Escobarian danger zone or safe, developed country?

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Telling my old-school, overly-patriotic, republican, German family who've lived in the same city for generations that I was moving to Colombia did NOT go smoothly. Here's a direct quotation from my very sweet grandmother whom I love dearly right after I told her: " You're going to take one step out of that airport and get kidnapped and raped and we'll never see you again!" That lovely chat is what began to show me just what little opinion some people have of Colombia. Being nervous about my move, I of course researched the topic. What I found was that while the United States had an annual murder rate of 14, 249, Colombia had 12, 776. Neither of those numbers are particularly great but Colombia is significantly safer in terms of murder that the U.S. is. I also found that robbery and sexual assault rates were lower in Colombia ( forgive me but I disremember my sources- as a trained researcher I am ashamed, but you will have to research for yourself to back up these numbers). Along with native Colombian's reassurances, I felt good enough about it to move here and my experiences so far have proven my intuition correct (which she always is). First, I don't want to disillusion you; Colombia is a place like anyone else and there are good and bad people. However, my life here so far has been and felt far more safe than my life in Milwaukee. I still get catcalled, but my callers don't follow me around until I walk into some random business. ONE time an old man in the street called me trash, but back at home I was called many names almost every time I walked outside ( God bless headphones). In Barranquilla, people are pleasant on the street, unlike in my hometown where most people walk with their heads down avoiding eye contact. In truth it may be because I'm American- I don't know but it's a possibility- but people here are so nice for the most part and in over three months I've never once felt threatened. Moving on from safety, let's get to the standard of living. Contrary to some belief, Colombia is not all mud huts and shoeless children. In fact, my standard of living has really improved since I came here! My house (my boyfriend's family's house) is quite large and very beautiful. There is always a surplus of food present. We have cable and two wifi boxes. Every bedroom has its own bathroom and air conditioner. I get a mani-pedi every other Sunday...lots of silly things but anyways I've really taken a step-up here. I did visit one city, Palenque, a very old freed-slave city that was less developed- dirt floors, very poor indoor plumbing, etc.- but for the most part Colombia is a very developed country (not the photos of my street, a nearby college campus, the back porch of my house, and a shot of Bogota). The moral of this blogpost is that if you are considering moving to Colombia but fear being thrown back in time, fear not!!! If you are considering moving somewhere else but are afraid of the bad reputation your country might have, don't put too much stock into what everyone says- it's very possible that such reputations come from old, antiquated ideas of a used-to-be scary and mysterious place.

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