Education Abroad
Carelen explores Bogotá with city locals
Carelen Matias, Spanish Language & Hispanic Cultures
Summer 2019, La Salle Summer Academy, Colombia
Thinking about coming to Bogotá was complicated… I thought that it could be an amazing experience, but I was scared too. I always wanted to come to Colombia so this was my opportunity. Being here has been a wonderful experience.
The program that I'm doing consists of taking once class that is only two-week long. I have classes from 6-10p.m. every day.
Today is the second and last monday of the two weeks of classes. Today, I decided to be absent from classes because I wanted to go to "El Cerro de Monserrate". I already went to this Cerro, but it was in the morning and locals had told me that sunsets from there are beautiful. It was hard to decide if I should go or not because I had to miss class. I was scared because going to class is very important. Well, at the end I decided to go to Monserrate with one of my friends from CSUMB and my two new friends from Bogotá.
Getting to know the city with locals was the best decision, they took us to different places before climbing the Monserrate and, while we were walking, they told us a little bit about the city, their history, their culture, their traditions and their people. After this tour, we climbed the Monserrate before the sunset.
The view up there is beautiful. It was cold when we arrived, we arrived like ten minutes before sunset so we take advantage of the time and we went to enjoy a delicious “tinto”(coffee) and an "empanada de carne con arroz y ají” which was delicious and perfect for the occasion. In Monserrate, you can see almost the whole city. For a moment you can see how in minutes Bogota changes from one color to another and thousands of lights start to turn on all around. I took a bunch of pictures. I really enjoyed this experience, many feelings invaded me, the emotion that I felt at that moment was ineffable…
The experience to study abroad is one of the best decisions I could have made. I learned many things, I interacted with other people, I met another culture and especially I experienced another educational system.
Pictures cannot show what eyes are able to appreciate.
