Leeroy has left 566 comments
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Leeroy comments on Latin Men Best Lovers "England (too lazy)" I'm English - and I wholeheartedly agree.
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Leeroy comments on Recipes for Ají If I remember right, one such recipe for *making* aji went something like Vinegar Jalapeños Onions Red Bell Pepper Tomato Cilantro All of the above chopped up finely, of course. But there are lots of regional variants for ají, I can't pretend to know them all. In Pasto and around they have a peanut butter ají. As for what it's used for, man, I use it with everything - sandwiches, scrambled egg, meat, you name it.
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Leeroy comments on What has happen to pbh? What makes a good forum is an elusive and elegant mystery. Many forums are as bad as this or worse in terms of infighting, yet many work very well. What is it that makes the difference? While moderation certainly is a factor, it is not the only thing. Successful forums have dynamism, they have events (say....little projects, competitions, etc...). One of the key problems here (IMHO) is *boredom*.
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Leeroy comments on MUST SEE's in BOGOTA? Personally, I second kat1's recommendation of the Botanical Gardens (Jardín Botánico) - they are immaculately maintained and very pretty. They are probably my single favourite "tourist destination" in Bogotá.
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Leeroy comments on My girl is now "forbidden" to see me at night..... I lived with my girlfriend for two years with her mother's implied consent, no-one batted an eyelid. In fact, we would occasionally go and visit the family in Chia and my gf and I would sleep in the same bed in her mother's house. I took it for granted at the time, but thinking back about it that family was pretty cool.
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Leeroy comments on Rich Bogotanos In my three years in Bogotá, I have witnessed materialism and anti-materialism in equal measures among the upper classes. While it would be silly to deny that Colombians are class conscious, how social status is advertised and defined is more complex than simply reading the price tag on people's clothes. "¡Que boleta!" is a common phrase among the upper classes especially, it more or less means "How tacky!" or "How cheesy!", but can be extended to anything seen to be in bad taste. For many people, conspicuous displays of wealth are highly "boleta" - paradoxically, by showing off your wealth for all to see, you make yourself seem *lower* class. While gold chains, a souped-up Impreza (with spoiler and air-intake) and a girlfriend with DD tits might impress some, it will attract equal amounts of ridicule from others. While I am not a sociologist nor anthropologist, my understanding of the matter goes something like this... There is a strong social difference between the inherently rich and the nouveau riche - this isn't unique to Colombia, it happens everywhere. People who are born with money and grow up in a prosperous environment are less likely to be impressed by (or want to impress others with) obvious displays of material wealth. To do so, for them, would be simply unnecessary. I have pounded aguardiente in tiendas with rich people on many occasions, and they don't think twice about the fact that it might be lower class or "beneath" them in some way. Contrary to the idea of the snobbish, aristocratic inhabitant of the upper classes who looks down upon the lower classes, I've found that most people born into money are usually content to "rough it" (say... cheap food, clothes, whatever...) when the occasion warrants it. Rich people might have nice things, but they rarely buy them to show off - and certainly don't feel the need to constantly "prove" their wealthiness to everybody. On the other end of the scale, people who grow up in a less financially secure environment are usually unable or unwilling to spend scarse funds on cosmetic displays of wealth/status (feeding the children is more important than having a sports car). The very low classes might be status conscious, but they simply can't afford to spend much on conspicuous materialism and consumerism. It is the nouveaux riche who are most likely to show off their wealth in an obvious way (and, many would argue, in bad taste). This, I suppose, comes from the fact that it is the "new rich" who most badly want to show off to everyone. Big and shiny symbols of financial prosperity are ways of differentiating themselves from the lower classes (and, presumably, work as a way for the nouveaux-riche to impress their lower class peers). Plus, I suspect, they are a successful means of impressing girls - nothing says "I have money!" better than an expensive status symbol parked in your driveway, and girls, especially poor girls, dig guys with money. But, when the inherently rich upper classes see these obvious (and often monstrous) displays of wealth, they are not impressed. Part of this, I think, comes from simple snobbery ("Regueton pumping out of a blacked-out Mazda 6 with titanium alloys? ¡Que Boleeeeeta!"). Another part of it comes from the (understandable) conclusion that the nouveaux riche in Colombia have often become that way because of links to narcotics... http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traqueto "Traqueto Se le dice traqueto en Colombia a la persona o individuo relacionado directamente con el tráfico de sustancias