Bogota is for Babies

July 18, 2012

Another early morning… We were up, had breakfast in the hotel, and checked out of our hotel, and on the bus by 8 a.m. Since the Fed Ex box I sent from Mexico City never arrived at my parent’  the fax machine wasn’t working! You can imagine the mood I was in. Thank God my mother has the patience of a saint and spoke to Fed Ex in Tennessee about six times today in order to rectify the problem. Thanks mom! Apparently I wasn’t specific enough when listing what was in my box.

Our first stop of many was the kindergarten at Los Andes University called Jardin Infantil Uniandes. This child care center, started in 1980, is specifically for children newborn to age five. All the parents of these children are professors, students & people that work at the university.

These children (baby chefs) were making pizza, well pretending to. 

They have a technology center, where children play educational games. 

The environment is extremely child friendly. I loved the different pictures and murals painted on the walls. 

One of the goals of the school is to instill real life skills at a very young age. The five year old children paint pictures and sell them to their parents at a special sale the school organizes. These young children are learning business sense and the value of hard work at a very young age.

Children wear unifroms (track suits) and so do the teachers. I think it's great that the teachers are in comfortable clothing so they can really engage with the students by moving around easily, and get dirty if necessary (they were painting).

Next, we went onto the campus of Los Andes. We toured the beautiful campus with an astonishing view of Bogota. This university started in 1948 with only 16 teachers and 80 students and now has grown tremendously. Los Andes is a very expensive university for Colombian standards. Most of the students that attend come from wealthy families or receive scholarships. 

http://www.uniandes.edu.co/

Leo, our tour guide, is an alumni of the university. He does not come from a wealthy family, but worked many jobs in order to pay his own tuition in order to go to this school. He reminisced about the days when he was studying. One of his past times was storytelling and comedy, which he informally performed on campus.

In the front of the library Leo gave us an informal lecture about Colombia, specifically about Pablo Escobar  and the drug trade in 1980's and 1990's. Since our next stop is Medellin, the city that in 1985 was the most dangerous in all the world,  we wanted to get the facts! Leo exposed us to many of the truths of the drug in Colombia and Escobar leading the largest crimimal organization in all of the world. The many positive changes in Medellin and all the city has to offer is what we will be experincging first hand over the next few days.

Here's one of the many videos that gives a better idea of the chaos in Colombia under the rule of Pablo Escobar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVXSekpHvYM

Leo keeps saying, "Bogota is for babies" and the real night life is in Medellin & Santa Marta. He keeps relating these places to NYC. Very excited to get a real feel for the city. 

After a 45 minute flight and then a 45 minute bus ride we arrived in Medellin! 

This is the panoramic view from the rooftop of our hotel, Art Hotel. 

Thank you Senator Fulbright! 

http://www.arthotel.com.co/

We are staying in the upscale section of Medellin & most cities in Colombia. The neighborhood choices may be to ensure our safety, which is fine for me. The people are well dressed, friendly, and really having a good time at night- feels a little like NYC! A few of us ate at an outdoor Italian inspired restaurant. The Medellin flag is green and white. When we went out in the evening there were green and white  balloons adorning some of the restaurants because there was a soccer game on.  Soccer is an extremely popular sport here in Colombia. We listened to a live jazz band while relaxed after our very long day.