Viajecitos en la tierra querida..

So I haven’t been on my blog too often, I’m sorry, but that’s because I’ve been doing a lot of stuff and people at work got disturbed with me blogging all the time… hehe, no course not… seriously, you’ll see in a minute why I didn’t have the capacity to write down more stuff…

I think we last left off around “semana santa” when I was in San Gil, Santander having a blast with my “parche paisa” (the “gang” from Medellin) and my friend Andres from work (and his alternating companions ;o)). Well from that trip there are plenty of pics on facebook and so I only want to share one more thing I with you, from the category “disgusting rare food I was forced to try”: Andres made me eat “hormiga culona”… that’s roasted giant-ant, but actually the literal translation is “ant with a big ass”… according to the locals very nutritious and delicious, but actually it’s neither, because you need to eat a lot of them to get fed, but you can’t because … well they are not so delicious after all.

Anyways, with the ant’s ass in my stomach and its little legs between my teeth, we still made it back to Bogota and to work, although we were really tired from the exhausting and adventurous weekend. By the way, road trips in Colombia are one adventure as well: first there are a lot (a LOT!) of other vehicles on the road and all of different sizes and with different velocities... it’s like a race, and I think we won, we were flying!! Second the roads are made of all kinds of quality, ranging from four lanes state-of-the-art freeway to unpaved 2.5 meter-broad-streets incl. potholes every other yard. Third, for the support of the “seguridad democratica” there’s also lot of army on the way and people are so proud of their soldiers they give them gazeosas and water to drink and honk whenever they see them standing guard! Fourth, the road is also a means to make their living for many Colombians and as a consequence you find a lot of vendors at the toll-stations and many restaurants selling delicious “picaditas” (sausages, potatoes and lots of meet, cut into pieces and mixed or mazorcas, arepas and empanadas) on the way. Last but not least, travelling on the road gives you hours of spectacular scenery and beautiful views of the Colombian countryside! Too bad I was so tired, that I slept half of the way…

But let’s get back to Bogota and work, which is still very interesting but also quite different from home. And that is not only because I went from banking to environmental engineer (well I’m still doing business plans, etc. so the “engineer” is a bit exaggerated…), but more because of the habits in corporate Colombia, which needs some getting used to as well! It’s similar to the time-thing, which is not taken as exactly, what I explained in a recent post… because I depend a lot on inputs from the local recyclers, transporters, etc. I had many interviews and meetings with them and they were always fantastic, really kind and everybody was fascinated with the project and interested in cooperating. But when I actually needed some figures… well, let’s say an agreement just isn’t the same here as elsewhere ;). But with that I learnt to deal (had to) and am just doing my calculations and plans with the data I got and I’m actually doing fine… and as at my office colleagues are great and very helpful, basically all is well!!
The brightest side of working here is that there is a lot of compensation to get in the evenings and weekends thanks to the outstanding nightlife-offering in Colombia’s capital!

Right where I work (“Parque 93”) are several bars and restaurants and we actually have opened a subsidiary in BBC (Bogota Beer Company), a genuine Colombian pub with sports on TV, self-brewed tasty beer and nice junk-food!




Another great place, but more during daytime, is the “Juan Valdez”-coffee shop, Colombia’s pendant to Starbucks, because you also find one on every corner… it’s just better and cheaper! The best tip to go out on weekends must be the “Zona T”. A whole neighborhood, starting about on Carrera 11 and Calle 85, with incredibly many clubs and all the restaurants you can imagine. I haven’t gone to all places but some I have to mention are Bendito, La marcha and a restaurant called “la mona”… open 24h and serving the best burger after a good night-out! There are also a lot of places and sites I haven’t mentioned yet but you’ll have to give me some more time to check them all out…


Now that everyone thinks I’m letting myself go and only work, eat and party all the time, I have to say that I’m also doing my sports-programme regularly like a good kid ;) Not only football, but also fitness is on my plan. My gym is called “Spinning Center” and it’s great, especially because there always are a lot of people (half of them are personal trainers… I love it!) and it’s fun to observe the spinning classes or the salsa-fitness lessons… only between two of my sets of course ;) I try to go there three times a week, but with all the distractions in Bogota I’m happy to make it two times!



