Puedes leer la version en Castellano de este post aqui: 5 cosas que nso parecen raras de Colombia
As you have probably guessed from the picture above, and of course from reading our posts EVERY DAY, the See Colombia Travel team are a good looking bunch of expats (if we do say so) who have decided to call Colombia home. Over the years, days, weeks and months that we’ve been here, we have all witnessed some weird and the wonderful things in Colombia. From bum heat to chocolate-drenched cheese, there are some thing we have only seen in Colombia, that’s not to say these crazy things don’t occur in other parts of the world, they just might, but for us these are things we have only ever encountered while we’ve called Colombia home. From the weird, the wacky and the truly bizarre here are the top 5 weird things we have only seen in Colombia.
1. Paul Giles – Do you want fries with ….everything?
I want you to study the above photograph closely, and I want you to notice at least two things about it. There will be a test, you’ve been warned. The first is that this photo has either been taken in China, or, at least, in a restaurant seemingly frequented by mainly Chinese people. The second is the complete lack of any fried potato on the rice in question. Now, things are a little different in an authentic Colombian Chinese restaurant. I know that Chinese food is pretty much different in every country around the world, but I never expected to find a few crinkle-cut chips luxuriating on a positively enormous bed of “mixed rice” at a Chinese restaurant. Colombia just loves its carbs, I guess. If any meal only has one type of carb – no matter what quantity – it’s just not going to cut it in this country. Not only is cheese everywhere, but potato too.
2. JL –Cheese IN hot chocolate!
I have to admit, I’m against soaking ANY kind solid food into ANY kind of beverage, that includes the very common South American custom of dipping bread in your coffee/milk/chocolate. I just can’t stand the sight of it without becoming nauseous, yes, I’m that delicate. So the concept of dipping cheese into ones hot chocolate should in theory really really gross me out. And yes, actually it does, but you know what? For some weird reason it works! I’m not going say it’s my favorite thing in the world, because its definitely not, but sometimes I have surprisingly found myself enjoying this weird combination. OK Marce, I confessed it…
3. Sarah – Bums on seats, or not.
I am a frequent bus catcher, the small busy buses, the big Transmilenio buses, I’m all over it. But what continues to surprise me is the seat-sitting etiquette. When I see an empty seat on the bus, I sit on it. If someone stands up from a seat and gets off the bus, I pounce on that seat like my life depends on it. The buses are always full in Bogotá, you don’t want to be standing pressed up against someone for 20 blocks. What I have noticed, though, is that when a Colombian is faced with the same predicament they don’t sit down once said person has gotten up from their seat. Oh no, they wait, they hover, they stand in front of the seat and wait. Wait for what? I wasn’t so sure, but I’ve started asking around and some people say that a hot seat means germs. Ok, I’m down with germs too, but the bars we hold on to on the bus – germs. The button that we press for the bus to stop, germs. It is totally cool to be anti-germs, germs are bad mmkay! But if I see a seat on a crowded bus I am all over it. To be honest, this weird and wonderful bus-catching custom is really one of the main reasons I keep catching buses in Bogotá. And, I must admit, I do have a giggle every time I see it happen.
4. Azzam – Weather Commentary
This might sound strange coming from an Englishman since we complain/talk about the weather almost consistently, but I’m always baffled at just how much Bogotanos in particular complain about the weather. And here’s the thing: it’s pretty much always the same. In England we vary from -5C to 30C, so you can imagine it’s a talking point when, in a week, we change 15 degrees or so. In Bogotá, however, the margin of difference is something like 5 degrees, probably less. This tiny change will ellicit almost constant exclamations of “uuuiiiiii no! Que calor insuportable”, or “Juepucha, que friiiiiiiio!”. Bizarre.
5. Paul Fowler – Weird Voices
Colombia is a land of bizarre voices: from baby-talking adults in public places (“hola mi amoooor, sí bien, aquí juiciosiiiiito”) to loud, mullet-wearing bus drivers that belt out vallenato as they drive. The most bizarre of all, however, are those people that sell on the streets. These are the people that yell “AGUACATE! AGUACATE! AGUACATE!!” at 8 in the morning to wake you up. “TAAAAAMAAAAALLLEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS” and “PARAGUAPARAGUAPARAGUAAA!!! A MIL! A MIL! A MIL!” are also two favourites of mine. Their voices range from bellowing cries to robot-sounding monotonous drones to yelps so exquisitely pained they could be on stage.
You could never do this phenomenon justice, but the guys with this video have tried:
