I have now reached the halfway point of my visit here in Bogota. I have been here now for sixteen days. I leave for home in another sixteen days, April 1. I will begin my evaluation with the positives:
1. The pension where I am staying. Since the owners and I ironed out our differences at the very beginning it has been going extremely well. I still suspect my room might be haunted, but the ghost, if there is one, seems to be friendly or at least benign. Last night a Colombian coin of two hundred pesos fell out of my underwear. I have absolutely no idea how it got there and like the rest of you if there was a coin inside my underwear I would certainly have felt it at some point during the day. Usually I am the only guest staying here, it seems. It is something lovely opening my windows and door to the lush tropical garden every morning. The breakfasts are always good and substantial and sometimes, but not always, there is good conversation with one of the owners or staff.
2. My artistic output: I have already finished three very good drawings and this morning during breakfast I started on number four. I have made art a priority for this vacation and everywhere I can I will stop an hour or two inside a cafe to work on it.
3. The climate: Despite the frequent rain, usually in the afternoons, it never gets too hot, often there are breezes and walking is pleasant and easy.
4. Social contact: I seem to have already made several new friends in Bogota and throughout the week there is someone to have coffee with or do an outing. Not only are they lovely people but this is also a great way to learn about Colombia.
5. Spanish immersion: Need I say more? I have cheated a bit this time. I am reading one English language book here (Karen Armstrong's ¨Fields of Blood¨. Read it if you haven't already!) as well as a novel in Spanish translation. Some of the people I know here are anglophones so we speak in English and others are trying to improve their English so we do some language exchange.
6. Good book stores
7. Expenses: Almost everything here is relatively cheap and I am well within budget.
8. I can drink the tap water and not get sick.
9. Through a little ingenuity I am able to eat quite decently, being vegetarian in a city that doesn't provide a lot of options.
10. The neighbourhood where I am staying: Pasadena is quiet with lots of parks. Great for contemplative walks.
11. Decent coffee shops: Through a lot of walking around and with help from my Bogotana friend, Alba, I have found some really nice places to park in.
12. The Anglican church: San Pablo Cathedral is a warm and welcoming Christian community and I enjoy worshipping and fellowshipping with them.
13. Nature: Such as it is, given that Bogota is a big city, but the mountains are really lovely, there are parks and flowers everywhere and I have also seen a few lovely birds in my travels.
And now the bad news: Not really that horrible really The altitude is an ongoing challenge and some days I still feel like a ninety year old man, sometimes ninety-five. I find the absolute lack of consideration for others and an apparent lack of social contract in this society to be troubling as well. The architecture, compared to Mexico is also kind of lacklustre. I also find the evident fear in a lot of people a bit concerning but this is also understandable. This city, and perhaps all of Colombia suffers from collective PTSD. I have also found that many people here, once you get past their initial reserve, are really quite lovely.
Colombia, in my opinion, suffers much as many other Latin American countries. They had a very rough beginning historically starting from Inquisition Spain in the Sixteenth Century and genocide and enslavement of the native peoples here and their history has been conflict and war and more conflict and more so is it any wonder that they have not succeeded in developing a better and healthier social infrastructure where everyone can be included. Family is central to everything here which is both Colombia's great blessing and Colombia's great curse.
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