Subscribe:
RSS feed
A life in Colombia
Browsing All Posts published on »April, 2012«
Sometimes little miracles happen in little old Colombia
Sometimes amazing, unexpected things happen. Sometimes, on completely ordinary days – when the skies are thundering and you can’t decide between television or the gym – truly extraordinary things occur. This is a story about one of those things. A friend was calling me. “How you doing?” I yelped, trying not to lose my precious […]
Where there’s a lollipop… there’s hope…
April 26, 2012
There is only one thing that divides people more than poverty – and that’s talking about poverty. Take, for example, those people in Bogotá who sell products on buses. A pen salesman will sell you a pen, but most of his pens come packaged in his unverifiable sob story. Some of my friends – those […]
Pereira: Prostitutes, sex strikes… and does Simón Bolívar feel liberated when he’s naked?
April 23, 2012
Every country needs one poor town to be the butt of all its jokes. And while people in Bogotá can be pretty stereotypical about ‘lazy Costeños’, not even the laid-back, fun-loving folk of the Atlantic Coast have it quite as bad as the good citizens of Pereira. Pereira is an otherwise ordinary Colombian city. It […]
Gone in 60 Seconds: Bogotá’s Traffic Light Performers
April 22, 2012
I like many things about my new neighbourhood. I’m within spitting distance of Simon Bolivar park, my gym is over the road and there are more bakeries here than one person could ever frequent (Sundays are also crazy; today I was accidentally caught in a Scouts’ treasure hunt and nearly fell victim to an enthusiastic […]
A Confession
April 17, 2012
I have spent the day expecting to be struck down by a bolt of lightning, which has nothing to do with the cataclysmic thunderstorm unfolding above us and everything to do with the fact that last night, I think I did something really awful. I have just rented a room from a lovely lady, for […]
Umbrella Economics in a very moody Bogotá
April 15, 2012
I used to love Sex and the City, back when Hollywood was a mere twinkle in the creator’s eye and those four famous characters were sharper, funnier and less one-dimensional than they are today. I was always fascinated with the way New York City was a part of the plot – a character whose moods, […]
Life and death in Tumaco… is football the only hope?
April 13, 2012
When the children of Tumaco ask for career advice they tend to receive a blunt response. It comes in the form of a popular local saying – fisherman, stowaway or footballer. But that’s probably just being kind. Fishing in a smuggling haven is fraught with danger. And being a stowaway to the United States just […]
“Eat this!” “Do this!”… Trying to be a good travel blog in Rio de Janeiro
April 7, 2012
Now look, I know blogging ain’t cool. I used to be a ‘proper’ journalist, all inky fingers and deadlines that couldn’t be missed because a huge antique printing press was waiting to whirr into motion. I’ve heard them say blogging is “graffiti with punctuation” or that you can reach more people by walking into Trafalgar […]
South America: What to pack?
April 6, 2012
South America is officially a pain in the ass. The more you see, the more you have to see. I’ve been here almost two years now and my ‘To Do’ list is growing by the day: Go to the Guyanas, Uruguay, Paraguay; see more of Bolivia, more of Venezuela; explore more of Argentina, Brazil; go […]
April 30, 2012
6