ilegales, de manera más específica cocaína y marihuana. El nombre suele darse, sobre todo, a los mandos medios o a quienes se destacan por la ostentación del dinero que trae el tráfico ilegal. El título no suele darse a los grandes capos, ni a aquellos que prefieren mantener un bajo perfil. La palabra traqueto surge de la onomatopeya del sonido de una ametralladora al disparar. El estilo traqueto Tanto ha afectado la aparición y la convivencia con los traquetos en la vida del colombiano que su estilo de vida es imitado o parodiado, como canon de una persona con dinero pero sin gusto. Narco-diseño, narco-barroco, diseño traqueto, son algunas de las maneras a las que se le refiere a este tipo de estilo, marcado por un gran uso del oro o en su defecto el dorado y las esmeraldas, o cualquier material de color similar. Es un estilo que nace del alarde y de la compulsión por la imitación. El traqueto, que proviene en general de una familia humilde, quiere luego aparentar ser de la alta sociedad tras conseguir su nueva y estrepitosa fortuna, y para ello copia las maneras y los gustos de aquellos que entran en ese nivel. Empero, al no comprender las reglas reales de sus nuevos gustos, termina refiriéndolas a aquello que si conoce, a la estética que sí entiende o cree entender, lo cual suscita el despliegue narco-barroco, en el cual se pueden apreciar ejemplos como salas de estar de estilo barroco decoradas con luces de neón e imágenes de caballos, comedores en vidrio, entre otras cosas.[1]"
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Leeroy comments on Some photos I took of the Tercer Milenio a couple of days ago - the focus (and title) of this one was/is "Niños Desplazados":
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Leeroy comments on Guaro with ??? Guaro shouldn't be mixed. And mixing black label with coca-cola is a crime, or at least should be treated as one.
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Leeroy comments on Best high schools in Bogota? Colegio Gran Bretaña - http://www.cgb.edu.co/ Colegio Nueva Granada - http://www.cng.edu/ Colegio Anglocolombiano - http://www.anglocolombiano.edu.co/
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Leeroy comments on Bogota more expensive to live than Birmingham and Glasgow UK,(and just as cold). Some things in Bogotá are a lot more expensive than (say) London, while other things are a lot cheaper. In trying to emulate a western lifestyle here (buying western style food in supermarkets, drinking in "pubs", etc...), it's quite plausible that you'd spend more money in Bogotá than you would in a British city. Imported things in Bogotá are very expensive indeed, and way beyond the budget of most people here. A jar of (imported) tomato pasta sauce, for example, could set you back US$5 here, whereas in London it'd be more like US$2. Electronics and cars are also prohibitively expensive - if you want to lead a "play" lifestyle in Bogotá, you're going to need a lot of money to be able to do it. But more or less anything locally produced (rice, beans, tobacco, beer) is significantly cheaper than in Britain.
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Leeroy comments on From Nicaragua to San Andres I understand there are boats between the corn islands and San Andres/Providencia. But, it is not an official border - you'd have entered illegally, and would have a hard time explaining yourself to immigration in San Andres.
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Leeroy comments on My Wonderfully, Crazy Trip to Colombia (Medellin & Cali) I've lived in Colombia for 3 years, but I've never had 7 consecutive days as intense as those. Perhaps life in Bogotá is simply more boring.
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Leeroy comments on Would the San Andresitos/Food markets be worth a mention? Oh, and don't forget the dealers/whore houses on the 85 with 14 ;)
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Leeroy comments on TOEFL Prep Class question 40 to 80 in four months? I honestly hope she does, but I think it's unlikely. Someone who's "upper-beginner/ low-int range" (shall we say A2-B1?) is going to struggle with an exam like the TOEFL IBT.
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Leeroy comments on I live by myself, and I have a cleaner come once a week. I like having someone clean and do the ironing, and she likes having paid employment. Who loses here, exactly?
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Leeroy comments on Where are some good places to go in Bogota? I know it's out of the way, but Guatavita (2 hrs by bus from Bogotá) has some really nice handicraft shops. When you arrive at the plaza head down the hill (towards the reservoir). On that windy road there are a few places.
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Leeroy comments on A Request Regarding New Members Most here spend more time talking about this forum than about Colombia
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Leeroy comments on Promoting Cock-fighting in Colombia? WTF? Animals fight (and kill each other) with predictable regularity - the issue isn't/shouldn't be regarding the plight of the poor little chickens. I don't enjoy watching animals hurt/kill each other (and I include humans in that), but there are lots of things that I don't like. Just because I don't like it, doesn't mean that I should condemn others who do. But, that's with chickens. I do/would vocally condemn people who enjoy *humans* fighting to the death, but that's a different thing..
