Colombia Culture Smart - by Kate Cathey
ISBN: 1857338863Date read: 2024-05-19
How strongly I recommend it: 5/10
(See my list of 360+ books, for more.)
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Basic information in preparation for travel.
my notes
Bogotá’s high altitude, 8,661 feet (2,640 m), makes for chilly weather all the year.
It rains an average of 185 days a year so Bogotanos are used to rainy weather.
80 percent of the population is of mixed race.
As a result of the Spanish conquest, Colombia’s modern culture is rich and multiethnic, a synthesis of Spanish, indigenous, and African traditions, evident in the music, the food, and Barranquilla’s famous Carnaval.
Yet, much of Colombian society ignores this diversity by favoring everything European.
Colombia has not experienced the same degree of immigration as Argentina or Venezuela, due to economic and security issues.
Immigrants of Arab descent - Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian - have settled on the Caribbean coast.
The untamable terrain and the independent nature of the people have made it difficult to govern.
Simón Bolívar liberated Colombia from Spanish rule.
Almost every Colombian town has a Plaza Simón Bolívar, Parque Bolívar, or Calle Bolívar, a tribute to El Libertador, “The Liberator.” Soldier, leader, revolutionary, and hero, Venezuelan born Símon Bolívar (1783–1830) led the armies that freed Colombia - along with Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia - from Spanish rule
Bolívar is both a national hero and an ideal. His name represents a united South America that is egalitarian and fair.
New Granada (modern-day Colombia) declared independence from Spain in 1810, and finally won it in 1819, when Simón Bolívar decisively defeated the Spanish army at Boyacá.
United as one independent country, Gran Colombia, which encompassed modern-day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela, and parts of Central America, Peru, Guyana, and Brazil.
By 1830, Bolívar’s ideal state had splintered into three nations: Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
The social, political, and economic divide that existed under colonial rule still festers today: deep feelings of anger and disenfranchisement
Society remained highly stratified, the heirs of the Spanish remained at the top of society, and most everyone else fell to the bottom.
In this rigid class system the disparity between the haves and the have-nots spawned a renegade tradition of outlaws, banditos, narco-traffickers, guerrillas, and militias.
Insurgent and counter-insurgent movements and a cycle of astounding violence that saturated five decades with the undeclared civil war that Colombians call “the armed conflict.”
When some of the survivors attempted to return to their lands, these lands had been sold off. They became part of the desplacados, the estimated 3.5 million people who have been forced from their lands as a result of the armed conflict.
Escobar and his crew turned Medellín into Colombia’s cocaine capital and in the 1980s everyone felt the effects. Cocaine dollars built narco-malls, narco-schools, bars, discos, and narco-mansions, transforming Medellín into a sparkling cosmopolitan city. Donating millions to local charities, building schools, and constructing low-income housing in the slums of Medellín, Escobar became a champion of the working class.
1989, Forbes magazine named him the seventh-richest man in the world.
Peace agreement in 2016.
On September 26, 2016, after four long years of negotiations, then president Juan Manuel Santos signed the historic peace agreement with FARC rebel Rodrigo Londoño, known as Timochenko, ending fifty-two years of brutal conflict. Santos won the both the Nobel Peace Prize (2016)
Colombia is one of the most unequal countries in Latin America, second only to Brazil.
Colombia and Venezuela have a love–hate relationship. They were once family, united as one country. They share a similar geography, history, and culture.
Now, as Venezuela’s political situation continues to deteriorate, more and more Venezuelans are seeking refuge in Colombia, which is creating tensions at the border.
Ecuador is the obnoxious younger brother.
Bolivia is seen as a silly cousin who just isn’t taken that seriously.
Colombians find the Argentineans arrogant, even though Argentinean style and beauty are secretly admired.
Mexicans are criticized for seeing themselves as North American instead of Latin American.
Colombia’s wild geography has historically made communication and travel between regions difficult, which forced people to be self-reliant and independent. And because the rugged topography made some regions hard to access, they were difficult to govern, giving rise to lawlessness.
Colombia’s more conservative areas: Bogotá.
In Bogotá the rich live and play in a self-contained bubble in the northern part of the city, separate from the rest of society.
Neighborhoods are divided into official estratos, socioeconomic strata in which neighborhood is classified by social class.
The cities’ poorest live in estrato 1, and the wealthiest in estrato 6.
