Differences in Bogota

1. Traffic- there are no lanes on the highway, especially after dark people consider stop signs optional, motor cycles speed between the "lanes" of cars inches away from you
2. Roads- they probably have not been redone since they were paved, there are HUGE potholes and since it rains a lot here they get covered up easily; there is also no drainage, just last night we drove on a main road in at least a foot of water
3. There are street vendors everywhere, pedalling nearly everything we have seen bean bag chairs and sofas, communion hosts, car cell phone chargers, jamacain hats with the dreads coming from them, parking cones and fire extinguishers... if you want to find badly enough you could probably find just about everything sold on the street- keep in mind people are often carrying all this stuff in between cars as you roll by in traffic
4. The fruit!!! You can get any kind of fruit you could imagine pretty much- they literally come in every shape, size, and color. And you can bet if they sell it in the states they are probably way bigger here. Juice is also a major staple, we have freshly made juice every morning.
5. The country is focused on increasing security so there are military and police officers everywhere!! To enter a mall or a large building you have to open your trunk so a dog can check for bombs; all the buildings have guards and depending on who lives there they may be armed or not (luckily no one important lives in our building so no armed guards); army guards line the street and pull people over on the way into and out of Bogota to prevent guerillas from getting into the city. It takes a little bit to get used to the constant heavily armed presence but we are very glad they are here- the only issue is the way they casually hold automatic weapons, that is a little scary.
6. Colombia has mandatory military service after high school (mostly for people who dont have enough connections to get out of it) so some of the officers look (and are) very young- but I guess that's similar in the states, I just dont see it everyday
7. You can't buyt any more than a 12 pack of beer but in a bar you can buy a three foot high pitcher of beer- called a "giraffe"
8. Things are expensive (consumer goods but not really food) but people are cheap- everyone here has a few maids and if you have kids for sure a nanny. Middle class people can afford to have an army of servants around them- you can keep a full time staff for about $200 a month.
9. Obviously Colombia is a very Catholic country, and a practicing one at that but the religious paraphernalia is out of control- key chains, stickers on every bus and taxi, blinking Jesus and Mary statues and paintings, nativity scenes everywhere, each school religious or not has a shrine to Mary or a patron saint, there are so many religious holidays that people don't even know why they are off work- religion turns a HUGE profit here
10. Since there is no Thanksgiving to control it, Christmas starts at the beginnging of November and people rarely work between December and January 15th.
11. You live with your parents until you get married- most of our friends who went abroad for university and graduate school and have great jobs live with their parents and plan on doing so indefinitely
12. Even if you are a business woman you should buy your clothes, mostly pants, at least one size too small. Also a red pin-stripe suit is a must. Don't leave the house without stilleto boots either, even if you don't walk very well in heals.
13. If you are over the age of 60 you must dress in the old Bogota style, mostly black for women with a hint of color added by the scarf around the sholders and for men, preferably tweed, a cane, and a fedora hat. You also must exclusively talk about good family names, your finca (country farm), and what people of class eat, wear, and do.
14. Sundays are spent dining with deceased loved ones AT the grave site, which is adorned with fresh floral arrangements each week in the shape of a cross or a heart.
There are about a million more things that are different from the states so when we think of them, we'll add on.