{"id":9864,"date":"2013-09-06T11:53:53","date_gmt":"2013-09-06T16:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?p=9864"},"modified":"2016-05-04T16:30:02","modified_gmt":"2016-05-04T21:30:02","slug":"take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Our Test: How Colombian Are You?"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Sometimes I like to think that, after nearly a year in this beautiful country, I\u00b4ve gone pretty native. I\u00b4m pretty handy on the old chicken bus<\/a>, (even if I do say so myself), I\u00b4ve started doing all the things in this list<\/a>, and I can even make a pretty mean ajiaco. However, whenever I catch myself getting all complacent about my magnificent progress towards complete Colombianisation, I remind myself of the following habits I can\u00b4t bring myself to do, and I realise that I\u00b4ve still got a pretty long way to go.<\/p>\n

Which should make you ask\u00a0your<\/em>self, \u00a8How Colombian am I?\u00a8 If you\u00b4ve managed to pick up all of the following habits, please let us know, and we\u00b4ll be happy to grant you a See Colombia Travel Honorary Colombian Identity. Or, failing that, we\u00b4ll be fairly impressed, if a little sceptical…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Serviettes are Essential for Eating.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Arepa<\/a>
Note the classic use of serviette here.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Colombians love a bit of serviette action. No Colombian house is a home unless there\u00b4s at least one ornate serviette holder on display, and boxloads of these handy grease-wipers in stock. If you\u00b4ve ever watched a native of this country eat an empanada, piece of cake, or, really, anything that I\u00b4d instinctively use my bare hands for, they\u00b4ll have a barrier of paper between their skin and the tidbit in question.<\/p>\n

I\u00b4d like to think that I don\u00b4t use serviettes in this manner because I want to limit my use of paper, but then I\u00b4d probably use twice as many to clean up the mess I\u00b4ve made because I just can\u00b4t do it Colombia-style.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Drinking Piping Hot Coffee With a Straw is Fine.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"There\u00b4s<\/a>
There\u00b4s the straw in question.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I don\u00b4t know why I can\u00b4t drink coffee using a straw, but I can\u00b4t. It\u00b4s like it goes against my very nature or something. I try to reassure myself by saying that a plastic straw would obviously melt in such hot coffee, and thus be impossible to use. I do this while blissfully stirring my coffee with the exact same straw. Did I ever claim to be a consistent person?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Concept of a Queue is a Very Loose One.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This always happens in Colombia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u00b4m a bit of a queue Nazi. I look askance at people who let even one<\/em> friend into a line ahead of other people. I feel that they haven\u00b4t done the required waiting to justify their advancement, and so should get in line like everyone else. Such actions just bring the very concept – and, by extension, civilisation<\/em> – into disrepute. \u00a0And, when I go to a busy shop, there\u00b4s no way I\u00b4d even\u00a0say\u00a0<\/em>anything to the shopkeeper before everybody else has been fully attended to. I often spend a very long time in shops here. Just imagine my distress in the Bogot\u00e1 Transmilenio Bus \u00a8System.\u00a8<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chewing the Seeds of a Grenadilla is Just Weird.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Such<\/a>
Such a delicious fruit. And the seeds are so crunchy!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I don\u00b4t know why I chew them, and I don\u00b4t know why I can\u00b4t not chew them, but that\u00b4s just the way I am. If it wasn\u00b4t, then why would I say I am? Mmmmmm… chewy seeds!!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pretty Much All Food Needs Salt. A Lot of It.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>
I know my chiguiro is under this salt pillar somewhere…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I just can\u00b4t bring myself to pour rivers of salt on everything, and thus, my process of Colombianisation has reached a bit of a hurdle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Sound of a Car Horn Causes No Reaction.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"It<\/a>
It just feels so rough.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

