You know, as in Snot City, or Use a Kleenex (Uzaquen). En español ciudad de moco. Bogota is many things but primarily it is a big city that is growing faster than it can accommodate with tons of social problems and crime. It is very easy to write these people off as arrogant, selfish losers without really understanding the causes for the stresses, historic and present, that they have to live under in this city. And individually many of them are lovely people I have noticed. Individually some are complete douchebags (en español pendejos). And some are dangerous douchebags (pendejos peligrosos). I see a history based on struggle and fusion. It is a seething cauldron where nothing is static except the fossilzed remains of the rigid social hierarchy that the Spanish imported from arguably one of the most horrible and violent stages of their own history in Europe (the Inquisition, the forced expulsion or conversion of Jews and Muslims). Spain (like the rest of Europe) was in those days a very nasty piece of work with parallels to Nazi Germany. And given Colombia´s history of poverty, violence, exploitation and genocide the struggle forward has been particularly intense here and people are going to be raw, wounded and paralyzed from trauma. Except they have this stubborn resiliance and compulsive enjoyment of life and I´m sure this is at least partly a coping mechanism. I think that people here are still very much in survival mode and probably will be for a long time to come.
Why did I come here? To learn. And I have learned a lot here. I have also rested well despite certain complications from noisy locals, false cops and Myriam, the owner of the bed and no breakfast who tends to cast quite a shadow, if I must say so myself.
My bags are packed and I´m ready to go. I leave tonight and will try to sleep on an all night flight. I expect to be pretty tired when I get home tomorrow.
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