This is going to be a very, very short post. Mainly because I want to give you the bigger picture.
This was my impression of Colombia:
- Great salsa dancing
- Savory food...which often included avocados, rice, yuca, and various parts of cows and chickens
- Vibrant, colorful buildings, many of which were coated in legal (and often encouraged) graffiti
- Gregarious, curious, and forward-looking people who wanted to move past their infamous history
- Biologically and geographically diverse
- Innovative and active
- Very wealthy yet very poor
This is what Colombia was not:
- A country that was in a state of permanent disrepair
- Extremely unsafe
Above all, Colombia is complex. Its very recent, violent, tumultuous history is almost unimaginable. Even Medellin, which was once run by drug lord Pablo Escobar, felt quaint and safe.
It is a country of paradoxes and progress, with loads of people wanting to show off the latter.
Our walking tour guide mentioned that "Colombia was not built on drugs." Drugs have surely affected Colombia's history, but there is so much more to it.
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