Jardín Botánico José Celestino Mutis

During the time Betty was here we tried to visit some of the typical tourist attractions. I hope I did a good job presenting Bogotá, or Colombia, to her! One afternoon we couldn't decide what to do so I suggested to go to the Botanic Garden, one reason was because I still had it on my "to-do-list". I am pretty sure most people living in Bogotá has not payed it a visit, or if they have it's a long time ago and they did it together with the school. For those of you who wonder, why the name? (Yes, so did I) So, José Celestino Mutis was a Spanish botanist, priest and mathematician who traveled to Bogotá to study the flora and fauna in the 18th century. The garden is named after him in order to honour his work and contribution made to today's knowledge.

When we got out of the taxi we both looked around us and then at each other and our thought was like "eeeh, is it really here". This reaction because there wasn't really a park close by and only old buildings to be seen. Once we found the entrance (which was right in front of us) we were both so positively surprised: in the middle of this hectic city there is a quiet, fresh, green area and just so much nature. We both are from Finland so green nature is important to us. It took us like 10 seconds to be so happy about our decision to go there. It was so beautiful and calm. I could go there again just to forget about the fact that I'm in a city with 9 million other people. 

In the end the park is not massive but just the prefect size to stroll around for two-three hours. There was so many different flowers and so many different species. We took a lot of pictures because it was so fun to use the environment, a bit different form taking pictures from the streets. It's just so different to see how here some flowers are growing in the wild (almost) and back home they are super expensive to buy from a flower shop. Another small detail that nobody here would understand but we were like "wooow, so many of them, and they are so pretty".. If you ever want a quiet moment while in Bogotá, do check this place out, it is worth it!!  

First thing you see

Hello hello there lillies

Can you believe how coordinated we (finally) are?!! 

click!

Found some geese to hang out with

La Celebración de la Selección Colombia

Sunday was a big day for Colombia. The football team returned from Brazil after making history; Colombia has never gotten this far in the World Cup before. After the game against Brazil on Friday I think everybody in Colombia were hit by a small depression. It’s funny how it all can pass by so fast; on Saturday they informed on national TV that the city will organize a “welcome home event” for the team in Parque Simón Bolivar, and it immediately changed everybody’s way of thinking. I wanted to go to the park to see this event, unfortunately Mateo had to go early on Sunday morning to a trip with his office (yes, on a Sunday morning, I still can’t believe his office can ask for that - but that’s an other issue!!). Early in the morning I went to the park together with Mateo’s sister. We arrived to the park at 8.30 and by that time there were probably more than 50 000 fans wearing their yellow shirts. Everybody was so happy, singing, shouting, dancing and waving their flags. It was like Colombia never had lost!! We waited in the park for more than 3 hours for the team to arrive. Their plane landed already at 8 am but it took them almost 3 hours to get to the park, which is only 10km away from the airport, because there were so many people on the streets greeting them. By the time they arrived to the park, it was already filled with more than 125 000 fans, 50 lost children waiting with the police and I don't know how many people who fainted. 

It was such a nice feeling to be there. I know I’m not Colombian but I almost feel like one nowadays. It was really worth waiting there for those hours even though I didn’t see much in the end... Finnish as I am, I of course got a bit annoyed how the Colombians don’t have respect for other people. I have been to outside concerts etc so I don’t mind the crowds, not at all, but what bothers me is that all the people put their children/friends on top of their shoulders so nobody behind could see. This was like a chain reaction, one started and the rest followed.. And the poor people who stood behind didn’t see a thing.. I even had problems seeing the screen, and I consider myself tall! This is not the first time I've noticed this behaviour but let’s discuss that another time. In the end the event was not organized for the Finnish girl, it was organised for the football team and I really think they were happy and touched that so many people had arrived to greet them. They are kind of like heroes in the country now. The World Cup may have ended a bit too soon for "us", but in 4 years we will back. 

Arriving to the park at 8.30 am

The scene 

Happy fans waiting with patience 

What I didn't expect was this view

Spotted James Rodríquez among others

World Cup: Ley seca when Colombia plays

I find it quite interesting that the mayor in Bogotá decided to have ley seca during the days when Colombia is playing in the World Cup. Ley seca is freely translated to "dry law", which means you are forbidden to buy or consume alcohol in any part of Bogotá, not all of Colombia. You can't buy it in any super markets, not in restaurants and definitely not consume it in the streets. The point with this restriction is so it would be less fights and a more calm celebration atmosphere. There are different views to this restriction, and at first I thought this is a bit ridiculous since the World Cup will only last for a month and in the end we are all just happy Colombia is winning. I know most people want to go to a bar, watch the game while having a beer or two. If/when Colombia wins then maybe have a couple more to celebrate. Now this is impossible. I do come from a country with a strong consumption of alcohol and for me it's impossible to even think they would ever forbid it during season of ice hockey or even the World Cup, even though Finland is not playing.

This was my first opinion.. But then I looked into it a bit more and I do understand the ley seca a bit better now. I know there are many more fights in Bogotá because of the games since people start fighting and acting mad, and with alcohol involved it gets even worse, that goes for everywhere in the world. It's just easier to step over the line after drinking too much. Fights are a small comparison to what could actually happen, I also know that.

I do think alcohol is not the only problem to how people start acting after a game. One of the major tools people are using after the game is foam spray, which tend to end up on and in every car that passes. I can imagine this could be a good trigger to start a fight, if you maybe don't want the spray inside your car but left the window open. Yes a bit your own fault but I can understand how that person feels if he doesn't care about the game. This usually happens around the more crowded areas and that is close to the big screens the city put up. They wrote in the news how some streets were blocked for a few hours after the game, and yes, of course they are blocked since people go out to watch the game together and afterwards it's natural that the crowd goes a bit crazy because they are so happy. I think this doesn't really go hand-in-hand; why put up a lot of big screens around the city and then sort of want people not to use them.. 

I read an article in the news paper last week and it got me thinking about this. This is only my opinion but I do feel beer and game go together. There is just a bit more to it when you start thinking about it. Not everybody knows how to behave, and since it has been 16 years since Colombia played in the World Cup it also gives "us" more to cheer for. Yes, maybe the bars do loose a lot of money since they are forbidden to sell alcohol but in the other hand they don't have to solve all the problems that (probably) would rise from drunk people going crazy after Colombia wins. The bars could, as many have, concentrate on other stuff instead of beer.

"The people in Bogota managed to celebrate the goals in peace"

The newspaper writing about ley seca and how the city behaved after the game against Japan

"Business and bars: the victims of the ley seca"

Before the game against Uruguay

 The celebration afterwards in Peñalisa, good example for the foam spray inside the car.