¿Cuanto Cuesta? The Cost of Living in Bogotá

Something you may or may not know about me: I really like to budget. I also try to negotiate everything from club covers to umbrellas off the street (even in the pouring rain) to cost per page for copies at papelerias. It's not that I'm cheap - I just really savor the peace of mind that comes with knowing I've gotten the best deal in town. And my town for this year is Bogotá, where overall, living is cheap...but I've learned there are some unexpected exceptions. Navigating the true cost of living here has been an interesting adventure and I'd like to share some of what I've learned from living here for the past 4 months.    

Things that cost un brazo y una pierna (an arm and a leg):

1. Wine (this one pains me since we are relatively close to Chile and Argentina). You know the really crappy bottle of wine called Beringer that costs $3 not-on-sale in the states? It costs $20 here (and still tastes like a trash can). I probably spend on average about $13/bottle here. The compromise? I drink less wine. Not the end of the world, but Yellowtail, Barefoot pinot grigio, and 2 Buck Chuck: we shall have a happy reunion come December. :)

2. My rent. I even negotiated this a bit and still pay about $200 more per month than my nicer, double-the-size apartment in Phoenix…it makes sense; I live by myself in a furnished, 1-BR apartment in estrato 6 (neighborhoods are divided up into “estratos” by income level from 1 – 6; 1 being the poorest). When I first moved to Colombia, I had no friends to live with, was a little bit scared by any neighborhood below estrato 5 and didn’t have the slightest clue where/how to buy and move furniture here…all of these things have since changed and it’s true: I pay too much for rent.

3. Utilities/internet. Again, higher estrato = higher cost of services. Non-negotiable.

4. Cetaphil products. Isn’t Cetaphil like the budget, down-to-earth way to keep your face clean and healthy in the US? Well, here it’s a luxury and I shelled out $30 for a bottle of face wash a few weeks ago.

5. Makeup. They keep maybelline and maxfactor behind counters and in locked cases in the grocery store and charge about 3x for the same products. My L’Oreal mascara that costs $6 in the states costs $18 here.

6. Yoga. Even with a “bulk” purchase of like 30 classes, each class runs about $18…upon learning this reality, I've opted for running, cycling and one yoga class a week. Aspiring yoga studio owners; there is an untapped market here!

7. Certain foods, specifically:

• Aforementioned wine.
• Peanut butter – about $7 for a jar of jiffy...
• Feta Cheese – almost $20 for a really weird kind of feta cheese kept in a jar full of liquid…a happy reunion of feta, peanut butter and wine is in store in December.

8. Not registering your visa in time with the DAS. Ya, my bad. I literally didn’t know that I had 15 days upon arriving to register my visa with the dreaded Administrative Department of Security (in Spanish, “Departamento” comes first, hence D-A-S) and apply for my cedula extranjera (ID). This logistical faux pas set me back over $200 in penalties and fines and many hours of my life. Better yet, I learned that the DAS was recently dissolved by the government on account of corruption…so I do wonder how my $200 has been put to use…

9. Andres Carnes de Res.  Don’t get me wrong – I love this place. And so does everyone else and their mother, which is why for every birthday, out of town visiting guest, or 3-day weekend, Andres becomes a staple party place. But those $20 cocktails, $7 bottles of beer, $30 steaks, and $70 bottles of aguardiente start to add up, right? Not to mention entrance fees + transport (if we opt for the real deal in Chia). But it’s hard to say no, especially when friends are here for a few days only and want to experience Andres; after all, there really is no night like an Andres night.  My strategy is to go on a full stomach, pre-game if possible, and be happy with one delicious cocktail for the night (plus, you know that aguardiente bottle will be floating around at some point :)).

Our most recent Andres night - Halloween!!

Bumble Bee + White Swan made a great team

That’s about all I can think of on the particularly “costoso” side of things. Let’s tip the scales and celebrate all the wonderful cheap thrills that life in Bogotá has to offer:    

 1. Manicures/pedicures. I had had a grand total of 1 manicure before coming to Colombia, but at $3 per service (you read that right), I can’t really justify having shabby fingernails!  

