After spending 3 months in Brasil, it is now time to move to Colombia.
I spend the last 10 days in Rio with one of my closest friends and on Monday the 12th of September , I catch a taxi a 7am to take a bus from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo to catch my flight to Bogota’ (Colombia).
Six hours later I reach Sao Paulo and then catch another bus from the bus terminal to the Airport and one later I finally reach the Airport of Sao Paulo.
I get there at 6pm and my flight to Colombia is the next day so I gotta sleep at the airport as I can’t afford to spend the night in a hostel let alone a fricking hotel. I sit in the Wi-Fi area among the other passengers but I can’t use the net which is free for the next 15 minutes cause by the time you answer all the questions they ask you before you can use the service , you have 2 minutes left !
I’m too nervous to sleep at the airport so I entertain myself watching the movie hangover and other videos and watching all the pictures from Peru’, Bolivia, Argentina and Brasil.
Its finally 5am and I do my check-in, the lady from Avianca checks my passport and tells me that Immigration will fine me around 70 american dollars for overstaying in Brasil. I had a visa for 90 days but I end up staying a bit more. As I was broke as usual , I couldn’t afford to pay for the extension so if they carme me by the day I will be 70/80 american dollars out of pocket so I hope my smile can save my ass once again.
Once my check-in is done, I tell myself to smile and use my charm with the guy who’s checking and stamping all the passports. I walk through Immigration and I see 2 ladies and one guy, I decide to go to the guy cause women tend to be more bitchy.
The guy is friendly , he checks my passport and we talk about Brasil and football. We are both Barcelona supporters and when he mentiones that I did overstay , I reply that ‘m in love with Brasil and he cannot blame me. He stamps my passport without charging me a penny and thank my favourite football club : Barca jajajaj
I take my flight from Sao Paulo to Bogota’ and ten hours later I reach Bogota’ but my arrival in Colombia starts with a bang.
Before I can catch my second flight to Santa Marta, I have to go through Immigration and the man is a real asshole and probably didn’t get laid for the last ten years.
When I mention that I’m on a charity tour and I will be helping a charity called Mariposas Amarillas in Colombia for 5 weeks, he doesn’t believe me and 5 minutes later he asks me to go to a room and start interrogating me for one hour. He refused to give me 90 days visa as I should get with my Italian passport and tells me that he will only grant me 30 days which is a disaster as I have a flight to El Salvador on the 19th of October and if he stamps my passport for 30 days I have to leave Colombia before my time is up and end up missing my flight too. After one hour and 2000 questions, he still doesn’t believe me even though I’m telling him the truth. He grants me 45 days and tells me that he can’t believe I’m spending one year teaching and helping kids from one country to another for nothingin return but as he’s working as an Immigration Officer for over 20 years, he never heard this excuse before so I get my 45 days for originality.
I’m relieved that I can stay in Colombia to help the kids and catch my next flight from Bogota’ but I feel sad too cause I believe there are good people on this planet who want to help others without in return but the society we live makes people so selfish , suspicious and bitter.
Once my drama with Immigration is over, I do the check-in for my flight from Bogota’ to Santa Marta. I manage to skype to my loved ones and I’m knackered. I have been travelling for over 30 hours and didn’t sleep one single hour so my eyes are red and my pupils are the size of 50 pence so people might think I’m stoned but I never smoked or took drugs in my life so this is lack of sleep and food.
A lady sitting pretty much next to me is flying with her cat, the cat is so fat that he looks like a puma. She takes him out from the cage a bit but he runs away so half of the passengers are chasing the damn cat, I’m knackered and I don’t have the strength even to fart so I join the other half who are watching a live episode of Tom and Jerry. The only difference is that Tom is chased by the passengers and the staff from Avianca Airlines and there is no trace of Jerry !
I take my flight from Bogota’ to Santa Marta and reach Santa Marta at 10pm but by the time I fetch my bags its 11pm and go outside the airport to catch a taxi.
Considering how dangerous South America can be, I decide to go for a registered taxi and see that the driver has a badge , he’s wearing an uniform and the police seems to know him too so I ask him to take me to my Colombian family.
Unfortunately ten minutes later, the driver stops and takes a random guy from the road and they start negotiating a “ride” with another vehicle.
The guy seems to be escaping from something or someone , I tell the taxi driver that we have agreed a taxi fare for myself only but the guy is already sitting on the passenger seat and the driver is speeding off. Two minutes later he parks in a dark and very quiet petrol station and 5 men come out of nowhere.
I’m really scared but I tell myself to stay calm and don’t show any sign of fear. The men outside are negotiating the price to smuggle him outside Colombia and I find the courage to raise my voice and tell the guy to get off the taxi and do his negotiations outside the taxi and the driver to take me to my Colombian family.
I’m firm and not showing a gram of fear on the outside but I’m crapping my pants inside. Five minutes later, the guy gets off and goes inside the back of a black and old van and the taxi driver take me home. Those 5 minutes feel like hours !
I think this it! This is the end of my charity tour and my life. It’s the scariest experience of my life and I still don’t know how I manage to keep calm despite the circumstances.
I was alone, tired of travelling for over 48 hours, 11pm at night in Colombia a country where I didn’t know anyone , anything and anywhere.
A country where terrorism and other crime are as common as eating and breathing.
Massive unemployment and the underground narcotics industry continue to be of great concern. Colombia is a beautiful country but remains a dangerous place.
Foreign businesspeople call Bogota’ the best kept-secret for expatriates, as they receive high bonuses for living in a dangerous area.
I choose Colombia cause I believe there is beauty and goodness everywhere despite the dangers.
I reach my new home and meet my new family . They are all adorable and sweet.
I take a shower , go to sleep and can’t believe how lucky I have been tonight after all ......
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