When I first told family and friends I was going to Colombia, I was overwhelmed by “why”s and “be careful”s and coke jokes and Pablo Escobar jokes and “Las Farc te van a secuestrar” (The FARC [guerilla group] is going to kidnap you) from my Mexican friends that at least had some knowledge of Colombia (but that’s old news post-peace agreement with FARC yayy!!! details on peace agreement). The reality is that I usually feel safer here than I do at home…. and I’m here to put down the negative stereotypes. Me and Anthony Bourdain that is…. 🙂
<—- This meme is what made me want to write this blog.
I mean I have wanted to get rid of the bad stereotypes of Colombia since I fell in love with it (the second I arrived) but I saw this meme today and it annoyed me a lot 🙁 I know it’s just a joke and I’m not trying to be over-dramatic but this is literally the happiest, loveliest country I’ve ever been to and it stinks a lot of people only see it for coke and narco-violence (coffee is okay I guess because the coffee here IS amazing!). The two biggest stereotypes of Colombia are coke and Pablo Escobar (which are obviously related). Yeah, coke is kind of popular here…. as it is in Chicago. It totally depends on the circle you choose to put yourself in. There are just as many people super against coke here as in the states (maybe even more here since they hate how it affects their reputation). Yup, it’s super easy to find coke here. But isn’t it in like any city in the states too at this point? I know it is in Chicago!
<—- TYPICAL. Don’t tag me in memes like this friends, JUST DON’T.
<—- I get that it’s funny to an outsider but I never understand the true despair and destruction that Pablo Escobar really created here until I lived here and heard stories from friends. I loved watching the Netflix series “Narcos” but now I understand why some Colombians disapprove of it. Pablo Escobar was a terrorist. He ordered car bombs, mass shootings, blew up a plane and ordered so many individual killings as well (and so much more). We romanticize him but imagine if people did that about Sadam Hussein, someone who struck fear in the hearts of Americans. It’s actually heartbreaking thinking of how recently in history all of this happened…. all of my friends have some story of how it affected their family members or friends/neighbors. The amazing part is how far Colombia (and specifically Medellin/Antioquia where we live) has come since 🙂 !!!! Medellin is a gorgeous, international city that is one of my favorite cities after Chicago. I would 100% recommend it as a vacation spot for all my loved ones…. I feel sooo safe (obviously staying out of certain areas as I would in Chicago).
Another stereotype (not as popular among my American friends who don’t actually know much at all about Colombia… and spell it like ‘Columbia’) that I have heard is that it is dangerous because of the FARC or as I mentioned earlier that the FARC would kidnap me. FARC stands for Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. FARC started as a Marxist-Leninist movement among peasants that was anti-imperialist and pro-agrarian. FARC was involved in narco trafficking, kidnapping, ransom, murder and many other crimes. I linked an article earlier on this but this Wikipedia page is super helpful as well. Last October there was a country-wide vote on whether or not the Colombian government should make peace with the FARC. It lost by just a bit(50.2% voted no). President Santos was like “nah but we NEED peace” so in November of last year they made another peace treaty and both houses of Congress signed it therefore ratifying it. A lot of specifics are involved and I encourage reading more up on it but basically the peace agreeements mean the FARC turning in their arms and stopping all acts of war. The big guys are serving time and those less involved are being reintegrated into society with a sort of immunity and stipends. Anyways, I haven’t had any encounters with the FARC and of course most people don’t even know about this EPIC step for peace that Colombia made….
THIS SUMS UP EVERYTHING I AM SAYING. QUE VIVA COLOMBIA!!!! This amazing country brings me so much happiness and peace and allows me to be in an environment I’m comfortable to be me in- going frequently to rivers, mountains and waterfalls, dancing with no (or less) embarrassment, and being surrounded by HAPPY, LIFE-LOVING people. Come and I guarantee all your stereotypes of Colombia will be turned upside down.
