Jugos y Fincas: What Does It Mean To Be in Colombia? [Bogotá / El Caimo / Salento, Colombia]

Bogotá, Colombia in its full glory from the top of Monserrate

As Nat and I near the halfway point of our adventure, we find ourselves in the most exotic place we’ve been to until now: Colombia. Starting with the comfort of Europe and North America helped us ease into digital nomad mode, and landing in Colombia marked the beginning of something completely unexpected.

We came with some prejudices, of course. We tried to make them informed opinions by talking to as many people as we could about their experience in Colombia, whether they lived here, studied here or travelled here recently. And surprisingly, we found that our Colombian network was actually quite far-reaching! For those of you who helped us prepare: muchas gracias! Your advice and introductions have already proven invaluable.

So what does it mean to be in Colombia? Is it dangerous? What is the infrastructure like? How are the people?

So far, it has been truly wonderful. Sure, you need to exhibit a generous level of street smarts: don’t flaunt your phone in public; research the cities and neighborhoods you’ll be spending time in; use established service providers for transportation, housing, etc. But there are cities in North America and Europe in which doing these things is equally important (I’ve been scammed by drivers in New York, had friends get their cell phone stolen in the middle of London and gotten lost in Vancouver) so if anything, this is a great lesson on how to behave in general. (Not to mention, honing the skill of memorizing maps and directions is sure to come in handy at many times and places!)

Otherwise, things I’ve noticed include:

• Colombians are very warm: they’re eager to chat, patient and helpful with our work-in-progress Spanish and very pleasant overall. I’ve also run into a couple of international Colombians who married into the country and fell in love with it. You may need to be here to feel its pull, but it’s definitely there.
• Life is cheap, but not that cheap. We’re undeniably getting great bang for our buck, but it’s less cheap than I had imagined. The tourist hotspots like Andres Carne de Res, and fancy restaurants like Criterion in Bogotá’s Zona G will still cost you about $70 for two people and that’s without wine or starters. (I still highly recommend both places! The service and food were absolutely fantastic!)
• Everybody loves juice here. Jugo with your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Jugo on its own from a juice shop. Jugo with yogurt or with agua. Jugo, jugo, jugo.
• WhatsApp is unlimited on most phone plans, but that’s not including WhatsApp phone calls. So most people here communicate with WhatsApp voice messages. I received my very first one yesterday and I felt the thrill of initiation.
• Nature is really loud. Nat and I stayed on a finca — a Colombian farm — for two days last weekend and though there were no cars, buildings or pollution in sight, we got a full concerto of crickets, birds and raindrops. It was beautiful, but it also somewhat sleep-depriving… :)
• Think staying on a finca is the only way to experience one? Think again. Every coffee shop has a sign or description of which finca their coffee or honey comes from, and many Colombians own a finca somewhere in the countryside even if they live in cities.
• Respect is key. We bumped into a security guard at the Cocora Valley trailhead who we mistakenly thought was another heckler trying to get us to purchase a horse ride, and he got very upset with what he perceived was a lack of respect from foreigners towards Colombian authority. Luckily, a woman nearby came to our defense and we spoke enough Spanish that we were able to clarify the situation, leaving him with smiles and fist bumps instead of being forbidden from doing the hike.

A view from the “finca” near El Caimo, in the Eje Cafetero (coffee country) in Colombia

Those are some of the material experiences of being in Colombia. And while the pavement in Bogotá has a lot of loose tiles and we certainly noticed some poverty in certain areas, the biggest discovery about what it means to be in Colombia is a personal one.

wary, scary • 14th november, 2017 • medellín, colombia • background is a Xu Hongfei statue in bogotá’s bolívar plaza • originally published on Instagram

I was worried that I wouldn’t fit in. I was concerned about my safety. I feared my Spanish wouldn’t be good enough. I suspected everyone was out to scam me. Instead, I feel much safer than I thought I would (while still displaying the above-mentioned level of street-smart). I’ve had entire conversations in Spanish and feel my level improving exponentially (big shoutout to Mauricio, my Spanish teacher in New York, who helped me get out of my shell and dare to speak even if I made mistakes). I’ve assumed cab riders were overcharging me when in fact they were under-charging. And while I can’t say I totally fit in — I still definitely look like a foreigner — people are very welcoming and again, being able to get around in Spanish opens so many doors.

I’m also excited that while settling into Bogotá and Medellín has been in many ways different to settling into Copenhagen, Berlin or Vancouver, it also hasn’t been difficult. The world is a big, beautiful, exciting place with so much to discover and offer, but it’s also home to all of us. As long as we respect each other in our differences and similarities, the world truly can be our oyster.***

PS. Since this post is a little more philosophical and less about all the exciting things we’ve actually done in Colombia, I’ll be writing another post in a day or two to tell you about that, because it really warrants its own space! We love you, Colombia! 🇨🇴

PPS. If you want to follow more of my poetry, I’m on Instagram at @midnight_plume.