A 360-degeree view of Colombia, y no solo para los gringos…
Let me tell you a story about Colombia
Parts are a little personal.
I moved to Manizales, Colombia on (mostly) a romantic whim, after meeting a woman on a dating site. I’ve always been an adventurer. Plus, at the time, my life in Lancaster, PA wasn’t working all that well. I had been fired from a career job as a communications copywriter. After that I was fired from a just-to-make-ends-meet job at a hotel. Since the ends hadn’t been meeting in a while, my landlady evicted me from my apartment. Work was sporadic and finances were tight even just renting a room.
Colombia became attractive of course because of the cute woman at the other end of the skype connection. But also, I had a gut feeling that life might be better there.
Because I didn’t have the finances for an exploratory trip, I took a leap of faith. (I’ve never been one to think about what might go wrong.)
A lot of my family and friends freaked out. (Turns out there are lots of folks who do think about what might go wrong.) The drugs, the drugs!, one friend ranted. A possible prevalence of drugs never worried me. The principal market for drugs flowing out of any country is the United States. Well, if I could avoid the drug trade in the Bronx, where I grew up, I could avoid it in Manizales. An interesting side note: To date in Colombia, I’ve only met one person who had any connection to drug trafficking. He was an American who made his living selling marijuana grown in Colorado.
One of my best friends asked me what I was running from. An argument could be made that I was running from all those things listed in the first paragraph. That’s not how I looked at it.
I was running toward something. At the time, I didn’t even know what. I knew I was following my heart (as fickle as it could be) and my gut. I’ll leave for therapy the analysis about carrying with me in my checked baggage what I might have been running from.
I stepped off a bus in the newly-renovated Manizales bus terminal at midnight, instead of walking off a plane at 5pm at the airport. (The trip didn’t go smoothly.) It was my first time in Manizales, my first time in Colombia, my first time in South America.
But it wasn’t my first time out of the country. And I spoke Spanish. I was prepared, more or less. Plus, I had someone waiting for me (she had even tracked my deviation to the bus station!) who would help me get acclimated.
That was four years ago.
The relationship didn’t last. I changed cities from Manizales to Medellin. But my gut proved to be right. Life is better and richer in Colombia.
For one thing, finding work was easy. Potential U.S. employers had looked critically at my frequent job changes and held reservations (albeit unspoken) about my age. In Colombia, I had a sought-after specialty. I was a native English speaker which meant I could teach. The fact that I spoke Spanish opened an additional translation work niche.
The dollar–peso exchange rate turned the scant money I still earned from the states into a comfortable middle-class income.
I’ve established a home abroad; Life continues to improve.
So let me tell you a story about Colombia.
The people are friendly, hard-working, and open. The cities are bustling, be they small or large. The villages are colorful with a unique mix of modern and traditional.
The lists, the story goes on. It’s not just my story either. There are other expats, tourists, and of course, millions of Colombians who all have something interesting to say. It’s a long story. We may never get it all told. But we’ve got time, right?
Welcome to GrupoAmos on Colombia!
I’m glad to see yore putting your story into words. I look forward to reading your perspective on Colombia! I definitely relate to the part where family and friends freaked out with my decision to move to Colombia, citing the drugs and kidnappings as their main concern because of news they’d seen ten years prior. Of course, I found it completely safe and lived in Manizales without incident for six years!
Thanks! It’ll be my perspective plus that of a bunch of other folks, nationals and expats alike. Stay tuned.
There’s a lot more to tell … On Colombia
I love that you dispelled the drug myths and the only drug encounter you had was with a U.S. citizen from Colorado. Glad you are happy there and sharing your experiences with us.
Thanks! In the near future there will be an On Colombia post specifically on the drug trade, what’s real and what’s stereotype.
There’s a lot more to tell … On Colombia
Hey Greggo,
You have always been adventurous and resourceful. In addition to speaking the language you have lots of rythmn and you love to dance. You are positive, friendly and have a great sense of humor. What your success says is, being positive, friendly, resourceful, willing to work and learn will advance you even in a foreign country. That’s the way to go Greg! I am proud to call you Son, with a capital S. I look forward too visiting you and have you introduce your Dad to some of the beautiful Senoritas. I love you. Keep it POSITIVE!
Thanks Dad! I appreciate you reading everything I write. I look forward to your visit. And no, I won’t be introducing to any señoritas!
Good start Greg! You always were an “interesting” person. LOL! Looking forward to following your success.
Thanks a bunch, Garry, I appreciate you following my endeavors. I’ve got great plans for the blog.
There’s a lot more to tell … On Colombia
Lovely intro. I love your style and look forward to enjoying many more of your stories and adventures.
Thanks for reading. There’s so much to tell to, and not just my dopey adventures. But I’ll be sure to mix some of those in.
Congrats on a good start! Will be tuning in for those stories.
Thanks so much. I appreciate your support!
Looking forward to reading your thoughts and observations. I’ll live vicariously through you!
You’re pretty funny. I appreciate your readership.
Nice post!
You touch on a lot of the key themes for foreigners arriving in Colombia: the drugs, the fear, the allure of the women….
And of course there’s the age-old question for us nomads: What are we running from or running toward?
Reminds me a bit of a blog post I wrote about the first time I moved abroad. Feel free to check that out here:
http://www.alantravelsalot.com/how-did-i-get-here/
Keep it up! Can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for us, Greg.
Hey Alan, Thanks for the thoughtful reply and the compliment. I’ll check out your post.
See you around Medellin soon!
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