It must be the way that I was brought up. Even after all this time, whenever I hear a car horn, I instantly swivel around to the direction from which the sound is emanating, convinced that whoever honked it is ready to have a fight with me. I\u00b4m\u00a0not\u00a0<\/em> paranoid, alright? Why does everybody keep on saying that?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You Can Never Have Too Many Plastic Bags.<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
But they\u00b4re just so beautiful.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alright, so here is where I get up on my soap box. I\u00b4ll happily admit that my reasons for not having picked up the above habits are completely irrational and, let\u00b4s face it, a bit silly. But there is one thing I still stand firm on. If you go to the supermarket and buy a bottle of soft drink and a bucket of icecream, you DON\u00b4T NEED TWO BAGS. The enthusiastic and generous manner in which plastic shopping bags are flung at shoppers, and the blissful calm in which they are received, still gives me the heebie-jeebies. Where are those sexy reusable canvas shopping bags? Surely this is something that can be changed, Colombia?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sorry about that, I just got a bit worked up. Anyway, how did you do? Are you more Colombian than me? Go on then: prove it. And leave that shopping bag where I can see it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Sometimes I like to think that, after nearly a year in this beautiful country, I\u00b4ve gone pretty native. I\u00b4m pretty handy on the old chicken bus, (even if I do say so myself), I\u00b4ve started doing all the things in this list, and I can even make a pretty mean ajiaco. However, whenever I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88889,"featured_media":2967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[115,4,48,66,65],"tags":[58,356],"yoast_head":"\nTake Our Test: How Colombian Are You? - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Take Our Test: How Colombian Are You?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Sometimes I like to think that, after nearly a year in this beautiful country, I\u00b4ve gone pretty native. I\u00b4m pretty handy on the old chicken bus, (even if I do say so myself), I\u00b4ve started doing all the things in this list, and I can even make a pretty mean ajiaco. However, whenever I […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-09-06T16:53:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-05-04T21:30:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/flag-e1363193759748.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"313\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Giles\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel\",\"description\":\"Colombia Travel Blog: An international perspective on travelling in Colombia by world travellers.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/flag-e1363193759748.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/flag-e1363193759748.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":313,\"caption\":\"Colombia flag\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/\",\"name\":\"Take Our Test: How Colombian Are You? - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-06T16:53:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-05-04T21:30:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f098b05903adc07063c4bb549f28cb76\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Take Our Test: How Colombian Are You?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f098b05903adc07063c4bb549f28cb76\",\"name\":\"Paul Giles\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/042160c2ae3957c1811b809f45cfe0c6?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/042160c2ae3957c1811b809f45cfe0c6?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul Giles\"},\"description\":\"Hi my name is Paul Giles and I'm one of See Colombia's Travel Writers. I must say that it\u00b4s a bit of a happy accident that I\u2019ve found myself here at all. After flitting back and forth between Australia and Asia for a few years, I felt the South American continent calling me. I thought I\u00b4d end up in Argentina or somewhere, but ever since I\u00b4ve made it to Colombia, good things just seem to manifest themselves before my eyes. Whether it is the funky, slightly grungy energy of the capital, Bogota; the steamy sass of Cartegena; the Carribean beauty of Tayrona; or the jaw-dropping gorgeousness of the coffee region; I\u2019ve found it difficult not to fall in love with the country and its people. As for myself, I\u00b4m passionate about a number of things; travel (duh), poetry, food, good drinks, and ridiculous clothing. And, from what I\u00b4ve seen so far, I\u00b4m confident Colombia is a peculiarly amenable environment to sustain and develop such passions.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.mrgiles.blogspot.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/author\/paul-giles\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Take Our Test: How Colombian Are You? - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Take Our Test: How Colombian Are You?","og_description":"  Sometimes I like to think that, after nearly a year in this beautiful country, I\u00b4ve gone pretty native. I\u00b4m pretty handy on the old chicken bus, (even if I do say so myself), I\u00b4ve started doing all the things in this list, and I can even make a pretty mean ajiaco. However, whenever I […]","og_url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/","og_site_name":"Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel","article_published_time":"2013-09-06T16:53:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-05-04T21:30:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":313,"url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/flag-e1363193759748.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul Giles","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/","name":"Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel","description":"Colombia Travel Blog: An international perspective on travelling in Colombia by world travellers.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/flag-e1363193759748.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/flag-e1363193759748.jpg","width":300,"height":313,"caption":"Colombia flag"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/","name":"Take Our Test: How Colombian Are You? - Colombia Travel Blog by See Colombia Travel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2013-09-06T16:53:53+00:00","dateModified":"2016-05-04T21:30:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f098b05903adc07063c4bb549f28cb76"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/2013\/09\/take-our-test-how-colombian-are-you\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Take Our Test: How Colombian Are You?"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f098b05903adc07063c4bb549f28cb76","name":"Paul Giles","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/042160c2ae3957c1811b809f45cfe0c6?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/042160c2ae3957c1811b809f45cfe0c6?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Paul Giles"},"description":"Hi my name is Paul Giles and I'm one of See Colombia's Travel Writers. I must say that it\u00b4s a bit of a happy accident that I\u2019ve found myself here at all. After flitting back and forth between Australia and Asia for a few years, I felt the South American continent calling me. I thought I\u00b4d end up in Argentina or somewhere, but ever since I\u00b4ve made it to Colombia, good things just seem to manifest themselves before my eyes. Whether it is the funky, slightly grungy energy of the capital, Bogota; the steamy sass of Cartegena; the Carribean beauty of Tayrona; or the jaw-dropping gorgeousness of the coffee region; I\u2019ve found it difficult not to fall in love with the country and its people. As for myself, I\u00b4m passionate about a number of things; travel (duh), poetry, food, good drinks, and ridiculous clothing. And, from what I\u00b4ve seen so far, I\u00b4m confident Colombia is a peculiarly amenable environment to sustain and develop such passions.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.mrgiles.blogspot.com"],"url":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/author\/paul-giles\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9864"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88889"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9864"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21839,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9864\/revisions\/21839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seecolombia.travel\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}