Bogota the new Manhattan?

Bogota continues to blow my mind. I am sitting here at the hostel, with free reign of Chris' computer, watching a basketball half-time moment with dancers shaking it to Rio funk. I am exhausted and excited, alive and trying to keep awake.
Chris has been kind enough to show me around town, but as I am finding out, there are so many places here that even within his 2 years here so far he hasn't been about to visit more than a few times. Bogota is definitely the new Buenos Aires.
We went the other night to a small neighborhood of bars and restaurants called Macarrena, full of gorgeous Colombians and good food. The next day we headed to the rich part of town, the north, where there's thousands of well-heeled young people spending easily $60 on a meal. There's the Usaquen district, upscale but really full of funky character, and then Zona Rosa, where the major nightlife happens. We bumped into Chris' Colombian artist friend Antonio and his new girlfriend Dianna at a brewery in Zona Rosa, and spent most of the evening at his apartment drinking and talking with three of their other friends. Forget all that you have heard about this place. We walked around the area, careful but not feeling threatened. I keep getting surprised at how modern Bogota is, and moreover, how clean the streets are. At the end of the night we stopped off at an expat's new posh digs in Macarrena -- $500 a month for a 3-bedroom penthouse apartment with sauna and jacuzzi.

So yes, Bogota is always on the cusp of a bombing from the FARC, but it really hasnt taken away how amazing this place is. They havent attacked the city in a few years, and similar to earthquakes in California, Bogota is probably due for something devastating soon. Chris met yesterday a gov't worker whose job is to help former FARC members integrate back into normal life. This guy works in the worst part of town, the south, and already is open to introducing Chris to a few of these guys. I have the same curiousity, so I might try to see if I can also meet a few of these former rebels one day. Also, Chris ran into a girl he knew who good-naturedly shared with him her story about being kidnapped by ELN members when she was 16 and in a entirely separate incident, raped. Colombians are to be admired for being the generous and amiable people they are despite stories like these happening to their own.

Today we went to the planetarium to watch a piece on southern constellations, and it reminded me of how little I know of Spanish. Moreover, because I spent so much time in Brazil, I keep speaking Portuguese instead of Spanish. I think I need about another week to acclimate to my new surroundings.
Colombian food still sucks, but I have been eating nonstop nevertheless. Sweets, mostly. I had a chocolate santafereno the other day -- it's a cup of hot chocolate served with bread and cheese. You dip both into the hot chocolate, like a fondue. I had the opportunity to try another Colombian specialty, fried ants, but I lost my nerve. I have at least another 15 days to work up my courage.

Walking back to the hostel after a long day, we bought homemade wheat bread from a lovely young couple and were kindly invited to their place for coffee. It's like that here -- you meet people at all times and they want to keep in touch, want you to call them and come over anytime. At their place I tried a Medellin regional specialty, coffee with a pinch of salt and lemon. Definitely odd.
I did find two things disturbing today: machine gun fire and all the old Midwestern tourists flanking the place like bacon around a filet mignon steak. The latter, obviously, made me more weary. Colombia is obviously not a dangerous place like it was a few years ago if you have khaki-short-wearing, sunburnt 50-year-old Midwesterners as pale as paper wandering the streets here.
Speaking of tourists, I have met so many backpackers here who are here just to screw Colombian girls. Similarly, there is a type of Colombian girl who only goes to bars where foreigners hang out. And I have met or heard of older men unashamedly coming here only to hook up with young chicas. I feel like I am in a Latin Bangkok sometimes when the discussions start up. It's sad, really.