Bienvenidos a Bogotá

After months of waiting, hours of anxiety and moments of dreaming, I have arrived in Bogotá. I tepidly stepped foot into Colombia, unsure of transplanting my deepening roots into rocky and unfamiliar soil. Upon arrival I found myself being swept away with the current, following the motions without resistance or inquiry. The Fulbright Commission graciously paved the first week for the new grantees where I floated through our first days of lectures, meetings and tours. We had visits with the ambassador, the ministry of education, professors and even the media. The days were long and saturated with information. By night the 7th floor of our hotel transformed into a freshman  college dorm floor where grantees wandered from room to room through open doors, an informal meet and greet. In the few free hours we had to explore, most of us only had the energy to wander aimlessly through the streets close to the hotel, sampling what Bogotá has to offer as street food and beer (arepas - a corn cake that can be filled with meat and cheese, crepes- savory or sweet, grilled corn and various light beers -think Bud light with a Spanish name such as Aguila or Consteña) and being mostly unimpressed by the city´s general sense of pollution, traffic and concrete. Finally on Thursday (our last day of orientation) we received a tour of La Candelaria, the historic downtown where the true beauty, history and culture of the city shines.

We began at the Library - Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango where we received a tour from the Colombian version of Clark Kent (including glasses and suspenders). He showed us the music room where students can use pianos, flutes, drums and record  music. We followed him to this grand room below, which is the concert hall. The impressive dome is made entirely of wooden slats. And since it is a public library, concerts cost anywhere from $1.50 to $15. Clark Kent led us through the bowels of the library where with gloved hands he presented an original complete collection of "El Tiempo" newspaper dating back to late 1800s.

We continued on from there to see the house of Simon Bolivar. (Yes, we wore matching t-shirts to wander around the city center.)

Museo de Oro (Gold)

La Candelaria (and the view of the mountains that surround Bogota)

Plaza de Bolivar

Early the following morning, most of the Fulbright scholars got on another flight to their outlying regions. But I, along with 8 others, lazily awoke and packed our bags to begin our move into our new homes. The lazy river which I casually floated down came to an end. It is time to sink or swim in this city of 9 million.

(Thanks to Liz for most of the photos. She was the intelligent young lady who remembered her camera)