The next trip took me to the beautiful city of Medellin, which is only a 35 minute-flight from Bogota and “Aires” (that’s an airline like Easyjet) flies there like every second hour but they tend to have a lot of delay (really cheap ticket though) and so it took me half-a day to get there. Anyways it was totally worth it because I was going to meet my cousin and her lovely friends I met earlier in San Gil already. Medellin now is the capital of Antioquia, which is one of the biggest departments in Colombia and home of the very proud and really kind “paisas” (that’s how they call the antioqueños). Medellin is also the birthplace of the famous artist Botero (the one with the fat, naked statues) and hometown of the only metro in Colombia. It is definitely a must-visit because there’s a lot to see and I actually would accompany anyone who wants to go there to re-visit the unique micro-brewery “las 3 codilleras” or to go back to breathtaking “parque arvi” (actually I would really accompany you, because that’s exactly the two places I missed going to… due to a friend who wouldn’t wake me up at time and my cousin who wouldn’t be able to manage the opening-dates correctly… but I had to mention it here… it’s an insider ). Anyways, what I did see was again an absolutely great party-scene: Start your evening at “parque lleras” where you take “la ruta de felicidad” (the route of happiness, while I don’t know if the happiness stems from all the beautiful girls you see or the shots you’re bound to take at every other bar…), end up in a nightclub like Oz or Kukaramakara and just be happy the next day for some new unforgettable memories (if you can remember that is…). I’d go back to “Kukara” anytime, they had a great live-band and I had some really good company.


After getting to know Medellin, good old Bogota and my project were welcoming me back, at a moment where I already was celebrating my two-month anniversary of my Colombia stay. So as time is always flying, it happened that my birthday was already approaching and with that another opportunity to get to know another place to go out. As I liked it so much in Medellin I chose as venue the “Kukara” from Bogota. And it was great! Not the same as the other one (actually the big difference was that we got to drink "icetea" instead of "iced water"… but of course the parallel was that we consumed in low quantities!!) Thanks to all the friends that accompanied me there! On the day of my birthday itself, my cousin took me to one of the strangest, funniest, craziest, entertaining and memorable places I have ever seen. It’s called “Andres Carne de Res” and I think it’s a restaurant, but it also has many dance floors and it is HUGE… it’s almost a village of its own… but anyways the easiest way is to understand is to go there yourself, or at least check out the website: www.andrescarnederes.com


Now the last weekend my journeys took me to a town called “Icononzo”, where my late grandparents used to live for a long time and it was nice to get to see and remember the places where I spent a few holidays of my childhood. We went there on the weekend of mother’s day to remember my grandmother and send her ashes on her last journey one year after her resting. By the way, mother’s day here seems to be a huge thing! And they celebrate it quite a lot more intense than at home. Of course I want to join in and as we can’t say it often enough: thanks for everything mom, I’m sorry to be that far away… I love you!


Well now, that was actually just one week ago and that means we have caught up a bit and are getting to the end of this post... but I’m already happy to announce that I have some more plans and therefore I will hopefully have more to write about. The next trips in any case will be: Miami, this weekend, and some other visits to places close to Bogota until beginning of June. In a good month I’ll finish working and right before the World Cup begins, I’ll be off to my Latin-American trips  so long my friends! Have a nice one and keep in touch!

Excursiones al Corazon

While I started this blog mainly to share the experiences and impressions of all the places I visit and the things I do, there is a slightly different topic I want to write about today… and that would be the kind of experience and impression that affects not only your memories but rather your attitude, your view of the world and eventually your heart.
As you sure can imagine, such a trip away from home, loved ones and friends is not only fun, it is also quite a serious expedition to get to know yourself in different kinds of ways, and that is not always only cushy. Don’t get me wrong, this Colombia-experience is generally a lot of delight and definitely enriching: I’m getting to know new places, am close to my relatives, am finding new friends, etc… but it is also a trip into another culture, another mindset, another standard of living, another type of challenges than the ones we face back home and it is a visit to my own heart, where I get to know a lot of “new” and unfamiliar things as well. And this second set of experiences is the mind-blowing one.
It’s not that you can’t experience such intense and emotional times at home, but since I am here in Colombia it seems to me that my established attitude and common feelings are shaken anew almost on a daily basis. It’s kind of difficult to explain, but the cause might be the many impressions from the Colombian people, from the trips, from work, from the way of living as a very privileged subject in the middle of an emerging country that, although actually doing well at the moment, still has immeasurable social inequity, faces corruption and civil war, just to name the most obvious problems… I don’t know exactly but I’ve been thinking more about life in general here and went through more emotions (and emotional turbulences) than at home. The result this “process” will have, I don’t know yet… but the ride is pretty interesting, mostly rough and sometimes costly (on a non-monetary level). Maybe the whole thing is an illusion I’m making up, maybe it’s real, difficult to say, but I’m quite sure when I’m back I will have changed at least a bit and for sure my environment will have changed… and I wouldn’t want to miss that, because though change is uncomfortable at times it makes you feel alive and that is good! And in the end that’s what life is all about: being and feeling alive, isn’t it? They have a nice saying here (actually it is from Argentina) that fits perfectly to this post: “La vida es un tango y hay que saberlo bailar!” … Life is a Tango and you have to know how to dance it… well sounds rather true to me and I reckon, I’m still learning… but aren’t we all? Keep it up and take care:

