colombia

Cost of Living in Bogota

November 17, 2014 // 9 Comments

This post was updated in July 2016. Due to fluctuating exchange rates, I have changed the amounts to reflect the current cost of living in Bogota in Colombian pesos. Please note that these figures are based on living in an estrato 4 building, and will increase significantly for estratos 5 and 6. For more information on estratos, have a look at my post on Where to [more]

Colombia not Columbia!

November 11, 2014 // 2 Comments

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

Banks in Bogota

November 7, 2014 // 3 Comments

Banks in Bogota are somewhat of a culture-shock in themselves, for a number of reasons. Here, I tell of my experience of opening and having a bank account in Colombia. Firstly, you will need your cédula (Colombian ID card) to open a bank account; the cédula is the main form of ID here, and if you think that your internationally-recognised passport should [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]

The 5 Stages of Culture Shock in Bogota

October 26, 2014 // 6 Comments

Reading through my blog, I feel conscious of a generally negative undertone as I’ve been writing about my experience in Bogota. I initially assumed that this was due to my general dislike of Bogota as a city. I often feel that if I were given the opportunity, I’d leave Bogota for somewhere else in a heart-beat. Then the other day, I was looking for [more]

A Foreigner in Bogotá: My 5 Colombian Identities

August 20, 2014 // 6 Comments

I’ve been a foreigner in Bogotá, Colombia for more than two years now, and something I’ve noticed is the way that people are defined here. Since moving here, I have taken on a number of identities which didn’t matter or exist when I was in London. In this post I explore my various Colombian identities. 1. I’m a gringa I’d actually say [more]

Colombia now pronounces you “husband and wife”

August 14, 2014 // 2 Comments

Moving to Colombia with a partner/boyfriend/girlfriend is like one giant leap closer to walking up the aisle. In fact, as far as Colombians are concerned, by taking the lift together up to your apartment that you plan to share, taking your first steps across the threshold, you’ve symbolically already been up the aisle and back down again. You see, most couples [more]

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