![\"\"](\"http:\/\/25.media.tumblr.com\/a6e31524343fe752a032ef7d8fb41845\/tumblr_ml3x3mmNZx1snbe4ao1_500.gif\")
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23. Sitting on warm seats can give you germs.<\/h4>\n
My first few months here were confusing in many ways. But perhaps the most baffling thing for me was seeing people leave their seat on a bus, only for another person to go and stand in front of it and then, after about thirty seconds, slowly slide into the seat. It wasn\u2019t until a couple of months back that I was told that this was due to the potential germs that one could get from sitting on a slightly warm seat. I don\u2019t know how much I believe it, but the whole of Bogota can\u2019t be wrong, so now you can find me shyly sliding into my Transmi seat whenever I can get one.<\/p>\n
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24. That potato chips and pineapple jam can go on hot dogs.<\/h4>\n
You want pineapple jam on your hotdog sir?<\/p>\n
Err…<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.reactiongifs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/excuse-me.gif\")
<\/p>\n
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25. It\u2019s not racist to have a sense of nationalism.<\/h4>\n
Every day at six in the morning and six in the evening Colombia\u2019s national anthem is played on the radio. People wax lyrical about Colombian culture, food, music, women, handicrafts, basically everything Colombian. Does that make them racist? No. Would somebody kindly tell that to all those people who get up in arms every time they see a St. George\u2019s Cross?<\/p>\n
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26. Mountains are awesome.<\/h4>\n
Really awesome.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fine, there are a whole load of Burger Kings, McDonalds, Pizza Huts et al here in Colombia, but what’s refreshing is that there are many more homegrown brands. For every McDonalds there’s an El Corral. For every (vastly superior) Papa Johns there’s a Jeno’s Pizza. On top of that there are brands like Bogot\u00e1 Beer Company, Crepes and Waffles, Wok and\u00a0La\u00a0Hamburgueser\u00eda that not only show the rude health of Colombian industry, but also help give the country an identity. In a frachise-y, capitalist way that is.<\/p>\n Of course, I knew that. But even the good kind of stereotypes. Think Colombians are great dancers? Well, stick on a salsa song and sure.<\/p>\n However, stick on a hip-hop\/house\/techno\/R & B song and us foreigners be all like\u00a0whuuuuut?<\/em><\/p>\n While those Colombians are like, uuuhhh…. what?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The existence of vallenato, cumbia, champeta, porro, and other home-grown kinds of music was pretty much unknown to me. Maybe I don’t love them all, but it’s nice to know just how much variety there is in this country, nevermind the entire world.\u00a0Check out Paul’s handy\u00a0guide to Colombian music<\/a>\u00a0if you want to know more.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is less something that I have learnt than something that my friends back home have had to learn. On telling them that I had decided to stay in Bogota, the unanimous reaction was \u201cwow, you\u2019re so lucky, I\u2019m so jealous that you get to live in tropical heat\u201d. No. Imagine London. But wetter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I didn\u2019t find this to be the case too often in Korea.<\/p>\n You may or may not know that in England (and I believe the US, Australia, Germany and many other countries…) we like to keep ourselves to ourselves. Well, that all pretty much goes out the window in Colombia. And it’s nice to see, every once in a while, a couple just not really caring what’s around them. Aww.<\/p>\n Flowers, dancing and general romance are a must.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Living away from home often forces you to strip down to your bare basics. Even more so when moving to a country like Colombia that doesn’t have the sheer amount of\u00a0stuff<\/em> available to you like it is back home. It’s not to say that you can’t buy an iPad here; more that having left all that clutter behind you at home and focused more on building relationships with people, you kind of realise you don’t need to spend a month’s wages on something that you don’t need. At all.<\/p>\n (NB Apple if you read this and want me to delete it in exchange for an iPad I am cool with that.