Sobrevivir en Bogota

The cool feedback from you guys has motivated me to keep on writing and so, as I spend this weekend at home for once, I’ve already come up with a new post: the Bogota Survival Kit! Although not completing a two months in Colombia quite yet, I think I have gathered enough experience to put together a small how-to-behave-here for you guys, if you ever want to travel to Bogota. To specify a bit, I think the usual info like about money, opening hours of post or bank, restaurants, etc. can be taken out of any tourist guide, so I'd like to focus on the social conduct part. It should be especially useful for the first few days, because you'll get used to it quite quickly… and btw: come visit me!! Here we go...

Get to know Colombians: Now that is something you don't have to worry about, because it is very easy. Generally speaking the "rolos" (Bogotanos), and all Colombians anyways, are quite open and not shy to talk to anyone. While of course, I have a lot of relatives here, and had a head-start, I still made very good experiences so far with strangers. Obviously they are very good at picking out foreigners and mostly take the initiative by asking where you're from or directly pulling your leg with some jokes! So especially if you speak a bit of Spanish it is unlikely you'll be left alone... and if you join in, don't be surprised to get invited for a coffee or beer or even to their house! Since that sounds very neat, I also have to tell you about the big BUT... don't be too trustful, as there are black sheep around as well, as everywhere in the world and therefore some people can promise you paradise on earth just to take advantage of you and quickly lose interest if there is nothing to gain. Also present are the pickpockets, as you sure have imagined, so don't give "papaya" (show off) about your valuables (or better even don't take too much with you when going out for a walk or for the "rumbas" (parties)). Be open all the way, but careful overall and you will have a great time.

Speaking of time: The Colombians do like their watches, of course especially the Swiss ones, but the concept of it has kind of a low priority here. They share the same expressions for time as we do, like "tomorrow" or "in a moment", but "mañana" or "ahorita" is more understood as "sometime in an indefinite future"... and actually those are two of the most often used words here! It happens that you call someone and because he's out of the office the secretary tells you, that the person will be back in "cinco minutos" but you finish talking to him a week later. You get invited to lunch on a Thursday and your host will be surprised that you didn't arrive only until Friday. Okay, I might a bit exaggerating and you shouldn't adapt to this extent, but the point is that coming late is normal and if you show up at a party about an hour late, it could well be that you are the first guest. The upside is you can accept every invitation for the same day & time, because one or the other will be cancelled and if you decide not to go there nobody will get upset with you... on the other hand just take it easy, if some meeting you scheduled drops off.

About traffic and weather I've already talked before, so just a reminder: be prepared for everything weatherwise and don't lose your patience in the streets of Bogota.

