Yesterday I had my first movie theater experience in Colombia. I've been living here for over 3 months now and yet I still have to remind myself that I'm in Colombia so things are going to be different. This situation followed that pattern.
I met up with a few of my teacher pals at the movie theater. This place is located inside of a new mall so it is pretty high quality. I road the escalator up and there I found Steve. The movie was to start in 5 minutes so I suggested getting the tickets while we waited for Emily and Laura to show up. It was then explained to me that it wouldn't be the best idea because when you buy your tickets you have to chose your seat. The lady at the ticket counter spins around her computer screen and lets you pick where you want to sit in the same way you do when you're buying baseball tickets online in the states. As a consequence, we had to wait for the girls. Eventually Emily floated up the escalator and we decided to get our tickets. Perhaps Laura had bailed on us. 3 tickets for Skyfall, the newest James Bond action flick. Luckily for us it was in English with Spanish subtitles. I don't think I could have managed if it was dubbed in Spanish - that's never a good idea.
After getting our $9500 peso tickets we headed to concessions. As in the states, the prices are jacked up, but it was worth it to buy popcorn! The reason it was "vale la pena" (side note: I've decided to teach you Spanish, context clues should help you figure that one out) was because I could either have salt popcorn or caramel popcorn. Woo hoo! Caramel popcorn was super yummy. Lunch and dinner, here we go!
Following the snack line we went into theater 6. As we walked up the aisle I was a little concerned because I forgot which seat number I had. Well, turns out it doesn't matter. People just sit wherever they want. I should have guessed. We settled 3 rows from the front. Steve on my left and Emily on my right. After about 5 minutes of watching previews Steve looks and me and asks to move back a row.
"Really? You want to move back one row? "
"Sure, we'd get a much better view.".
Emily and I exchanged the "Oh Steve" look, shrugged our shoulders and moved back one row. Vale la pena? Not so certain. Well, we were set. Emily on my left and Steve on my right. Before long we saw the door open and in came Laura. Woo hooo! She made it and she didn't even miss the previews.
Not 2 minutes after Laura sat down the fire alarm began going off. Seriously Colombia? You're going to ruin my first cinema experience. Beeep. Beeep. Beeep. I look at Emily, "Are you kidding me?" Beep. Beeeep. Beeep. I glance around the room and not one Colombian is moving. Beeeep. Beeeep. Beeeep. Steve turns to me, "I'm not leaving until I smell smoke" Beeep. Beeeep. Beeep. Hm, no one is moving maybe this is common. The exit was only a few feet away. Beeeep. Beeep. Beeep. By now a minute had passed, the previews were still going, and still no one was moving. Beeeep. Beeeeeep. Beeeeeep. Finally the group of Colombians sitting behind us decided to get up and leave. That was our cue. Right as we decided to leave as well, the alarm stopped. Oh, just joking... Intersting.
The rest of the movie going experience was identical to that in the states. So much so, that for 2.5 hours I had completely forgotten that I was in Colombia. For all I realized I could have been back in Michigan chilling at the movies with some friends. Yeah, it was great!
I met up with a few of my teacher pals at the movie theater. This place is located inside of a new mall so it is pretty high quality. I road the escalator up and there I found Steve. The movie was to start in 5 minutes so I suggested getting the tickets while we waited for Emily and Laura to show up. It was then explained to me that it wouldn't be the best idea because when you buy your tickets you have to chose your seat. The lady at the ticket counter spins around her computer screen and lets you pick where you want to sit in the same way you do when you're buying baseball tickets online in the states. As a consequence, we had to wait for the girls. Eventually Emily floated up the escalator and we decided to get our tickets. Perhaps Laura had bailed on us. 3 tickets for Skyfall, the newest James Bond action flick. Luckily for us it was in English with Spanish subtitles. I don't think I could have managed if it was dubbed in Spanish - that's never a good idea.
After getting our $9500 peso tickets we headed to concessions. As in the states, the prices are jacked up, but it was worth it to buy popcorn! The reason it was "vale la pena" (side note: I've decided to teach you Spanish, context clues should help you figure that one out) was because I could either have salt popcorn or caramel popcorn. Woo hoo! Caramel popcorn was super yummy. Lunch and dinner, here we go!
Following the snack line we went into theater 6. As we walked up the aisle I was a little concerned because I forgot which seat number I had. Well, turns out it doesn't matter. People just sit wherever they want. I should have guessed. We settled 3 rows from the front. Steve on my left and Emily on my right. After about 5 minutes of watching previews Steve looks and me and asks to move back a row.
"Really? You want to move back one row? "
"Sure, we'd get a much better view.".
Emily and I exchanged the "Oh Steve" look, shrugged our shoulders and moved back one row. Vale la pena? Not so certain. Well, we were set. Emily on my left and Steve on my right. Before long we saw the door open and in came Laura. Woo hooo! She made it and she didn't even miss the previews.
Not 2 minutes after Laura sat down the fire alarm began going off. Seriously Colombia? You're going to ruin my first cinema experience. Beeep. Beeep. Beeep. I look at Emily, "Are you kidding me?" Beep. Beeeep. Beeep. I glance around the room and not one Colombian is moving. Beeeep. Beeeep. Beeeep. Steve turns to me, "I'm not leaving until I smell smoke" Beeep. Beeeep. Beeep. Hm, no one is moving maybe this is common. The exit was only a few feet away. Beeeep. Beeep. Beeep. By now a minute had passed, the previews were still going, and still no one was moving. Beeeep. Beeeeeep. Beeeeeep. Finally the group of Colombians sitting behind us decided to get up and leave. That was our cue. Right as we decided to leave as well, the alarm stopped. Oh, just joking... Intersting.
The rest of the movie going experience was identical to that in the states. So much so, that for 2.5 hours I had completely forgotten that I was in Colombia. For all I realized I could have been back in Michigan chilling at the movies with some friends. Yeah, it was great!
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