Living in Colombia

I have lived in Colombia for 3.5 years now. I live in Bogota, in Santa Barbara (a couple of blocks down from Centro Santa Ana) but have lived in El Retiro (a couple of blocks from Centro Andino) and in La Macarena (a few blocks up from Plaza de Toros). I like that it is pretty green here and there are lots of good restaurants, all kinds of entertainment and good schools. Our daughter goes to one of the best schools in the country. Though she has Down Syndrome, the board made a special policy to have a pilot program to admit kids with learning disabilities. It has been a great experience for all of us! Bogota has much to recommend, but also some things that really annoy over time: Bad air pollution, noise pollution and terrible traffic - Egypt and Peru are two of the only countries where it is worse. Colombians are usually very polite, but on the roads they have NO consideration for anyone else and follow no rules. Colombians are very close to their families, and if you marry a Colombian you are very definitely marrying the whole extended family. Your Colombian spouse will want to spend ALL weekends and holidays with his or her parents and brothers and sisters and grandparents and aunts and uncles. And he or she will call them constantly about everything when you are not with family. There are few house here - most living options are brick facade apartments that are very stark and modern in interior design. And no matter how nice they look and how expensive they are, you WILL have problems. Plumbing upstairs will leak, walls will crack and - we had this experience right after moving here: the carbon monoxide from the gas (after we used the gas), leaked into the apartment since it was not vented to the street. Our whole family ended up in the hospital. This was in one of the best areas of town! So, beware of these kinds of things.