Another one of my favourite topics is the Colombian language. Although I've been speaking spanish for quite a while, my whole life actually, I'm like a beginner when it comes to colloquial conversations here. Luckily the Colombian spanish is really beautiful and clear to understand, but the difficulty comes with all the double meanings they give their vocabulary and the challenging jokes they have in their discussions. Besides those aspects, I don't even want to get started on all the regional variations that the "paisas" from Antioquia or the "costeños" from the coast like to fashion, it really is a "gallo" (rooster), and I don't mean the animal...
For everyone who still would like to try out his "castellano" here, I am putting together a little dictionary with the most important must-knows of the spoken language that I'd like to share with everyone who asks me for it. Of course that dix is a work-in-progress, as I'd never dare to boast that I already know them "colombianisms" all. I'll just give you a little teaser... so for that let's start at the beginning of a conversation: "hola" (hello), the usual opener, by far is not enough here. Your vocabulary should definetely contain some of the following questions like: "como estas", "como has estado", "como te han tratado", "que has hecho", "como te va", "que tal", "quiubo" or "que hubo", "que me cuentas", "como le acabo de ir", "que mas", "que hay", "como te fue" ... and so forth (they actually all mean "how do you do"). But be aware that to learn only one opener will not get you through, because often the conversation starts with a long exchange of these and similar expressions. Funny and typical! I've also come up with a little sentence that contains some quite surprising words and literally translated doesn't mean anything reasonable, but I wonder if anyone understands (I'm sure my Colombian friends and relatives will... so sorry beforehand!):
"Una zorra estaba dando papaya casi en pelota a mi parce y le dijo: Ey, mono, no quieres echarte un polvito? Pero el man, por haberse tirado la paja antes, estaba tan mamado que no pudo echar mas palo... pailas!"
Says literally: "A fox was giving a "papaya" almost on a ball to my cellmate and told him: Hey, monkey, don't you want to put on some powder? But the guy, because he had thrown some straw earlier, was so absorbed, he couldn't put in more wood... pans!"
If you want to know the actual meaning, you'll have to drop me an e-mail, because I'm too ashamed to actually tell it on the blog and am sure Google would censor it, if I wrote it all down... :)
Anyways, that is just to illustrate what I have to "fight" with in my everyday conversations!


So, what else do you need to survive your Bogota-experience? I guess I can't tell you much about where to sleep, as I fortunately live with my lovely relatives, but there are a lot of good and economic hotels and I'm sure the tourist guides can help you out with that. Instead I could tell a bit about the food. I've already introduced "ajiaco", one of my favourite plates, in an earlier post and I could fill the whole post with delicious culinaric highlights (and maybe I will another time). Right now I'll only say that you can't starve in Bogota because you can get something nice to eat in every corner. And don't be afraid to try out different places, as even if the location might look shabby, you will get your stomach filled with a marvellous "corrientazo" for instance. A "corrientazo" costs you between 5'000 and 10'000 pesos (3 to 6 dollars) and provides you with typical dishes of soup, salad, main course and sometimes even the "tinto" (black coffee) all included. Another food-tip for a good start into the day I have though. Perhaps not the healthiest streetside breakfast, but a piled-high plate of perfect "arepas" is hard to beat for pure morning pleasure. Golden grilled cornmeal cakes stuffed with eggs or cheese, and oozing butter, these little creations provide the perfect energy boost for a day on the Colombian city streets. Grab a portion from a vendor and wash it down with a steaming glass of hot chocolate. It might not do wonders for your waistline but it’ll certainly see you through a rainy Bogota morning. And if you're afraid that not everything is too healthy for your spoiled western stomach (which actually can be true!) just wash it down with a sip of "aguardiente", the national booze. It'll clear away everything, including any sorrows!!


Thinking of the "aguardiente" brings to my mind another wonderful topic, that is never redundant to be aware of: Knowing about Colombian music! I've already spent a few evenings sipping on my goblet and listening (actually I'm starting to participate in the singing as well) to folkloric songs. It amazes me everytime anew, how almost everyone knows so many songs and that, whether old or young, people join in when some traditional music is performed in a club, at home or even in a plaza outside. That is a tradition I would definetely love to have at home in Switzerland! On this occasion I'd like to share a specific song with you, that I came across a week ago in San Gil on the town-plaza during a concert there. I was told, that it is like a second national anthem, and if you happen to cite or sing a part of it to a Colombian, you can be sure that you'll get adopted right away! So make sure, you memorize a bit of it, it's called "Soy Colombiano":

"A mi deme un aguardiente,

un aguardiente de caña,

de las cañas de mis valles

y el anís de mis montañas.

No me de trago extranjero

que es caro y no sabe a bueno,

porque yo quiero siempre

lo de mi tierra primero.

Ay! que orgulloso me siento

de haber nacido en mi pueblo.

A mi canteme un bambuco

de esos que llegan al alma,

cantos que ya me alegraban

cuando apenas decia mama.

Lo demas sera bonito

pero el corazón no salta,

como cuando a mi me cantan

una canción colombiana.

Ay! que orgulloso me siento

de haber nacido en mi patria.

