Miscellaneous

Magic in Colombia: From Gabriel Garcia Marquez to Ghost Stories

July 9, 2019 // 3 Comments

I first started associating Colombia with magical realism during my A-level English literature class at school in 2002. Before Shakira and Sofia Vergara stole his thunder, Gabriel García Márquez (or “Gabo”, as he is affectionately known here) was probably the most famous Colombian in the world. He was a Nobel Laureate and one of the founding fathers of magical [more]

Bogotanos: Humans of Bogotá

April 16, 2018 // 1 Comment

It is often said that you can learn much about a place by getting to know the local people. The natives of some big world cities have a reputation for being cold and unfriendly. This is not the case in Bogotá. In most cases, Bogotanos or rolos will try to be helpful. The main difficulty will be the language barrier if you don’t speak Spanish, as not even [more]

Hogaru – find a cleaner in Bogota

October 4, 2015 // 7 Comments

I was contacted recently by Gonzalo from Hogaru.com, who told me about the origins of the business he set up with his partner here in Bogota, which I think many people living in Bogota might be interested in! He moved to Colombia from Spain in 2013, and wanted to hire a cleaner. I’ve heard many people complaining about how difficult it is to find a reliable, [more]

Why expats leave their countries

November 12, 2014 // 0 Comments

Today guest blogger on leading feminist blog The F-Word, Nat Newman, explored some of the reasons why expats leave their home countries in the first place. My story is mentioned in the blog – to briefly summarise, I had to leave if I wanted to continue my relationship with my Colombian boyfriend, due to the current immigration policies in operation in the [more]

Colombia not Columbia!

November 11, 2014 // 2 Comments

Helping people to understand the difference between 'Colombia' and 'Columbia'! [more]

English books and magazines in Bogota

November 8, 2014 // 0 Comments

If you’re an avid reader, you might be tempted to fill your suitcase with books to read during your trip to Colombia. Books in Colombia are expensive, especially English books, children’s books, and imported English language magazines. Here are some ways to acquire English books in Bogota as well as magazines, while you’re away from home. [more]

Bogota Skies: every cloud has a silver lining

October 30, 2014 // 1 Comment

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’ve found the transition to life in Bogota a challenge at the best of times, but one of the things that makes me very happy are pretty skies; and Bogota (and Colombia in general) has these in abundance. I therefore thought I’d start focusing on some of the things I truly do like about Bogota, and share with [more]

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