{"id":5817,"date":"2012-12-14T12:11:18","date_gmt":"2012-12-14T17:11:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?p=5817"},"modified":"2016-05-05T11:50:51","modified_gmt":"2016-05-05T16:50:51","slug":"colombia-magic-the-connections-made-travelling-in-colombia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2012\/12\/colombia-magic-the-connections-made-travelling-in-colombia\/","title":{"rendered":"Colombia Magic: The connections made travelling in Colombia."},"content":{"rendered":"

As I’ve hinted at before<\/a>, there are many reasons why I’m still here in Colombia, instead of where I thought I’d be right now. I feel as though this country has thrown down its challenge to me, and I’ve found that when I accept, I’m richly rewarded. There is such a massive variety of things to see and do, so many different ways of being, and so many amazing people.<\/p>\n

Honestly, though, it is really that last aspect, the people that I’ve met, that sealed the deal between Colombia and me. In the tradition of films like Six Degrees of Separation<\/em><\/a>, Magnolia<\/a>,<\/em> and Lantana<\/em><\/a>, but without the raining frogs or heartache, my Colombia<\/em> Magic<\/em> is unfolding as a complex web of wonderful people and their narratives. Here, I’d like to trace a few strands of this mesmerising web.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This hasn’t happened. Yet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Below is Vanessa Adatto. You may remember her from such films as the Feria de Arte Contempor\u00e1neo<\/a> at Bogot\u00e1’s Ode\u00f3n Theatre. Well, it just so happens that I met Vanessa by pure chance on the streets of Glebe, Sydney, long before I ever thought I’d end up in big, bad Bogot\u00e1. It would turn out that, on my second day in this fair city, while I was still bewildered and overwhelmed by its energy, I went to meet her at her work, as she was really the only person I knew living in Colombia. It was great to see her, but there were some random gringos hanging around her trying to talk to her as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Vanessa contemplating her country’s magic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Little would I know that I’d end up living with two of them, who make a living riding motorbikes around Colombia, and are pretty damn cool (more about them later), or that I’d end up working with their mate, Sarah, another bloody Aussie!!<\/p>\n

You may know Sarah Duncan from such blogs as this one.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
She just happens to be pretty awesome, as well.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I ended up having a great Candelaria dinner with Sarah, Jack, Jean, and their friend Tom that night; and just happened to mention that I might possibly start looking for a place to live in the Bog. Well, the very next day, Sarah took me to the place<\/a> from which she had just moved out, and I liked it so much, I moved in the next day. I would find out that Andres; the tall, wacky, and genuinely all-round good guy who works at the Cranky Croc<\/a> (where I was staying) lived there too. Later on, Sarah would suggest that I\u00a0 apply for a job at this cool blog she worked for, and I’d end up meeting Paul, Marcela, JL, and all the other amazing people that work here.<\/p>\n

Another sub-plot figures another bloody Aussie I adopted as my little brother, James, while I was still at the hostel. We ended up going to Salento<\/a> together to play pool, and we met an Aussie chick, Tess, that was working at the beautiful hostel<\/a> we stayed at, and who told us we should watch the cricket with her that night. How cool and rare is that?<\/p>\n

When I got back to the Bog, I finally got in touch with this random Aussie James had met at the gym. James had told me I should talk to him, because he was teaching English, and I wanted a bit of extra work. It didn’t sound dodgy at all. Anyway, this gym guy, Dave, was staying at the Explora hostel<\/a>, and told me I should head around to talk about the teaching gig. Who should I run into when I got there, but Tess, who was now working there instead? Dave, against all odds, ended up being a cool guy, too, and got me teaching work; and Tess suggested I work at the hostel as well, as they were looking for someone for the bar. In the space of a week, that Colombia magic ensured that I’d go from zero jobs to three, and meet some of the most interesting, if eccentric, people you’d ever be lucky enough to know.<\/p>\n

There are other subplots of Colombia Magic<\/em>, including a Swedish chef who saved my life in Tayrona; a DJ from Medellin passionate about arepas and Madonna; and Colombian Irish folk dancers. However, I’m afraid those are stories for another day.<\/p>\n

Paul G.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I’ve hinted at before, there are many reasons why I’m still here in Colombia, instead of where I thought I’d be right now. I feel as though this country has thrown down its challenge to me, and I’ve found that when I accept, I’m richly rewarded. 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