funny facts about Colombia

I met quite an interesting guy the other day. He was all about " en Colombia todo se puede" and when I asked him to be more specific he told me... Colombia has the best US dollars! The best US dollars? Yeah, that's what he said! the best counterfeit ones! Also the best counterfeit Euros, they seem genuine, it´s a real pain in the but to tell if they are fake or the real thing!Also it looks like the Pope's bullet- proof car is made here because they have in Colombia the best technology to make bullet-proof items! Imagine! Of course they do! with all the killings and kidnappings! Ok, let´s get one thing straight here! I have been reading a lot that Colombia is not that dangerous anymore, that yes, it was in the past, but that era is over, now it is as safe as any other country. And yes, by all means, it is true. But let me share something with you.Since I got here I have been hearing so many creepy storeys that make me realize that I lucky to be here NOW and not 3-4 years ago. I work in a private school here and it is not to big, and I think that in almost every class there is a kid with a parent or an uncle missing. Kidnapped. I have one in my own class. The poor kid is 5 and his Dad has been missing for almost one year now. There are kids whose families have long-running feuds for ages,which include even killing !! Imagine those kids meeting at school every day, growing up with this thought: His uncle killed my Dad...yes, some storeys seem far-fetched, but it is the pure truth...I met a guy telling me these dreadful storeys, his uncle went to the States in the 70´s and made a lot of money out of the drugs there, returned in Colombia to start a legit business and in a few years was kidnapped, the ransom was paid for him and the moment he was released, his brother was kidnapped instead. He went bankrupt but at least he is still alive. Here getting away with murder is a fact. I hear storeys every single day. The owner of T. ... murdered some gringos some years ago. Everybody knows it. He got away with it. He is still the owner of T...There is an abandoned place which used to be a club owned by a French guy. He was killed.

Another fact that is not related to any of the above but it is really funny is that a few years ago there was a custom at the countryside that had the purpose to initiate the boys´sexual life....to have sexual intercourse with an animal, a cow, a donkey, a sheep. Yes, it is normal. It was anyway. I hope it isn t anymore, though 24 years boy tell me they have either experienced or witnessed such an event. Is it true? I don´t know,I am not making things up, I just tell you what I heard here. Indeed, Colombia is a country where everything is possible, good or bad, it defies the normal world, the logic, the things we know and believe in. ¨Such a country cannot exist.¨said a friend of mine after living here for one month. Everything world stands for is forgotten here, all the human principles, all the things that are right and normal here are not. It is not something you can explain, it is just that you feel it. it is´t as it should be . You don´t know why, but you just feel it, all your instincts tell you the opposite. Nobody is here ever in a hurry! Never! If the bus stops for somebody to get off and somebody else is waiting to get on half a meter a way, that person will never under no circumstance make one step forward to get on the bus, the bus will start and stop in within half meter for that person! No, I am not kidding, I am not exaggerating! And it might not seem much when I say it, but should you be in my shoes...it is nerve-recking!!!!!!
That is all the gossip for today, take care and stay tunned!

---

---