Colombia – Take it or Leave it?

Blogging in Medellín

I’ve traveled Colombia for a full 2 months now and I’ve learned a lot about the country. Please remember, this is my experience as a backpacker, not as a Colombian resident, a person doing business class travel, etc. These are my general impressions on the country, but more so my experiences traveling.  Also, keep in mind, every part of the country is different, but the following are things I’ve observed that differ from back in the US. I’ll rate them as “Leave it” or “Take it”.

Take It – “estadounidense” This is a Latin term for an American from the U.S. I realized that we always describe ourselves as “American” but we forget there are other Americans in North America (Canadians) and all parts of South America as well. We are NOT the only “Americans”. I think we need a term to describe us “United States-ans” and so in Spanish I’ll continue to describe myself as estadounidense and continue practicing the pronunciation until it becomes easier to pronounce it correctly.

Leave It – The bathrooms. They are not clean. There is hardly ever soap. And you do not find a toilet seat on many toilets except maybe, maybe fancy places. You don’t put the toilet paper in the toilet because their sewage system was not made for toilet paper so this took some getting used to. Lastly, many places you go in public to in order to use the bathroom you have to pay, but odds are toilet paper still is not provided. Make sure you travel with your TP!

Take It – The culture and people. Everyone is so warm and open. Colombians believe you are happy in life by sharing stories and moments with other people. Every Colombian makes you feel welcome and wanted in their country. I can’t tell you how many groups of Colombians that I’ve met and spent time with them, leaving feeling like I’m apart of their group of friends. In addition, many are so fascinated by tourists and foreigners in the country because it’s still relatively new.

Leave It – The buses. They are decently comfortable (coach buses with semi-camas/beds), but the roads are not great – windy, bumpy, climbing, descending due to the mountainous terrain.

One bus ride I had the opportunity to sit next to a puppy from Medellín to Salento. Definite positives (adorable) and negatives (crying and trying to escape his box). You decide if this was a pro or con.

The amazing landscape leads for rough roads.  That usually means me not feeling so great on the buses and taking my dramamine to  calm the effects.  All I can do on these long bus rides (4-12 hours depending where you’re going) is listen to podcasts, music, or sleep. No reading, journaling, movie watching, or blogging for me on these buses.

Take It – Los paisajes, la naturaleza! The scenery, the nature. Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world (next to Brazil #1). You can find beach, desert, jungle, mountain ranges, Amazons! To me, Colombia is breathtaking. Luscious green mountains everywhere. Beautiful plants and flowers that I never knew existed. Color. Everywhere. Sunshine. Warmth. How can I not be happy being placed in a beautiful place like this?

View from a hike in Sogamoso

Delicious fruits – take it!

Leave It – In general, the food. A lot of the food is fried here so I pass on that. When out to dinner it’s typically a lot of meat, rice, potatoes, basically just bland food to me.  That being said, I did not eat out much because I preferred to cook. I’m sure there are more food options that I did not find or look for in the restaurants. In addition, we’re obviously spoiled with the foodie scene in Chicago. Once, Aedra (a friend) and I wanted something different so we went to an Indian restaurant in Guatape. Big fail. Her “curry” was more like veggies in a tomato sauce. Hmmm. Hence, I continue to cook a lot and love all the vegetables and fruits to play with here.

Take It – Everything is open here. Think no heat or air conditioning. Fresh air, open windows. I can’t take enough of it.

Blogging in an open balcony.

Granted, some areas really could benefit from air conditioning (the coast) or heat (higher altitudes – Bogotá and Sogamoso) in my opinion.

Leave It – Bugs. They were definitely the worst on the coast and in warmer climates. When you get to higher elevation like Bogotá, Medellín, and Sogamoso, we didn’t have as much of a problem with bugs. But the bug bites I experienced on the coast of Palomino were unreal. I’ve never seen my legs so ugly in my life. Red bug bites all over my feet and legs that itched and itched and did not go away for at least a week. One hostel we stayed at, Refugio de La Roca, oh man it was infested with flies. I’d never seen so many flies in one place in my life.

Take It – Spanish!

Leave It – The kitchens. This is specific to hostel living. There are some respectable kitchens but those that are not respectable are bad. Think food left behind in fridges, dirty countertops, dirty dishes, dull knives. Most kitchens require you to use matches or lighters to ignite the stove. I don’t think one hostel had an oven. One or 2 might’ve had a microwave. I think I’ll be excited to cook in a large, clean kitchen when I return.

Pitaya I will miss you.

Take It – The fruit! OMG, there is so much fruit here that simply does not exist back at home. As you all know at home, I love sweets and dessert. Frickin love it. Here, don’t need it. Just give me fruits. Current examples of my love are pitaya and zapote.

Leave It – The showers and lack of dryers.  A majority of my showers have been cold. Out of all the places I have stayed, 4 have had hot water. Brrr! Secondly, the lack of clothes dryers.  At first, I thought, this is great, my clothes that I’m supposed to wear for a year will have less wear and last longer! The problem is, my clothes are stretched out and too big on me, even yoga pants have gotten big on me! I think I’ll have to swap out my pants for some new ones soon.

Flowers/greenery at the jardín in Museo Castillo

 

 

 

Take It – The flowers. Everything is so beautiful here. There might be a modest looking home, but it’s always brightened by the presence of tropical flowers.

Leave It – Machísmo. The men are constantly staring and making you feel uncomfortable. If it’s not the stares, then it’s catcalls. I can’t tell you how many complete strangers on the street claimed me as “mi amor” or “bonita” or the list I’m sure gets more grotesque as I don’t know the slang here yet nor could understand their mumbles. Two things to note. First, I did not experience this characteristic of men in Bogotá while walking on the streets – just to point out there are differences between different regions in the country. Secondly, I had a conversation with María about this topic. To her, she finds many of these comments as compliments and is not offended by them, depending on the approach of the person. She also would not describe this as “machísmo” and would not describe the men of Medellín using that word either. I think we differ in our opinions on this based on our culture/upbringing.

Ali and her avocado that’s larger than her head.

Take It – Aguacate! Aguacate! AGUAAACAAATEEE! This is what the locals shout through microphones as they sell avocados the size of your head from carts, often walking about the town or city. You can get avocados huge avocados for $1-2 and they are delicious.