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Leeroy comments on Where do the Gringa and Gringos Hang in Bogota? I met the Italian in La Candelaria once - in fact it was in a supermarket. If I remember correctly, I gave him a pack of Oreos.
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I'm all about the uchuvas.
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Leeroy comments on New restaurant in Cartagena - to avoid That sushi place in plaza San Diego is nice
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Leeroy comments on Where do the Gringa and Gringos Hang in Bogota? "The poor and lazy gringos you find in the Candelaria neighborhood in the center, they usually are jobless, don't work, smoke pot and live from the others or from their parents in their homelands...." Man I would love to be jobless, not work, smoke pot every day and live off my parents...
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Leeroy comments on Club Colombia I drink Club Colombia probably more than any other beer (here, at least) - I prefer it to Aguila, Costeña, Poker or any of the others. That said, I am not a beer connoisseur. While I have lots of respect for those who know and love the technicalities of beer, I (like most of the great masses of the world) am not one of them. For me, beer is a refreshing (and intoxicating) beverage that I drink primarily for its effect. How it tastes is important, but that is secondary. I have drunk many Club Colombia-esque beers in my life (in many different countries): However much beer-gurus may lament it - most beer that is drunk in the world is of the 'watery-lager' variety that Club Colombia belongs to. You see, experts in whatever field have necessarily different tastes in the products/commodities they purchase/consume than laypeople. This is natural and understandable. What irks me is when said experts then look down upon said laypeople when evaluating their own choices (typically making commentaries along the lines of "Oh! You amateurs! What rubbish!"). I, as a semi-professional photographer, would not opt to buy a simple Kodak camera (well, not, at least, as my primary Camera Of Choice). But I have different needs and expectations to most people when it comes to photography. I don't look down on people who opt to buy a economic "Point-And-Click" camera - they don't care about metering, customisable white balance, or any of the other technical wonders that my camera has that theirs doesn't. Normal-people-who-want-to-take-photos-sometimes have different needs and priorities to me - (say) a mother taking photos of her kids at a school play would do better with a simple PAC camera, I do better with a Canon EOS40D. Correspondingly, what I want and need from a beer is something that refreshes me, goes down easy, and gets me drunk. Club Colombia does the trick. I won't pretend that it is a "world class beer" (I simply don't know enough about beers to be qualified to make that statement) - but I know that it, and many of its style, works for me. So, Darloup, I understand and respect that you know about beers and do not (from your position) rate Club Colombia highly. But we, the normal people, have different standards to you :)
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Leeroy comments on What Happened Around Av Jimenez, Bogota? I live closeby, I'll check it out tomorrow
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Leeroy comments on teaching english in bogota o anywhere in colombia When I first applied for a work visa, I had to show my certificates/diplomas (notarised and apostilled) as part of the application process. The second time I just had a letter from my employer saying "We are happy with his qualifications". There are not many ESL jobs for foreigners in Bogotá, at least not many that would help you get a visa (by that I mean give you copies of all the necessary paperwork to do it). Nonetheless, Berlitz is ubiquitous and I think they give all new teachers training. Check them out first though...
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Leeroy comments on In your opinion... which of these cities do you prefer? Darloup - yes. Your map is rotated 45° anti-clockwise, so my "north" is the map's" west"
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Leeroy comments on In your opinion... which of these cities do you prefer? Haha - darloup - I actually laughed out loud when I saw that. The Green area would be the fabled "North" that I keep rambling on about. Currently, I live pretty thick in the red...