Y para mi una muchacha

aperladita, morena,

o una rubia de ojos claros

de suave piel montadora.

Muchachas, musica y trago

de la sierra o de mi llano.

Ay! que orgulloso me siento

de ser un buen colombiano.

Ay! que orgulloso me siento

de ser un buen colombiano."

For melody and translation just give me a call!!!

So umm... I guess there's enough information for a bit, but I'll make sure to update you on anything else that comes up in the next few months and hope these tips are useful! I'm having a good time and will be glad to share it with everyone who got teased with these few lines of mine!

Take care and keep in touch! Lique en Colombia...

Imagenes de la tierra querida

Sometimes images say more than a thousand words... as I've beeen a lousy blogger recently (of course due to a huge workload here), I decided to post some pictures taken here! enjoy! btw, they are not in a special order just some pics I kind of liked, chronologically taken out of the cam...

This first one shows some of my family in Bogota, all of them cousins! I hadn't seen them in a while, when this nice groupshot was taken... good to see them.

On the next one: Let me introduce you to a special friend: "Aguardiente" or "guaro" as they say here... light&tasty, made of sugar-canes from Colombia's beautiful valleys and anis from it's numerous mountains... fits to every occasion and can be drunk everywhere together with your "parceros" or "concañeros" (in the background).

Pic from a house party in Suba, Bogota... house party means spontaneous jam-sessions with everyone there singing (and actually quite good, apart from the gringo)! It also means drinking lots of ...water...hehe. The musician you see is: Andres, co-worker at CCIT.

Another of Bogota's sides: view at an "invasion" (slum) in the northern part of Bogota. Almost 2(!) mio people of Bogota live in such informal housing, say unofficial estimates.

My cousin Luis on visit and his lovely daughter Gabriela.

The compulsory "siesta" in the "hamaca" after a delicious and vast saturday-afternoon-bbq, performed by my uncle John.

Picture of the aforementioned bbq on the terrace of my aunt Margarita's (bottom left corner). Also on it: aunt Ilse and uncle Raffael, as well as my cousin Sean.

Where I go to work: CCIT "Camara Colombiana de Informatica y Telecomunicaciones", posing with me are Gloria and Camilo.

"Picadita" on our way to Girardot, a town 3 hours south of Bogota on "tierra caliente" (warm land... but it's actually HOT), featuring: costillas, morzilla, chorizo and yuca.

My cute cousin Lina "linis" on a golf cart, that is used as a hotel taxi in Girardot.

"Campin cinco": 5 on 5 football-action in the middle of Bogota on 2500m over sea-level! And it's taking place every Wednesday... a lot of fun! I don't have to worry about eating too much!

The other "Swiss" guy on the team: Enzo, from Bündnerland, living in Bogota for roughly 1.5 years.

For the march-"puente" (that means a long weekend, as the festives in Colombia are always shifted to a Monday!), I went to Villetta, also on "tierra caliente" but this time north of Bogota. Nice weather, nice people, nice food!

...went there with my aunt and uncle Raffa and Ilse and their cousins... very peaceful and a lot of siesta!

This one picture means action again: "Tejo" a very typical (because it's not played anywhere else in the world) game in Bogota and region... difficult to explain, but there's stuff exploding and you can throw things, so it's a lot of fun...

... that iron ring in the dirt is the target, and the pink "mechas" are the things exploding when you hit them...


... and the rent for the "cancha", the court, is payed by consuming beer! When you're done, they throw you out.

Welcome to Colombia's roads... trip to Santander in "Semana Santa" (easter holidays)!

On that trip to San Gil, we did a lot of fun stuff and it was quite adventureous! I went there with my awesome cousin Diana (on the pic) &  lovely friends ... "que chimba"!

We took LOTs of pictures there in San Gil and other places... and they are all on Facebook, where they can be easily checked out if you like... because next post I will write some of the adventures down, I promise... really, this pic-uploading is almost more time-consuming than writing!

