My time in Bogotá, Colombia
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Transcript of My time in Bogotá, Colombia
INTRODUCTION
When thinking about Colombia, many of us in Europe and the US
have a very negative picture of Colombia. The typical stereotypes
are cocaine, crime, guns, conflicts, danger, and so on…
I realized that when I planned my study abroad in Colombia, I got
confronted with a lot of scary looks and hesitation to whether my
plan was really the right thing to do. I, myself, did not know what
to expect from a country with so many negative stereotypes.
However, as you all know, no one was able to convince me to stay
in Europe and here I am, in Colombia. And I can honestly say that
this was one of the best choices in my life. There has never been a
place before that has taken me under such a spell. And the slogan
of Colombia is honestly true:
Or how they write in Spanish: Colombia, el riesgo es que te
quieras quedar! And how true this is, even though I still have
several months ahead, I already fear the day that I need to leave
this amazing place again.
Attention! In this e-book I would like to give a brief overview of my impressions and experiences of the short time that I have been in Bogotá, Colombia, yet. Please take into considerations that this is my personal opinion and description to give my friends and family a better picture of my time in Bogotá, and therefore I really do not intend to insult anyone in any way. So please keep in mind that this is my own personal point of view!
Colombia – the only risk is wanting to stay
Bogotá, Colombia
My time in
2 0 1 1
BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA 2011
5
The beginning
My Arrival
At the airport
My first days
Getting used to Colombia
When I was sitting in the plane heading towards Bogotá,
Colombia, I had no idea what would expect me. I have
never been to a country in South America before and did
not want to be “too” influenced by the negative
stereotypes. Therefore, I thought I am coming with no
expectations and be surprised by what I will experience in
this new place.
However, when reflecting on the situation, I need to say
that even though I didn’t believe many of the
stereotypes, I was already highly influenced. Now I can
see this in the facts that I left everything that had any
value for me in Europe, because I was afraid that I
might be exposed to a dangerous situation. This
includes especially my jewelry and my electronic
devises.
Furthermore, when Florian and I arrived at the airport
in Bogotá, we were both very happy that we had a
friend picking us up, and that we did not need to take a
taxi to get to our hostel. Now I believe it is impossible to
be absolutely open-minded.
My first days were wonderful. Bogotá had the
nicest weather ever. It was pure sunshine, and I
did not believe anyone that wanted to tell me
that the weather will change to the negative
very soon. Unfortunately, the locals were right
after all ;)
So from the moment we arrived, everything was
positive. The hostel we lived in was one of the
nicest hostels I have ever stayed at, and the city
just seemed so exciting. Also our impressions of
our “new” university were great, and all people
were really helpful and friendly.
As I felt comfortable from the first moment I have been in
Colombia, it did not take me so long to get used to
everything here. Something that is fun here is that it never
gets boring. There is always something to do and you meet
new people wherever you turn. Of course, the weather, the
driving, and much more, is crazy… but as it is just so
different from Europe, it feels great to experience such a
different city, country and customs.
BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA 2011
5
Shopping
Street sellers and actors
Walking down the street, you are overwhelmed by
all the street sellers. The majority of street sellers
sell sweets or fruits. There many different ways of
doing it. E.g. they build up a small ‘shop’ on the
sidewalk, but many also sell the items at
intersections and traffic lights. So as soon as the
traffic light turns red, the street sellers walk
through the cars to sell the products. Many also
put for example a bag of nuts on your windshield
or your side mirror, and shortly before the light
turns green, they pick the product up or, in case
you purchase the product, the money. The same
happens when you take a bus. Very young kids
often enter the bus, give everyone e.g. a pack of
chewing gum, tell a short story and how much it
costs, and then you buy the product or give it back.
Many people also give the young kids just money
without purchasing the article.
Another way of earning money is by ‘street actors’.
I see them every evening during rush hour at the
intersection close to my apartment. Some are
really good. There is a fire-breather or juggler on a
unicycle, or e.g. athletics that make really cool
figures. But of course, there are also not so good
ones, but sometimes I am surprised of what skills
these people have.
Shopping
Bogotá has a million places to go shopping, and
unfortunately I only went to two malls yet, but
more to come ;) Stores that I am familiar with are
for example Zara, Mango, Bershka, etc. But what I
was very surprised about is that Colombia does not
have H&M.
I was actually hoping that the clothes here are very
cheap. However, they are more or less the same
price as in Europe. One of the reasons for this is
that most products are imported, and on all
imported products is a double tax. So you pay tax
over tax… It is really important for Colombia to
ratify all these free trade agreements, so this stupid
tax rule is not applicable anymore. I tried to buy a
purse at one of those mini stores (which are similar
to what we call in Germany ‘Türkenläden’), and yes,
it was pretty cheap. Unfortunately the quality was
also very low and it broke already after some
weeks.
BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA 2011
5
FOOD & DRINKS
Fresh juices
Local vegetarian dishes?
Empanadas
Arepas
Yes the food is a really special case. There are many up and down
sides to the food here. For me, one of the nicest things is all the fruits
and fresh juices. If you don’t go shopping in one of those expensive
supermarkets, you can get them pretty cheap (at least way cheaper
than in Holland… I pay maybe 50 cents for 3 mangos). I have several
fruit and vegetables mini stores around the corner, and there it is
really cheap as well. And I have to admit that I am still not familiar
with all these fruits. But many of these fruits are also mostly used
for juices. And that is the other thing I love. You can buy fresh fruit
juices at every corner. You mostly have a choice of at least 10
different fruits and then you can choose whether you want the fruit
with water or milk. Something like mango I mainly drink with water
but for example raspberry tastes so good with milk. Yammie
Besides the fruit, I have more problems with the local food here.
Colombia is really not the right country to be a vegetarian. Really
everything is with meat. And unfortunately I miss out on many
local dishes because I don’t eat meat. But even though, I survive
and most of the time it works out to get some vegetarian things
together to form a meal. But Florian is very jealous every now
and then, when he only gets a piece of meat without any
vegetables at all. I caught him ordering a lot of vegetarian things
lately as well ;)
But very typical Colombian food is for example Empanadas and
Arepa. I have to admit that I was very spoiled with incredible good
Colombian empanadas from Nancy in Canada, and since I am here,
I have been very disappointed. Of course, most are with meat, but
just in general, the empanadas are just fried and soaked with fat.
So I am still hunting for ones that are similar to Nancy’s.
What I learned to enjoy here are Arepas. First, I had some very bad
ones and I even tried to make them myself, which absolutely failed.
Then I finally had a very good one. My flat mates mum came to visit
and invited us to breakfast and she made them really delicious !!!
BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA 2011
5
But now back to something that is absolutely missing here. That is real Cheese! Everyone eats Mozzarella. But unfortunately, the Mozzarella here is not even similar to what we call Mozzarella in Germany. It looks like a block of white cheddar cheese, but it taste like nothing. And no, not even the ‘Doble Crema’ ;) But yes, they do have real cheese, like Gouda, Emmentaler, etc, but I nearly faint when I see the prices. Anna and I had a great surprise yesterday in Carulla, when they had a cheese like ‘Bergkäse’ to try. It really made our day and we still dream of it, but I am not willing to pay these prices for it…
A very strange thing that I needed to get used to, is that a fruit salad is with creme and cheese … The first time I have seen it, I could not imagine eating anything like that. However, as the cheese doesn´t have a comparable taste to the cheese that I am used to (or not so nicely expressed: it doesn’t taste like anything), the fruit salad actually tastes pretty nice. Even though the objective of eating a fruit salad to eat healthy, doesn’t really work here, as it has so many calories because of the crème on it. So if I make it myself, I prefer the German way of fruit salads, but every now and then, I enjoy the fruit salad with cheese and crème ;)
Moreover, really amazing are Buñuelos. I just loooove them. They are so good. I read that many Buñuelos are sweet, but here in Colombia they are not sweet, but made with cheese instead. Especially when they are warm, I cannot resist. When Anna lived at my place for the weekend, she got addicted as well and we went to get fresh Buñuelos every morning from one of the mini stores in front of my building.
In general, Alcohol can be pretty cheap here. The beers are good, especially like Club Colombia, Poker and Aguila (which are all from Bavaria, which basically has like a monopoly position here in the beer business). The most famous drink is Aguardiente. For all Germans: it tastes pretty much like Ouzo. For all non-Germans: it is an anise-flavored liqueur derived from sugar cane. Colombians go crazy for Aguardiente. It belongs to every good party, and a regular night out might also look like ordering just a bottle of Aguardiente with a group of friends and just drink that (and water) all night. At the beginning, Florian and I made the mistake to keep on drinking beers, because we took it as a shot every now and then, but very quickly we realized that Aguardiente will be the main drink for the night, and the beer should better stay away. In some bars, you don’t even have the option to buy a single drink, and in some you cannot even buy beer after a certain hour, but you need to buy a whole bottle of e.g. Aguardiente or rum, etc.
It also depends on where you go, but at some places the prices for example for a bottle of Aguardiente in a bar is at least 3 times as expensive as in the store. Good markup I would say ;)
Alcohol
Buñuelos
Cheese
Fruit Salad
Alright, these have been some of my observations of my time in Bogotá so far. In the following weeks, I will continue to post all my experiences in the blog. But something that I can tell you all already: whenever you have the chance, you should really go to Colombia. This country is filled with so many positive emotions and loving people! It is definitely worth the experience
THE END
I hope you enjoyed reading this short e-book and have a
better picture of Bogotá, as well as my life here!
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me
Bogotá, Colombia