Chris Blattman

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In which my veil of ignorance is lifted

I’m not sure what I expected of Bogota, but it was not a European-style capital replete with walking malls, bike lanes, beer gardens, and sidewalk cafes on quiet tree-lined streets. Granted I didn’t browse the slums, but Jeannie and I covered miles and miles of the city today on foot, seldom seeing anything less than charming.

The other surprise: we saw precisely one small group of American tourists; none of the restaurants have English menus; and everyone assumes I speak fluent Spanish. It’s heaven. Granted, the other tourists might have strayed form the May Day street protests (a sight that more than made up for the absence of open museums), but the rest of the world seems not to have discovered the city. You should.

I’m sorry, Monrovia, but today I began having adulterous thoughts. I never knew I could do confict research in such a place. The plotting begins…

5 Responses

  1. Western attention to Africa is so fickle! This is why we need African solutions to African problems ;)

    That said, you wouldn’t be the first. Bates’ coffee book came after he turned from Uganda to Colombia for a while.

  2. My first visit to Bogota was mind blowing as well. It is a really pretty city and was very different from my priors. When people ask me what is the city in South America that was the most surprising, I always answer Bogota. The look I get from the average American is priceless because they usually think that as soon as you get off the plane in Colombia you will be kidnapped. Hence, if you can be kidnapped or shot at by a drug cartel, it CAN’T be a nice place…

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