I have now been in Bogotá for about 6 weeks, though in some
ways it feels like a lifetime. I’ve really gone through the emotions as such
with this city. I loved it, then I hated it and then I loved it again but was
slightly overwhelmed by the sheer size of the place. I guess that has something
to do with culture shock, something that linguists and travellers don’t really
like to admit they get. I have to state that I reckon I was pretty naïve coming
here in the sense that I thought…’Colombia, how different can it really be?’ I
mean, I had spent a year in China when I was a student at university, and so I
thought I could pretty much handle anything. And, whilst yes, I am adapting to
life here and starting to really love my job, friends and life here in
Colombia, I would be lying if I said it had been easy.
There is something about Bogotá which is fascinates me. I’ll
admit, it’s not the prettiest or most ‘aesthetically pleasing’ of cities I’ve
been in, however there’s never a dull moment here. No walk down the same street
is ever the same. Even on my walk to work which I must have done now over 100
times, I am enthralled by what is around me. The streets are a blend of rich
and poor, modern and traditional colonial Spanish architecture and full of
people. If you’re one for people watching, this city is definitely one that you
must visit!
Generally I feel very
safe here, despite the constant threat of crime, which nowadays in Bogotá to be
fair, seems to revolve much more around armed robberies and street muggings. So
yea, whilst you have to be prepared to maybe cough up some money or your phone
to a guy in the street (if so ever the situation arises, touch wood!) that’s a
risk you have to take. However let’s be fair, this kind of thing can happen in
any city, and it’s such a shame to let it prevent you from discovering this
amazing city.
I’ve obviously had time to travel around Bogotá and take in
the many sights and smells that it has to offer, some being better than others!
I have managed to see the majority of the tourist sites including the infamous
backpacker central ‘candelaria’ which despite it’s good and bad reputation
depending on who you speak to is one of the ‘prettier’ sides to Bogotá. Needless
to say, there is a wealth of good food and flea markets, galleries, museums,
churches and the usual things that are on offer in any big Latin America city. I’ve
also had the chance to travel out to Guatavita, the suppose site for the
location of El Dorado, the lost city gold. Unfortunately, despite my best
efforts, like other Colombians and foreigners, I was unsuccessful in my
attempts to discover it!
I sorted out my living accommodation pretty quickly upon
arrival in Bogotá and am living in a big house with 9 other people in
Teusaquillo, Soledad in ‘downtown’ Bogotá. I put ‘downtown’ in inverted commas,
because I don’t want you thinking I live in some built up, cosmopolitan area, overlooked
by towering buildings, banks and skyscrapers. That is perhaps the impression I
had when I heard of the location. Instead, Teusaquillo is quite a quiet, humble
and somewhat bohemian neighbourhood hosting an array of galleries, cafes,
libraries, bookshops and restaurants. Being the little fatty that I am, I have
thoroughly enjoyed discovering the various food joints the area has to offer
and I am partial to the odd beer and empanada after work for about a pound!
It’s also right
beside the parkway, a tree-lined avenida, which runs pretty much parallel to Carrera
28 down to la Universidad Nacional. On Sundays, the parkway serves as one of
the roads of Bogotá’s ciclovía, an opportunity for all of Bogotá’s budding
cyclists (though I have seen old men and women on roller blades) to take to the
car and busueta-free streets and cycle till their wee hearts and content. On a Sunday, whole families come out, with
little kids playing on scooters, skateboards and rollerblades and couples
walking their dogs. It does sound pretty naff but it’s so relaxing to spend a
Sunday morning at the Parkway with the sun splitting the trees (which RARELY
happens in Bogotá, being up in the Andes) and chilling out on, preferably with
an ice cream from Crepes and Waffles…my latest guilty pleasure.
Things at work are going well. Of course there are the usual
frustrations of life in Latin America, most of them revolving around lateness,
slowness, bureaucracy, and general disorganisation. However, since my last blog
was a bit of an opportunity for me to vent my frustrations I’m not going to get
into that here! Whilst there are lots of frustrations living in Colombia, there
is one heck of a lot of advantages. As you probably already know, this year I
am working at ‘la Universidad Nacional de Colombia’ one of the most famous and ‘interesting’
institutions in Colombia. Stepping upon campus, one would think they had been
jetted back in time to 1970’s Britain.
Something of a hippy
movement definitely still exists here, and the students really give a new
meaning to the word alternative. Unless you have more than 3 piercings, at
least one tattoo, own harem pants, have a Colombian friend with dreads and look
generally pretty cool, you stand out somewhat on this campus. The walls are
painted white at the start of the term and students see them as a blank canvas
(literally!) to express their revolutionary, radical ideas, support political
leaders, advertise strikes and marches and express their anti-government or anti-American
ideology. The smell of weed is never too
far away, there is usually someone playing the guitar under a tree or on plaza
Che and some Rastafarians selling vegetarian food, jewellery and random
handicrafts.
Within my first month
of working at the university, I took part in a strike about professor salaries (was
bored and just felt like joining in for the wee walk really) and seen my first
anti-government demonstration including men in balaclavas throwing fireworks
and ‘papa bombas’-a sort of handmade bomb designed to be thrown! (I like to
think of it as the Colombian version of the standard Northern Irish petrol bomb
which many of you will be familiar with!) Other than that, I’ve been going to
salsa festivals, food festivals and generally eating and enjoying the various delights
of Bogotá.
Anyway, I’ll stop here before I start babbling even more
than I am already doing so! Besitos xxx
