Move to Colombia?If you view advertisements on any of the local TV stations, listen to sports radio, start to see the Travel & Living funnel areas on cable TV, you can simply get primed to go to Colombia despite its well-deserved reputation for violence, kidnapping, and drug trafficking. This is simply not to mention the on-going civil war raging between Colombia’s government, Para-military forces like the AUC and Guerilla military forces like the FARC. Let’s not forget the murder and crime rates.Nonetheless, after considering the post “20 Reasons Not to Maneuver to Dubai” within an ELT community online, I thought I’d have a picture at a similarly-themed post working with diverse facets of Colombia. Now don’t misunderstand me, I’ve lived in Colombia for the past 12 years teaching English as a foreign language with my Colombian partner. I pay taxes, medical insurance and retirement through the Colombian programs. I still live here and may continue to do so for the near future, however it is precisely this understanding bred from many years living and working here that empower me to write about this country.Here’s the initial five of my 20-item list and brief commentary:1. In several regions there are NO or hardly any government services.Streets are pot-hole-riddled and what there are of roads are generally a mess, but drivable. During peak times of travel, multiple setbacks, huge traffic jams and over-burdened transportation systems and features are normal place.2. The climate, while warm in most areas, can differ to extremes.Summer weeks from June through August can be cruelly warm in some areas and unseasonably awesome in others. You will need a sweater or coat in Bogota and air-conditioning in Cali, Cartagena and other cities.3. There is the constant risk of earthquakes.Most of Colombia from the Pacific coast to the central highlands and past has experienced harmful earthquakes which can occur during any moment of the day or night. I’ve lived through serious morning hours tremors that cracked walls and tumbled ceilings to nighttime quakes the taken properties uninhabitable and caused the relatively super-natural glow of earthquake lights to appear round the area of Cali.4. There’s the constant danger of volcanic eruptions.Several of Colombia’s many volcanoes come in active or semi-active status. The most news-worthy of these being Galeras Volcano, situated beside the town of Pasto populated by significantly more than 400,000 people, in the southern section of the region. Alerts and evacuation “threats” are becoming therefore common that citizens barely pay them any attention until ash and fuel spit forth from the peak. Colombia’s toughest catastrophe was the exploitation of Armero, a whole village of more than 23,000 occupants almost all murdered in one night – buried under an eruption-caused mudslide more than forty feet deep. Different Colombian volcanoes include snow-capped Nevada Ruiz, also with new eruptions, and Purace.5. You will find sometimes repeated breakdowns of water or energy services.We have gone to storing and collecting rain water. Like that, when the water supply “fails” or goes out for any reason, we still possess some water available for cooking, bathing, cleaning and cleanup. Often the outages are declared. Occasionally they are maybe not – catching the unwary unprepared. These “waterless” times may continue for hours or days – sometimes you merely never know.In part two of the multiple-part line, we’ll continue steadily to examine what I believe will be the 20 most critical difficulties with Colombia that hold it a “third world” state. Your opinions, reviews and feedback are welcomed. See you next payment.
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