Alex's 5R Life: Bogota Colombia

I was in Bogota last week for a meeting on Melioidosis in the Americas. Bogota is a large city and at high elevation (~8,600 ft). There is a lot of traffic and associated vehicle pollution like you have in many big cities. I did not realize it was at such a high elevation. I would wake up and night and swear I was breathing heavy and could feel my heart beating faster. Maybe it was my imagination but I don't think so. Our hotel was nice, had a nice view of the mountains, and within walking distance of the University of Bosque which is where our meeting was held. The meeting went very well and we made lots of new contacts in South and Central America. Unlike other parts of the world we have worked, most people do not seem to speak English. It definitely would have been useful if I had kept up with Spanish after high school. Luckily Jay, who traveled with Mindy and I from my lab, could get by in Spanish most the time. The also eat a lot of meat in Colombia but it was too hard to stick to my pescatarian diet. A couple of the woman from NAU were vegan and that was a bit more challenging- at least at the meeting lunches.
The weather was chilly in the mornings and warmed up to the 60s in the afternoon. It was generally cloudy with a chance of rain every day and we did get rained on a couple times but it never really ruined our plans.

View of mountains from near our hotel

This guy had a good performance to ask for money on the street! Lights and sound show.

One night a bunch of the speakers went out for dinner and Alfredo who speaks fluent Spanish took good care of us. We went to an amazing multi-floor night club (Qudres D.C.) with each floor having a different theme. We started with drinks on the top floor while we waited for a table. The top floor was like a big to Circus theme. Then we went down to our table which was on the Inferno floor. there was a live band for part of the night but there was always some loud music and dancing. We drank quite a bit and had a lot of fun. We did some dancing on the stage, acted silly, did the limbo under someone's undergarments, and maybe danced on a chair ;)
The place was awesome!

Top floor at Qudres D.C. nightclub

Just getting started :)

Stairs down to the Inferno floor where we ate

Mindy and I at Qudres D.C.

Creepy puppets on the wall

Dave, Mindy and I finished off the hotel beers to cap the night

The meeting ended on Friday afternoon so we had a little bit of time to do some tourist stuff before we flew out on Saturday morning. We decided to take the tram to the top of Mt Monserrate which is at about 10,300 ft. I was definitely short of breath up there! The tram was pretty intimidating and looked like it was almost going straight up at some point. The pictures do not do it justice. At the top there was a church, restaurants, outdoor shops and of course wonderful views. It was definitely worth checking out.