twofunkyhearts

I arrived in Bogota a week ago, planning to stay for 2 days. Leaving my little house in Busintana I decided not to take my yoga mat or my running shoes, wanting to go light. I really should have known better as I came here to sort out my work visas, and forgot that consulate affairs always take twice as long as you expect, and Belgium in general likes to drown foreigners in a sea of useless tasks (for example, tests on 5 different body samples, including same-day pregnancy test and chest x-ray. Something about that seems a little off, no?)

Anyways, it’s been almost 8 days and while feel my skin itching to get back to the Sierra Nevada, Bogota has treated me well. I’ve been spending time with a princess. She’s 67 years old, the last princess of the Muisca indigenous. This woman really knows what’s up and I am so inspired by her, she’s magic. She is a tremendous advocate for women and has connected me to so many fascinating women here that I feel like I’ve got a permanent community I can always come back to. The princess is an abuela (grandmother) to me, and it’s been such a blessing for me to meet a woman who is so wise and honoured for her years instead of forgotten about, something that seems normal in my culture. Without quite knowing how to describe her, I’ll leave this picture which I think is better than any words.

It’s also been fun to be here as this is such a cool city, teeming with interesting people, culture, events and amazing, accessible art. My good friend Katie is here and after 6 weeks of rice-and-beans every day she opened my eyes to some great veg eating. Since we met at Wok the first night here I feel like I’ve eaten my way through Bogota since.

As I walked around my neighbourhood here I developed little friendships with security guards, construction workers, arepa sellers, fruit vendors. I’ll be sorry to leave them and the Princess behind, but cannot be more excited to return to Busintana tomorrow.