I'm in Bogota!

Hola Friends!!

Greetings from Colombia! First of all, thank you Katie for hosting me in Atlanta! I had a blast on the mini-road trip! I arrived to Colombia on Friday and have been exploring the city. I'm having a great time! The people are really nice and there is lots to see! Ok, so I know that I should start telling you what I have seen in chronological order but I was super excited about the things I saw yesterday. Every Sunday in Bogota from 7am - 2pm they close some of the streets to encourage people to do exercise by walking, rollerblading, or biking. They call this...Ciclovia! The cool thing about it is that vendors, musicians, and food carts pop up along the side of the streets drawing a big crowd.

As I was walking, I saw people gathered around the front of a church. I was totally surprised to find that a man with three guinea pigs. He had trained the guinea pigs to run into buckets with holes. The purpose was to get people to bet on which hole they think the guinea pig would run into. If you win, you collect half the money that was gambled. I played and lost a total of 200 pesos which is an equivalent of 11 cents. :( Watch the video below! I have included pics of the guinea pigs because they were super cute. Also, they eat them here too. Not sure I want to try any though. However, the street food here has been awesome. I have had the best fruit drinks (guayaba with milk), roasted corn, and empanadas. Nope, I have not gotten sick! (Crossing fingers)

I saw a protest yesterday too. It appears that there is ongoing discrimination towards Afro-Colombians. The protesters want the government to protect their rights and to ensure that they could have equal access to the prestigious colleges and universities as well as to better job opportunities. I did hear some people say some racist remarks to the protesters. However, overall, it was a peaceful demonstration. In the plaza, I also saw this poster about Bush and Obama. They were drawn as vampires and the poster was criticizing them for the war in Afghanistan and Iraq and the deaths that it has caused. I took a picture of it as I thought it was a good drawing on President Bush too. I have not found people respond negatively when I tell them I am American..haha..although some do not believe it as much so I just tell people I am Salvadoran. I think it is easier for Colombians to figure out I am not from here because my Spanish sounds very different to them (which it is). Who knows? Maybe I'll have a Colombian accent when I go back home.

I also went to El Museo de Oro (Gold Museum) where have artifacts that were crafted by pre-Hispanic tribes in Colombia. I have attached pics so you can see some of my favorite statues and masks.




Bogota has the strangest weather. One minute is warm, and then it gets cold and rainy. There has been some flooding in the city but nothing too bad as in other areas in Colombia. Not how I thought it was going to be...sadly, I packed my sandals and left my boots at home. I am trying to make it without having to buy an umbrella because I do not want to have to pack it in my luggage as it is filled to the max! Speaking of luggage - avoid flying Spirit Airlines if you can! I know it's cheap but not worth it. So when I arrived to Bogota (late as the plane was delayed), I went to pick up the bags and one was missing. The Spirit rep said that it was left in Fort Lauderdale....which ended it up being a lie because what had happened was that someone had taken the bag... because of this Spirit said it was not their fault and the bag needed to be picked up at the airport. Luckly, the person who took it brought the luggage back but still, how can they not check if a person is taking the correct bags?! Good news, Avi's bag was recovered. Bad news, I still have to use Spirit to get back home. (Boo!)

Now in terms of the internship, we are flying to Medellin on Thursday. Avi and I are meeting with Martha, our contact, tomorrow to discuss what we are going to exactly. I am super excited to get started and to explore Medellin which I hear has great weather and it's beautiful.

Now we are off to Mount Monseratte - you can see the whole city from up there. I'll make sure to take good pics. I miss you all and send everyone a giant hug! Let me know if you want to come visit!!