Bogotá, Colombia.

Hi everyone! Forgive my long absence. I was working on a film for 6 weeks that was consuming all of my time. After the film wrapped, I grabbed some friends and flew down to Colombia to see my buddies Kata and JB. For those who have been following my blog for a few years, you may remember that I visited them when they lived in Buenos Aires in 2008. I kind of consider Kata my fake big sister. I copy what she does and follow her around the world. 

We stayed at Kata and JB's place in Bogotá, a sprawling metropolis cradled by a ring of gorgeous green mountains. We arrived during Semana Santa, a holy week of holidays where people commemorate the life of Jesus, then go on vacation.  The city was pleasantly empty and our amazing hosts took us on a grand tour in and out of barrios, and up and down mountain ranges. Highlights include: abundant tropical fruit smoothies, sparkling sacred lakes, and a monkey riding a house cat...

I was kind of horrified when I checked the forecast the day before we left. Weather.com predicted thunderstorms EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. When we got there, it rained for a bit most days, but the ominous clouds provided the most spectacular backdrop so I didn't mind. 

One thing I loved about Bogotá was that no seemed to care that 3 multi-ethnic gringas were roaming around their city. Maybe it's because Colombians themselves are rather varied looking, or because they actually like Americans, but everyone was so kind, welcoming, and polite. No one stared at us in that rude or creepy way. Every time I caught someone someone staring at us, they would just smile and wave :) 

Kata, Gayleem, Andrea

I love moody skies.

I was pleasantly surprised by the array of tropical fruits available in Bogota. We had fresh tropical fruit juice and/or fruit salad almost every day. I had to get my fix because all I ate last winter was apples. I'm not a super adventurous eater, but I LOVE fruit and will try almost anything. Except durian...because one time I had a bite of a durian dessert at a dim sum place and that s**t was nasty.