Sarah Liu arrives in Bogota

From running in the Los Angeles International Airport terminal to getting lost in the shadier part of town, my experience in Bogotá can be described as a wild, crazy, amazing adventure. An adventure that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, and whose one week has flown by far too quickly. I’ve had the opportunity to try so many amazing things, from chocolate croissants from the local bakery down the street (I eat one almost every day) to homemade arepas (hopefully I’ll never eat one again). The food in Bogotá is really unbelievable, with Michelin star restaurants and up-and-coming eateries clustered around luscious green parks filled with joggers and puppies. Luckily, my host family is always more than ready to show me all the best spots to gorge oneself on Colombian food.

My host family has been really welcoming to me. From the beginning, they’ve been excited and eager to show me around the city. I’ve had the opportunity to ride a funicular to the top of Montserrat, walk through the caverns of an underground cathedral, and eat brunch next to the sprawling golf course country club Guayamaral. In between sight-seeing and school, they make sure to introduce me to different aspects of their native Venezuelan culture as well (with a few comments about how it is obviously superior to the Colombian equivalent, of course).

Colegio Anglo Colombiano is really different than Athenian. For one, I have all my classes in two main buildings. Also, their first period starts at seven in the morning, which means I have to wake up at five thirty every day. The Anglo and Athenian, however, actually have a lot of similarities, especially since they’re literally on opposite sides of the globe. For example, the students are really nice, so it hasn’t been hard to make friends. The Anglo is also similarly devoted to keeping their environmental footprint to a minimum, and the school has a program similar to AWE where students spend two weeks in the Amazon rainforest. Overall, the Anglo has welcomed me with open arms and really isn’t that different from Athenian. (The Anglo also has an excessive number of class-wide meetings.) I’m definitely looking forward to the next three weeks in Colombia.