Colombia - Vital Social Dilemmas Part 1

Move to read about it here?If you watch ads on any of the local TV stations, tune in to sports radio, start to see the Travel & Living route spots on cable TV, you can very quickly get primed to go to Colombia despite its well-deserved name for violence, kidnapping, and drug trafficking. This isn't to say the on-going civil war raging between Colombia's government, Para-military forces like the AUC and Guerilla military forces like the FARC. Let's not your investment murder and crime rates.Nonetheless, after thinking about the post "20 Reasons Not to Move to Dubai" in a ELT forum online, I thought I'd have a shot at a similarly-themed post dealing with diverse facets of Colombia. Now do not get me wrong, I have lived in Colombia for days gone by 12 years as a language with my Colombian partner teaching English. I pay taxes, medical insurance and pension through the Colombian techniques. I still live here and will continue to do so for the near future, nonetheless it is exactly this expertise bred from a long time living and working here that empower me to publish about this country.Here's the first five of my 20-item record and short commentary:1. In several parts there are NO or hardly any government services.Streets are pot-hole-riddled and what there are of highways are usually a mess, but drivable. All through peak periods of travel, over-burdened transportation systems, enormous traffic jams and numerous setbacks and services are normal place.2. The environment, while tropical in most areas, can change to extremes.Summer weeks from June through August can be savagely hot in some areas and unseasonably cool in others. You will need a sweater or jacket in Bogota and air-conditioning in Cali, Cartagena and other cities.3. There is the constant risk of earthquakes.Most of Colombia from the Pacific coastline to the central highlands and beyond has experienced devastating earthquakes which could occur during anytime of your day or night. I've lived through severe early morning tremors that cracked walls and tumbled ceilings to evening quakes the rendered buildings uninhabitable and caused the apparently super-natural spark of quake lights to seem around the town of Cali.4. There is the constant risk of volcanic eruptions.Several of Colombia's many volcanoes come in active or semi-active status. The most news-worthy of these being Galeras Volcano, positioned beside the town of Pasto inhabited by more than 400,000 people, in the southern part of the nation. Alerts and evacuation "threats" have become so common that residents scarcely pay them any interest until ash and fuel spew forth from the summit. Colombia's worst problem was the exploitation of Armero, a whole town of more than 23,000 residents practically all murdered in one single evening - buried under a eruption-caused mudslide more than forty feet deep. Different Colombian volcanoes contain snow-capped Nevada Ruiz, also with recent eruptions, and Purace.5. You can find often regular failures of water or energy services.We have visited storing and collecting rain water. This way, when the water supply "fails" or goes out for any cause, we still possess some water available for cleaning, bathing, washing and cooking. Sometimes the outages are declared. Occasionally they're maybe not - catching the unwary unprepared. These "waterless" periods can continue for hours or days - sometimes you merely never know.In part two of the multiple-part series, we'll continue steadily to analyze what I'm will be the 20 most crucial problems with Colombia that keep it a "third world" state. Your opinions, remarks and feedback are welcomed. See you next payment.