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Leeroy comments on In your opinion... which of these cities do you prefer? :) I tried, darloup! Difficult to explain in words! Mongo - thanks :)
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Leeroy comments on In your opinion... which of these cities do you prefer? Darloup Funnily enough, no - people rarely speak of "The East". Have a look at www.metrocuadrado.com.co It's an aggregate rentals/property sale website. If you type in Bogotá, then have a look at the areas, there is no "oriental". What is actually "North" by my (and its) definition is actually "North-East", North-West is different (it is difficult to classify, being a mix of different types of neighbourhood). You wouldn't hear someone say "I live in the East" - as "The East" by itself means nothing - the northeast and southeast are very different. So it is that "The South" means "South-west and South-East", while "the North" usually refers only to "North-east". Regarding foreigner enclaves, they are principally... 1. Cedritos (middle class but in the North(-East)) - lots of international school teachers live there owing to its proximity to the international schools and fancy bars and restaurants a bit further south. Cedritos itself is boring, however. 2. Santa Barbara (bordering Cedritos, similar but more classy, North-East) 3. El Chicó (very chique, "cool", high class, expensive, North-East) 4. La Candelaria (where I live, colonial and slightly bohemian - a fair bit cheaper, Centre) 5. La Macarena (see #4, Centre) Secure "enclaves". Lol - well, kind of, but remember that Bogotá is hardly infested with foreigners. Even in the most heavily foreigner-populated areas, there still aren't many around. It is true, though, that the North East and the centre are what, for most foreigners, comprise Bogotá. I have lived here for 3 years, and have very rarely ever ventured into the West or South - this is not so much out of fear or snobbery so much as I have rarely had any reason to go. The North-East is its own town - Colombians who live there behave similarly. I have many friends, Colombian and expat, who live, work and play almost exclusively in the North-East (with perhaps an occasional journey into the centre on a night out). A pessimist would argue that they (and others like them) are hiding away in their little bubble of comfort because they are too scared/snobbish to see the "other side of Bogotá". I am more forgiving - the North East has a lot to offer lots of people, it is safe and comfortable and has everything you need - and if it's where you work and its where your friends live, it would make sense that you'd stay around there. As enclaves go, it does alright. I remember Rubito saying, however, that he didn't like it as he felt the people were stuck-up and the area was overpriced - he does have a point. This doesn't mean to say, of course, that there are no other safe and comfortable neighbourhoods in Bogotá - there are plenty! Regarding "curiosity", I guess I mean that your presence as a foreigner is acknowledged and given more attention. This might be staring in the street, joking comments to friends ("Hey look a foreigner! Tee-hee! Hello!!!"), or someone in a tienda asking where you are from, how long you've been in Colombia, etc... In the North-east such occurences are relatively rare (another reason, perhaps, that foreigners favour it), while they are much more likely in other parts of the city.
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Leeroy comments on In your opinion... which of these cities do you prefer? I'm not going to rant and rave about how great Bogotá is, although I've been here for close to three years now. I feel an affection for it because I am accustomed to it - I feel at home here, yet I'm not attached. That doesn't mean to say that people who *do* rant and rave about it are in some way mistaken or dishonest, these things are subjective. As for Barranquilla, Santa Marta and Cartagena - I have only made tourism stops and/or fleeting visits to those places, I'm not qualified to express an opinion on them. How is Bogotá, for me? Okay - here's "What Bogotá is like", according to me: Climate: I find it just a little bit too cold most of the time. More than that, though, the constant cloudiness makes the city appear dull and grey a good percentage of the time. Of my major gripes, the climate of Bogotá is probably the biggest of all. Yet, other people like the climate here for the same reasons that I dislike it. Getting around: I move around the city quite a lot, and am happy with the plethora of taxis and buses. While people may bitch about the traffic, for a city in a less-economically-developed country it really isn't that bad (in most areas at most times of day). I can get from the centre of town to the northern edge of the city during the day in 45 mins-1 hour, not every capital city in the world can boast that. Many streets are one-way (and few permit parking), so traffic moves smoothly - but a journey from A to B might involve a lot of zig-zagging around as a result. Location (nationally): Bogotá's in the middle of the country, more or less. If you're zipping around (nationally or internationally) then living in Bogotá is simply useful for logistic reasons. Nightlife: Bogotá has it all - more diversity (I am reliably informed) than anywhere else in the country. If you're really into gay, cowboy-themed, samba-playing sadomasochism bars (say...) then you'll be more likely to find one here than anywhere else. There are massive electronic-music-style-clubs (a la The US or Europe), latin style club-bars, live rock bars, pubs, and hole-in-the-wall dives with wooden furniture. Whatever floats your boat. People: Sure - like all natives of all capital cities everywhere in the universe, the Bogotanos do deserve their reputation (a little) of being standoffish and surly. But, there are people from all over the country here - just because the *rolos* are like that