Day 1

Arrival

Finally in Bogota!! I left my house at 5:30am on Wednesday January 9th, to catch my flight out of Fargo at 8:15am. Because I like to leave everything to the last minute, I was awake all night, packing my things and talking with friends. After a whole day traveling, I finally arrived at 10pm. Last time I came to Bogota 3.5 years ago, I spent almost 2 hours in customs and immigration; this time, no more than 20 minutes. Although it has improved, the Colombian airport is still complete disorder. But it works, so I can't complain.

Vanessa, Juliana, and Juliana's mom Jasmin picked me up, and from there we went to Juli's house and sat up talking until almost 2am. I slept like a baby, and didn't wake up until after 1pm, still fatigued from the long day before. I had my first Colombian breakfast, arepa con cafe, at 1:30pm.

Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzales

As many of you probably know, today was a big day in Colombia, and I'm lucky that I arrived in time to experience it. Today Clara Rojas and Consuelo Gonzales, two Colombian women who have been in the captivity of the FARC for the last 6 years, were set free. This is HUGE news in Colombia. Every channel is airing footage of this stuff. From Juli's room, we watched live footage of Rojas and Gonzales being set free in the jungle (note to self: don't stray from the beaten path while visiting the jungle), and then on the phone with Chavez thanking him for all his hard work to set them free (probably won't show that in the US), then in Caracas, Venezuela meeting their families for the first time in 6 years. Definitely a touching event. These women were held in captivity in the jungle since December 2001. They slept on hammocks, with chains around the neck every night. Many hope that this is one step closer to freeing Ingrid Betancourt (French-Colombian kidnapped in 2002). I personally feel that it will be years until Betancourt is set free.

Things to remember when in Colombia

1. Speak Spanish: This isn't Europe. It's not easy for a Colombian to switch from his native language to English when a foreigner shows up.

2. Refrain from saying things like "I am American": This confuses the Colombians. In Latin America, "American" means anybody from the western hemisphere. Latin Americans prefer to use the word "gringo" for anybody from the United States.

3. Dance: You're in the south. Shake that culo.

4. Toilet paper goes in the garbage, not the toilet: this one makes sense. I mean, really, when you think about it, why would you put paper into the toilet? Nevertheless, I still have to verbally remind myself every time I go to the bathroom... "in the garbage, in the garbage, in the garbage". I'm successful about 50% of the time.

5. Blondeness: In Spanish, the word for "blonde" is "rubio". In Colombian, the word for blonde is "mono" which is the same word for "monkey" (hmmm I wonder what the Colombians REALLY think of northerners).

6. Never turn down a shot: That's just rude, man.

7. Remember to eat: Ok, so you're used to food processed in the US. US food does not satisfy you. Colombian food is satisfying, and today I had to remind myself to eat dinner. I wasn't hungry; Lunch 8 hours earlier was still holding me over.

8. Time differences: "I'll come over at 3pm" means "I'll start getting ready at 3:30, and hopefully I'll be there by 5:30".

9. Traffic rules: Green means go. Red means go if nobody's looking.