A rare night in Bogotá
It's a rare night in Bogotá that the sky is this clear. This is the view looking west from the Cerro de ...
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Ciudad Bolívar and the perils of perceptions
You hear a lot about Ciudad Bolívar, none of it good. Life in the city's poorest district has long been characterized by drugs, gangs, and violence. It's been referred to as one of the world's largest mega-slums. It's usually off-limits. The closest I'd come to seeing it was from the relative safety of a moving ...
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They found the San José: Now what?
Three-hundred-and-ten years to the day after it sank off Colombia's Caribbean coast, the Spanish Galleon San José is at the centre of an international dispute involving maritime law, cultural heritage, and a possible $17-billion treasure. The 62-gun, three-masted ship was among the largest in the fleet of Spanish King ...
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How to cross la Septima – A five-step guide for the first-time visitor
Carrera Septima (literally "Seventh Avenue") is the spine of the city. An eight-lane, 28-kilometre, 211-block length of tarmac in various states of disrepair, it stretches from Santa Ana Sur in the south to Buena Vista in the north. I know. It's long. La Septima is without a doubt the most important street in ...
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Irresistible
My most recent assignment for the Bogotá Writers Group was to write 400 words in the second person based on the word "Irresistible." It was easy to resist her gaze the first time. A mere modicum of mutual recognition. Fleeting, really. There were too many people in the way, each hurrying along this way and that, ...
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Colombian stereotypes: Colombia fights back
Call it "The Narcos effect." No sooner do members of Vancouver's Colombian community protest the opening of the city's newest Latin-themed bar bearing that infamous name than a new marketing campaign hits our social feeds. Dubbed "The Colombian Ambush," the campaign directly addresses the country's stereotype as a ...
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Colombian stereotypes: “Pablo who?”
Pablo who? A pair of restauranteurs in Vancouver (Canada, my home and native land), are drawing criticism and protests from people within the city's Colombian community over the name of their new "Latin-themed" restaurant. You guessed it, "Escobar." Is there any Spanish surname more incendiary? I'll wait while ...
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