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This October I was blessed to be able to visit Bogota, Colombia for the CIS Latin America Forum for College Admissions and Counselors. Due to the nature of how huge South America is, I had to fly in a day early so that I would be able to attend the conference with a reasonable amount of sleep the night before. I also took a personal day on the Monday after the conference so that I could explore on Sunday (and spend the entire day on Monday traveling…).

Before I get started- heed my warning against flying on Avianca. It was a 6 hour flight and they served no food or beverages that you didn’t have to pay for. This is very strange in South America, you always get at least a beverage and a tiny snack. Azul is the best- they give you 3 snacks. On Avianca, nothing that you didn’t pay for- not even water. ALSO- the seats didn’t recline. I can handle them not having an in flight entertainment system, but not having your seat recline? Come on now. Regardless, I guess they did what they were supposed to and got me to Bogota.

On the taxi from the airport, the taxi driver kept telling me that my hotel wasn’t in a good neighborhood and he could take me to a “nice hotel” in a “better area.” I was getting a little worried because I chose not to buy data in Colombia- and if he took me somewhere I would be screwed. The other tricky part about learning Portuguese… is that now my Spanish is all jumbled when I speak. So I could understand what he was saying, but couldn’t quite fight him verbally like I wanted to. Fret not, he took me to my hotel- charged me a exorbitant amount, but I paid him and happily got out of the taxi. Don’t worry, all my other taxi experiences there were uneventful, and I am sitting here telling you this tale.

I slept at a very cute hotel in Chapiniero- and I only stayed for one night because I moved to a conference hotel the other night. The conference recommended it, and didn’t provide a bus to the school where the conference was being held… I should’ve stayed in the cute boutique hotel. It was very comfortable and had a dope breakfast.

My first stop was a free walking tour. I tried to do the graffiti one… but I was the only one who signed up, so they made me join a history walking tour instead. It was still great, and I still took some pictures of the street art that I saw.

Bogota is full of color, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I did learn that the Colombian street artists view their craft as a form of decolonization. In 2011, when street art was still illegal, the police killed a graffiti artist, but framed him to make it look like it was gang violence, which then resulted in more people doing street art. Then in 2013 Justin Bieber came and did his own street art and had the police protect him while doing it. People were like, yo that is shady, and the government made street art legal. Now it is beautiful, and popping up everywhere.

I ate lunch at “La Puerta Falsa” where Anthony Bourdain ate when he visited Bogota, and is recommended by the Lonely Planet guidebooks I always follow. They serve 2 things, and I had the traditional potato soup. It was very filling, but the flavor was a little bland.

I was so happy with the weather there. It had been a heat wave in Brasilia, and I was able to wear a sweatshirt and jeans- it was marvelous.

That night, I was invited by Bond University’s rep Adriana to have dinner at Leo, a very fancy restaurant. It is one of the top 50 restaurants in the world, and I can see why. The chef (Laura) takes tastes and ingredients of Colombia and serves some really fancy food. We both got tasting menus, and Adriana also told me “we work hard and deserve the drink pairings too, don’t you think?” Since the university was paying for it, I said count me in!

The way the photos uploaded are in reverse order, so you’re looking at dessert first. So I’ll describe them in reverse order too:

• Copoazu, white caramel, and Andean blueberry (dessert, and tasted like ice cream with crunchy caramely bits, so good)
• Mutton loin, sauce made with Arhuaco cacao, tallo leaves
• Patio duck rice, cariaco corn
• Pirarucu chop, coconut, peach pal, basul (this is a fish steak and it was so tender!)
• Cured fish slices, crustaceans escabeche, avocado, tuna, myrtle emulson in titote and sesame seeds crackers
• Shrimp, sour guava, seaweed
• Sweet cucumber, payuela, zapote, coconilla

It was absolutely fantastic. I am so glad I went, the company was amazing, and the food was mind blowing. 10/10.

The next 2 days were filled with attending the conference and schmoozing with college reps and colleagues from around the world. I honestly had an amazing time, and I can’t wait to continue to attend conferences.

One night I went to Andres DC with a group and the rep from Loyola Marymount University. The next night I went to Cacio e Pepe with the reps from NYU, NYU Shanghai, and NYU Abu-Dhabi. These reps know how to pick amazing restaurants.

The day after the conference, I went to the Usaquen artisan market and did a little browsing, and shopping. I love supporting hand made artists. I spent time with a few people that I met at the conference and had lunch at an Irish pub.

I spent the evening just kind of ambling around the historic center and made my way to a new hotel in the Candelaria area for the night. The next morning, I woke up for the opening of the Botero museum because I had really wanted to go there, but needed to leave for the airport by 10 am to get everything settled for my flight.

Botero is one of Colombia’s most famous artists. He died only a few weeks before I visited, and his work is globally recognizable.

Bogota was a city with a lot of different and unique neighborhoods. As I visited the international school, I thought, yeah I could live here. It was easy, colorful, and fun. Country #37, check! This just makes me want to got Medellin and Cartegena though… someday!