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of the best things about living in Colombia is the opportunity to get away for the weekend. Many of the more affluent locals have fincas (country houses) nearby to the big cities and so can head there for a couple of days to unwind. The weather is beautiful, the scenery stunning, the beer free-flowing. You can switch off, unwind, and head back to city life totally refreshed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n No prizes for guessing to what I\u2019m referring.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Especially when that country is Colombia.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And rum in cartons. And using capital letters ALL THE TIME WHEN TEXTING! What a world we live in!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In this sense, living in Colombia is like living on a farm. People in Bogota tend to start work at seven and this is seen as something totally normal. The first few times I had to get up at four thirty or five I was convinced that I was going to get a flight. Why else would I be up so early?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n No good saying “I’ve done here” or “I’ve done there”. There is so much more to every country than meets the eye, and Colombia is one of the world’s best examples of that. Hell,\u00a0Bogot\u00e1\u00a0<\/em>is one of the world’s best examples of that. Getting to know a country takes years, and even then it will still surprise you. Many travellers head to Bogot\u00e1 and are overwhelmed by the noise, the traffic and the grim weather. As anyone that has stayed here knows, however, this is one of the most fun cities in the world, and it’ll continue to surprise you.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They said it was dangerous. They said I was crazy. There were moments when, among all the warnings, I even doubted myself. But the best thing you can do, that I have done, is to embrace the chaos, frustration, beauty and wonder of everything that comes with travel. And if you pick to travel to Colombia<\/a>, well then\u00a0hijuepucha –<\/em>\u00a0you’re going to have a ball.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Written by Paul, Gilesy and Azzam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 21. Local knowledge is a real thing. In London it rains a lot, but barring some ridiculously dark clouds, I can’t predict when. Yet every Bogotano knows exactly when it is going to rain.\u00a0If you have ever heard the oh-so-annoying expression \u201csol de lluvia\u201d you will know exactly what I am talking about. Why is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[115,626,4,1667,66],"tags":[2735,356,2891],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Valle](\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Edit2-e1366301800800.jpg\")
<\/a><\/h4>\n
27. That life away from global conglomerates does exist.<\/h4>\n
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28. That stereotypes are always flawed.<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/25.media.tumblr.com\/ce318a09740a97fdfc911e3816620f7e\/tumblr_mfp0ik7TN51s1au7xo1_500.gif\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/s3-ec.buzzfed.com\/static\/enhanced\/webdr03\/2013\/3\/22\/12\/anigif_enhanced-buzz-18706-1363968279-8.gif\")
<\/p>\n29. Loads of music exists.<\/h4>\n
30. Weather away from northern Europe can be miserable, too.<\/h4>\n
31. That it\u2019s possible for a community of expats to become fluent in the language of the country they\u2019ve adopted.<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/tumblr_meneg6h8tU1qg4aioo1_500.jpg\")
<\/p>\n32. A little public affection never hurt anyone.<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/24.media.tumblr.com\/4c18124e43cca0fa66d09772d2290fa8\/tumblr_mjwkrdv5co1qi7deco1_500.gif\")
<\/p>\n33. It’s the simple things that matter.<\/h4>\n
34. Switching off is important.<\/h4>\n
35. You don\u2019t have to like a drink to find yourself imbibing it frequently.<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/24.media.tumblr.com\/tumblr_madghtZUsa1rx8lgjo1_500.gif\")
<\/p>\n36. That, as an expat, it can be pretty hard to leave a country.<\/h4>\n
37. That small cultural differences are the weirdest, and best. We’re talking milk in bags kind of thing.<\/h4>\n
![\"capslock\"](\"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/capslock.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n38. Days actually start when the sun comes up.<\/h4>\n
39. That to truly know somewhere, you have to live there.
\n<\/i><\/h4>\n40. That the best decision you can make is to get out your comfort zone and explore the world.<\/h4>\n
![\"See](\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/61431_440769322645476_1216370896_n.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPart (1<\/a>) Part (2)<\/h3>\n