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