... AH, and  last but not least, check this out:

La vida corriente y moliente II

While walking on the Carrera 7 on Sunday morning is fun and relaxing, it is a completely different thing during the week… I’m sure you can imagine that in an 8-Mio-metropole in Latin-America the traffic can be chaotic, but I bet Bogota would top your imagination. Picture this: 1 million motorcycles, cars and buses trying to move to the other side of the city at the same time twice a day… or actually rather during the whole day ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DdtA18DQjQ

Not only is the traffic corruptive for your health because of the smoke, but you actually risk your life crossing the street, because no one really cares about any pedestrians (or speed limits or traffic lights or any rule by the way ;)). I’m exaggerating of course, but it does happen that you have to wait for several minutes before zou can cross the street, because no one will stop for you. You even get honked on the pavement if a car wants to enter a parking lot or a garage and you happen to walk right there ;)
Anyways, they have introduced measures and sensitization-campaigns in the past, but the traffic volume is still huge. As car-owner (incl. taxis and busses) for instance you’re bound to the so called “pico y placa”-rule, which means “peak and number plate” traduced, and it’s a law that only allows you to drive on 3 out of 5 workdays a week with your specific license plate on peak times (from 6 AM to 8 PM). Naturally this can be cumbersome for many people who depend on their car to get to work as public transportation is not … let’s say… paramount.



They also have a rule called “contraflujo”, where they abandon two way traffic on certain important routes on peak hour and let the whole traffic flow in one direction (from south to north). The results though are mediocre because many more cars take the newly open roads way north and, as there are fewer roads south, you get a massive congestion both ways… So my recommendation for any visitor is, either to walk for a bit till the worst traffic is over or your destination is reached or just to sit down in a Juan Valdez (very nice coffee shop, much nicer than Starbucks ;)) and enjoy a cup of coffee, there is just nothing else to do about it!
While I am lucky and live rather close to my workplace, it still takes me about 40’ to get to the office. The bizarre thing is that it doesn’t really depend on whether I go walking, with the bus or with a taxi for the afore-mentioned reasons!

Still, if I’m not walking, my favorite vehicle so far is the “buseta”, because they are everywhere, cheap and quite adventurous to take. In Bogota you see all kinds of buses with different sizes, different colors and different ages, though all share the same crazy driving-style. Not only are the drivers amongst the most lunatic traffic-participants in traffic-lunatic Bogota, but on a bus there is also lots of stuff and other people to observe. Ah, and the bus-stops are funny too… mmh, wait a second: there are no bus stops! (This is not entirely true because the municipality has built some recently, trying to structure the public transportation service, but drivers as well as commuters stick to the old system.) That means you just have to step on the pavement-border and wave to a bus-driver wherever you want to stop him and the similar applies to getting off the bus: press the stop button anywhere, if you find it, or shout to the bus driver. Convenient in a way, but not very efficient at all! The adventurous part takes place when you have to stand, because there is no space to sit… (There actually isn’t any, even when a seat is free, because the seats are quite small). When you are standing you better hold onto something with both arms, because every stop and go (and there are MANY!), will almost knock you off your feet! Also if you get on a small buseta be aware of the roof, because head banging in there is not as funny as at a Metallica-concert. The next adventure, when riding buseta, is getting off the bus, not because of searching the stop-button, but cause you have to get to the end of the vehicle and the small gangway is usually full of people who can’t move, because they are holding on to the bars or seats and their life… but usually you manage even that with a few “disculpame’s”, “perdon’s” and some tender elbow knocks into the ribs of your fellow commuters. What I like most though (not that I like the elblows, by the way...), are the musicians and merchants that hop on the bus every now and then and tell their heart-warming sales pitch-story about their bad luck and circumstances that brought them into their situation or perform a melodious rap, rhyming about the passengers in the bus…

Another story is the taxis, Bogota is full of them and they are not too expensive either. I especially like to take a taxi if I don’t exactly know where an address is located. On the other hand you shouldn’t necessarily take the taxi if you’re not sure where you have to go, because if the driver notices you having no clue where you’re headed (e.g. he guesses because of your blond hair), he sure will drive you a few extra times around the block to push the taximeter ;)

Well, such is life in Commuter-Bogota and on top of that you will also get scared with stories about people who got robbed in a bus or at the station, while walking down the street or in their own car. Some even got taken by a taxi to the infamous “paseo millionario”, the Millionaire’s tour, which takes you to the next couple of automatic cashiers in the neighborhood with the unrefusable request to empty your banking account… So basically anything can happen everywhere, no matter how you move yourself through Bogota. But fortunately so far those are stories to me and I hope it stays that way! The alternative would be to stay at home, which is a total no-go, and therefore I prefer to be a bit more cautious than I would back home and certainly keep moving on!!