For many, a visit to Colombia has been a high point of their lives.
Some who have enjoyed a visit to Colombia have increased their joy by learning more about Colombia. YouTube seems a handy place to find out more about this South American land.
Colombians are new-world Americans. They live on the best part of of the far north of South America. They are largely of Spanish heritage and they speak Spanish.
When
you intend to visit Colombia, it may contribute to your pleasure to be
prepared to deal with Colombians in their own language. You can have
have an oral translation app on your iPhone, or a bilingual friend with
you. You might take some Spanish language lessons where you live or sign
up for some here in Colombia. All the biggest cities and the more
important tourist cities have language schools available when there is
no pandemic. It's also possible to arrange to have your visit guided by
one who speaks your language.
If
you are making realistic plans for a visit, investigate getting a
correct chip for your mobile phone. It may be that phones of your
country won't work here without a change of chips. There are smart
phones available here, but you could find them an unneeded expense.
However, with some care, you can buy an ordinary cell phone here and have it nicely set up for use at a reasonable price.
In
many parts of the major cities and tourist areas one finds pleasing
places to eat and sleep. It is good to take special care of your eating
at first without being overly fearful of trying local specialties. When
eating at a bit less than average restaurant, it may be best to stick
with dishes hot off the stove.
Ah,
yes. In those same parts of tourist areas and major cities you have a
fair chance meeting travelers or Colombians with whom you may speak your
own language.
Enough about you.
This is meant to be part of a series of tiny essays about Colombia and Colombia. But first, a few words about me.
I
am an old American citizen who has lived in Colombia among Colombians
for some time. Some have said to me, "Why haven't you written about
Colombia?" and "Why don't you write about Colombia?" and other such
questions. Instead of considering answers, I thought, "Why not?" I
thought to myself, "I can note some observations of mine and maybe even
say something about what I have made of them."
When you would like me to write more about Colombia, tell me about your interest in the "comments" section below.
rcs