Moving to Colombia?
If you watch commercials on any of the local television stations, listen to sports radio, watch Travel & Living channel ads on cable television, you can easily prepare to move to Colombia despite its well-deserved reputation for violence, kidnappings and drugs. . traffic. This is not to mention the current civil war being fought between the Colombian government, paramilitary forces such as the AUC, and military guerrilla forces such as the FARC. Let’s not forget the appalling murder and crime rates.
However, after considering the post “20 Reasons Not to Move to Dubai” on an online ELT forum, I thought I would try a similarly themed post covering various aspects of Colombia. Don’t get me wrong, I have lived in Colombia for the last 12 years teaching English as a foreign language with my Colombian wife. I pay taxes, health insurance and retirement through the Colombian systems. I still live here and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, but it is exactly this familiarity generated by many years of living and working here that allows me to write about this country.
Here are the first five of my list of 20 items and a brief comment:
1. In many areas there are NO or very few government services.
The streets are riddled with potholes and the highways that exist are often a disaster, but passable.
During peak travel periods, multiple delays, massive traffic jams, and overloaded transportation systems and facilities are common.
2. The climate, although tropical in most areas, can vary to extremes.
The summer months, June through August, can be brutally hot in some areas and unusually cold in others. You will need a sweater or jacket in Bogotá and air conditioning in Cali, Cartagena and other cities.
3. There is the constant threat of earthquakes.
Most of Colombia, from the Pacific coast to the central highlands and beyond, has experienced devastating earthquakes that can occur at any time of the day or night. I have experienced severe morning tremors that cracked walls and tore down ceilings, nighttime earthquakes that left buildings uninhabitable and caused the seemingly supernatural glow of seismic lights to appear around the city of Cali.
4. There is the constant threat of volcanic eruptions.
Several of Colombia’s many volcanoes are in an active or semi-active state. The most notable of them is the Galeras Volcano, located next to the city of Pasto, populated by more than 400,000 people, in the south of the country. Warnings and evacuation “threats” have become so common that residents barely pay attention to them until ash and gas erupt from the blackened summit. The worst catastrophe in Colombia was the destruction of Armero, an entire city of more than 23,000 inhabitants, practically all of whom died in one night, buried under a landslide caused by a volcanic eruption more than twelve meters deep. Other Colombian volcanoes include the snow-capped Nevada Ruiz, also with recent eruptions, and Purace.
5. Sometimes there are frequent outages of water or electricity services.
We have moved on to collecting and storing rainwater. That way, when the water supply “fails” or is cut off for any reason, we still have some water available for washing, bathing, cleaning and cooking. Sometimes cuts are announced. Sometimes it is not like that, catching the unwary off guard. These “no water” periods can last hours or days; sometimes you never know.
In part two of this multi-part series, we will continue to examine what I believe are Colombia’s 20 most critical issues that keep it a “third world” country. Your comments, opinions and suggestions are welcome. See you in the next installment.
Comment here