2. Hair drying services. I haven’t actually received this service yet, but apparently for about $2.50, somebody will wash, dry and style your hair; it’s like going to the hair salon minus the haircut. I’ll check it out next time I’m invited to a prom.      

 

3. Arepas. most days that I go to the university, I pick up the most delicious arepa of my life, smothered in butter and honey and oozing with melted cheese for $700 COPs, which translates to about 35 cents. Seriously, I could live off of these, and let’s keep in mind that’s a daily budget of $1.05, a weekly budget of $7.35 and a monthly budget of $22.05. Works for me, as long as I can also have my daily allocation of…      

4. Juice/snacks/fruit etc. You can find a cup of freshly squeezed juice or fruit on almost any corner for mil pesos (50 cents). And you know what goes well with fruit (and everything)?...   

 

5. Arequipe. I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to eat more and more and more. Like this guy. That video doesn’t actually explain what arequipe is so I’ll leave it to this picture:   

Ok, that doesn’t totally do it either: arequipe is basically dulce de leche that tastes like pure heaven and is found everywhere in Colombia; inside and outside of cheese, pastries, bread, obleas, on top of lattes, apparently on the crusts of pizzas (arequipizzas) or just in a spoon...in my mouth. I kid you not, a little cup of arequipe is considered a “healthy snack” for school children, kind of like Gogurt, Poptarts or Yohoos in the US, perhaps. And it’s all dirt cheap, considering the sugar high and perfect, creamy, caramelly satisfaction with every hit.

6. Transportation. I don't drive here which has been liberating and a great way to explore the city. Bus rides costs about 70 cents each way, cab rides start at $1.50 and climb very slowly from there (I’ve ridden in a cab for 45 minutes and paid $10), and the Transmilenio (Bogota’s bus transit system) costs 80 cents each way.

7. Plastic surgery. Or so I’ve heard – cheap and good. Medical tourism, anyone?

8. Newspapers. I just learned that 2 kinds of newspapers here are totally free!

9. Vinassa EcoVillage/monastery/Ashram. I came across this fascinating opportunity while reading a travel blog; $10 a day affords you accommodation, 3 vegetarian meals grown and sustained by the Ecovillage/monastery, daily yoga, and philosophy lectures all in the backdrop of a serene monastery. A week of volunteering is absolutely on my list while I’m here.

10. Roses! There are seriously beautiful roses grown in Colombia and I have bought 24 lavender roses (for myself) on my street corner for $4. Yes, $4.   

          

11. Tejo (Colombia's national sport)!! Wow, didn't know what I was missing in my life until this past weekend. You stand about 30 feet away from a slanted mud target that conceals gunpowder below the surface and throw a big heavy metal thing at it. Yup. When the gunpowder explodes, it's pretty much the most exciting thing EVER. And you don't even pay to play or enter - you pay for a case of beer, split amongst your group and call it a day. Awesome.      

Until you let me know what I’ve inevitably left off of either list, “cheap things” is in the lead, 11-9. And for those 9 expensive things, never forget that everything is negotiable (well, except the cover at Andres and I'm pretty sure, fines at the DAS...nonetheless...¡Viva Bogotá!).

Say Hi First - A Theoretical Framework

 Some of you may have seen me get into “research mode.”  That is, the obsession with developing hypotheses and research questions about daily life – particularly social life – establishing control groups and experimental groups complete with independent/dependent variables, ensuring uncontaminated and truly randomly selected sample sizes, and then going out into the world to test the hypothesis all with the ultimate goal of simply learning more about my surroundings.  While I am a dreamer, pacifist and lover at heart, I am a researcher, investigator and explorer by nature – and really, these things can and should coexist quite well. Because my primary job here in Colombia is to do research, I tend to be in ‘research mode’ often.

A “research question” that has been brought to my attention on a daily basis since arriving in Colombia goes something like this:

What happens in Colombia when a blonde-haired, green-eyed, gringa-looking female…

…walks into a busy grocery store? 

