So here we are, with 3 weeks of crammed Spanish in a highly unfamiliar country. My thoughts are mixed - there’s the overall thrill (Bogota is incredible, and if you never plan to go, I’d highly recommend you put it on your travel list). There’s the panic (mi espanol es malo) and there’s some general skeevy areas that we’ve learned to just avoid. My purse has an anti theft feature on it and we have to be generally watchful, because the city is known for pickpocketers. And even the smallest undertakings require a lot more energy in general, because I find not many individuals speak English here (nor do I expect them to), so it’s a little nervewracking to go to markets and get street food. But overall, this experience has been massively enriching. I can’t describe the kind of fulfillment I feel from witnessing new sights and experiencing completely new things. It also continues to give me appreciation for my American passport, and how precious my citizenship is to a country that I criticize often, but am actually extremely blessed to belong to. My travels in Europe as well as my experiences in South America have made me realize this. Maybe it’s because simply nothing compares to the feeling of belonging, but there’s so many things we take for granted in America. Central heat and air. Free water at restaraunts. Free bathrooms, and nice ones. The expectation that most hotel rooms have warm showers, coffee makers, and internet. All of these are things not necessarily guaranteed here, which has given me a lot of perspective on how other people live and my own unique privileges. My experience with the people of Bogota has been mixed - in general, people have been nice, although we’ve gotten the occasional shit talking that we’ve caught glimmers of in Spanish, which to be fair, I’ve found I stick out like a literal sore thumb with my green eyes, blonde hair, and very pale skin - plus, to mention again, my bad Spanish. But I can’t fault anyone for that, honestly. I can see why tourists - and American ones, no doubt - can be unwelcome, especially given our current political climate today. I am striving to be respectful as well as to not expect anyone to speak my language while here. And I am cherishing the opportunity to educate myself on different cultures. All that being said, here’s some photos of our experiences thus far! Also, please excuse any typos - this is all getting posted from my phone!
Day 1 consisted of arriving at around 12:40 pm local time (Colombia is in the central time zone; and actually only about a 5.5 hour plane ride). I always feel like a little kid of planes! We flew over Cuba and Jamaica, both of which I caught glimpses of. And flying in to Bogota...what an experience! I’ve never witnessed such rolling green hills. England was green, and Ireland was too. But this was GREEN. Bogota itself has one of the highest altitudes of any capital city. It’s nestled somewhat within the Andes, and it’s sprawling. It seems to go on and on. Our cab experience was fairly sub par (we’ll stick to Uber next time, I highly recommend you familiarize yourself with the money as well as somewhat decent Spanish before hopping in a cab here), and I think we were both generally a little stressed out, having started the day at 4 am and then being grilled by customs in Spanish, finding an ATM to get Colombian pesos, and finding our hotel. We had dinner in a really cool, religious themed restaraunt, and successfully ordered in Spanish, and then slept FOREVER.
Day 2 consisted of hiking Monserrate, an incredibly steep mountain with a cathedral built on top hundreds of years ago. It’s also prudent of me to mention that, with the altitude being what it is, it’s already hard to breathe if you’re from, say, Florida. Even the LIGHTEST bit of exertion makes you winded and it’s generally harder to breathe. Add climbing 3000 extra meters up an extremely steep mountain of stairs and you have a recipe for stopping every 5 minutes lol that hike was worthwhile but hella miserable. But hands down one of the COOLEST parts of Bogota (see photos). Got a pretty gnarly sunburn because I forgot sunscreen. And there’s cool shops set up along the way. Plus bathrooms costing about $600-1000 pesos to use (about .50 c USD). 
Following our hike, we took the funicular down, and then explored La Candalaria (Bogota’s Historic district), tried our hands at haggling at some markets, saw the Bolivar museum and plaza, waded through the biggest sea of pigeons I’ve ever seen in my life, saw a llama, and then took a nap and ate at the hotel because we were WIPED.
Day 3 (today) consisted of Museo del Oro preceded by an amazing breakfast ft. a tamale larger than my head (Day 2 consisted of chocolate y queso, which in Colombia, you place the cheese into the queso), and general exploration of the city. We attempted a trip to Paloquemao market, but the way there was so sketch, we unfortunately decided to turn around, and ended up exploring more of Santa Fe and the local parks instead. We also ate dinner at a really authentic hole in the wall place, and felt a lot more comfortable talking in Spanish! Our hotel also has a sauna and steam room + a pool, so we spent the rest of the evening relaxing our sore muscles from yesterday’s hike. We still have 1.5 more days in Bogota left to go, and I can definitely say, it’s an experience I will always cherish and never forget!
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