5 Little Differences Between English and Colombian Culture

Obviously when moving to a different continent you expect there to be many cultural differences. Language, for starters, but even the way people greet each other or say goodbye, the way families interact and the foods people eat can take some getting used to. These sorts of things, however, we come to expect and they’re part of the fun of travel. What I’m interested in today, however, is the more peculiar things I’ve discovered living and traveling in Colombia that are very different from back home in the UK.

Milk comes in a bag

A carton? Sure. A plastic bottle? Definitely. A glass bottle delivered to my doorstep? Even better. These are all containers that I’m accustomed to for storing my milk. If you’re planning on a Colombia vacation and you’re attached to your milk coming in any of these forms, be prepared for a shock. Milk here comes in a bag. Now I know what you’re thinking, a bag?! Why a bag? Well, dear reader, I’m not sure entirely, but what I can do is calm your fears. Contrary to what you might think, it actually doesn’t make a difference how it comes, in a carton, bottle or a bag, it still tastes great in your Colombian coffee.

Rum comes in a carton

While we’re on the subject of cartons, another form of container us extranjeros may find peculiar is the use of cartons to hold alcoholic drinks, such as rum, aguardiente and wine. Cartons remind me of breaktime at school, sipping milk, juice or Um Bongo through a straw, so needless to say whenever I drink rum from a carton I feel like I’m living those rebellious teenage years I never really dared to put my parents through. It makes the already delicious rum (brewed near Medellín, don’t you know?) that bit sweeter.

You can get buses from anywhere

Us Brits love to bemoan the disorganization of our public transport systems. The bus says it’s going to be here at 1.35, why isn’t it here at 1.38? Here in Bogotá things are decidedly different. For starters, you don’t need to wait at a bus stop; anywhere along the roadside will do. Secondly, you don’t know exactly when your next bus will come but that really doesn’t matter since so many buses run similar routes pretty much in conjunction with each other. All you have to do is wait a couple of minutes for one that has a sign that corresponds with where you’re going, stick your arm out and the bus will come to a screeching halt, no matter where you are. A pleasant change from your British bus drivers, who seem to revel in driving off just as you approach the bus stop.

Coffee doesn’t seem to affect people

As a rule, I don’t drink coffee after 4pm. Well, I used to at university but that was for educational/cramming purposes you see, and so it was different. Now if I drink a cup I’ll find myself in bed late at night, restlessly switching between reading and checking Facebook as I try and tire my eyes into sleeping. Things, as you may have guessed, are different here. People meet for coffees late in the evening; people happily consume 10 cups during their working days; people basically drink coffee as much as us Brits drink tea. And that’s a lot.

No matter what you think, you can’t dance

I’ll admit that after a few swift pints I think I’m a bit of a dab hand at throwing shapes on the dance floors of England. My head raised up to the ceiling, my arms thrusting upwards in salute to the DJ and my feet moving steadily from side to side in time with the thump thump thump of the music. Firstly, here there’s very little arm-in-the-air thrusting. Secondly, they want me to engage my hips when I dance. I didn’t even realize people’s hips could move in so many directions (I secretly think there’s some kind of Latin hip double-jointedness that us Brits don’t know about). Thirdly, my skilful foot shuffling is null and void here. Let’s just say I haven’t risked falling over so much since I learned to walk.

Paul