Bogotá’s upper-class northern neighborhoods started to spring up in the 1960s, after La Violencia riots had burned much of Bogotá to the ground.
Wealthy neighborhoods were built for protection. Since then, upper-class Colombians have lived in luxurious, yet heavily protected, high-rise apartments.
Colombia has more women in politics and high elected office than almost anywhere in Latin America.
Colombian society is highly stratified. Your position in society is determined by your ancestry, family name, the color of your skin, and finally your income. Social mobility is difficult.
Colombians take outward appearances seriously.
Cosmetic surgery is popular.
Colombians like to dress well and dress up.
A much higher tolerance level for the noise of neighborhood festivities
Colombians say: if the noise bothers you, just join in.
Colombians love outlaws - rebels who by “any means necessary” employ their own private justice to fight against an unjust society.
Colombians operate on different time frames depending on the occasion.
People show up for official business on time.
But for social and more casual engagements, anywhere from an hour to two hours late.
Unlike some Latin American countries whose traditions are a synthesis of indigenous and Spanish rituals, in most areas of Colombia, with a few exceptions, the folk tradition reflects European roots.
Most urban Colombians don’t know much about their pre-Hispanic past.
All interactions in Colombia start with a formal greeting. These initial greetings are important and expected. You will use these with everyone you come in contact with - doormen, taxi driver, receptionists, bank tellers, the corner avocado vendor, in meetings and at restaurants.
Buenos días.
Cómo le ha ido?
Cómo le va?
Cómo amanece?
Qué esté bien.
Qué le vaya bien.
Greetings and small talk are very important in Colombian society. They are never rushed or left out.
Men greet each other with a firm handshake and an abrazo, a loose hug with a pat on the shoulder.
Men greet women with either a handshake or one kiss on the right cheek, usually an “air kiss” in which lips never touch the cheek.
Using Don or Doña before someone’s first name indicates respect and seniority with affection, and is usually used by someone of lower status to someone of higher status: storekeepers to address their patrons or secretaries to address their bosses. Highly skilled artisans, furniture makers, construction workers, and head workmen are maestro, a nod to expertise in their craft.
Expatriate hostesses have gotten tricky with their invitations to combat tiempo colombiano. One friend confessed that when she invites both Colombians and foreigners to dinner she sends out two different invitations, inviting Colombians two hours earlier than foreigners. That way all the guests might arrive around the same time!
Lunch is the main meal of the day and is heavier
Lunch begins early by Latin American standards, starting between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m.
Onces (literally, elevens - a snack between meals)
Buses are full to capacity - Colombians rely on bus services every day.
Bogotá’s ultramodern TransMilenio bus system functions like an aboveground metro.
Only take radio taxis (a cab that is called specifically for you). Never hail a cab off the street.
Never get in to an Uber or taxi that already has other passengers in it.
When a cab is ordered for you, you will be given two confirmation numbers. One is the codigo (a two-digit number code); the other is the placa (license plate number). When the taxi arrives you must confirm the placa (license plate number), and the driver will ask you to confirm the codigo. If someone calls the taxi for you they should give you a slip of paper with the license and codigo written for you.
Reforms have made Colombia the easiest place to do business in South America, according to the World Bank’s 2010 “Ease of Doing Business Report.”
The Spanish of Bogotá is elegant and beautiful to the ear, spoken with a clear pronunciation and a refined style that is considered the purest Spanish spoken in Latin America and the closest to the Spanish spoken in Spain.
“Nos tuteamos.” (“We will now use tú with each other.”)
It might seem surprising considering the hardship most people have faced but, according to the Happy Planet Index, they are among, and have been in the last decade, the happiest people in the world.
Qué pena - literally, what a shame or pity, is used constantly, and on the surface it means “I am sorry,” or “I am so embarrassed,” or “Excuse me.”
But the complete phrase is “Qué pena con usted,” which translates as “What a pity for you” and doesn’t really mean “I am sorry” at all.
More often than not, it is anything but a sincere apology, and can mean “too bad for you,” as in it is raining and you don’t have an umbrella.
Or it can mean “tough luck” when someone steals the parking place you had been waiting for because you weren’t quick enough.
Quibo Chino(a) - literally, “what’s happening, Chinese guy/girl,” a friendly greeting between friends that means “what’s up, dude/chick?”
Quibo is a shortened version of Qué hubo? (what happened?)
Chino has come to mean “dude,” “man,” “chick,” or “buddy.”