Postcards from Bogota

Hola chicos! I think it's fair to say that when I arrived in Bogota on Monday I was questioning why on earth I'd flown half way round the world alone. The city looked intimidating, I couldn't understand anything and I was exhausted from nearly 24 hours of travel- though I did watch lots of films on the plane (FYI Birdman is a very strange but interesting film, 7/10).

Fast forward nearly 72 hours and my feelings have completely changed. I've had three days of Spanish classes which has already helped me out a lot, though my inability to roll my 'r's is pretty upsetting. My hostel is lovely, I've met some really interesting people from all over the world and I've 100% been reminded why I've decided to drop everything to do this. Now, I don't think I'll be able to count Bogota as one of my favourite places in the world but it does have a certain charm about it. A few little observations:

• There are dogs wandering the streets all over the city, but so far Colombian dogs (los perros) seem very friendly.
• The pavements are really high off the road- those with little legs would struggle.
• There are little stalls selling fresh juice and food everywhere- in the break at my Spanish school everyone heads over the road to buy 'arepas con queso' which is basically a flat hot bread sort of thing filled with cheese. This, combined with how cheap food is (e.g. on Tuesday I got a fresh juice, bowl of soup and beef with rice and veg all for 8000 pesos, which is £1.79), may be problematic for my waist line.

Yesterday I went on a walking tour of all the street art in La Candelaria district which was so interesting and gave a real insight to political and social issues that Colombians are currently facing. For example, despite Bogota hardly being a hot holiday destination, Colombia is actually in a drought at the moment which has left hundreds of indigenous tribes suffering. To add to the problem, Colombia has lots of raw materials which big American companies are after, for example petroleum. In order for them to tap into these resources, the companies redirect rivers or create dams, leaving these tribes with even less water to survive on. The unofficial number of fatalities caused by this in 2015 alone is around 700 people. The tour guide, Jay, told us all about this and loads more and it really has given me a different appreciation for the country and its inhabitants, especially as he said how desperate Colombians are to change the typical violence and cocaine associations that many people have with the country. 

Here are just a few examples of the art we were shown:

If you ever happen to find yourself in Bogota with a couple of spare hours I highly recommend you take the graffiti tour.

Until next time, hasta luego!