doesn't mean that the *people in Bogotá* are like that - not everyone in Bogotá is a rolo. Ambience: Bogs has a mixture of all ambiences, depending on location (you can have tree-lined elegant streets, nasty ghettos, colonial architecture, whatever...) - but mostly Bogotá is not pretty. In short, most streets simply have no ambience at all - there is no feeling, atmosphere or vibe in the majority of the city. As negative as this might sound, I think some people find this relaxing if they are living here. If you are a tourist, you want to be amazed by sights and sounds, and to have your senses continually assaulted by things you see and hear while out and about. Residents have different priorities. While some areas of Bogotá are like this, the majority are not. Suburbia rules here. Certainly in the north, there is an impressive abundance of trees - this gives that part of the city a slightly more pleasant and relaxed vibe than other areas Recreation: There are all the usual facilities you would expect for a city of its size - parks, botanical gardens, sport centres, shopping centres, stadiums, etc... While many of the facilities are a little tacky, run-down or out-dated, Bogotá does not lack anything immediately obvious. Eating: I am not a massive fan of Cundinamarcan cuisine, although there is a fairly diverse selection of food on offer in Bogotá, the choice is diverse in terms of national dishes (Costeñan, Paisa) and international cuisines (Cuban, Mexican, Indian, Morrocan, etc...). You won't go hungry here. Shopping: Little "centro comercial"es reign supreme here. They are often only one storey, and can resemble a food market in style and design (except that instead of a fruit stall, you'd have a little shop selling cellphones or whatever). Some are themed according to one style of product (like Unilago, for computing goods), and some are miscellaneous. From there you go up a notch to the labyrinthine multi-storey shopping malls (like the one in Galerias - which still maintains the maze-like food-market style layout, except on multiple floors) and finally to the shiny, western style malls (like Atlantis - which tend to be a bit smaller and more exclusive). Like a lot of places, Bogotá has certain streets or areas devoted to one genre - if you want to buy an aquarium (say) then you'd go to the Caracas with 40 (where 10 or 15 aquarium shops exist side-by-side) - if you need guitar strings, you'd go to the septima with 55, and if you want huge great refrigerators that tiendas use to put stuff in, then you'd go to the avenida 19 with 17. Vice, sin and debauchery: As per the previous point, vice is partitioned according to zone. Not everything is available everywhere, rather there are quite specific areas of tolerance devoted to whichever bad behaviour it is that you're into. The coke dealers operate *here*, the transsexual hookers *there*, and the bootleg booze *over in that place*. Security: ...depends greatly on where you are. Some areas are simply no-gos at any time of day (it is not difficult to identify and avoid those places - Las Cruces, say, or Santa Cecilia). Some places are okay during the day and dodgier at night (Eastern Candelaria, for example). Some places will normally be okay day or night, but owing to their affluence carry with them a continual minor risk of robbery (La Zona Rosa, La 93...) and some places are As Safe As Safe Can Be (like La Cabrera, or around the presidential palace). Attitudes to foreigners: In some areas (notably El Chicó and La Candelaria) the rolos are semi-used to foreigners - you certainly won't be gawped at in the street, nor will strangers often strike up conversations with you for sheer virtue of being foreign. The foreigners tend to stick around in the same parts of the city, however, and once they venture away from these zones then they'll be treated with significantly more curiosity. Still, though, the rolos are not famously outgoing - it is easy to have a tranquil life here, I rarely recieve overt attention (negative or positive) for being foreign, even though I quite blatantly stand out as one. Fashion/Style/Culture: All depends massively on social class. The lowest classes are predictably dedraggled, while the lower to middle classes try their best to look as good as their budget will afford them. The middle to upper classes are where it starts to vary, it is pretty rare for people to dress up ostentatiously during the day (doing so would not be pragmatic), although some will do so at night and on special occasions. Another branch of the upper classes make a conscious effort to *dress-down*, the males especially (by shaving erratically, having long-ish and unstyled hair, etc...). The various social stratas of Bogotá rarely mix, and while the upper classes (at least sometimes) try to hide their contempt for the lower classes, this is usually transparent and their derision is quite visible. Nonetheless, most interactions between those of different social class are impressively polite and courteous. Layout: As a *very* rough outline, Bogotá can be divided into three sections. "The South", which has a reputation for being a hellishly dangerous, poor, nightmarish, hallucinatory vision of a world gone mad (although some residents of the south dispute this!). "The North", which is where the upper classes reside, and "The West", which is endless middle-class suburbia. All of this is a gross simplification of reality, however - there are poor areas in the north (and vice versa). The main arteries of the city (from north to south) are The Autopista/Caracas (which takes a fairly straight north/south route), La Septima (which runs north/south along the eastern edge of the city), The Boyacá (which runs around the western periphery until it meets the Autopista at the northern edge of the city). There is also the (erratic) NQS (a motorway which spirals around all over the place), and several large avenidas running from east to west (la 1a de Mayo, la 63, El Dorado, etc...). Phew.
