and motioning ever so slightly to the barriga, I got a quick nod as she scurried off for the key.  If I am tired, I get an automatic get-out-of-whatever-free card, and if there is an extra serving of just about anything then it is offered to me first (like it...or not...).

Though nothing to shout about, we will now offer you what you have been clambering for...belly shots. 

From Collages

Happy now?  :)