I love Medellin, I really do. But Bogota has something, some je ne sais pas that makes it stand out in Colombia as a thriving Metropolis with hip, sassy people.
I went to Bogota this past weekend for the 3 day weekend with a friend of mine from Medellin, Ana, and two gringa friends living here, Ashley and Kirsten, happened to be going the same weekend. Ana and I were going for the Killers concert, an American band, on Sunday and the other girls were just going to explore the city. So after a crazy bustle at the bus terminal (with everyone going away for the long weekend) Ana and I set out on a 10 hour bus ride overnight while the other two gringas got on a different bus since ours was full.
When I went to Bogota the first time in December I just remember thinking how big it was and how it overwhelmed me too much to compare to Medellin. But this time, while walking around the city Ana and I just marveled at how cool it was and tried to hide the betrayal that we felt towards Medellin. On Saturday we took in the Gold Museum, enjoying all the intricate gold work (from breastplates to animal masks to penis coverings), with Ana commenting on how interesting it was that for such a poor country Colombia had a phenomenal amount of precious gold. After the museum we satisfied our hunger eating some amazing shawarma, a middle eastern wrap that I ordered with falafel. Bogota definitely has one up on Medellin in the food department, in terms of variety, though we were quite disappointed when upon arrival Saturday morning the only thing Ana and I wanted was an arepa (a thicker tortilla) with cheese and a hot chocolate. We asked at 3 restaurants and after 2 "no's" we finally satisfied our craving only partly so with a mediocre arepa that didn't compare to Medellin. The hot chocolate was even different!
On Sunday we went to another museum, taking in some national history and culture, and walked around. I'd have to say we spent most of the time getting lost, asking people directions on the street and instead of getting a standard "I don't know" answer, spent hours following the misguided directions of eager to help us Bogotanos (one of my biggest pet peeves here is Colombians' lack of communicating directions). I don't know if it was the fact that we were two bewildered girls, one blonde blatant foreigner and the other from Medellin this being her first time in Bogota, but it was like a mission anytime we tried to communicate with people from Bogota. Since Ana has a horrible sense of direction, I had to be the one on my toes analyzing people's directions and guiding us along. We managed to get lost not only on the streets, but on the Transmilenio as well, Bogota's version of a metro that consists of buses in their own lanes on the street with specific stops that people get on and off at. But the whole getting lost thing did help me participate in my favorite pastime-people watching.
Observing the people was by far my favorite activity as we meandered lost through the streets. The pepole are more attractive, they dress better, have more style (this could partly be due to the cold though. After Ana and I analyzed it we thought it's easier to have fashion sense, or there's more of a need to, when you need to wear various layers, while in Medellin it's pretty warm so it's ok to dress in a hoochie tank top with your bra straps showing and your belly hanging out). There didn't seem to be as many people sleeping on the streets -again the cold could play a role in this- and I don't know, it just FELT like a real city. The shop we bought wine in felt like one of those you would find in Europe that are narrow with high ceilings wiht bottles lining the walls. I pointed this out to the gringas and they agreed.
So, I didn't HATE Bogota, I was actually starting to really enjoy it, however the cold really got me. During the day I would wear a sweater and scarf and be good, but at night it would drop down to the 40s and I would need another jacket and hat. Also the fact that they don't believe in HEAT makes it hard to get cozy in the city. At the gringa girls' hostel we tried to snuggle up in the "living room" as they put it, (wooden tables and rickety chairs) near the fireplace (a wood stove) but were beyond disappointed when we found out there was no firewood to be found.
But I honestly think I've grown WAY too acclimated to the sunny 70 degree days and cool 60 degree nights here in Medellin as I honestly could not bare to go out into the frigid 40 degree air once the sun went down. I try to convince myself that going home will be ok, as I will be enclosed in warm, heated houses and will have more appropriate clothing. But I'm not so sure, as I know my parents love to torment me with keeping the thermostat below 65 in the house and saying it's not that cold, just put a sweater on! No thanks, I prefer the bra-revealing tank tops and just a light sweater at night here.
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