why everything started

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I want to and have to start writing about Colombia before i start to forget(oh how could i forget it anyway)

The best year of my life,the life that i had longed for started on January 31st of 2012

You may wonder,why Colombia?

As we all know,it is supposed to be one of the most dangerous countries in the world,it's stuck with drug trafficking,violence,kidnapp,corruption etcetc.From what we read in newspaper it's quite a fucked up country.My friends still can't figure out why i went there(India either) and they didn't even know where it is and thought i went to the Columbia University in US.

That's a long story to tell.My major in university is Spanish,so it's normal to go abroad in third year and practice the language and normal people choose Spain,well i was one of them,i studied Spainsh because i had a major crush on a Spanish footballer and always wanted to go there,watch a Real Madrid game,go to Barcelona for Gaudi,go to Andalucia for the arquitecture and Lorca blablabla.

I didn't "choose" Colombia,actually it was the only option at that time,for Spain you have to wait for one more year.I was at the worst period of my life and couldn't wait and sang Take Me Out of Franz Ferdinand everyday,wishing someone would come along and take me away from this monotonous life.And it did happen,one day the faculty announced an exchange program.I said to myself,for better or worse,it would be new and different,even if it's a hell,it would be another one.I made the wildest decision in my life the right moment i heard about it,i did ask my parents for permission but i already had decided to go for it.I was a nerd who studied too much and had a very high GPA so they approved of my solicitation the second day.Oh I finally had sth to hope for.

Yes i was worried,doing background research did scare the hell out of me.I do like Hundreds Years of Solitud I do wish to go to the Carribean Sea and see El Dorado in the Gold Museum(museo de oro).But they kidnap foreigners,buses explode on the street,protests are very often,and you get robbed easily.

The truth is,there are drug problems but they don't offer you drugs on a street or beach(which they do in india),there are thieves and robberies as there are in everywhere else in the world i guess it's easier to get robbed in touristic cities like Barcelona and Rome,i wasn't stolen,robbed,cheated,killed or raped(i was really worried about rapes in india so a friend hooked me up with two guys)in a whole year.You just have to take care like anywhere else.



One month before heading for Colombia uncertainty and apprehension overwhelmed me but strangely somehow i was with loads of hope for a brand new life.

And i did get it.It turned out to be the best year of my life.

I lived alone for the first time and enjoyed my liberty,economic and mental independence.I wandered around the city alone,went to the movies which was cheap(2 dolars!in china it's at least 10).I hung out with my best friends on a Saturday night and got drunk.I travelled a lot(trust me really a lot),to the places that i thought i could only know from textbooks or internet.I taught Chinese which was totally new to me.I learned a little bit about art,history,psychology and economy.I started to speak Portuguese and French and Colombian Spanish.(if you ask me how is Colombia,i would answer,QUE CHIMBA PARCE).I got reconciliated with myself and found my inner peace and balance at last.

In a French lesson we were asked to write about ideal life,i wrote and wrote,suddenly i realized that i was living 90% of the ideal life.I might need a boyfriend and real Chinese food.I feel like "It's My Life"-I just wanna live when i am alive.





Colombia is not what you think it is,it has much more to offer than all the negative sides that you have read in newspaper.Picturesque view of the Amazon River,the Carribean Sea,the Andes mountains,nice and hospitable people,the best coffee,handsome guys(oh they do have every type so there must be your cup of tea,and chicks too),tropical fruits that you still don't know all of them after a year,crazy fiestas till the second day.The list goes on and on,keeping writing this still makes me wanna cry.But to me the most important thing can be included in a line of a movie "Cualquier sitio es bueno para vivir si nos da gusto".

The slogan of Colombian tourism is "the only risk is wanting to stay".I thought it was bluff and propaganda and didn't believe it.So it's like a sweet revenge to me.The country poisoned me with its unique charm.At this moment i would do anything trying to go back again.

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