One of the best things about working for See Colombia, besides the chance to keep spreading the word about what a marvelous country Colombia really is, is the unusual opportunities which I’m often presented with. Wander round Bogota eating ants for a story…sure, why not?! Appear in El Espectador newspaper on the same page as El Pibe Valderrama…go on then! However, yesterday I probably topped all of these with a massive personal check off my bucket list: Marcela and I were interviewed by Caracol Internacional for a segment about the Colombia Travel Blog for the television show ‘Colombia mas cerca.’ I guess I’ll have to reluctantly accept my growing fame; I just want a normal life!
Seriously though, this interview was the real deal: none of your 20 second soundbite recording; this interview took about 4 or 5 hours of filming, shooting from different angles, retakes (I may have fluffed my Spanish a few times…), and an especially surreal filming session in a nearby park (I’ll come back to that!). We were interviewed by Nataly Olarte, an interviewer who has been with Caracol for over 2 years, and her exceptionally professional and friendly cameramen. They took care of everything and asked some great questions, allowing us to really express the importance and goals of the Colombia Travel Blog.
My personal interview focused on how I first came to Colombia, and how I came to be working for this blog, as well as what I loved about Colombia, and where my favourite place here is (you’ll have to watch the interview to find out: cryptic clue…it’s not a beach…). Marcela primarily spoke about how the blog began, how we work, and what she wanted to do when she first started a blog dedicated to travel in Colombia. They also filmed one devilishly cute sequence involving JL and Marcela’s daughter, Maria del Mar: reason enough to watch!
We then moved outside to the aforementioned park for one of the more awkward moments of my life. They needed some casual, relaxed shots to intersperse with all the serious stuff. Makes sense. So I picked up my camera and wandered around the park in slow motion taking multiple photographs while the cameraman circled me filming: it was certainly one of the greater challenges of my (short) acting career to realistically pretend that I spend my afternoons casually photographing tree trunks in small neighbourhood parks, but I think I made it work…
And that was that. It was a fun, if slightly surreal morning, and definitely one of my most memorable experiences. I never would have thought when I first came to Colombia that I’d end up being featured in two of its biggest media outlets! I can’t wait to see the finished product, and I bet you can’t either, after that scintillating description, right? Well the good news is that you’ll only have to wait a month or so until the See Colombia feature airs on Caracol Internacional: keep an eye on the Colombia Travel Blog for the exact dates closer to the time.
Chris
Watch TV Online, on
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on caracol tv internacional.
Regards
Jonathan Hemming on
Chris you are a legend, my son! Was your favourite place Tunja?
Chris on
Thank you sir, you’re too kind 🙂 It wasn’t, but it should have been! Serious oversight there…