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Leeroy comments on i thought we had new rules around here, peter and moderators. My profile looks like this: Activity: 30 forum posts, 527 comments, 3 friends. Member since: May 2007 Lives in: - - Sex: - Born in: - Has traveled in: - Wants to travel to: - Favourite traveling style: - About (hobbies etc...) - Websites: - A bit bare-bones, I know. I can make some stuff up, if you guys like :)
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Leeroy comments on Cost of Drugs (Legal kind) One can buy a "felpita", i.e. cocaine-wrap (bit less than a gram) from any of a number of dealers that hang around the 86 with 14 - you'd be looking at between 5k and 10k a shot. From the sound of things it would be a great deal cheaper, and probably more effective, than many of the legal alternatives on offer from the farmacias around the block. Unless we are talking about sexual virility, of course, in which case it might be better off to stick to generic brand viagra ;)
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Leeroy comments on How Do You Manage As I said, the first will be on me. The second and third will have to be negotiated, however...
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Leeroy comments on How Do You Manage I'm located in La Candelaria. The tienda on my corner sells Heineken. I just had a Pilsen, and reminded myself that I am not a fan - a Heiney would have been better,
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Leeroy comments on How Do You Manage Quite. I certainly am psuedo-intellectual, and (in a moment of meta-awareness) probably a pretentious one, at that. PC? Not black and white - yes and no. Liberal? In some ways but not in others - I'm libertarian. Snob? Definitely. Not to worry, Mongo, you can put me on "ignore" and never be bothered by my posts again. Assuming you haven't already, of course. Until that time, the first beer is on me. Leeroy
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Leeroy comments on How Do You Manage "Leeroy where do you find these retards?" And right there, you skillfully avoid any future meaningful discourse between us :) Unlucky of me, I guess....
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Leeroy comments on How Do You Manage A nasty paradox attached to liberal, PC-views is that of how to deal with intolerance. On the one hand, it seems wrong to be a cultural imperialist (i.e. "How I think is the best, and anyone who disagrees with my preconceived norms/rules/expectations is wrong") - but on the other hand, it also feels wrong and contradictory to be complacent about things like racism - when our western cultural training has taught us to fight against such things so vehemently. One thing that made me consistently grumpy about my ex-fiancee was her insufferable condemnation of "los indios", or, more normally, "los putos indios". Anyone who had visible native South American genetics, and had caused her some discomfort or inconvenience, would later have their (supposed) incompetence (at best) or inherent evil (at worst) blamed on being an "indio". As ostensibly proud as she was of being Colombian, she very rarely spoke very highly of the Colombian sub-cultures who could be arguably called the most Colombian, ethnically speaking. She, it might be mentioned, was far from being white and/or European looking herself. Her second surname was "Amaya", one that did not occur to me as being characteristically Iberian in origin - something that I once pointed out to her (and led to me sleeping on the sofa for a couple of nights!). There are many ugly aspects of Colombian society - ones which far transcend that one specific example above. But, then, there are ugly aspects of every society. I have absolutely no idea how to find a compromise with my own (liberal-ish) views with Colombia's more conservative and closed-minded ones - they clash all the time. I learnt something from my dealings with her. I have good friends here now, ones who I would do anything for (and I believe would do anything for me - well, within reason!) - yet ones who, owing to their Catholicism, openly and strongly condemn homosexuality. We don't discuss it. I don't judge them on their homophobia, and they don't judge me on my complacence/acceptance of it. Put simply, where there might be conflict, I have enough sense to avoid clashing ideologies with people unnecessarily. I don't laugh at racist jokes, but nor do I rabidly condemn them (or the people that make them) as they arise. I let it wash over. This isn't a result of any powerful and poignant moral stance on my part, it is simply a mixture of pragmatism and laziness. I avoid pointless fights, and am happier as a result of it. In Scandanavia, I am sure, I would be burnt at the stake for my complacence - but here I am happy, which is the most important thing of all. Leeroy out :)
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Leeroy comments on La Candelaria I live here in the Candelaria, and second everything JungleBoi said.
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Leeroy comments on Oxymorons? I would have called them "paradoxes", but anyway... 1. Nice people-violent country I see a cause and effect here. Many in Bogotá are (in my humble opinion, and exceptions notwithstanding) extremely polite and conflict-avoiding - a theory has been posed that this is precisely because the country has a history of extreme violence (both on an individual and larger scale). Perhaps people are so nice because, at least in part, they want to avoid violence whenever they can... 2. Clean-no soap. Maybe they're clean because they steal so much soap from public bathrooms.. . 3. Religion-sexual openness Perhaps the fact that sex is prohibited makes them more obsessed about it...
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