Life in Colombia
So Colombia has big cities like Bogota and also lots of small “pueblos” like mine. Yesterday I went to La Vega (no, not Las Vegas). The trip there is on a long winding mountain road, full of green pasture with cows and horses scattered around the mountainside, picturesque little communities in between, with small gates leading up paths to country lots, or even big red bricked metal gates, colorful, even palatial at times. In Colombia food is rather inexpensive, like US $3 for a basic lunch meal with meat, veggies, beans and rice, with soup for starters and a drink (see pic above). Not bad. Gas here is expensive, like $4 a gallon, but on the other hand on monthly basis, electricity $25 a month, water $5, health insurance $35 (same service like in US), 1 DZ eggs about $1.50, loaf of bread about $1, and for around $25 at the fish market, packaged Chilean salmon from which I can cut maybe 8 large steaks. Outside of the main cities you can even rent a place with 2-3 bedrooms for around $400 a month. That’s cool, isn’t it? Couple all that with clean country air, temperature around 68 degrees Fahrenheit and its pretty nice. Colombians are very friendly, easy to talk to, are helpful if you’re in a jam, and in two minutes will take you in like family. Now and then we’re back in the States as we have a small condo there, but the lifestyles are so different, the outlook more laidback and relaxed here. Even the stores in cities are fantastic; imagine going down a street, full of people walking on the sidewalk, small shops, specialized from clothes and shoes, trinkets, cellular, bakeries, to bigger department stores, abundant coffee shops filled with people having little cups of coffee, referred to as “tinto”. All this on one side of a street filled with cars and buses! I’ll write about here from time to time to give you a glimpse.