Don’t Read This

Just look at the pictures

Sorry about the clickbait.

I was stressing about what to write for my first blog post of this three-month journey. A cup of coca leaf tea and a beautiful view has made me realize that I don’t have to say anything. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Of course, I can’t resist to say a few things about the photos, but go ahead a skip the words if you’d like.

I don’t have much to say because I’ve only been here two days. I’ve learned a ton, but just haven’t processed it, or fully understood everything, so here’s a glimpse of what’s going on here in Bogotá.

Biking Bogotá

Random things I learned on a bike tour with two guides (one American, one Colombian), a retired engineer from São Paulo, and a recent college grad from Holland who is on her first solo journey – five months in South America – before starting her career in tourism.

• The Brazilian retiree swears by Caiprinhas made with Japanese sake instead of Brazilian cachaça (take note Brandon and Kerri)!
• Bogotá is a city of street art. It’s everywhere and full of meaning. The popular journalist who was assassinated, statements about war, everyday images showing the diversity of the Colombian people, references to the era of Pablo Escobar, and so much more.
• There’s also art showing the mother mourning her son who was one of the 6402 innocent young men rounded up and murdered by the police, when the government offered a bounty for every dead member of certain terrorist groups. The bodies were outfitted in the uniforms of revolutionaries as “proof” of their crimes.
• What do you notice in the images below?

Art is used as protest for world events as well.

Our five-and-a-half our tour luckily did not include biking the entire time, especially given that we are 8600 feet above sea level. There was a stop in the largest fruit market in the country (right next to Ikea) as well as stops for coffee and chocolate.

Bienvenidos a Colombia

People are friendly (I’m not surprised) and so welcoming. I received my first “your Spanish is very good” complement at the bakery around the corner last night. Not hard when ordering water and a pastry, but the warm smile and laughs I shared with the owners made me feel very welcome.

And, despite the incredibly violent history in Colombia, and the heavily armed police and soldiers everywhere, Colombia feels very safe. And it’s full of tourists.

I’m also living comfortably in my HomeExchange apartment, right in the edge of the old center of the city. It feels like a small town within the capital. I don’t feel at all like I’m in a city of 11 million people.

I’m looking forward to delving deeper into this country and its people over the next five weeks. Tomorrow I head to a more remote region for a few days. Until next time!