Bogota….. I was here for just two days, before flying to Argentina.
It felt crowded. It felt… different.
I slept restlessly in my hotel, waking up and somehow feeling dizzy before I even got out of bed. I stood up and almost toppled over….. wth? Was I completely dehydrated?
Oh…. I realized it was probably a bit of an altitude thing.
Everyone had talked about the effects of the altitude when visiting Bogota, and I’d shrugged it off… “Nah, I’m from Albuquerque. 6,000 feet. I hike in the mountains. Altitude doesn’t affect me” š š š
…It seemed I was wrong. I felt out of my body in a strange way.
And, I missed Chivor.
I missed waking up to the lake and mountain views, heading out on a hike up the steep trails before breakfast, then finding coffee and fruit ready and waiting. Meditating on the deck over the lake, and laughter and chatting and friends around the breakfast table. Sitting and journaling in the open-air community room, the fiercely intense sun on my face.
I missed the sun, the air, the excitement of having a kite lesson that day. I missed the people there.
Bogota feltā¦ not bad… just very, very different. So many people, so little space. And where, oh where was the sun?!?
The combo of the unfamiliar city plus the jarring switch from Chivor made me seriously feel like Iād dropped out of a different dimension as I walked through the crowded streets.
Did I even belong in this world? that was an old, old refrain, suddenly coming back, and I felt weirdly lonely.
I didn’t really need to feel lonely… my good friend, DC, who I’d spent the last month with at Chivor, was just across the hall, also spending two days in Bogota before traveling to Vegas. And I was grateful beyond words, as always, for my Josephine who was just a Whatsapp message away.
But I felt weirdly alone. Did I want to go back to Chivor??ā¦ but, no, that wasnāt quite it either.
Chivor had been “home” for a while.
and nowā¦ where?
āYouāll Love Buenos Aires, promise!ā my friend Josephine reassured me. Sheād grown up there, and had helped me pick out my Airbnb, in the best area of town.
Breathing, I moved through the strangest mix of emotions. Chivor had been an amazing experience, but it wasnāt my home forever, and the disorientation was real.
Iād feel better once I moved through this space. Fortunately, the Jazz Hotel was really nice. Tato, our friend from Chivor, had recommended it, and D.C. and I were both staying there.
I walked to the market, got a coffee, fruit, pistachios, corn nuts, water.
Work was busy, and I didn’t take much time to explore, other than a run in the park and lunch with D.C. at an Italian restaurant that had some good vegan options.
Perhaps I’d return, and give Bogota the time it no doubt deserved.
I’d been given suggestions to visit… but for now I was content to rest, get some work done, get through the day, and get ready for an early flight. The front desk agent spoke no English, and I needed to make sure my Spanish had been accurate when I ordered a shuttle for 5 am.
El Dorado was recommending 3+ hours for international flights… and, my friend Andrea said “better make it 3 and a half!”.
So Bogota sights would happen another time.
I wanted some much-needed sleep, then up at 4 am, and on to Buenos Aires.
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