JULIE FACTS

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I present to you little-known facts about Colombia, of which I will add more as I think of them.



Palenque- The village of Palenque in Colombia was the home of the very first free slaves in the Americas. It's an extremely historically rich place and wonderful to visit; the locals are very sweet and generous- although you probably shouldn't visit without a native Colombian you can trust.



Fast food- It's not real. Plenty of places say they're fast food but it's all lies. Delicious, slowly- cooked lies. Also, so-called "cola" tastes like bubble gum.





Comfort- Colombia is a very non-threatening place. I walk the streets alone every day and receive only smiles. My neighborhood has a contracted security guy who patrols our street all night, every night, and most other streets in my city have the same. It's a big city like any other so don't wander around in the dark or anything, but it's a fairly safe place (as of yet I've only experienced a handful of cities here so take this with a grain of salt).



Maybe non-comfort- I personally love this about Colombia but others may not. It's a very open culture. Sometimes while I'm driving down the street I'll see someone doing cocaine, or open- mouth public kissing. When I eat a lot, as I am wont to do, people tell me that it'll make me fat. People tell you if you're a bad dancer, and then dance with you to teach you the right way. It's a nice change from pussy-footing-around-everything Midwest life.

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