Colombian Culture: Colombianadas Video

Living in Colombia has a unique appeal that is hard to descrbe to someone who has never visited. For people who can manage the courage to visit, usually the trip goes like this: first will be shocked, then pleasantly surprised, then drunk, and then in love. After the trip, they usually go home with wild stories, raving about Colombia. However, some never decide to leave and this is where the new ad campaign slogan for Colombia came from, ¨The only risk is wanting to stay.¨

This campaign expression is no exaggeration, it is true! For those who are bored with living a the normal everyday life of a first-world country, the only cure is a visit to Colombia. It has been known to even cure depression! There is a documentary on how a trip to Colombia has cured depression for many young Japanese youths who were on the verge of suicide before that participated in a exchange program where they stayed with families in the poor Southern side of Bogota. It is an amazing story of how money does not guarantee happiness. In general, Colombia can be a cure for many things because it gives visitors a feeling f freedom, fear, and excitement all in one.

In order to explain the unique qualities to people who have never visited, there is a video or Colombianadas on YouTube. Basically,Colombianadas means things that are only found in Colombia. They are usually pretty silly,humorous, and somewhat cheesy as seen in the video.

Things on a Bus in Bogota

In Colombia, the bus is a big part of the culture. Since most people use public transportation, you can understand how it is a major part of almost every Colombian´s daily life. Taxis are too expensive and Transmilenio is not convenient. So, here comes your local bus on its daily route, dependable, cheap, and relatively safe.

 As such, it seems that Colombians are so used to the bus that it is an extension of their home, allowing for an easy-going attitude about anything that happens on the bus. Ironically, even though you are surrounded by strangers, there often is a feeling of community when it comes to interacting with other passengers. Whether it is passing money from the back to the front of the bus or providing directions, you can rely on a friendly ride. Passengers also will hold bags for each other.

Another interesting part about taking a bus is that it is an adventure – you never know what you will see! Below are some of the random things that I have seen on a bus. I encourage you to comment on other things you have seen while riding a bus in Colombia.

Random Things on The Bus:

•  Dogs on the bus.
• Drinking beer on the bus.
•  Live acoustic guitar and singing on the bus.
• Hip-Hop performance on the bus.
• People begging for money on the bus.
• Open mic poetry on the bus.
• People selling pens, candy, peanuts, books, and more on the bus.
• Partying on a bus with drinking and dancing (Chiva Party).

Alice In “Where The Hell Am I?” Land

Going for a night out in Bogota is an adventure when you are new to the city. Especially, if you go out with locals you never know where you will end up as the trend is to bounce around to different locations. Typically you can expect to start the night off early (around 6-8 p.m. or right after work) drinking at a small liquor or grocery store. People do this because the beer s cheap and its is a good way to save money before going to another location.

Another way to start the night is to drink in the street. Bogotanos usually pick a random spot outside and sit on the ground. Especially in La Zona Rosa, you will see crowds of people hanging outside on the street right in front of a club while inside the club is totally empty. I was told the law says that you aren't allowed to drink on the street, but I haven't seen anyone get in trouble for it.

Once when I was walking in La Zona Rosa around 10 p.m. with a friend, I noticed that people were really drunk. Fighting and throwing up. This is behavior that is more common at 2 a.m., but he explained that they are college students that get out of class around 3 p.m., start drinking, then are waisted by 10 p.m.

On this particular night, we started drinking right after work. I work in La Zona Rosa, so we met at the Bogota Beer Company. It was 5 p.m. This bar is so popular its not even funny. A good place for a tourist to get a feel of the bar scene. It has the vibe of a Brittish bar, which also is a popular trend. The food is good – I recommend the chicken wings. Its funny to watch people eat chicken here because they use gloves.

After drinking a couple at another place, we went to a reggea bar named Casa Babylon which is a nice break from salsa and vallenato. At this point we are very drunk. When the bar closed, ½ went to look for an after party and the other ½ went to sleep. Other options could have been El Cha Cha, which is good for electronic music and has a nice view because it is at the top of a hotel. Anyways, you get the point. I feel like my story is dragging because the most interesting part really happens at the end, so I'll just get right to it.

After spending the night at my friend's house, I got kicked out at 6 a.m. With a horrible hangover. Apparently, I had to leave early before his parents woke up so that they wouldn't see me in the house. Unlike the U.S. Most people live with their parents a lot longer. They go out and have just as much freedom as people who live alone because it seems like parents are used to it too. If you do need a private room for some reason, there is a booming motel industry specifically for sex. It's pretty obvious why people go there because there are paintings of naked people on the wall – classy. It is so common for horny teenagers to go there that the motels are really nice with flat screen TVs, “love chairs”, and jacuzzis for cheap. Another neat part about the motel is that they have a little sliding door in the room so people can deliver alchohol (and other things) to the room without disturbing the guests.

Once I got kicked out, I had nowhere to go. It was too far and I was too embarrassed to go to my aunt's apartment and had to be at work in a couple of hours. I decided to wait around my office and look for a place to take a nap. There was nowhere to take a nap, but since I was so drunk/hungover, I thought it would be a good idea to sleep behind the Alice In Wonderland movie display at the mall. I was able to sneak behind it without anyone noticing because it was so early, but while I was sleeping a crowd gathered around to work on the display. Even a security guard walked around it several times without noticing. I slept well enough on the ground, but it was kinda cold. Two hours later I popped out on the other side to go to work. I think the security guard noticed something was weird when I walked out, but probably though it was his imagination.