Bogotá, Colombia: Tour D'Horizon

con gusto

By Christina Nguyen

August 23^rd, 2018

Month 11

Bogotá is Colombia's sprawling high altitude capital. It's a cool urban city that is protected by the chilly eastern Andean mountainside. Cobbled historic colonial buildings are intermixed with modern high rise developments. With a population of nearly 8 million people this city has everything from working-class barrios to ritzy entertainment districts. All throughout the city are predominant splashes of lush green parks, and high mountain peaks with luminous clouds giving it a real outdoorsy feel. Here is the run down on month 11...

Experiences

The Fun Stuff

Living in a 3-bedroom apartment in Parque Virrey with Helene & Griffin.
Working out of the beautiful WeWork LA 93 location.
Starting my new job as a Strategy Consultant with an awesome team.
Getting some new ink with my gal pals, Tata & D.
Dining at Leo Cocina Y Cava which is #99 on the World's Top 100 Best Restaurant List.
Watching artists from all over the world paint incredible murals at RudaFest.
Riding bikes, and experiencing what Rolos (people from Bogotá ) do on Sundays .
Celebrating Colombian Independence Day & the inauguration of the new Colombian president.
Exploring the Nemocon Salt Mines & The Zipaquira Salt Cathedral.
Learning how to cook up some traditional Colombian dishes.
Playing Tejo, a bar game with explosives (thanks Anthony Bourdain).
Visiting the Museo de Oro which contains over 55,000 pieces of gold.
Taking the cable car up 10,000 feet to Mount Monserrate for spectacular views.
Eating all the delicious things at the Alimentarte Food Festival for three days.
Learning about the entire coffee picking, roasting, and brewing process from Lucia Londoño, a Colombian coffee connoisseur ( & also teaching her how to brew coffee using a Vietnamese coffee filter press).
Seeing my Colombian friend Marcela from Boston by complete random chance!

The Not As Fun Stuff

I had altitude sickness for the first week, and it continued to be a challenge throughout the month.
The traffic was hectic at every hour of the day.
Aguardiente, the Colombian liquor made from anis es not mi favorito.

stories

What do you get when you combine steel projectiles, screaming people, and explosives? The national sport of Colombia: TEJO! There's nothing like a refreshing mix of adrenaline, and a bit of booze for a friendly competition of throwing rocks.

Tejo is a game developed by indigenous warriors abaut 500 years ago, but has taken on some modern changes since. Dense steel discs are thrown into a box located at the far end of a tejo lane, similar to a small bowling lane in size. Small paper triangles filled with gun powder sit on the lip of a metal ring in the center of the clay-filled box. Players score one point for getting closer than their opponents to the center. You get three points for lighting the gunpowder on impact, six points for getting the tejo disc in the circle, and nine points if you can do both. After everyone has gone you go fish your disc out of the clay (if you landed on the board) but beware...sometimes the gun powder goes off without warning. Undoubtedly it's kind of like a more lively version of corn hole or bags (as my friend Danika calls it).

One of my favorite nights this month was our Ladies' Tejo Night Out. It was our first time playing, and of course we had tejo discs ricocheting all over the place. With the guidance of our Colombian Tejo masters aka the employees, we started to land discs on the board, and into the clay. With a loud bang, a bright flash erupted as the disc smashed the gunpowder against the metal. The noise echoed around the room bouncing off the concrete walls along with us screaming girls...everyone was well aware that we FINALLY scored. You must experience this game for yourself when in Colombia!

Playing Tejo in Bogota. Photo by Griffin Glaze.

Connections

Month 11 is an interesting time period for many in the 12-month journey. It's been long enough to look back, and reflect on all of the change/growth/memories. However, at the same time there is a lot of planning the future to figure out what you're going to do/work/live at the end of it all (at least for the short-term). If there is anything that this year has taught me it is how precious our time is. The last thing I wanted to do was let month 11 pass me by because I was too occupied with everything else. I knew going into this month that I needed to work on accepting the past, embracing the future, and most importantly living in the present.

Bogotá wasn't a top city of mine in our itinerary, but it was the perfect backdrop for understanding consciousness, and practicing awareness through reading, yoga, and meditation. I am probably the happiest, and healthiest that I've been all year, and it's most definitely attributed to my connection to the present moment. Connecting with people, enjoying the life you're actually living, and being present is all you actually ever have. There is never a time when life is not "this moment." The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future--- which can only be experienced in the now.

I often found myself experiencing satori. Satori is a word that describes a flash of insight, a moment of no-mind, and total presence. It's a fleeting moment, but you're so grateful when it comes, because it gives you a taste of enlightenment. Sometimes you can experience it without knowing what it is, or realizing its beauty. This moment will only reveal itself when you are completely present. Connecting very deeply into my mind, and body this month showed me that your degree of presence is where true change, and fulfillment can occur.

Street Art of Bogota. Photo by Griffin Glaze.

Mural art from Rudafest. Artist: TooFly from NYC.

Mural Art from Rudafest. Artist: IAMEELCO from Holland.

Owning the Unknown

Bogotá was an ideal city for me to stay focused on my personal goals while starting a new job. It offered lots of history, food, and culture to explore. I can also see why this city may not be for everyone. There's frequent language barriers, the elevation can be tough, and the cool weather year round isn't for all. Staying put in Colombia for two months really gave me a glimpse into how much this country has to offer, and how vastly different each region is. It takes a little bit of Colombian coffee, and some mindfulness/presence to tackle this massive country with the energy that it deserves, but don't let it intimidate you. Find the right region for you, and enjoy the beauty of Colombia.