…hops aboard a bus full of people?

…enters a classroom of 40 squirrelly 6^th graders at the school I’m conducting research and begins speaking Spanish with an American accent?

 …orders an arepa con queso on the street corner?

…makes a comment in her class at los Andes to an audience of 100-something Colombian students?

…walks down the street- any street will do- filled with pedestrians, cars, buses and taxis? 

The partial answer to most of these questions is this:  I get lots of stares.

While I am aware of peoples’ reactions, it doesn’t usually make me feel self-conscious or uncomfortable.  In fact, most days I find these responses endearing and interesting. 

But I’d like to hone in on one sample size in particular: men.  This group of onlookers and intense-gazers has led me to develop research question #2 (nerd alert):

Does her (‘her’ defined as formerly stated blonde girl) reaction (independent variable) to these reactions (constant; ‘reactions’ range from fixed gazes, or stares, to comments including, but not limited to, “princesa”, “mona”, “reina” and in some cases, “hissing” sounds uttered between the teeth as though calling for an animal) influence future reactions (dependent variable)?

The answer that I’ve found so far is: yes. My reaction to these stares does indeed make a difference.

My natural inclination in situations when I’m being stared at by men is to keep my eyes straight ahead, chin slightly up, and a stern, but not unnecessarily snooty expression on my face.  The accompanying internal monologue goes something to the effect of, “I don’t care if he honks his horn or yells from his scaffolding tower all day, I’m not acknowledging a single damn thing.”  However, as it turns out in my experience, the “ice queen strategy” (also known as the “ignore, ignore, ignore strategy”) seems to egg on even more attention – like it becomes a challenge of sorts, to try to elicit some sort of reaction out of me.  This observation caused me to try a different approach.

Here’s the strategy that has proven to diffuse 90% of all “staring situations” so that they do not escalate to prolonged stares, comments or unwanted attention (drum roll please….): say hi first.  Yep, this is what 4 months of diligent social research has yielded and I’m not at all disappointed.  It works beautifully!  I’ve been blown away at how a simple smile and “buenas tardes” completely turns the table and gets the ball back in my court.  More often than not, this strategy is reciprocated with a smile and “buenas tardes” in return and we both go on our merry way. 

There was one situation in particular where I tested the crap out of this theory: when my sister and I found ourselves a bit lost in a completely dodgy part of Santa Marta -our earthly possessions bulging from the packs on our back- desperately searching for the bus that would whisk us away to Tayrona National Park. Talk about stares, comments and feeling uncomfortable.  Nonetheless, a confident smile or wave and friendly “buenas tardes” went a long way in diffusing some of these dicey encounters.  My sister yelled at me for waving at creepy people and that’s when I explained to her my developing theory.

Perhaps it’s the way that speaking and smiling makes a person appear more human to others (“ah, the gringa speaks!”); perhaps my American accent or the “buenas tardes” confirms what they were wondering in the first place and puts everyone at ease; or perhaps people are indeed more friendly and less hostile than we (I) sometimes give them credit. 

It should be noted that the “say hi first” strategy applies to all people, not just men in Colombia, and not just to diffuse seedy situations.  I think it should become a habit to “say hi first” when checking out at the grocery store, for instance, or asking for cell phone credit at the Comcel store.  Fortunately, Colombians are quite adept at giving a proper greeting and farewell to perfect strangers; they really are some of the most genuinely friendly people on this planet.  After all, I think I learned the “ice queen strategy” from living in big cities in the US – people there can be pretty cold sometimes.  And it’s no coincidence that the “say hi first” strategy started to develop in this country full of warm people.  So, in true academic best practice, allow me to credit my source of inspiration behind this research design: Colombia et al, (2011): your constant stares caused me to re-think my cold reaction and your constant warmth and friendliness taught me to try a new approach and say hi first. 

Let’s remember that this theory has only been tested in the country of Colombia.  I urge any international readers to “say hi first” at every chance you get and see how it changes your daily interactions.  Just do it – say hi first.