Late last night there was an accident right outside my flat which is based on an intersection, fortunately it was not a serious accident, no one was hurt, but what you might call a fender bender. Basically a car coming out onto the main through road didn't stop and neither did the car on the main road and this time they didn't miss. Needless to say it blocked the centre part of the cross roads BUT did that stop the remaining Bogota traffic of course not all it did was create a circus where cars were going, turning and passing in every possible way you could imagine. It was complete and total chaos I sat enthralled for over an hour in total disbelief it really had to be seen to be believed. Even after the police arrived to try to direct traffic the drivers seemed totally non plussed and as soon as the officer turned his back they would try to accelerate quickly into whatever little space existed, even to the point of driving down the wrong side of the road and the pavements. How other accidents didn't happen during the 2 hours it took to move the cars off what appears to be a major road in Bogota beggers belief. But for the count thats Accidents seen 1 with an entertainment value of 9 out of 10.
City Tour
Today was a city tour organised by the school. It was an amazing day travelling around the city and walking in places I would have probably not gone to without a guide. The photo's will show some of the key sights seen. We stopped at a restaurant and had traditional "colombian food" followed by a few traditional colombian beers... The meal was a speciality of the area but can be found in other parts of colombia I had "Plattan de Monserat" basically its a Rice and Bean base with sausage, plantain, Pork (with a crispy crackling) topped with a fried egg. The mixture of flavours sweet and otherwise was a delight for the palate. Prior to the main course we had some Arepa and Empenada's both equally enjoyable both from taste and texture, and high on my list to try again. After the meal we walked to the main square where the Colombian Presidents House sits not a 2 Bed semi by any means, and of course the compulsory armed guards everywhere, and if you looked very closely quite a few plain clothes personel mixing in the crowds (The bulge from their shoulder holsters and radio ear pieces did tend to give them away but only if you looked for them.). Needless to say anywhere around the Presidents Palace is a No Photographs area so sadly you wont see any.
As we walked we felt the first drops of rain which developed into a light shower lasting about 20 minutes, and although the rain fell it was also still very warm and sunny, a very strange feeling.
We rounded off the early part of the day with a visit to the Botero Museum, Botero one of Colombias most famous sons is famed for painting and sculpting "fat" people, his work has a sense of innocent child like humour but may not be to everyones taste (Did I mention he likes naked women seen from behind ?).
Overall a very worth while visit and showed the depth of colombian architecture as well as the void between those that have and those that don't. Poverty is everywhere and the poor are definitly looked upon as third class citizens, constantly moved on by the ever present security guards incase they should trouble those who have more.
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