Out of Captivity : Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

170 OUT OF CAPTIVITYthat she not travel to such a dangerous spot. While in the contestedlands, she was stopped at a FARC checkpoint and taken prisoner. Shewas from a prominent family and her first husband was a fellow studentfrom a prestigious school she’d attended in Paris. He worked in theFrench diplomatic corps and Ingrid had traveled widely as a result.Based on how she greeted us, she didn’t seem very diplomatic herself.Ignoring what her fellow captive said to her, she approached Sombra andrepeated her concerns about space while adding others. What surprisedme most was that she seemed to issue an order to Sombra when sheused the command form of the verb to put, saying, “Póngalos en algunaparte más.” Even if I hadn’t been picking up more Spanish, I would havebeen able to detect that she wasn’t making a request, but issuing a command.She wanted us put in some other part of the camp. Her tone wassharp, and I could see the look of disgust on Sombra’s face. He told herthat we were educated guys and that we were staying there.For some reason, Sombra seemed to cave in to Ingrid’s pressure andallowed her to lead him inside the building the political hostages hadjust exited so that they could discuss the situation further. We couldhear two women’s voices, Ingrid’s and another woman’s, and they weregiving Sombra hell. After a few minutes of back-and-forth, he came outof the building and stomped past us without a word.The three of us were a bit stunned. This wasn’t the greeting we’dexpected, and we’d basically been rejected sight unseen. We stood inthe doorway and peered into the building where Sombra and Ingridhad been arguing. The place was a palatial mansion compared to anythingwe’d been in before. Even if they added three new beds, it seemedthere would be plenty of room for everyone to fit. We lingered there likeunwelcome relatives who’d dropped in for a surprise visit. I was tryingto be open-minded and give them the benefit of the doubt. I wonderedif I would have responded the same way and thought of this place as“my” house and the newcomers as uninvited guests. I hoped not and I