Foreigners, Extranjeros and Aliens

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Welcome to Colombia



Following in the footsteps of my good friend Nicole who also is doing an international internship as well as the sound advice of a good friend, here is my travel blog.



Made it to Colombia today. What a beautiful country, full of adventures. Here are some key things I learned on my first day here



1. You CANNOT enter Colombia if you do not have an address to go to.

- Literally, you can google a McDonalds and tell them you are going to stay there with some friends and that’s good enough. Just memorize it because you will have to tell three different people on your way out of the airport

2. Colombians have excellent depth perception – or their cars magically shrink to be able to fit three side by side on a very narrow two-lane highway

- For the first 2 hours of our drive from Bogota, I thought we were going to either

a. Hit a motorcyclist (which eventually, we were hit by a motorcyclist )

b. Fall off of the mountain

c. Get crushed by a bus, big truck, small truck, or car

- After that, I trusted that driver with my life.

3. Colombia is so beautiful, it almost distracts you from how absolutely horrible the traffic is

- 120 miles in 5 hours – not kidding

4. If you stand still for too long (greater than 10 seconds), someone will ask you for money or try to do something for you for money

5. Another driving one, The first rule about driving in Colombia is – there are no rules

- The lines delineating the lanes are more like guidelines really, as is the speed limit…



Shortly after arriving in Colombia,
I, the only foreigner on the plane went to the foreigner side of customs where
I was then asked for the address that I didn’t know. After repeatedly telling them that I did not
know the address and that I also didn't have any numbers saved in my phone, I was taken to a dark room with many chairs and about 4 customs officers where I was told I would stay until I found my destination. Finally, my husband texted me back with the address which I had been so desperately searching for and had so foolishly forgotten to add in my phone.

Sadly, I still don't know the address...

Despite the 5 hour car ride, after the 3 hour plane ride,
the beautiful country side and the panoramic view of the city and the sights
makes it all okay.







We took the "old route" to 'Villavo' where we passed through some very nice neighborhoods and some not so very nice neighborhoods. I took some pictures on the route!





















































In short, the first day has been full of adventure, just as
I would have expected.

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Photos

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beautiful view from the road

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mural in Bogota

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that is a cow from a small group of cows. We had to stop to avoid them. This happened twice on the way to Villavicencio

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Very common sight